Instagram has undergone various changes in the last few years and has successfully transformed itself into the economic powerhouse it is today. With the start of a new decade, it’s important to keep informed of the app’s latest trends to keep your content fresh and your audience engaged. Luckily for us, the experts at Later have given us the lowdown on what marketing trends are worth bringing in the New Year and trends to leave behind in 2019.
#1: “No edit” edits are here to stay
Say goodbye to carefully curated Instagram feeds and hello to more authentic-looking content. While making sure the images on your feed are cohesive is still important, this year will see an increase in organic and un-staged looking visuals across both grid images and videos. This is terrific news for marketers, as it eliminates hours spent editing and allows for more time to create content and integrate videos into a social media plan.
#2 Brand Collabs Manager
Following the success of the launch of its e-commerce in-app features, CheckOut and Shopping from Creators, Instagram announced last December its plans to launch a new platform that connects influencers with brands and vice versa through Facebook’s Brand Collabs Manager. The influencer marketplace allows content creators to share their analytics and engagement rates with brands, identify topics they want to create branded content for and allow for both brands and creators to search for partners. Although it is only currently available to a select group of content creators, this new venture has the potential to elevate influencer marketing and make direct ROI attribution easier, according to Later
#3 TikTok will be everywhere
TikTok was ranked third in the most downloaded app of 2019 and for good reason; the platform allows its 500 million active users to create fun and unfiltered videos that easily go viral on the app. Despite being a completely different platform, expect to see a major TikTok influence on the content shared on Instagram.
#4 Longer captions
Last year creators and brands alike sought after the power of the printed word to not only engage and interact with their followers but also strengthen their brand voice. With the rising demand for authenticity, telling a deeper story has grown in popularity and will continue to grow in 2020 as more marketers see the importance of caption copy.
#5 IGTV series
Now is the time to create your IGTV series, as Later predicts the platform will see an increase in usage and viewership in 2020. The long-form video content is not only exclusive to big brands with a hefty production budget, but smaller businesses and creators can also join in on the fun by simply propping a camera down and hitting record. The IGTV series is a great way to provide more value to your followers by creating meaningful content. So start brainstorming about what your series will be.
#6 AR Filters
Augmented Reality Filters is a growing trend on the platform and is predicted by Later to become a more visible part of the Instagram experience in 2020. Thanks to AR creators, there is now a wide array of filters to choose from that you can add to your content for a fresh and edited look.
#7 Nano-influencers
Later predicts an increase in brands partnering with nano-influencers as “word of mouth” makes its way into Instagram. This means seeing normal people with a smaller following (generally lesser than 20k) recommending products they love with an affiliate link. This allows brands to tap into the “trusted recommendation from a friend” approach to influencer marketing and make it a more conversion-oriented channel in 2020.
