Fallen behind on the up-and-comings of Instagram this year? Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. As an Orange County SEO and social media company, we’ve taken the liberty of compiling this year’s hottest trends on Instagram for you. Use it to help take your brand to new heights!

1. Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels are 60-second videos that allow viewers to absorb a lot of information in a short amount of time. They’re basically Instagram’s version of TikTok.

Reels are a great way of expanding your reach. They let you showcase your products in a fun way and give calls to action—after watching your Reel, users can immediately click on “View Products” for more details and a link to your website.

Reels are also great for customer interaction. They build relationships with current customers, attract new customers, and overall add some personality to your brand.

So, hop on to Instagram Reels now before everybody else does!

2. Brand Personality

Let’s talk more about the importance of brand personality. Having one is extremely important as it makes your brand look multi-faceted. If your business seems to only care about selling things and looking cool, it’ll get boring quickly. Many brands sell things that look cool, so what makes you any special?

Mix and match your content by injecting some personality once in a while. Add the occasional meme, host a Q&A, show off your employees or workspaces, announce giveaways, and do other things that’ll let customers know you more as people rather than marketers. It’ll be fresher and more exciting this way.

3. Social Awareness

Millennials and Gen Z-ers are known for their social awareness. They’re more acutely cognizant of political, socio-economical, and environmental issues than other generations. In fact, their purchase decisions are largely affected by this—they tend to support businesses more if the businesses support the same values they do. Additionally, they make efforts to avoid businesses that are controversial, going so far as to “cancel” them on social media.

As a brand, you’ll want to engage in more activism. Highlight movements you support, be transparent about your business processes (e.g., eco-friendly, cruelty-free), contribute to charities, and just use your privilege to bring change to the world. Your customers would feel very good about supporting your brand.

4. Influencer Collaboration

According to Instagram’s 2022 Trend Report, 80% of Gen Z-ers believe social media influencers have more influence on contemporary lifestyles than celebrities. This is mainly because influencers are more relatable—unlike celebrities, influencers are “one with the people.” They gained their following through their hard work, and their followers tend to be more loyal than celebrity fans.

Consider partnering with influencers. The ones you should be looking for are those that either align with your brand and/or those whose following aligns with your brand. If the strategy is successful, you’ll soon be getting a string of interested viewers who will hopefully turn into happy customers.

5. Instagram Carousels

An Instagram Carousel is a collection of photos you can post at one time. You can post up to ten of them.

Carousels tend to be more engaging than regular photos or videos. That’s because viewers have an incentive to stay longer—they can scroll through the Carousel to learn more about something instead of going through your Instagram feed and breaking concentration.

So, you should utilize Carousels. You can do this by posting useful content and breaking them up into multiple images. This makes it easier to digest than regular articles. You could also show off pictures of your product from multiple angles or in different colors.

Conclusion

Instagram and other social media platforms are always evolving, so naturally, you should too. Keeping up with the trends is very important as it keeps you visible and your customers engaged, especially as a smaller business. We hope our article was informative.

If you need further guidance on social media strategies, feel free to contact Drive Traffic Media at (310)341-3939. We are an SEO and social media company in Orange County with lots of experience in the field.

Want to maximize your Instagram presence more? Here are 8 Ideas to Increase Your Business Sales On Instagram