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Influencers Share Instagram Marketing Trends 20182017 has been a big year for Instagram community with the platform flourishing and expanding faster than ever. So many new and awesome features were added too!

So, what does 2018 has in store for Instagram?

I asked some of the biggest Instagram influencers from a variety of industries ranging from photography to fashion to travel to blogging what their strategies will be.

How do you stay ahead of the curve? What does anyone building exposure and influence on Instagram needs to know? How do they see the platform evolving? What will the biggest Instagram marketing trends be in 2018?

After all, Instagram has been innovative and proactive in rolling out new features to further engage its expanding community.

If you truly want to take advantage of everything Instagram has to offer as a business tool, you need to keep up with Instagram marketing trends. Increasing reach and engagement rates, leveraging selling capabilities, and building a unique positioning requires knowledge and creativity. Now you too can leverage of all these strategies to the benefit of your own business!

 

“I think that one thing that won’t change, independently of the new features Instagram could roll out next year, is the need for creativity. Whether it’s regular posts, Stories, or Live video, we always need to think about engaging our audience and addressing their needs and preferences.

Speaking of content, I think there will be even more sponsored content on the platform with even more brands dabbling into influencer marketing. However, only those content creators who can tastefully combine promotion with value and make it seem unforced and organic will see the best results.”

– Lesya Liu, @lesyaliu

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“My advice for Instagram users is to make the visual imagery and art that you WANT to make, not the kind you think you SHOULD make. Whatever inspires you, will inspire others, and people respond very well to content that is genuine and authentic. BE honest. People are looking for something to relate to, not perfection. Tell a story! Collaborate and say YES as much as possible.”

– Quigley, @officiallyquigley

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“Influencer marketing will continue to work in a big way. Also just doubling down on producing the best possible content ever for your audience. I know it might seem obvious but so many people forget you get out what you put in, us included!”

– Nathan Chan, @foundr

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“One of the strategies that will continue to work for Instagram is being passionate about your posts and engaging with your audience. I started my Instagram because I wanted to share my love of food and travel with others and that has not changed. I still answer all my comments and direct messages and believe this is what will help you stand apart from other accounts.

There’s a lot of talk about Instagram changing and adding features so its important for both personal and business accounts to evolve and grow with it. I do my best to test them out and before I know it, it becomes part of my new routine and I think Instagram sort of rewards accounts that adapt well to the changes. I think it’s important to move forward with that mindset and understanding to continue to grow on IG.”

– Jessica Hirsch, @cheatdayeats

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“I think we’re going to continue to see the blurring of the lines between brands and media companies. I think brands will begin to think like media with more in-depth content marketing strategies. I also believe brands will start to incorporate episodic content on a regular programming schedule, creating something to look forward to, as well as developing deeper engagement with their customers/audience. Sprinkle in different ways to start showcasing product, as Instagram looks to rollout its shopping feature to businesses who are on Shopify/BigCommerce or use self-serve Facebook Shops.”

– Ryan Glick, @coffeenclothes

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“The best strategies are those that are more natural, that recreate places and moments that are more realistic in which the followers are identified. There is no telling, because everything depends on the changes they may have, either with something like the visibility of the influential. The best way is learn, is the objective, creative contents and that arouse interest, not only for their products or services…. but always with a natural way, without being forced to focus in the brand, interacting with the environment of the content influencer and his own sight.”

– Oliver Vegas, @ovunno

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“What continues to work best on Instagram is producing unique, original content. There’s a lot competing for people’s attention so properly curating your photos and video is key — think unique angles, places, and perspectives. Having a distinguishing feature that people start to recognize you for is what will also help set you apart (whether that’s coloring or style). Making an effort to have genuine interactions with other influencers will always help to establish you in your niche. Those relationships should extend past Instagram, ideally.

Coming up on next year is exciting — there’s a lot that’s changed between Instagram’s algorithm and how influencers are working with brands. We expect that more ways to consume video will be introduced, and it will start to be prioritized even more than we’ve seen already. Also, new options for bloggers/influencers to monetize. Wouldn’t it be interesting if in addition to ‘Shop Now’ posts, users could ‘Book Now’ when viewing a hotel or a destination? We anticipate more distinguishing features between businesses and personal accounts.

Instagram has so much going on behind the scenes. The year 2018 might also be when we start to hear more about the way they are using AI to analyze content. We might also see the first introduction of 360 video this year and other VR integration.”

