Nobody ignores that Instagram is the social network that is growing more in recent years and preferred by the young and adolescent audience to such an extent that now there are young people who only have a profile in Instagram, neither on Facebook nor on Twitter, so to invest in this social network is something almost mandatory for many brands.
But despite that we are aware of the Instagram importance, many companies do not know what to do in this social network. It is not about uploading photos and that’s all but there are a series of trends we must follow if we want our presence in it to be optimized, besides it is a network that is evolving and implementing more and more new instruments.
Therefore, let’s see a series of marketing guidelines to follow on Instagram in 2019 if we want to get the maximum of our investment during the next months.
The engagement goes from the ‘likes’ to the stickers
There is one thing that all brands present on Instagram have in common: the desire to increase engagement. The Instagram algorithm, which prioritizes personal content along with the fact that users now watch more Stories and follow more accounts, has made ordinary Instagram posts simply are not looked as much as before. If you get fewer impressions from your posts, it is normal that your engagement is also reduced. In 2019 it’s time to change your participation on Instagram and focus on relating to your followers through the Stories instead of just the classic publications.
The Stories of Instagram or Instagram Stories have blown up in the last two years, with more than 400 million daily users. For some experts, they are like a separate social network. Just as you have a content schedule for your Instagram, Twitter and Facebook channels, in 2019 you will have to do the same with your Stories.
In this context, Instagram Stories stickers offer a free, easy and fun way to interact with your followers and have them invest in your brand, content and products.
In 2019 Instagram will have even more widgets stickers, such as ‘countdown’ stickers, questions or surveys, to help brands interact with their followers through Stories instead of just through publications.
The countdown stickers, for example, are already proving to be a popular way for brands to arouse the interest of their followers and notify them about their events or when new products come out.
The most authentic influencers
The ‘authenticity’ will become a major marketing trend on Instagram in 2019. The Instagram days of posts perfectly positioned, overly edited photos and bot comments have ended, giving way to more genuine experiences and authentic relationships.
A great example of the transparency and authenticity increase on Instagram is that of Dave Coast, who started sharing his empty cosmetic bottles to show that he really uses and re-buys the products he is promoting on Instagram.
This simple gesture can say many things about how to make the influencer more reliable and authentic, which in turn is more valuable for brands.
Fashion are microinfluencers and microbrands
Bigger is not always better when it comes to Instagram marketing, a reality that many popular influencers face, now that brands prefer to work with microinfluencers (accounts that have less than 100,000 followers). The “nano-influencers” are growing as brands are choosing to work with users of only 1,000 followers in sponsored posts and brand campaigns.
If a certain microinfluencer recommends a product, its followers will probably see it more as a reliable recommendation from a friend instead of a paid campaign and will have greater credibility.
Not only influencers are benefiting from smaller and highly engaged audiences: micro-brands are also increasing. Thanks to the hyper-segmentation capabilities of Instagram ads, micro-brands can design and sell products created for a very specific customer, which can be addressed through Instagram.
Increase in the importance of Instagram Direct
In 2018 we saw a great improvement in Instagram Direct, with the addition of GIFs and video chats, and the application has been transformed from simple one-to-one text messages to a robust group chat platform. Now it seems people are not only using this feature, but it is also becoming an alternative for Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
Thanks to the answering functions tagging and sharing in stories, it is easier than ever to start a private conversation with someone on Instagram, and that also includes companies.
In 2019 it may be that Instagram continues to develop functions for direct messages, and we would see how these disappear from Instagram completely and integrate into its own application, as Facebook did with Messenger. In fact, the independent “Direct” application already exists in the United Kingdom, so time will tell if we will also see this all over the world.
It is likely that Instagram will also make it easier for companies to respond to all their direct messages from the computer. Currently, the only way that companies can respond to all their private messages and mentions in the Stories is through their mobile phones.
Therefore, it would be great for Instagram to see an improvement in its direct messages and the ability to respond to DM from the desktop, which would facilitate the CM’s work and social network managers.
Conversion improvements and measuring on Instagram
This novelty may not be the most attractive, but it is the most useful. The Instagram founders (who are no longer in the company) had a vision of what they wanted this network to be: simple.
In 2019, the Instagram simplicity will fade, as it inevitably looks more like Facebook. The new Instagram CEO was previously the product´s manager on Facebook, and we are confident that we will see important changes helping companies to market and sell products more easily.
Instagram ROI tracking will be a big marketing trend in 2019, including the ability to track revenue to Instagram posts and stories to see what content is generating the most sales.
