Top 10 Instagram Trends To Follow (Updated December 2024)

We live in a digital world where Instagram is a force to be reckoned with. This platform, ranking 8th among the most visited websites worldwide according to Semrush, attracts a staggering 4.25 billion total visits per month. But what makes Instagram such a thriving hub of activity? 

Trends — the secret language of Instagram, continually evolving and shaping our platform usage. Instagram trends not only define the landscape for everyday users but also play a pivotal role for brands, creators and influencers who continually leverage these to maximize engagement, reach and visibility. Keeping up with these trends isn't just about staying relevant — it's about unlocking the full potential of your social presence and, ultimately, shaping conversations. 

This article is a guide to the current trends on Instagram, designed to help you navigate the constantly changing landscape. So whether you're a marketer or a creator, remember to bookmark this page for a regular pulse-check on the latest Instagram trends.

With its bite-sized, catchy video content, Instagram Reels has skyrocketed in popularity, evolving into a powerful tool for brands and content creators. According to Meta, people reshare Reels 1 billion times per day through DMs, making it clear this feature is reshaping the way we consume and share content on Instagram.

A wide range of creative Reels formats has gained traction, including step-by-step tutorials, engaging challenges and authentic behind-the-scenes footage — each offering a unique way to connect with audiences and build brand identity. Here are some tips for how you can boost your Reels strategy:

• Trending Reels Sounds: Using relevant and popular sounds can significantly increase your content's reach and connect with the platform's massive audience base. As trends shift and evolve, staying updated with the most popular Reel sounds is crucial.
• Product Partnerships: Using branded content tags for authenticity and wider reach, tap into the expertise and audience of Instagram creators through paid partnerships. Add a fresh, engaging spin to your branded content by tagging products and incorporating challenges and competitions.
• Set Goals: Tie your Instagram Reels strategy to a specific objective. Whether to entertain, inspire or promote a product, ensure your call to action is as engaging as it is clear.

Remember, creating a Reel that resonates with your audience is only half the battle — the other half lies in effectively leveraging the platform's tools and features to ensure your content finds its way into the right feeds.

Instagram has witnessed a significant shift towards authentic and relatable content, with audiences craving genuine storytelling and deeper connections. In an era where polished aesthetics no longer reign supreme, openness and transparency take center stage.

To showcase authenticity, consider the following:

• UGC: Encourage your audience to create and share their own content related to your products. This type of content reduces the burden on your content creation team and boosts the sense of community among your followers. It strengthens the connection your audience has with your brand, making them feel seen, valued and part of your brand story.
• Leveraging Instagram Stories: Capitalize on Instagram Stories to share unfiltered, real-time moments and responses to current events or trends. Stories can provide an avenue for more casual content, contrasting with the more polished posts in your feed. These can include daily BTS, interactive Q&As, or quick reactions to industry news, which in turn promotes authenticity.
• Utilizing Sentiment Analysis: Embrace sentiment analysis tools to understand the sentiments underlying your audience's comments and reactions. This can inform your content strategy, ensuring it resonates with your audience's feelings and values. Regularly analyzing sentiments can reveal shifts in perception over time, allowing you to adapt your messaging and maintain authentic communication.

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Keeping with the theme of authenticity, brands are also increasingly embracing the stylistic nuances of influencer and creator content, reshaping their communication to feel more genuine, organic and personable. Unlike traditional advertising, this shift embraces a more authentic aesthetic, emulating the real-life appeal that creators and influencers master so well.

Creators have paved the way for content that deeply resonates with audiences, turning casual viewers into engaged followers. Their content, characterized by personal stories, experiences and sincere interactions, starkly contrasts conventional brand communication's formal tone. By incorporating these stylistic elements, brands can inject this genuineness into their own content. Posts and videos that mirror creators' candid style foster an environment of familiarity and trust. It feels less like marketing and more like a conversation, effectively driving engagement and nurturing deeper connections with the audience.

