Do you get the 8 major marketing trends of Instagram in 2021?

Instagram is a powerful social media application owned by Facebook. Many sellers are using Instagram to attract traffic to their stores and expand their brand influence. 2021 has arrived. What development trends will Instagram show in the new year?

1. Focus on Instagram’s eCommerce Tools

2020 is a key year for Instagram's entry into the e-commerce business. During this year, Instagram launched Instagram Shop, allowing users to "browse the store" and view "Editor's Picks", thereby simplifying the process of users discovering purchasable products.

In addition to Instagram Shop, Instagram has also released e-commerce shopping tools such as:

Shopping Posts

Story stickers

lEasily find the same product as the creator

Checkout counter

Live Shopping

After Instagram added the 15-second short video reel "Reels" at the bottom of the home screen on November 12 this year, the company officially launched a new shopping feature "Shopping in Reels" to compete with TikTok globally on December 10.

Instagram itself is a social application for sharing pictures, but it is now moving towards an e-commerce platform that enables mutual benefit for brands and content creators, and Instagram’s pace of transformation is not expected to slow down in the future.

2. Short video content dominates on Instagram

TikTok, the originator of short videos , swept the world in 2020 with its novel, interesting and creative videos. It is very popular among the young Generation Z group, but gradually, people of all ages, such as millennials, have also joined the TikTok social platform. Data shows that TikTok's user downloads in 2020 reached 960 million times, and the top three markets for downloads were India, Brazil and the United States, with spending reaching US$1.26 billion.

In order to compete with TikTok and get a share of the short video market, Instagram also launched its 15-second short video reel Reels in August 2020, allowing users to create short videos with background music and other visual effects and share them in public spaces or circles of friends.

Although Instagram Reels is a new feature, it has already gained a large fan base, with the number of daily active users reaching 500 million.

Instagram Reels supports short videos that shorten users' attention spans while being easy to share and spread virally. With this tool, brands and creators can use more creative ways to create content such as operation guides to showcase their products and services, bringing brands closer to consumers.

According to foreign media predictions, by 2021, Instagram will likely extend the length of Reels short videos to 60 seconds, apply more personalized recommendation algorithms, and attract more brands and Internet celebrities to cooperate through this platform.

3. Instagram carousels and emojis will continue to be popular

Instagram’s carousel posts and stickers are perfect growth tools for attracting more users because they are easy to share and spread. And with the disappearance of the like function on Instagram, easy-to-share and save content will become more important.

If you don’t know what kind of content should be used in the carousel post, sellers may wish to refer to existing popular posts. Educational posts containing tips and tricks, public welfare posts that raise social environmental awareness and make suggestions, and displaying the same content in different colors and creative backgrounds so that viewers can spontaneously share the frame they think is the best are all worth referring to.

In terms of emojis, if they are made properly, they can produce humorous effects and promote spontaneous sharing by users, which is a win-win situation for both creators and viewers. However, if it involves brand promotion, you should carefully consider the degree of connection between the emoji and the brand. If it is not appropriate, it is better to choose a carousel post.

4. Instagram continues to improve its diversity and inclusion

Social activities carried out around the world in 2020 have highlighted the lack of cultural diversity in influencer marketing, social media marketing and brand core culture. It is expected that influencers of different skin colors and nationalities will appear more in brand social media promotion activities in the future. Food blogger Danielle Salmon advises brands: "Brands can research creative ideas related to your industry and involve the right black people, negotiate cooperation terms with them, maintain fairness, and provide reasonable compensation within the budget."

At the same time, more and more brands have publicly committed to assuming corresponding social responsibilities, launching initiatives such as "promoting changes in the organization's employee structure" and "reserving 15% of shelf space for black-founded businesses."

Cultural diversity and inclusion is an issue that social media platforms should have addressed long ago, and foreign media predict that this trend will become a priority for many brands in 2021.

5. Influencer marketing will grow “explosively” in 2021

Influencer marketing is expected to grow into a $15 billion industry by 2022, and with the help of Instagram and its e-commerce tools, influencers will be able to continue to expand their influence and gain more opportunities to work with brands in the coming years.

Fohr’s findings show that by March 2020, nearly 80% of influencers reported an increase in audience engagement, and this upward trend is expected to continue.

In addition, it is expected that influencer marketing will usher in the following four major trends in 2021:

Collaboration between content creators and brands is growing, with annual partnerships becoming more common .

Reshape the membership model by embedding brand tags in posts published by influencers;

l Pay more attention to the diversity of influencer marketing entities and content;

More and more brands will choose to cooperate with small and medium-sized influencers to save marketing investment while penetrating into the communities established by influencers.

6. More authentic Instagram captions and content are more popular

In 2020, more and more influencers tend to post less embellished and more real-life content on social media, such as topics such as loneliness and self-esteem. Brands and companies also choose real content expression.

For example, stationery brand Papersmiths expressed its gratitude to its fan base for their support during the pandemic, while also asking for suggestions on how to improve the website experience:

Likewise, Shy Wolf Candles has publicly posted details about supply delays, health concerns, and team changes:

Being open and honest about the company's operations and practices can help build a stronger and more stable fan community and help increase traffic to the site. In 2020, attention to topics such as physical and mental health and entrepreneurship has been on the rise. In 2021, it is expected that there will be more social media content that is "honest" with users, such as public statements.

7. Instagram’s “microblogging” format will rise

According to Fohr's 2019 report, the average length of text content on Instagram has doubled since 2016. Long content not only means that the creator's community needs to spend more time reading, but also encourages them to comment and share their stories.

Larger content spaces help brands develop their own “education” communities and become the preferred format for sharing advice and other content, while generating revenue for both creators and brands.

8. Brands will hold more virtual events

During the epidemic, most people turned to online social networking, and brand activities also turned to online. This not only solves the problem of epidemic prevention, but also expands the geographical scope of participating users. More importantly, holding virtual brand events online can save money, without renting venues, and without preparing wine, gifts and decorations.

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