If you are a marketer working on Instagram, here is a hard truth for you: ” When it comes to Instagram hottest trends in 2022, the only constant is change”.
Of course, that is the reality of social media trends in general — digital platforms and how we use them are in a constant state of evolution and flux. However, you’re here to know what is now trending on Instagram including the hottest video trends, post trends, and Instagram Story trends this year 2022.
YES, because it’s different than last year, or even last month.
Even you have been successful on social media with a million-follower Instagram account, don’t be complacent! It’s necessary to know what’s happening on Instagram. Then you can catch the best chance to build a good social media strategy that is relevant to your brand success on Instagram.
Keep reading for the 12 trends on Instagram that you need to know as a marketer this year.
12 Instagram hottest trends to know in 2022
The dance revolution continues
TikTok evolved out of a lip-synching app, so music and dancing have been boomed on social media. And as the platform has become a social media behemoth, its trends and tendencies have started to seep into other outlets.
That means that dancing and dance challenges have become a new trend on Instagram as well, with users busting moves on Reels, Stories, and on main.
A 2022 trend report from Instagram shares that 1 in 3 of its teenage users is “excited to see more dance challenges in 2022,” so expect more elaborate routines and including styles on this platform, and high engagement for brands who join in or create dance challenges themselves.
Instagram shop-a-thon becomes the norm
Instagram Shopping blew up in 2021, part of a surge in e-commerce that came from the perfect storm of pandemic habits and improved digital tools. Rather than directing customers to your website, Instagram Shopping lets them choose and shop products easily directly on the app.
More than 130 million users tap on an Instagram Shopping post monthly. It’s a lot of traffic that a brick-and-mortar shop owner could only dream of.
All signs point to a continued shop-a-thon in the upcoming years. EMarketer predicts that social commerce will be an $80 billion industry by 2025, and Instagram’s 2022 Trend Report announced that nearly 1 in 4 of its Gen Z users expect to shop through their social media feeds. So if you don’t have Instagram Shop available on your account yet… what are you waiting for?
Here is how to set up your Instagram Shop. Just take a look at it.
Creators are kings
Four out of five Gen Z Instagram users agree that social media creators have as much or more influence on culture as more traditional celebrities. And, with the rise of the creator economy during the pandemic, there are more of these content wizards out there on Instagram than ever before: 50 million, as of 2021.
In the U.S., 72.5% of marketers want to try influencer marketing by 2022. Then Instagram’s Collabs and Branded Content ads allow brands to collaborate easier than ever before. The platform’s newest tools help creators to list brands they’re interested in working with and allow brands to filter and find the best-fit creators for their particular campaigns.
Instagram is playing matchmaker the best way it can and wants you guys to take part in it. A new special section in direct messages just for partner messages is intended to make it easier to contact a potential collaborator, too.
The ability for creators to earn affiliate income for Instagram shops or set up shops of their own in partnership with brands is testing at this moment.
RIP, IGTV
In October 2021, Instagram announced the retirement of IGTV, its long-form video format. Now, Instagram users can post content up to 60 minutes long directly to the main Insta feed.
Feed videos and IGTV videos will be shown via a single tab on profile pages (Reels get their dedicated tab). The IGTV app is nơ being rebranded as the Instagram TV app.
In other words? If you love making long-form videos on Instagram, the door is still open… and our tips for creating awesome long-form videos still apply!
Long live Reels
It feels simultaneously like yesterday and like a lifetime ago that Instagram launched Reels, its short-form video format designed as TikTok’s opponent. And thanks to an aggressive algorithmic push (and a front-and-center spot in the app’s navigation), Reels have become a cornerstone in the Instagram experience these days.
It’s in line with a broader social trend towards short-form content. Even Youtube is getting into this game with “YouTube Shorts”.
If you haven’t given Reels a shot yet, there’s no better time like the present. As TikTok keeps dominating the social sphere, Instagram is likely to reward Reels users, so you could see a boost in exposure or engagement for playing around with the format. Check out these tips for using Instagram Reels for business.
Story links for all
Instagram first introduced swipe-up links for accounts with 10,000 or more followers a few years back. However, this past fall, links became a more egalitarian affair. Now, everyone can include a link sticker to their story, which opens up a huge chance for smaller businesses wanting to drive traffic to another site or platform.
As we are in 2022, we’re likely to see more users getting benefits of this new feature. To include an external link to your story, just tap on the “add sticker” icon in create mode and choose the “link” sticker. You’ll be prompted to pop in the URL and have the option to customize the sticker text, too, if you’re so inclined.
