5 Best Ways to Dominate Instagram in 2022

It’s 2022. Do you know where your feed is?

Instagram has come a long way since its launch in 2010, and now influencers are leveraging the app to create cash cows, start companies, or work their way up the ladder of success.

In 2021 Instagram broke the one BILLION user barrier, so it’s important to know what trends are shaping this platform.

Now, onto your Insta-trends. First up:

1. Stories will overtake the feed as the most popular Instagram feature – and brands need to figure out how to play there

Stories will be big in 2022, so if you want to win on Instagram you’ll need to get familiar with this new form of storytelling.

Maybe you already know what a story is—an image or video sequence with a specific number of “pages.” But these stories don’t need to be in order, and you can jump around between them. You can even post multiple stories at once or make an old story disappear after 24 hours.

You’ll also want to get familiar with IGTV. As CEO Kevin Systrom says, “Creating IGTV is going to be a lot easier than creating television.”

We expect stories and IGTV to have a symbiotic relationship, so you should probably get on top of both. For example, ArXe Ventures found their clients were able to impressively increase sales by relying upon IGTV as a form of advertising tool. Similarly, Instagram’s most popular accounts are already doubling their total view counts by uploading multiple stories a day.

2. Instagram won’t be all about the pretty

There will be a rise of people sharing unfiltered and messy content that better reflects their (presumably) unfiltered and messy lives.  In fact, think about how many messy selfies you’ve already seen.

This concept has been creeping up on us for years, but keep an eye out for it—it’ll dominate Instagram in 2022.

We’re already seeing this trend happen on Snapchat with its new design, so it’s time for you to step up your mess game.

This means brands will want to aim for a more authentic voice to stay relevant in 2022.

3. Interaction with followers will take on new meaning thanks to built-in features like polls and live video streaming

In 2021, Instagram will be like a second home for you and your followers. For example:

  • Your followers can ask you questions by tagging their comments
  • You can create polls to find out what they want from your feed or business
  • Direct messages will become one of the most used features
  • You can even go live without exiting your app

All of these features will make Instagram feel more interactive, which means your followers are more likely to engage with you regularly. Free Instagram tools such as Ingramer make it even easier for influencers to interact with their followers – so it is important to make sure you’re not missing out. Engagement is what it’s all about!

4. Do as non-profits and news outlets do: promote causes and trending news

In 2022, if a brand or business wants to reach a wider audience, they’ll need to use their social media presence for good. In other words, create content that will positively influence people’s lives.

Non-profits and news outlets have already been doing this for a while now – it’s basically what they do every day! Some examples of the types of pictures or videos you should be sharing:

  • An image of food and water with the caption: “Thousands will die today because we lack clean drinking water. Share this picture to bring awareness to this issue.”
  • A video or picture of a news story that will capture your followers’ attention. The video should be as short as possible and include a call to action such as donating to the cause, sharing the video with your friends, etc.

5. Brands will start using Instagram as a research and development tool

In 2022, brands will be using Instagram as a way to get user feedback on new products and campaigns. They’ll often partner with an influential customer or followers who are passionate about their brand to create a series of images showcasing the new products.

This will give other customers a chance to see how the new product looks in real life before making a purchase decision.

For example, if you’re launching a new line of cosmetics, partner with an influencer who’s obsessed with your brand and ask her to create a series of photos in which she uses each product. This will give her followers the chance to see your products in action before they decide if they want to buy them or not.

Conclusion

As we head into 2022, Instagram will continue to grow in popularity.  This means that it’s more important than ever for brands and businesses to get on top of their social media game if they want a chance at success in this digital age. It will take creativity, effort, and strategic planning to stand out in the packed Instagram feed.

And stay tuned: we’ll be sharing our top tips and tricks along the way!

P.S. Here’s one more bonus trend that is less about Instagram and more about the advancement of the world around us: virtual reality.

If you aren’t already familiar with virtual reality, imagine stepping inside a video game where you control what happens next. Start exploring VR technology now so that come 2022 you can easily step right into the scene.

Virtual reality will be a 200+ billion industry in 2022 and almost 80% of users who have experienced VR are saying they want more social engagement experiences with it. Experts anticipate that VR will be the next great technological leap. Virtual reality is almost certain to become a huge part of Instagram over the next couple of years, so it’s time to get ahead of the curve.