5 Trends That are Shaping the Future of Instagram Marketing

2019 is just around the corner, so it’s important to start thinking the kinds of trends that both businesses and social media managers should be on the lookout for when it comes to best promoting themselves online in the coming year. Social media is growing at a rapid rate, and the trends and algorithms are always changing, so it’s important to understand what works in the current year and why!

In addition to Facebook, Instagram has become one of the largest stand-alone platforms in the digital space and Instagram is a must for businesses in the current social media marketing space. With that in mind, here are five Instagram trends to be aware of and consider as you prepare for the coming year.

Shopping on Instagram

Before the advent of the internet and social media, the local mall served two big purposes: it was the shopping hub of the area, but it was also one of the major social hot spots for many people, especially the younger generations. Social media has become the new mall in both aspects, though in reverse order. It started as a purely social space, but today its increasingly a place for users do quite a bit of shopping. Instagram has strongly capitalized on this in 2018, allowing businesses to tag products in posts and Stories as well as the new shopping tab on the Explore page. The new IGTV will undoubtedly be added to the shopping adventure in the future as well. To date, there’s no consensus on which works best for who, so it’s best to try them all and see which one yields the results you’re after. 

Vertical Videos

Remember in the recent past when someone would post a video vertically instead of horizontally and the response from viewers was “turn your phone sideways!”. Those days are over, and vertical video is now the trend. Instagram has fully capitalized on this and in fact, is the primary reason for the trend. Love it or hate it, you should take advantage of it and keep it in mind while posting a video.

IGTV

When Instagram launched Stories, it almost instantly slowed the Snapchat juggernaut. Some think it might have been the beginning of their end. Regardless, Stories, which is essentially a carbon copy of Snapchat, took off quickly and has become very popular. Instagram hopes that IGTV will see the same kind of success moving into the long form video space, although it’s been slower out of the gate. Given Instagram’s track record, betting against IGTV wouldn’t be smart. The better play would be to get involved early in case it does, in fact, grow exponentially in the next year.

Instagram Ads

You probably once fought against buying ads on Facebook, as many businesses did. Today it’s painfully obvious to those businesses that was a bad idea. Rumor has it, Instagram ads will be a huge trend in 2019, especially with videos on Stories. If you’re using Instagram for business, this should be an obvious move.

AR Filters in Stories

This one is common sense. The fun filters on Instagram have always been popular with users, and Stories is a runaway hit. Now that AR filters are being used in Stories videos as well as images, guess what? They’re extremely popular! You should be using Stories to reach more users, and you should use the AR filters in Stories to keep them interested when they find you. It’s a simple way to add a lighter side to what is at its core; a sales pitch.

Do you expect any Instagram trends in the coming year? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!