Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms used by businesses to promote their products and services to a wider community. With over 1 billion users world-wide spending an average of 29 minutes per day on Instagram, it’s essential for every business to stay informed and adapt to updates so they remain relevant and successful.
If you’re using Instagram already or want to know how to maximise your business’ potential on Instagram in 2023 then you’ve landed in the right place. Learn more about the latest updates and changes that can help you reach and engage with your audience.
Let’s take a closer look at the Instagram trends that all businesses need to consider when it comes to their digital marketing strategy. From content marketing to ecommerce and reels, here are the top trends you should look out for.
The Importance of Authenticity
While ‘transparency’ has become a buzzword in the social media tech industry, in 2023 successful businesses on Instagram will be prioritising authentic and transparent content marketing strategies. This means creating visually appealing images, graphics and short-form videos that are genuine, honest, and relatable to their audience.
What are some effective ways that your business can achieve this? Great question!
- Brand Personality
Your unique brand personality is essential to your business standing out on Instagram. Consumers love seeing the people and processes behind the brand because it‘s how we create human connections to our audience. By sharing behind-the-scenes snapshots of product development phases, team members and company culture your relatability score will sky-rocket.
- User- Generated Content (UGC)
UGC has become one of the best forms of social proof for businesses using a historical word-of-mouth marketing tactic. When businesses showcase real people using their products or services; by sharing videos or post reviews, it helps to expand their reach and engage with their target audience.
- Influencers
Businesses will be more likely to engage micro-influencer partnerships over celebrity or macro-influencers to create more authentic and personal content this year. There is a lot of value for small businesses to include micro-influencers in their marketing strategies on Instagram to drive specific actions, such as sales, rather than simply boosting brand awareness.
- Stories
If you’re not using Instagram Stories yet, then 2023 is your year to get creative and engage your community in a new way.
To make the most of your Stories use these tips to help get you define your goals:
- Keep Stories short and straight-to-the-point.
- Get creative with visual graphics and videos.
- Get more reach using trending sounds and hashtags.
- Repurpose user-generated content (UGC).
- Save important Stories in your highlights.
- Share exclusive content.
- Try quizzes and polls or run competitions.
The Reign of Reels
Launching in 2020, Instagram Reels has become a powerful tool for businesses to capture attention and drive engagement through short-form video content that converts. Reels’ capabilities allows you to use fun and creative ways to highlight your products and services, showcase your authentic brand personality, and reach a wider community.
According to Hubspot, “a staggering 90% of marketers using short-form video will increase or maintain their investment in 2023.” It’s now not a matter of if, but when, businesses will use Reels as a way to entertain and inform their community.
Some tips for using Instagram Reels in your business strategy include:
- Experiment with tutorials, behind-the-scenes edits, or powerful UGC.
- Demonstrate real-life-scenario usage of your products.
- Don’t forget to use trending hashtags, audio and sounds.
- Keep your videos to 15-60 seconds long.
- Video content that is short and punchy is king (or queen!).
Stay ahead of the curve and incorporate Instagram Reels into your content marketing strategy to tap into this rapidly growing trend in 2023.
The Future of Ecommerce
Businesses have embraced Instagram as a powerful platform to sell their products directly to consumers. In 2023, we anticipate that more brands will be integrating their e-commerce platforms with Instagram Shopping.
This growing trend allows businesses to utilise posts, stories and reels to tag products and influence customers to purchase directly from their Instagram feeds, without ever leaving the app.
Analytics tools are a must and tracking performance and sales metrics through Instagram Shopping allows you to identify how to optimise your sales strategies to drive more sales.
Providing your potential customers with strong customer service interactions through direct messages (DM’s) and responding to comments on these platforms will be pivotal to the success of your sales strategy on Instagram.
Will your brand be among the 15% of businesses who plan to offer exceptional customer service and support on Instagram for the first time in 2023?
By staying informed and adapting to these updates, you can ensure your business remains competitive and successful on one of the most powerful social media platforms in 2023. In case you are overwhelmed by the task, feel free to contact our team and see how we can help you create a custom-tailored digital marketing strategy for your business!
