With over a billion active users, Instagram, or what Millenials call IG is no longer a social media marketing channel. It is rather an economic channel for startups and big brands alike. If you are reading this, I believe you have an account for yourself(We have too! You can follow us for quirky and informative posts daily. We don’t spam).
With the rise of influencer marketing and the rise of IG stories, every business found its way to reach its audience. But due to the aggressive anatomy of Instagram, it gets hard to keep up with the #trendingformat or wonder how it will result next. Therefore, Digital Shout created a list of key trends that are likely to drive Instagram marketing in 2023.
1. Memes: More than LOL
If it wasn’t for memes, Facebook/Instagram would not be entertaining enough to steal so much of your time and space on the phone. In a nutshell, without memes, the internet/social media channels will be full of research reports or news alerts. And that is hella boring. Agree?
Fortunately, that is merely a nightmare. In an era of Skip Ad on YouTube to reporting irritating ads on Facebook, brands experienced a difficult phase to reach customers. Somewhere between the meme marketing happened. From Public Relations(PR) to Marketing professionals, everyone embraced internet memes as a form of viral marketing with the hope to create a buzz about their product/service.
If you are a business owner in 2023, we suggest you make use of memetic marketing. You can either create your own meme or attempt to adapt an existing one with your catchphrase. Be as hilarious as possible without getting into any trouble by commenting on any sensitive issues.
2. The Descent of Instagram Shopping
Instagram launched a feature that allows users to add links to Stories way back in 2017. Ever since this feature has been used by brands to add direct product purchase links to their Stories. We believe this trend will only rise as it enabled brands to demonstrate a few products with a “Swipe up to buy” option for smooth product purchases.
Lately, Instagram came up with shopping tags where the user can click on the tag and purchase the product without ever leaving the application or redirecting to another site/app. Although this is in a beta room, it is where it needs to be, at the fingertips of the consumers to buy. To this date, Instagram shopping is only available in selected countries that say the traffic and revenue attributes have experienced a significant rise.
Let us wait and watch what it does to India’s shopping experience.
3. Instagram Reels
Reels is the latest trend to hit Instagram, and it’s quickly become one of the hottest trends on the platform. It’s perfect for creating fun, eye-catching content that can be shared with friends, family, and followers.
Reels allow users to create short, 15-second videos on any topic they choose. The videos can be edited with music, special effects, and other creative tools. They are similar to TikTok videos, but Reels are exclusive to Instagram. It is easy to use and has an intuitive user interface, making it accessible to even the most novice of users. The videos can also be shared on other social media platforms, giving users the opportunity to reach an even wider audience. Reels are quickly becoming a way for users to express themselves, show off their talents and build their online presence. It’s also proving to be an effective way for content creators to engage with their audience and build relationships.
With such a wide range of potential uses, it’s no wonder reels has become such a popular trend on Instagram. As more people get on board, it’s likely to become an even bigger trend in the coming years. For those looking to take advantage of the trend and grow their Instagram presence, Reels is definitely worth exploring.
It is clear that Reels is here to stay, and it is already beginning to shape the way we use Instagram.
4. Stories 2.0
Stories were first brought into the limelight by Snapchat with a tinge of filters, doodles, stickers, and emojis. Hate to say it, but Instagram also launched the stories option soon after with little tweaks and twists. These stories are the perfect way to get closer to your audience in a fun and creative way by conducting polls, reaction sliders, announcements, collaborations, questions, countdowns, and even quizzes. Stories are a great deal to add a touch of humanity to your social media strategy. Give it a shot.
But, how to find the influencers? What do you tell them? Hit us up!
5. Influencer Marketing
A few years ago, the influencer marketing space was limited to celebrities and a few handpicked bloggers. But now, even you and I can become an influencer. For newbies, it is a form of social media marketing that deals with endorsements and product mentions from influencers.
Now, influencers are individuals who have established decent credibility in his/her niche. Businesses of all scales leverage a group of influencers to promote their products/services with defined hashtags on Instagram. The approach is to create a personalized campaign-specific hashtag and let the people in their domain through posts, stories, tags, and highlights.
Social media marketing influencers can be categorized into micro-influencer and nano-influencers. Micro-influencers need to have 10-100K followers and marked their presence in the domain with a higher engagement rate. Nano-influencers are usually people like us on Instagram who have a following of less than 20K. As a brand, you have every liberty to tell the influencers how you’d like to promote them.
Content Credits – Sravani Katta (Content Writer )
