Top 10 Instagram Trends To Follow in 2023 (Updated December)

We live in a digital world where Instagram is a force to be reckoned with. This platform, ranking 8th among the most visited websites worldwide according to Semrush, attracts a staggering 4.25 billion total visits per month. But what makes Instagram such a thriving hub of activity? 

Trends — the secret language of Instagram, continually evolving and shaping our platform usage. Instagram trends not only define the landscape for everyday users but also play a pivotal role for brands, creators and influencers who continually leverage these to maximize engagement, reach and visibility. Keeping up with these trends isn't just about staying relevant — it's about unlocking the full potential of your social presence and, ultimately, shaping conversations. 

This article is a guide to the current trends on Instagram, designed to help you navigate the constantly changing landscape. So whether you're a marketer or a creator, remember to bookmark this page for a regular pulse-check on the latest Instagram trends.

1. The Rise of Reels

With its bite-sized, catchy video content, Instagram Reels has skyrocketed in popularity, evolving into a powerful tool for brands and content creators. According to Meta, people reshare Reels 1 billion times per day through DMs, making it clear this feature is reshaping the way we consume and share content on Instagram.

A wide range of creative Reels formats has gained traction, including step-by-step tutorials, engaging challenges and authentic behind-the-scenes footage — each offering a unique way to connect with audiences and build brand identity. Here are some tips for how you can boost your Reels strategy:

• Trending Reels Sounds: Using relevant and popular sounds can significantly increase your content's reach and connect with the platform's massive audience base. As trends shift and evolve, staying updated with the most popular Reel sounds is crucial.
• Product Partnerships: Using branded content tags for authenticity and wider reach, tap into the expertise and audience of Instagram creators through paid partnerships. Add a fresh, engaging spin to your branded content by tagging products and incorporating challenges and competitions.
• Set Goals: Tie your Instagram Reels strategy to a specific objective. Whether to entertain, inspire or promote a product, ensure your call to action is as engaging as it is clear. 

Remember, creating a Reel that resonates with your audience is only half the battle — the other half lies in effectively leveraging the platform's tools and features to ensure your content finds its way into the right feeds. 

2. Authenticity and Realness

Instagram has witnessed a significant shift towards authentic and relatable content, with audiences craving genuine storytelling and deeper connections. In an era where polished aesthetics no longer reign supreme, openness and transparency take center stage.

To showcase authenticity, consider the following:

• UGC: Encourage your audience to create and share their own content related to your products. This type of content reduces the burden on your content creation team and boosts the sense of community among your followers. It strengthens the connection your audience has with your brand, making them feel seen, valued and part of your brand story.
• Leveraging Instagram Stories: Capitalize on Instagram Stories to share unfiltered, real-time moments and responses to current events or trends. Stories can provide an avenue for more casual content, contrasting with the more polished posts in your feed. These can include daily BTS, interactive Q&As, or quick reactions to industry news, which in turn promotes authenticity.
• Utilizing Sentiment Analysis: Embrace sentiment analysis tools to understand the sentiments underlying your audience's comments and reactions. This can inform your content strategy, ensuring it resonates with your audience's feelings and values. Regularly analyzing sentiments can reveal shifts in perception over time, allowing you to adapt your messaging and maintain authentic communication.

3. Brand Adoption of Influencer Style Posts and Video

Keeping with the theme of authenticity, brands are also increasingly embracing the stylistic nuances of influencer and creator content, reshaping their communication to feel more genuine, organic and personable. Unlike traditional advertising, this shift embraces a more authentic aesthetic, emulating the real-life appeal that creators and influencers master so well.

Creators have paved the way for content that deeply resonates with audiences, turning casual viewers into engaged followers. Their content, characterized by personal stories, experiences and sincere interactions, starkly contrasts conventional brand communication's formal tone. By incorporating these stylistic elements, brands can inject this genuineness into their own content. Posts and videos that mirror creators' candid style foster an environment of familiarity and trust. It feels less like marketing and more like a conversation, effectively driving engagement and nurturing deeper connections with the audience.

Kenneth Cole serves as an excellent brand illustration of this approach. Its Reels content strategy is interesting and diverse, experimenting with various content formats to gauge its community's response. Aside from UGC and creator content, the team incorporates engaging ‘get ready with me’ videos, immersive point-of-view (POV) content, and entertaining trends such as ‘things that just make sense’ accompanied by popular Reels sounds. It has skillfully embraced the creator and influencer video styles, incorporating quick cuts, fun transitions and perfectly timed adjustments of video speeds. 

