Instagram's New Algorithm Update Prioritizes Original Content: What Marketers Need to Know Consistently creating high-quality, engaging, and relevant content across social channels can be incredibly difficult and time-consuming for marketers. To combat those challenges, most marketers have relied on reposting content from other creators and brands as an opportunity to fill in their social calendars and provide valuable content on a more consistent basis. In fact, reposting is an incredibly popular option for sharing information, funny memes, or interesting trends with your own audiences without needing to re-create the wheel — consider, for instance, how Instagram's #repost hashtag has over 560 million posts. But as of April 20, 2022, reposted content will no longer be rewarded. Here's what Instagram's new algorithm update means for marketers. What Instagram's New Algorithm Update Means for Marketers and Creators Alike Original Content Will Be Prioritized On April 20, Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, tweeted an announcement that Instagram is now ranking based off originality. 📣 New Features 📣We've added new ways to tag and improved ranking: - Product Tags- Enhanced Tags - Ranking for originality Creators are so important to the future of Instagram, and we want to make sure that they are successful and get all the credit they deserve. pic.twitter.com/PP7Qa10oJr— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) April 20, 2022 As he puts it, "If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you're re-sharing something you found...

The HubSpot Blog's Instagram Shopping Report: Data from 500+ Instagram Marketers In 2022, it's clear that Instagram is no longer just a photo-sharing app. Not only has Instagram become a thriving social media channel with all sorts of video, Story, and even live stream features, but it's even evolving into a shopping platform that fuses e-commerce and social media together. And, our recent survey of 580 Instagram marketers found that using the app’s shopping tools enables the highest ROI of any Instagram strategy. But with a wide variety of shopping tools popping up in feed-based posts, Reels, Live video, Stories, Guides, and the dedicated Shop tab, it can be challenging to figure out where to start. To help marketers and business professionals like you, let’s take a deep dive into Instagram’s shopping tools to find out: Which Instagram Shopping Tools Perform Best? Using Instagram shopping tools is the strategy with the highest ROI and also the strategy used most by Instagram marketers. Most importantly, it’s just getting started. While just 37% currently use the app’s shopping tools, 94% of them will increase or maintain their investment this year. On top of that, 1 in 3 plan to use Instagram shopping tools for the first time this year. Also, marketers who leverage Instagram’s shopping tools are 15% more likely to say their Instagram strategy was effective last year than those who don’t. So which tools perform best? Of the shopping tools, Instagram Live Shopping and Instagram Shops have the...

The HubSpot Blog’s 2022 Instagram Marketing Trends Report If you’ve been on Instagram lately, you’ve probably noticed that the app looks a bit different every time you log on. The heart-shaped notification button seems to move with a mind of its own, IGTV has disappeared, and the addition of the Reels and Shop buttons has completely changed the way we interact with the platform. While these changes seem arbitrary, they're the crucial next steps in Instagram's evolution into a video-centric social shopping platform. In 2022, Instagram will continue to prioritize video, expand on social shopping tools, make it easier for creators to monetize their content and partner with brands, and rework direct messaging (DM) interfaces. While these shifts align with the trends we saw in our Social Media Trends survey, we decided to dive even deeper by asking another 580 Instagram marketers about how they'll approach marketing on this changing platform in 2022. Top Instagram Marketing Survey Findings Based on our results, most Instagram marketers are already ahead of the game: 79% have leveraged Instagram Shopping tools and one in three plan to use them for the first time in 2022.   82% post video content on the platform and the content formats they use most are video-based. Instagram Live has the highest ROI of any content format. It is also the most effective for gaining followers, gets the most shares, and will see the most investment from Instagram marketers this year. Content that...