– Selena and Jacob, @finduslost

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“With all the algorithm changes we keep seeing on social platforms, I think it’s really important to keep posting consistently and making sure analytics are being checked often to make sure you’re hitting your peak times. Being flexible is so important to make sure you’re interacting with your users in a way that they find useful. You never know what they are going to throw at you so I try to keep on my toes and check blogs to find out about potential changes to platforms. Who knows what they’ll throw at us next! You must make sure that your content is working for your users otherwise you won’t achieve your goals. We regularly ask our followers what they want to see more of, what’s working and what’s not. Its helped us grow to where we are now.”

– Ben Gilchrist, @typespire

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“Video will become more and more important in 2018 and all businesses should start thinking about how they can utilize video in their feed. If you opened the app right now, you’d probably scroll past a couple videos before getting to any standard posts because the algorithm prioritizes richer, higher value content like video.

Another prediction is that users’ hashtag strategies will change as more and more users start following specific hashtags, a new feature rolled out within the last few weeks.”

-Talia Koren, @workweeklunch

Instagram Marketing Trends 2018“Instagram is the winner of visual storytelling, but Snapchat won’t give up without a fight. Instagram borrowed the Stories feature from Snapchat and they’re now forcing Snapchat out of the game. With 300 million daily users, Instagram has double the following as Snapchat, so Snapchat will come up with game changing ideas in 2018 to stay afloat.

Unique technology that in turn helps others create unique storytelling experiences. The biggest challenge of visual storytelling today is that everyone now has a platform so creative minds need to go the extra mile to do something that “wows” people, grabs their attention, and sparks meaningful conversation. New technologies like AR/VR and 360 video will take a front row seat in the visual storytelling arena in 2018 to immerse audiences into unique experiences they’ve never seen before in a way that is authentic.

Portrait mode and simulated depth effects will reach new heights. Right now, it’s pretty easy to spot errors and artifacts on portrait mode and studio lighting effects. This will only get better in 2018. Eventually, the quality of photos will be so high that it will be hard to tell it apart from the big guns – DSLRs – in most situations.”

-Brian Fulda, @light

“My view on being deliberate on social media is to create once and post often. It’s a pyramid strategy, with my pinnacle piece of content as blogging, and all of my social media serving as a reinforcement of that particular blog post. When I empower my clientele with this, there is always a sense of ease. It’s constancy, consistency, and clarity.

Instagram is where it’s at right now, but we anticipate it becoming more of a pay-to-play platform over time, like Facebook. Their recent algorithm shifts have been felt by all, so it’s only a matter of time until their analytics develop to suit their businesses’ needs. We all know that Facebook is looking right at Snapchat and will be blocking any and all momentum toward growth. They’ve rolled out Messenger for kids, “streaking,” and their own version of “stories,” so we can expect to see a lot more features in the future.

Just remember that you can’t be everything to everyone, or else you will become nothing to no one. Take steps to identify and clarify your brand and your content “buckets” (as I like to call them). From there, you can narrow down your cadence (how often you should post) based on your ideal audience. The Instagram audience is much different than the twitter or Facebook audience. The most important thing is to identify your voice. I’m also a huge supporter of building out one’s own email list. Reason being, they are yours! Unlike Facebook followers and Instagram followers who own that information, not you. When you have your own database, you can speak—and connect—directly.”

– Jessica Zweig, @jessicazweig

“The strategies that will continue to work are posting consistently, collaborations with other creators and keeping your feed visually pleasing. Hashtags are great for new people to discover you as well, and even if the hashtags are in the comment section, they will still be picked up by the search function. The overall aesthetic of your page is a key component for gaining followers that is most overlooked. Keep a certain style, color palette or design in mind with your posts. Remember: Users have to look at your “grid” first before they hit the follow button, so your top 9 to 12 photos are crucial for them to make that decision. Don’t be afraid to delete old photos that don’t fit you anymore!

A disruptive feature I predict for Instagram soon will be deeper integration into the Facebook eco-system (WhatsApp, Oculus VR, etc.) Facebook owns dozens of companies which they can borrow features from, and these usually end up being platformed in someway onto Instagram. So, if you see it on Facebook, the chances are good it will be coming to Instagram soon too. I predict a native “Re-Gram” feature emerging soon, so it will be easier than ever to cross promote other users content quickly. The Instagram stories will continue to gain market share over snapchat as users slowly transition from snapchat to instagram.

If you want to build a business or social following on instagram, the best thing is to be an active part of the community. Comment on others photos, like photos, and research who (or what) is currently in your niche. Develop your niche and continue to target fans of that particular topic. Just like anything else, Instagram takes hard work to be successful at, so stick with it! Have fun with your content and engage your audience in discussions around your posts whenever possible.”

– David Lehre, @davidlehre

In your opinion, what are some of the biggest Instagram marketing trends in 2018? Do you have any tactics not mentioned in this post? Share in the comment section below or head over to Instagram @lesyaliu to continue the conversation!