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4. Niche Communities and Micro-influencers

Instagram's landscape has seen a rising trend of niche communities, fostering a more personalized and targeted social media experience. A key player in this evolution is the micro-influencer, typically defined as those with 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Armed with their focused audiences, micro-influencers have a unique influence, transforming the dynamics of brand engagement and outreach.

According to Dash Hudson's data, micro-influencers outperform other influencer groups significantly. They boast an Effectiveness Rate of 8.60%, 26.65% higher than macro-influencers, and an impressive 97.7% higher than mega-influencers. Similarly, their Engagement Rate of 2.48% is 27.2% higher than macro-influencers and 96.8% higher than mega-influencers.

The reason behind these impressive figures lies in the power of targeted communities. By focusing on specific interests, brands can forge stronger and more meaningful connections within niche communities. Collaborating with micro-influencers allows marketers to tap into these relevant, highly engaged audiences, increasing the likelihood of resonating with potential customers.

5. Social Advocacy and Purpose-driven Content

Instagram's growing demand for purpose-driven content and social advocacy reflects users' desire to engage with brands that stand for more than just their products. Today, audiences expect brands to be socially conscious, aligning their values with meaningful causes that resonate with them.

Consider the example of Patagonia, an outdoor clothing brand renowned for its commitment to environmental preservation. Through its ongoing #WornWear campaign, it advocates for sustainability by encouraging customers to repair their gear instead of replacing it, resonating with its environmentally conscious audience.

Another notable example is Ben & Jerry's, whose #BlackLivesMatter and #RefugeesWelcome campaigns demonstrate its commitment to social justice, earning customer respect and loyalty.

When creating purpose-driven content, remember to:

• Be Genuine: Align your brand with causes that truly resonate with your core values. Authenticity fosters trust and respect from your audience.
• Engage in Conversation: Don't just talk — listen. Engage with your audience, understand perspectives, concerns and ideas.
• Take Action: It's not enough to just talk about change — show your commitment through actions that bring tangible results.

By aligning with meaningful causes, brands can effectively engage with their audience more profoundly and emotionally, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.

6. Interactive Features and Gamification

The use of interactive features on Instagram, such as polls, quizzes and the ‘add yours’ sticker, has surged in popularity, turning the platform into an immersive, participatory environment. This gamification trend has proven to be an effective strategy to boost Instagram engagement and create a memorable user experience.

Interactive features offer a wealth of benefits. They encourage active user engagement, sparking conversations and fostering a sense of community. They also provide valuable insights into your audience's preferences, thoughts and behaviors, which can help influence and shape your future content strategies for success.

To effectively implement interactive features:

• Utilize Instagram Stories: Instagram Stories are an ideal playground for interactive features. Regularly include polls or quizzes to keep your audience engaged and looking forward to your content.
• Keep It Relevant: Align your interactive content with your brand and audience's interests. Irrelevant content might generate short-term engagement but won't sustain your audience's interest in the long run.
• Encourage User Participation: Create content that encourages user participation, such as the ‘add yours’ sticker, allowing your audience to feel seen, heard and valued.

Gamification isn't merely a trend; it's a strategy that brings your audience closer, turning passive scrolling into active engagement. It's about creating an experience that's not only entertaining but also meaningful, promoting connections between your brand and your audience.

7. The Return of Video Memes

The rise and fall of Vine, the platform that pioneered short looping videos, marked a significant moment in the evolution of social media content. It introduced a novel concept — the video meme. These quick and often funny clips captured the essence of internet culture, and while Vine may have bid us goodbye, video memes were far too entertaining to disappear. This content format is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, fueled by the boom in short-form video content. These quirky and easily shareable clips resonate with the internet's short attention span, providing instant entertainment.

Brands can capitalize on this trend by incorporating video memes into their Instagram strategy. However, it's crucial to approach this with authenticity and a deep understanding of your audience and internet culture. Meme content should be relevant, funny and in tune with your brand's voice. When done right, they can significantly enhance engagement, reach and brand awareness, adding a dose of humor to your Instagram presence.

8. Instagram Shopping and Influencer Marketing

Instagram also continues to grow as a shopping destination, driven by its seamless integration of e-commerce features. Dash Hudson's Likeshop, for instance, is a powerful link-in-bio solution that effortlessly guides your audience from Instagram posts to your site, making conversion that much easier and Instagram shopping a breeze.

