The same fact of life applies to Instagram. It’s constantly evolving, features are rising and falling, and Instagram is rolling out updates like it has money to burn. And if you want to stay relevant and two steps ahead of your competitors, you need your finger on the pulse of the latest Instagram trends because if you’re not changing, you’re not growing.    

Wondering what’s new on Instagram? Here are the top Instagram trends that deserve a spot on your radar.

Use The “Add Yours” Sticker

Story views dwindling? Start using more engagement features. The Poll, Questions, and Quiz Stickers get your followers to interact with your content and give the algorithm the right signals to push your Story further up user’s newsfeeds. The most recent engagement feature is the “Add Yours” sticker. Create a prompt like “Share a picture of your pet,” and your followers can add their photo with the prompt by sharing it to their Story. It’s a fun way to build a relationship with your audience and instantly get more brand exposure for free. Our tip for using this feature? Use a mix of business-related content and your personal story.  • Are you always talking about a particular topic like plants? Show off your latest plant baby purchase and encourage your followers to do the same. • Did you drop a new line of leggings? Use the “Add Yours” sticker to encourage user-generated content and social proof from your audience. You’ll get a bump in engagement and sales. It’s a win-win!

Good news, everyone! In 2021, Instagram shook us all by switching it up and ditching the “Swipe Up” feature.  The replacement? A Link Sticker without the 10,000 follower threshold. Anyone (even personal accounts) can create a Story, add a link, and reap the rewards of Instagram’s most powerful Story feature. You can use this feature to redirect your followers to: • Your latest blog post • Gated content or lead magnets like eBooks  • Your product and services sales pages • Your newsletter sign up form

The best way to grow on Instagram in 2023 is with Reels.  Since its launch, the app has prioritized this content format over other types on the platform, giving creators the opportunity to connect with new audiences and grow without paid ads. But it’s not enough to simply create a 15-second clip and hope the algorithm Gods like it and push it out to more people.  If you want to give your content the best chance of going viral, you need to use trending sounds. Don’t have the time to keep your finger on the pulse of popular audios? We’ve got your back. Check out our trending Reels audio post – updated every week! Psst… did you know you can schedule your Reels ahead of time using Plann? Just another way we’re making your life easier as a creator or business owner.

Shop Up a Storm on Instagram

Over the last couple of years, Instagram has zoomed in on rolling out e-commerce features. First, we got the Swipe Up feature making it easier for brands to redirect followers to their check-out page. Then, Instagram announced the Shop tab, helping brands tag their products in posts and creating an intuitive in-app shopping experience. The result? 130 million people tap on an Instagram shopping post each month. Plus, the Instagram app is continuing its social shopping domination with new features like: • Instagram Checkout: Users can store payment details and purchase items without leaving the app. • Instagram Augmented Reality Shopping: Helping you try-on clothes virtually. • Instagram Guides Shopping • Instagram Reels Shopping But that’s not all. Instagram is testing out a native affiliate marketing tool for creators. Influencers can share items with their followers and make money from commissions.

Cross-Promotion: Twitter on Instagram

Instagram and Twitter never made cross-promotion easy. If you wanted to share your new Instagram post with your Twitter followers, you had to deal with an ugly URL and no preview image. The only way around it was to post the image as a new Tweet. Luckily, times have changed. Instagram links now have a preview image on Twitter, AND you can share your Tweets directly to Instagram. Here’s to holding conversations with your audience on both platforms and boosting engagement without the extra admin!

In-App Brand Deals for Creators

Instagram is making it easier for content creators to land brand deals and for brands to find the right influencer. In late 2021, the platform announced new partnership features to support the brand-influencer relationship. The first rollout was the “Collaboration” feature. Content creators can tag brands in a feed post or Reel, and the content will appear on both profiles. It boosts engagement for everyone and utilizes both audiences at once. Next, Instagram is testing out an influencer discovery tool where brands can use filters to discover and select creators for campaigns. Creators can add participating brands to their “preferred brands list” and give them priority when brands use the platform to find influencers.

Create Instagram Guides

Are you missing out on one of Instagram’s best features? Instagram Guides is a way for you to collect your posts and Reels and keep your most important information in one place. Let’s say you’re an Aussie travel blogger. Collect all your posts with travel tips and create a Sydney travel guide. Under each post, you can add a title and any other extra information. If you’re a food influencer, you could create Guides around specific recipes like vegan or gluten-free.

Now that you know what’s trending on Instagram, start Plann’ing your content strategy. Sign up for a free trial of Plann Plus today and schedule out your posts, find the best time to post for maximum engagement, and create on-brand Canva graphics without leaving the app.