Don’t Miss These Instagram Trends
As you work on Instagram and social media content for your business that tells your story and compels individual users to engage with you, there are important tips and tricks that can help in your efforts. In your strategic Instagram planning for a new quarter, a new year, a new direction, take a look at these trends and tips to see what will work for you. As I always say, the best place to start is with a smart profile, great imagery and a story. Add in these important trends and it will help increase exposure to your content and help people find you… Here we go!
Current Instagram Trends Not To Miss:
Instagram Video Everywhere – From Reels to Stories to Live video feeds, Instagram has leaned heavily into short-form and livestreamed video. All accounts can now create feed videos that are up to 60 minutes long.
Link out from Stories using an interactive link sticker. No matter your account’s size or verification status, now you can link to anything from a new blog post to a lead magnet to an eCommerce storefront or product.
Use single word hashtags for optimal search. Instagram search results are focused on content instead of sources. The reason the search feature can only handle simple hashtags or single words is the social network wants you to go down a rabbit hole of scrolling through hundreds of posts. That’s how the platform works. Optimal number of hashtags to use is usually 5-10
Longer Micro-blog posts are better for engagement. You want to use the caption space to educate and let people know who you are. Longer posts are also helpful for educational type brands.
People see your posts on the feed, they engage on the feed, rarely do people go to your profile first. So be sure to do these things:
– Use imagery that pops!
– Send a strong branded message that makes people want to know who you are
– Don’t think about likes and follows, make it your own space
Instagram allows just one link in your bio so making it count is critical. Rather than linking to your home page, use one of these link in bio tools to create a mobile-friendly landing page that’s optimized for Instagram users: Linktree, Campsite, Lnk.Bio.
Repost your favorite posts. Instagram Stories makes it relatively easy to republish UGC and fan posts—at least until they disappear after 24 hours. But reposting other people’s content to your Instagram feed is much harder because there’s no built-in sharing feature. Using the app Repost will make the sharing process much less painful and it can republish feed content and reels. First, get permission to repost from the original creator. Then copy the link to the content you want to share and open Repost. The app can repost the content and the caption to your profile, along with a watermark that credits the original creator.
Optimize Your Account to Show Up in Recommendations Searches
Instagram uses three factors to decide what to show you in search results:
1 – Text matching: Your exact search query is the most important factor in search results.
2 – Past activity: Instagram will also try to determine which results will interest you based on your interests and past activity on the platform.
3 – Popularity signals: Posts, hashtags, accounts, and locations that have a lot of likes and interactions will rank higher in search results.
So if you want to rank well in Instagram search results, you need to:
– Use key search terms in your bio, captions, and post tags.
– Design content that matches your target audience’s interests and activity.
– Aim for high levels of engagement.
Choosing the right username can instantly help you rank higher in Instagram search results. The key is to choose something that people will actually type into the search bar. So that means:
– Don’t use leetspeak (replacing letters with symbols or numbers).
– Don’t use punctuation in the middle of words or phrases.
– Use key terms that describe your business, products, or services.
– Include your location if your business is location-specific.
– Make sure your username is easy to spell and remember.
Ideally, you want to choose a username that matches your target audience’s search terms as closely as possible. Of course, that’s a lot of information to pack into just 30 characters, which is why you should use your bio for keywords, too.
Your Instagram bio offers a lot more space to work with—up to 150 characters. As well as listing your business address on your profile, you can list your city or area in your bio. Try to incorporate as many keywords as possible.
If you need help with your Instagram management, check out the INSTABranding page and how Sandy Hibbard Creative can help manage and create content for you on your social media networks! Or, send me an email at Sandy@sandyhibbardcreative.com and let’s plan a time to talk!
Sources: SocialMediaExaminer, SandyHibbardCreative
