Instagram: Embracing Social Media in 2022

I attended a luncheon hosted by the Knoxville chapter of the American Marketing Association and the speaker was Abbi McCollum. I was very excited to see her presentation about current social media trends. I personally feel she is one of the best in the business when it comes to effective social media, and she should be. Abbi is the Vice President of Digital Social Media for HGTV. Her presentation was quite insightful. It didn’t give a “how to” with social media, rather, she pointed out trends she had observed. Many of the trends she discussed, I too have seen and experienced. Insert shameless plug to previous blog about Social Media Trends here. Reels were a major topic, as well as Instagram stories, and YouTube. So, with the first quarter behind us, let’s look at how we can embrace social media trends in 2022.

Instagram

In years gone by, a business could post the same content across all social media channels. The same thing you put on Facebook, you also put on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. If a video was posted, you didn’t have to resize it for different platforms. You could even post it all at the same time and it was effective. Those days are long gone and social media has to be planned and intentional from idea inception to post completion. Social media has grown so much, I cannot effectively discuss current trends of all platforms in one post. So, today we focus on Instagram.

Reels

When Insta first hit the market, it was a single snapshot of what was going on in a person’s life. Now, according to Adam Mosseri (head of Instagram), the focus of Instagram in 2022 will be video. Instagram Reels are preforming better than ever before and it is clear that they are the focus of this social media platform. These vertical videos are great for engagement. You can include polls, questions, and links, to better gage the interest and desires of your audience. In my experience, shorter reels perform better than longer ones. Reels can be 15-30-60 seconds in length. You can add music, change your speed, and have a timer. You can also add captions when recording a reel, as well as add different filters. Reels are public unless your account is set to private. 

After your reel is made, you need to decide if you want to publish it to the reel page only, or also your main grid (where your regular posts go). Sharing to both is the default when publishing a reel. However, you can have your main grid branded one way and your reel page branded another. I personally feel that reels do better when not posted to your grid. The latest reel I only posted to the reel page on my photography Instagram (@fykephoto) received 70 likes and was viewed almost 4k times. A similar reel on that site posted to both my grid and reel page only received 19 likes and was only viewed 882 times. Both reels tagged 4 accounts, had text, and were around 12 seconds in length. One factor that may have played a role in the success of the latest reel was timing. It was posted on a Sunday morning where the other reel was posted on a Monday morning. Plus, it was about the crazy weather the area experienced less than 24 hours prior. Everyone’s audience is different, so knowing when your content is consumed is key. 

Know the above information, I decided to test my theory theory this past weekend on my personal instagram account (@fykeadelic). I took video of my daughters doing an Easter egg hunt in the back yard. The video was 11 seconds long, there were not tags, and I posted it around 10:30am EST on Saturday, April 16. Within the first 30 minutes, it had over 5,000 views and 75 likes. It has plateaued at 5,950 views and 91 likes. Were the people that viewed it my followers? Some were, but most were not. But put a clip up of two cute kids laughing while the hunt for Easter eggs, the day before Easter, and you have an instant hit. Timing and relevance is key. Had I posted that earlier in the month or after Easter, it would not have performed nearly as well. That is the power of reels. I did not share this reel to my grid, but I did share it to my story. Case in point, Reels and Stories are the driving force in Instagram.

Stories

There are many days I arrive to the office and feel like I didn’t get any sleep the night before. There is a good reason for that: Instagram Stories. I will stay up all night viewing stories on Instagram. Many people skip the feed and only check stories. Unless your account is set to private, anyone can view your Instagram Story. Through stories, you can invite people into the part of your life you want them to experience. It is an opportunity for others to get to know you, and in turn, for you to build your audience and fan base. Influencers are a perfect example. They are contracted by companies and brands to use and review their products publicly. Thy do this on TikTok and Instagram. Reels and Stories are the avenues they make their reviews and recommendations. It gives the consumer a glimpse into the influencer’s life, where they can relate to them on a more personal level.

There are many brands, however, who are faceless on Insta but have build a huge following by being personal and relating to their audience. Although I watch stories all the time, I am not the best at creating them and posting to them. I typically use them to share my current post, or a post I support.

Cohesive and consistent content is a must on Instagram. Staying relevant and knowing your audience is a necessity. Like all social media, you have to put out content all the time. You have to stay fresh. If you don’t, your following will see you as stale and leave. Social media is a full time job, but if you are able to do it, your fan base will grow.