Kenneth Cole serves as an excellent brand illustration of this approach. Its Reels content strategy is interesting and diverse, experimenting with various content formats to gauge its community's response. Aside from UGC and creator content, the team incorporates engaging ‘get ready with me’ videos, immersive point-of-view (POV) content, and entertaining trends such as ‘things that just make sense’ accompanied by popular Reels sounds. It has skillfully embraced the creator and influencer video styles, incorporating quick cuts, fun transitions and perfectly timed adjustments of video speeds. 

Instagram's landscape has seen a rising trend of niche communities, fostering a more personalized and targeted social media experience. A key player in this evolution is the micro-influencer, typically defined as those with 10,000 to 100,000 followers. Armed with their focused audiences, micro-influencers have a unique influence, transforming the dynamics of brand engagement and outreach.

According to Dash Hudson's data, micro-influencers outperform other influencer groups significantly. They boast an Effectiveness Rate of 8.60%, 26.65% higher than macro-influencers, and an impressive 97.7% higher than mega-influencers. Similarly, their Engagement Rate of 2.48% is 27.2% higher than macro-influencers and 96.8% higher than mega-influencers.

The reason behind these impressive figures lies in the power of targeted communities. By focusing on specific interests, brands can forge stronger and more meaningful connections within niche communities. Collaborating with micro-influencers allows marketers to tap into these relevant, highly engaged audiences, increasing the likelihood of resonating with potential customers.

Instagram's growing demand for purpose-driven content and social advocacy reflects users' desire to engage with brands that stand for more than just their products. Today, audiences expect brands to be socially conscious, aligning their values with meaningful causes that resonate with them.

Consider the example of Patagonia, an outdoor clothing brand renowned for its commitment to environmental preservation. Through its ongoing #WornWear campaign, it advocates for sustainability by encouraging customers to repair their gear instead of replacing it, resonating with its environmentally conscious audience.

Another notable example is Ben & Jerry's, whose #BlackLivesMatter and #RefugeesWelcome campaigns demonstrate its commitment to social justice, earning customer respect and loyalty.

When creating purpose-driven content, remember to:

• Be Genuine: Align your brand with causes that truly resonate with your core values. Authenticity fosters trust and respect from your audience.
• Engage in Conversation: Don't just talk — listen. Engage with your audience, understand perspectives, concerns and ideas.
• Take Action: It's not enough to just talk about change — show your commitment through actions that bring tangible results.

By aligning with meaningful causes, brands can effectively engage with their audience more profoundly and emotionally, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose.

The use of interactive features on Instagram, such as polls, quizzes and the ‘add yours’ sticker, has surged in popularity, turning the platform into an immersive, participatory environment. This gamification trend has proven to be an effective strategy to boost Instagram engagement and create a memorable user experience.

Interactive features offer a wealth of benefits. They encourage active user engagement, sparking conversations and fostering a sense of community. They also provide valuable insights into your audience's preferences, thoughts and behaviors, which can help influence and shape your future content strategies for success.

To effectively implement interactive features:

• Utilize Instagram Stories: Instagram Stories are an ideal playground for interactive features. Regularly include polls or quizzes to keep your audience engaged and looking forward to your content.
• Keep It Relevant: Align your interactive content with your brand and audience's interests. Irrelevant content might generate short-term engagement but won't sustain your audience's interest in the long run.
• Encourage User Participation: Create content that encourages user participation, such as the ‘add yours’ sticker, allowing your audience to feel seen, heard and valued.

Gamification isn't merely a trend; it's a strategy that brings your audience closer, turning passive scrolling into active engagement. It's about creating an experience that's not only entertaining but also meaningful, promoting connections between your brand and your audience.

The rise and fall of Vine, the platform that pioneered short looping videos, marked a significant moment in the evolution of social media content. It introduced a novel concept — the video meme. These quick and often funny clips captured the essence of internet culture, and while Vine may have bid us goodbye, video memes were far too entertaining to disappear. This content format is experiencing a resurgence in popularity, fueled by the boom in short-form video content. These quirky and easily shareable clips resonate with the internet's short attention span, providing instant entertainment.

