Archived Articles
Posted on 12/29/2020 at 04:00 PM
Why You Need to be on Instagram in 2021
Marketing You Need to Understand!
If you’re running an eCommerce business, you know how important it is to stay on top of all the newest and latest marketing trends. Consumer patterns of behavior often provide key insights, and understanding these valuable pieces of data can skyrocket you into success. On the other hand, ignoring consumer insights can play a key role in your business’s path to failure.
The good news about heading into a new year is the opportunity to assess what worked in 2020, what didn’t, and how to best move ahead in 2021.
As you have very likely come to understand, for a business to thrive and survive in 2020, Social Media Marketing strategy has become a must. Whether we’re talking about Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram, all of these social networks are essential for eCommerce businesses to not only use but to understand and use correctly. With over a billion active users, these marketing platforms carry the potential to be a goldmine for success.
GRIP PRO TIP: Social media strategy is a science that requires the consideration of many factors to be successful. What content should you post? How often should you post to which platform? The list of questions seems to go on and on. Fortunately, thanks to a recent article posted by the American Marketing Association, knowing when to post can be a breeze! Just pick your platform and go!
So, let’s dig specifically into the upcoming trends on Instagram and get you prepared to add, eliminate, and plan for total marketing success in the new year!
Top Trends for Instagram in 2021
Instagram Stories - A Cornerstone Component
Let’s talk about Instagram Stories. Although this feature was only launched a few years ago, it has quickly become a favorite of Insta users around the globe.
In terms of a social media marketing plan, Stories and Instagram influencers go hand in hand. Instagram influencers are users who have gained notoriety on the platform through their creative content and honest feedback about a topic or product. In terms of your brand, influencers have the potential to propel your business forward.
In fact, nearly eight out of ten (78 percent) of brands say that Instagram Stories has had a massive impact on their brand (Tribe Dynamics, 2020) because of the way that influencers use the feature and the type of content they post.
Moving into 2021, it seems likely that Stories remain one of the hottest trends on Instagram and a key tool for influencer marketing.
Reels are on the Rise
Instagram Reels are only a few months old (just launched in August 2020), and is quickly becoming TikTok’s most direct competitor. Reels allow users to create and edit short, 15-second videos and include music or other audio, similar to TikTok videos.
Due to a variety of issues that seem to continually surround TikTok, many users have found a new home with Reels. No doubt this is going to be a growing trend for Instagram in 2021, and a must-use tool for marketers.
Specifically, Reels will be a great opportunity to show and tell a product, give a peek behind the scenes, educate potential customers, and make things more personal. Since Reels is still relatively new, get in on the trend sooner than later and be one of the first in your market to use it well and connect with your audience.
Additionally, once you’ve started using it more often, check how many times a Reels video has been “liked” and shared. This information will prove helpful when creating other content.
Reels as the New “Organic Reach King”?
Another reason to start using Reels is that the organic reach on Reels that use proper hashtags is extremely high. For a long time, TikTok has built a reputation as the platform to be for organic reach with short-form video content. This may be changing in a big way!
It is our belief that to boost the use of Reels, Instagram has tweaked their algorithm to provide a broader reach organically to those using Reels creatively. To test this theory, members of our Digital Marketing team did some internal testing with their personal accounts and found that the same content posted to TikTok and Reels (Identical Video, Length, Audio, Textual Content, and Hashtags) at peak audience times performed on average 625% better in terms of organic reach on Reels than TikTok.
If you’re not going all-in on Reels now, you could be missing out on brand exposure in a very big way!
Go LIVE with Instagram Live
In case you’ve forgotten, just a few short months ago countries all over the world were in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Finding ways to connect with others became vitally important. So tools like Instagram Live really took off - it saw a massive 70 percent increase in just one month!
Although we’re headed into 2021 and have vaccines available, it seems subsequent waves of infection could hit many countries. In some places stringent lockdowns may remain in place, making Instagram Live a continued trend into the new year.
Similar to Reels, your business can use Instagram Live great content marketing. Consider things like demonstrations, hold a Q&A session, give a behind the scenes look, and more.
Instagram Guides
Another great “hidden” feature that is easy to overlook is Instagram Guides. Guides are a great way to expand your influence on Instagram.
There are three specific types of guides that can be created.
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Places- Places allows you to give recommendations for places in your local area and beyond. You select a location, attribute images or videos that others have shared to it (with a limit of 5 photos or videos), then add a title, select your cover photo, your two cents about what you like about the place, and then share away! This would be great for companies looking to drive foot traffic to their sight or even communities looking to boost tourism!
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Products- A place to recommend your favorite products (see more below).
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Posts- A favorite feature here on the Global Reach Digital Marketing team, the posts feature allows users to create a sort of playlist of previously posted content to tie it all together. Each post is presented as a sort of slide and can be given a unique title and description, allowing for extra keyword value.
You may be wondering why you should create guides. The answer is simple: Influence. The algorithms (both social media and Google) machine learning is all about creating and sharing the best high-quality user experience. If you provide valuable content, you extend your influence. Branding made easy!
Shop Til’ You Drop
Once again, the pandemic that impacted the entire world created an opportunity for online shopping to really take off.
Instagram may not be the first place you think of when considering shopping online, but it’s a growing trend among its users and can be considered an eCommerce platform. Instagram is consistently launching new features to support online retailers, moving consumers through the various stages of the sales funnel to help get the sale.
As of now, 70 percent of shoppers say they discovered a product from a photo or video on Instagram. That’s incredible!
If you own a traditional brick-and-mortar store, make sure that electronic commerce and online stores are part of your plan for 2021. There is no doubt in-app shopping will continue to be a trend, if not an expected way of shopping for consumers as they spend more time on the platform and as new tools are developed.
Get Involved
The thing about trends is that they’re worth paying attention to. You can understand a lot about your target audience if you understand what they’re doing and why.
Using tools that have already proven to be successful among consumers will only benefit you. In terms of a social media marketing strategy, you want to be riding the trend train; don’t stand by as an unengaged passerby, but get involved as a fully invested passenger!
These popular tools, Stories, Reels, and Instagram Live, are only a small glimpse into everything that Instagram has to offer. Not to mention this is the power of a single social network! Imagine also putting into practice other trends on other platforms...
Spend some time getting to know the free tools at your fingertips on Instagram. With a little planning, creative content creation, and passion, your business will be a powerhouse by the end of 2021.
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