Key e-commerce features on Instagram include:

• Instagram Reels Shopping: Brands and creators can tag products in their Reels, making them fully shoppable.
• Instagram Guides Shopping: Product guides enable the curation of best-selling products or targeted round-ups based on your audience's needs. These are particularly popular for key events throughout the year, such as Christmas, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.
• Instagram Augmented Reality Shopping: This feature, popular among beauty brands, allows consumers to "try on" products digitally before purchasing, enhancing the shopping experience.
• Instagram Checkout: Users can complete their purchase within the Instagram app without opening a new browser, streamlining the conversion process.

Influencer marketing also plays a crucial role in driving sales and brand partnerships on Instagram. According to HubSpot, 72% of marketers leveraged Instagram for influencer campaigns in 2022, a number predicted to grow by 4.1% this year. Creators' ability to build authentic connections with their audience and their talent for content creation make them invaluable partners for brands looking to boost visibility, engagement and sales on the platform.

9. Instagram Guides for Blog Style Content Curation

As mentioned above, Instagram Guides present a unique opportunity for brands to curate blog-style content on their profile. This feature allows the collection, organization and curation of various content types into a single, scrollable format.

Guides function as a strategic tool to showcase your brand's breadth of content. They can be used to create comprehensive collections centered around a specific theme, campaign or product line, making it easier for your audience to consume similar content. For example, a beauty brand could create a guide highlighting a specific skincare routine, linking various products and informative posts in a logical, step-by-step sequence. A travel company could curate a city guide, bringing together posts on the best places to eat, visit and stay.

Guides are most effective when they cater to your audience's needs and interests. They can serve as educational resources, product catalogs or visual stories, offering an immersive, streamlined experience for users seeking specific information or inspiration.

10. Optimize Your Profile for Search

Finally, let's talk about searchability. Instagram SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing your profile and posts to increase their visibility in search results, thereby reaching a wider audience. With platform algorithms becoming more sophisticated, SEO is critical to any successful social media strategy.

Your profile is the first point of interaction for users searching for your brand on Instagram. Thus, ensure your username and bio are clear, concise and contain relevant keywords that reflect your brand identity.

For posts, captions, hashtags, and location tags play a crucial role in searchability. Including relevant keywords in your captions can help improve the content's visibility in the search results. Similarly, using various related, trending and niche hashtags can enhance discoverability. Even your Instagram Stories can be optimized for search. 

Ultimately, Instagram SEO is about enhancing your brand's discoverability and expanding its reach on the platform. By optimizing your profile and posts for search, you can connect with a larger, more engaged audience and significantly increase your brand's visibility.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ December 2023 ]

Here are Instagram trends to look out for this month. 

Holiday DIY 

Whether your Instagram niche is in beauty, fashion or food, share any holiday recipe, look or any other DIY you have in your pocket. Some ideas for holiday DIY content are:

• Incorporate trending holiday songs to Reels content. 
• Share holiday decorating tips and home decor inspiration. 
• Create a tutorial of your favorite holiday-themed makeup look. 
• Share outfit ideas for different holiday occasions — think New Year’s Eve, Christmas Eve, Hanukkah, holiday parties and other festive events. 

Influencer Discovery

Brands have long seen the impact of the right influencer relationship — more brands are tapping into nano and micro-influencers to increase engagement, boost brand awareness and connect with audiences. With that, being able to source the right influencer for your brand can be a challenge, and the best fit depends on your goals. For example, nano-influencers tend to garner the most engagement, while macro-influencers (creators with over 100K followers) have higher reach. If your brand’s primary goals are to improve brand awareness and reach, macro-influencers are likely the right choice, while nano-influencers will be best to boost engagement. 

Dash Hudson’s Relationships feature lets brands source potential influencers to work with in the future by a range of customizable factors, like followers, engagement, interests and more.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ November 2023 ]

Here are the Instagram trends appearing on feeds this November. 

Carousel Lists

As people prepare for the holiday season on and off social media, wishlists, gift guides and more will be trending — particularly in the lead-up to Black Friday sales. Here are some ideas to plan and share this trend:

• Create gift guides for different niches. Of course, this depends on your brand and industry, but consider creating wishlists gift guides for things like aesthetics — think ‘pilates princess’, ‘downtown chic’ and more. 
• Share gift guides for various family members and demographics or even attributes like price. Create gift guides for fathers, mothers, sisters-in-laws, and bosses, and offer inspiration for these groups people in your target market are likely shopping for. 