B2B & B2C Instagram Marketing Trends of 2022 When it comes to social media, there are a lot of differences in which channels B2C and B2B brands prioritize. According to HubSpot Blog Research surveying 500+ marketers in 2021, 75% of B2B businesses currently leverage Facebook compared to only 66% of B2C. 60% of B2C businesses leverage YouTube, 24% more than B2B businesses. For Twitter, the same is true – it’s more popular among B2C brands than B2B businesses. When we narrow it down to Instagram, how do they compare? Let’s dive into the key differences between B2C and B2B brands on the social platform. B2B Trends and Tactics Better Success with Influencer Marketing When it comes to influencer marketing, B2B companies are reporting much higher return on investment than B2C companies. In fact, 25% of B2B marketers say it’s the marketing strategy they plan to leverage the most in 2022, compared to only 10% of B2C marketers. When asked to rank the ROI of partnering with influencers, 70% of B2B marketers say it offers high ROI compared to only 51% of B2C marketers. Most B2C brands report average ROI from this strategy.     ...

What are Instagram Guides? If you're on Spotify, chances are you've curated a playlist with all your favorite songs — and rearranged them in a specific order. But did you know you can do something similar on Instagram? Enter the Instagram Guide — a tool that allows you to curate your favorite Instagram posts, Reels, or Lives in one location, which you can share with your community. For marketers, it's a great way to revive old content, promote products, and introduce your brand. Let's take a closer look at Instagram Guides, how you can leverage them in your marketing strategy, and how to make one in six steps. What is an Instagram Guide? In short, an Instagram Guide is a collection of posts, Reels, or Lives — either from your own feed or from others. Image Source All guides revolve around a single topic, story, or idea. For instance, you could create a gift guide, product round-up, or exercise routine — but more on that later. Once you create a guide, it will live under a public tab in your profile that users can visit anytime. You can also share it to your Instagram Story for more visibility. There are three types of guides on Instagram — places, products, and posts. Places is for sharing travel-related or location-specific content. For instance, you could share your road trip itinerary or your favorite coffee shops in X location.Example: The Most Instagrammable Places in Phoenix. Products...

How to Build Your Brand With Instagram: 11 Tried-and-True Strategies Instagram has demonstrated tremendous growth, with its community reaching over 2 billion monthly users in 2021. Despite its impressive reach, many business owners are still overlooking its marketing potential. As a result, they're leaving high levels of engagement, brand awareness, and even profit on the table. But why? In just 12 months, we used Instagram to gain 400,000 followers for Foundr -- which translated to over 70,000 email subscribers. At the end of that period, we were averaging 30,000 call-to-action clicks per month from Instagram, and converting 30% of the users who landed on our website from our Instagram page into email subscribers. We've seen it work, now it's time for you to get in on the action. In this article, we’ll show you how to build your brand with Instagram. (If you're looking for more marketing tools and resources for your new business, check out our comprehensive guide on how to start a business.) 1. Build an Instagram strategy. We listed this as the first step because it is the most crucial step in building a brand on Instagram. If you lack a clear strategy, you’ll end up with low-performing content and a scattered feed as you struggle to brainstorm new ideas. To build your Instagram strategy, you’ll need to do four things: Determine your goals. Narrow down your target audience. Research your competition. Develop your...

How One Instagram Influencer Went From 0 to 45K on Reels (And How You Can, Too) Over the past few years, TikTok has seen explosive growth, and it shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, by the end of 2022, TikTok is predicted to reach 1.5 billion monthly active users. But there's another big player in the game of short-form video — Instagram Reels, which Instagram launched in 2020 to provide a space for Instagram users to post short, 'snackable' content that mirrors what you'd see on TikTok. We've already covered the debate of TikTok versus Instagram Reels, so I won't go into that here. Instead, I spoke with an Instagram influencer and consultant, Kar Brulhart, who has grown her own Instagram account from 0 to 45,000+ viewers and obtained over six figures in less than 10 months using Reels — all organically. Here, we'll cover Brulhart's tips for how brands can leverage Instagram Reels to reach new audiences and acquire new customers. But first — why Instagram Reels over TikTok? The Benefits of Instagram Reels "A lot of brands think they need to be on multiple platforms in order to have a voice and a presence, but it's more important to get very good at one or two platforms, and have a voice and message and community there," Kar Brulhart told me. She adds, "We forget these platforms are about community, and we have to nurture our audiences in order to get results." ...

