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.
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:
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
By aligning with meaningful causes, brands can effectively engage with their audience more profoundly and emotionally, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
Here are Instagram trends to look out for this month.
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:
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.
Here are the Instagram trends appearing on feeds this November.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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:
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:
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:
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.
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, 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:
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.
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.
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:
With Dash Hudson, navigating Instagram trends and leveraging them effectively for your brand has never been easier.
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.
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.
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.