Street Style 

While street style snaps aren’t going anywhere, candid, organic-feeling outfit shots have proven to be ever-popular as the weather cools and people transition their wardrobes to Fall and Winter. Leverage influencers and brand ambassadors to take casual outfit videos on Reels, quick outfits of the day on Instagram and other style content.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ October 2023 ]

Here are the trends social marketers should have their eye on this October — from seasonal trends to long-lasting trends that can inform your strategy and campaigns throughout the year, look for ways to incorporate these tactics in your content mix this month.

Pumpkin Spice and Everything Autumnal

With the start of Fall in mid-September, October is really where the celebration of Fall starts to shine. Leverage the popularity of pumpkin spice and the whole season to share Autumnal color palettes, recipes and more. 

Here are some ways to celebrate Fall on Instagram: 

• No matter your niche — home, fashion or beauty — share photos or Reels featuring ‘pumpkin spiced’ beauty tutorials, fashion looks and even home design featuring Fall colors. 
• Share your favorite Fall activities. Fall ushers in a range of new activities like apple picking, pumpkin carving and Halloween parties. Take this opportunity to educate your audience on how your products can enhance their Autumn plans, or offer a glimpse into how your team or a particular brand ambassador plans to celebrate the season. 

Narrow Ad Targeting

Narrow marketing isn’t just trending this month — it can be an extremely valuable tactic year-round. While broad marketing (targeting a wide range of demographics) has a time and place, narrow targeting is being adopted by the savviest brands to reach niche target social demographics. Narrow targeting is when you strategically try to reach hyper-specific segments of your target audience, for example, first-year, female college students ages 18-19. 

Here are some ways brands are using narrow targeting in their social strategies: 

• Event-specific sponsored content: What value does your brand provide for Halloween? Whether this is a particular outfit, makeup look or even a recipe, share sponsored content with a creator who’s engaged with your target audience, and even aim your budget at a smaller segment of your audience to get granular. 
• Geo-targeting: Are you targeting specific areas? Leverage things like local Sports pride to target advertisements featuring products with themed colors to appeal to users in that area. Are you a running shoe company? Try targeting ads to locations with big upcoming marathons and races. 

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ September 2023 ]

So, what should social marketers have on their radar this September? Here are two trends to tap into this month and a few ways social marketers can incorporate them into their marketing strategy. 

Pumpkin Spice

Does this come as any surprise? With Fall in full swing, folks are reaching for cozy sweaters, Halloween movies and of course, pumpkin-flavored drinks. Pumpkin Spice isn’t just for beverages, either — brands can get creative and find ways to tap into the excitement for Fall. 

Here’s two ideas for brands who want to celebrate Fall with their followers: 

• Spotlight on pumpkin and autumnal tones: Whether you display an array of warm toned, orange, yellow and brown clothing or makeup looks, or a pumpkin-themed recipe, many users are looking for seasonal inspiration in their carousels or Reels.
• Focus on Fall: If Fall tones aren't relevant to your brand, highlight a range of products that evoke a cozy Fall-feeling — think readings lists, activities and DIY projects. 

Creative Transitions 

While transitions aren’t a new trend, creative, fast-paced transitions are taking Reels by storm. Here are a couple ideas to use unexpected transitions in your Reels content: 

• Collage transitions: Collage Reels take cropped images and layer images one-by-one to tell an interesting story or create an interesting image — brands can take this a step further by adding interesting transitions to Reels content.   
• Transition to the unexpected: Don’t be afraid to start your own transition trends. If you’re a beauty brand, transition from a similarly coloured makeup product to a random item, a clothing brand could play with transitions to new Fall styles or a food account could transition from ingredients to inspired recipes or vice versa — and these are just a few ideas. Find a way to surprise your audience with a transition that’s not necessarily a big trend yet. 

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ August 2023 ]

All Things Barbie 

Despite debuting in late July, Barbie content continues to trend on social in August. Whether this is commentary on the Barbie movie or partaking in a Barbie trend — think trending official audio from the movie, or trending songs from the soundtrack. 

Here are a few ideas for brands to use Barbie in their Instagram content: 

• Highlight any relevant pink products — Get creative! Brands in the food industry brands could highlight pink groceries or recipes using pink ingredients, while beauty brands can highlight Barbie-inspired or pink make makeup looks. 
• For brands that don’t have anything particularly pink to showcase on Reels, try using a trending Instagram Reels audio. Another fun idea for brands is to show-off any pink or Barbie-inspired office looks. 