5 Instagram Challenges Marketers are Facing, According to Research Instagram likes to keep marketers on their toes. Just this past year, we've seen a speedy roll out of new features, an expansion into video, and a plethora of new shopping options. But it's not only the platform that's evolving — the audience is too. Now it's up to marketers to evolve their Instagram strategy to better align with audience preferences, behaviors, and habits in 2022. Here, we'll cover five main challenges marketers are facing on Instagram and the best strategies to solve them. 5 Instagram Challenges Marketers Face 1. Knowing which hashtags to use – and how many. From the platform that gave us #ThrowbackThursday and #WednesdayWisdom, it's no surprise that hashtags play a huge role on Instagram. But they can also be difficult to crack — how many should you use? Should you stick with the popular hashtags or target more niche ones? HubSpot and Mention's 2022 Instagram Engagement Report answers some of these questions. For one, while it may sound counterintuitive to avoid popular hashtags (like #travel or #photography), it's better to lean into niche communities. The reason? Even though niche hashtags have fewer posts, they typically have a more dedicated community following them. In fact, the report found that hashtags targeting specific interests and communities — like geographic locations and TV shows — garnered the most engagement. When it comes to the number of hashtags you include your post, one thing is clear — the...

Top Tactics for Instagram Growth in 2022: HubSpot Blog Data Instagram is a top-rated app, with more than 1 billion global monthly active users. Given the size of its user base, businesses have valuable opportunities on the platform to generate an audience, build a community, and drive sales. To help learn more about how to grow your business on the app and create an engaged community, the HubSpot Blog surveyed more than 1,000 marketing professionals that use the platform. Here are some of our key findings. How Marketers Grew Their Following in 2021 In 2021, marketers reported that the key to growing an account to the first 1,000 followers on Instagram was by creating shareable content with high-quality captions. Growing their following past 1,000 followers involved posting engaging Stories, engaging with users, and partnering with influencers, all of which we’ll discuss in more detail below. If you’re having trouble growing your following, or are losing followers, marketers report that this typically occurs for a few key reasons: not posting often enough, being too sales-y, and Instagram removing bot followers. How Marketers Grew Engagement in 2021 In 2021, marketers increased engagement on Instagram through audience interaction, and creating content that encourages engagement. For example, Creating content that is shareable, inspiring audiences to share it on their own profiles via Stories or reposting on their feed, Monitoring your comments and mentions to find user-generated content that you can...

Which Instagram Story Formats Really Engage Viewers In 2021, Instagram reported over 500 million users viewed Stories.  Since launching in 2016, the Stories feature alone has made Instagram more popular than other Story and mobile video platform competitors including Snapchat, TikTok, and its owner's own platform: Facebook Stories.   Even if you've already published a handful of branded Stories, you still might want to up your game by making them even more engaging. After all, Stories can provide great benefits related to audience engagement, brand awareness, and even purchase-related conversions. Despite the growing number of benefits that Instagram Stories offers brands, crafting good content still takes time, energy, and brainstorming. Even when you put your best efforts into creating a Story, you might still find that it falls flat, sees a high drop-off, or shows other signs of low engagement. As you build your social media content strategy for 2022, you might be asking yourself, "What type of Instagram Story format do people actually engage with?" In this post, I'll highlight what consumers said about their favorite Instagram Story formats, the trends marketers are noticing, and show you examples along the way. Which Formats Marketers Are Leveraging The HubSpot Blog surveyed over 1,000 marketers to learn more about their marketing strategies in 2022. According to this survey, 78% of marketers leverage Instagram Stories in their roles. Of those who use Instagram Stories, 43% post on behalf of their brand multiple times per week. The marketers in...