Life Lately 

The ‘Life Lately’ trend is similar to a photo dump, but uses Reels rather than a carousel post to show a variety of pictures that show what your life looks like lately — for brands, this could include behind the scenes shots from the office, events, product shoots or Instagram posts that haven’t been shared yet.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ July 2023 ]

By now, you will have learned that keeping a pulse on the current trends shaping Instagram is essential. The following section will explore the latest, most prominent content trends, providing valuable insights to guide your strategy in this ever-evolving social media landscape.
By now, you will have learned that keeping a pulse on the current trends shaping Instagram is essential. The following section will explore the latest, most prominent content trends, providing valuable insights to guide your strategy in this ever-evolving social media landscape.

Instagram Notes Number Trend 

Instagram Notes, the platform's new feature, is the digital equivalent of a sticky note, offering a fresh way for users to express thoughts, join in on conversations, or simply connect with followers. This feature is a hit among individual users and benefits brands for product promotion, customer service, or engagement.

Recently, the Instagram Notes Number Trend has taken the platform by storm, especially among the younger demographic. Users share coded Notes such as o99 or o23, hinting at the initials of their current crush. This playful trend has turned Instagram into an exciting guessing game, with friends eagerly trying to decipher each other's secret love interest.

Brands, too, can creatively leverage this trend. Here are a few fun examples:

• Teasing Collaborations: If you're planning a collaboration with an influencer or another brand, you can use their first initial and drop coded hints in your Notes and encourage your audience to guess who the collab could be with.
• Product Launches: You could even use the number trend to hint at a new product line or release date and ultimately turn product launches into interactive events.
• Customer Engagement: You could also use one of the codes and make it a special discount.

By joining in on the Instagram Notes Number Trend, brands can infuse an element of fun and intrigue into their interactions with followers, thereby boosting engagement and visibility.

Instagram AI Trend

AI trends in social media might seem fleeting, but they continue to evolve and shape our digital experience in novel ways. As technology advances, AI's role in social media interactions isn't diminishing — instead, it's becoming more integral for users and brands.

One such trend gaining traction is the use of AI photos. Users worldwide are embracing the novelty and paying to use different applications for AI photo shoots. From corporate images to sci-fi fantasy portraits, they can transform ordinary selfies into various creations. These AI-generated images can be so impressive that they often appear as commissioned artwork.

The trend extends beyond static feed posts. Users are bringing these AI portraits to life by creating engaging Reels. These often add a touch of humor and entertainment as users playfully critique their AI-enhanced photos, turning the trend into a shared experience. The blend of technology and creativity in these AI photos illustrates how intertwined the future of AI and social media will continue to be.

Instagram Trends Made Easy With Dash Hudson’s Social Media Insights Solution

Staying on the cutting edge of Instagram trends is necessary in today's fast-paced social landscape. However, it requires adaptability, strategic experimentation, and the ability to analyze the impact of various initiatives seamlessly. This is where Dash Hudson's Social Media Insights come into play, serving as a powerful tool to guide your Instagram strategy.

Dash Hudson simplifies the process of keeping up with trends, even in the 24/7 whirlwind of social media. Its Scheduler feature ensures you never miss a beat, allowing you to schedule trend-focused posts in advance, reassuring you that you're staying ahead of the curve.

Moreover, it offers essential Instagram management solutions designed to foster your brand's growth, such as:

• AI-Powered Insights: Showcases the best-performing content that resonates with your audience across various channels, allowing for data-informed content strategy.
• Actionable Analytics: Helps refine and evolve your strategy with reliable insights that every team member can trust, leading to improved decision-making.
• E-commerce Integration: Facilitates seamless social selling by integrating your e-commerce strategy with a one-time product feed connection.

With Dash Hudson, navigating Instagram trends and leveraging them effectively for your brand has never been easier.

FAQs

What trends are popular right now in Instagram?

There are a variety of trends popular on Instagram right now, but the  Notes Numbers Trend is particularly prominent. In coded Notes, users may hint at the initials of their current crush with codes such as o99 or o23. As a result of this playful trend, Instagram has become an exciting guessing game where friends are eager to uncover each other's secret love interests.

How do you see trends on Instagram?

Identifying trends on Instagram involves paying attention to various features on the platform. You can use the "Explore" tab, which highlights trending content tailored to your interests. Hashtags are also crucial in tracking current topics and engaging users. Watching Instagram Stories and Reels is also helpful, as these are often the birthplaces of new trends, be they challenges or popular filters. 

What is the new trend in Instagram Story?

Instagram stories are constantly evolving, and one of the latest trends involves interactive stickers, particularly the 'Add Yours' sticker. Use this sticker to create a compelling prompt, such as "Share what you're eating" to "Reveal your skincare routine." The key is ensuring your prompt aligns with your brand while still engaging enough to inspire your followers to share their own photos on their stories.