Brands can capitalize on this trend by incorporating video memes into their Instagram strategy. However, it's crucial to approach this with authenticity and a deep understanding of your audience and internet culture. Meme content should be relevant, funny and in tune with your brand's voice. When done right, they can significantly enhance engagement, reach and brand awareness, adding a dose of humor to your Instagram presence.

Instagram also continues to grow as a shopping destination, driven by its seamless integration of e-commerce features. Dash Hudson's Likeshop, for instance, is a powerful link-in-bio solution that effortlessly guides your audience from Instagram posts to your site, making conversion that much easier and Instagram shopping a breeze.

Key e-commerce features on Instagram include:

• Instagram Reels Shopping: Brands and creators can tag products in their Reels, making them fully shoppable.
• Instagram Guides Shopping: Product guides enable the curation of best-selling products or targeted round-ups based on your audience's needs. These are particularly popular for key events throughout the year, such as Christmas, Mother's Day and Valentine's Day.
• Instagram Augmented Reality Shopping: This feature, popular among beauty brands, allows consumers to "try on" products digitally before purchasing, enhancing the shopping experience.
• Instagram Checkout: Users can complete their purchase within the Instagram app without opening a new browser, streamlining the conversion process.

Influencer marketing also plays a crucial role in driving sales and brand partnerships on Instagram. Our Social Media Trends report uncovered that creators generate 16 times more engagement than brands when posting to Instagram. Brands also differentiate their partnerships, too, partnering with 7 creators each year on average. Social teams that can better target niche segments within their audience have also seen success, with brands that partner with creators seeing 34% higher engagement rates over organic content and 316% higher engagement rates than paid content. Creators' ability to build authentic connections with their audience and their talent for content creation make them invaluable partners for brands looking to boost visibility, engagement and sales on the platform.

As mentioned above, Instagram Guides present a unique opportunity for brands to curate blog-style content on their profile. This feature allows the collection, organization and curation of various content types into a single, scrollable format.

Guides function as a strategic tool to showcase your brand's breadth of content. They can be used to create comprehensive collections centered around a specific theme, campaign or product line, making it easier for your audience to consume similar content. For example, a beauty brand could create a guide highlighting a specific skincare routine, linking various products and informative posts in a logical, step-by-step sequence. A travel company could curate a city guide, bringing together posts on the best places to eat, visit and stay.

Guides are most effective when they cater to your audience's needs and interests. They can serve as educational resources, product catalogs or visual stories, offering an immersive, streamlined experience for users seeking specific information or inspiration.

Finally, let's talk about searchability. Instagram SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing your profile and posts to increase their visibility in search results, thereby reaching a wider audience. With platform algorithms becoming more sophisticated, SEO is critical to any successful social media strategy.

Your profile is the first point of interaction for users searching for your brand on Instagram. Thus, ensure your username and bio are clear, concise and contain relevant keywords that reflect your brand identity.

For posts, captions, hashtags, and location tags play a crucial role in searchability. Including relevant keywords in your captions can help improve the content's visibility in the search results. Similarly, using various related, trending and niche hashtags can enhance discoverability. Even your Instagram Stories can be optimized for search. 

Ultimately, Instagram SEO is about enhancing your brand's discoverability and expanding its reach on the platform. By optimizing your profile and posts for search, you can connect with a larger, more engaged audience and significantly increase your brand's visibility.

This month, Instagram leans into community with location-sharing updates on the platform.  

Real-Time Location Sharing in Direct Messages

Instagram has introduced a feature that lets users share their real-time location with friends via direct messages for up to one hour. This addition enhances meet-up coordination and personal interactions, a natural introduction as social users lean towards social-first functions on platforms like sharing and DMs.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ November 2024 ]

This month, Instagram has announced they’re testing some interesting new features — here’s what’s new and trending on Instagram this month.

In-Stream Performance Tips for Reels 

Instagram is testing a feature that provides in-stream performance tips for Reels, offering creators insights into why specific clips perform well. These contextual notes highlight key elements such as engagement rates and view counts, aiming to help users optimize their content strategies.  

Profile Cards

Instagram has just released ‘Profile Cards’, which let you link to your profile easily while providing an overview of your bio, including your profile photo, a bio, profile category and business links for Instagram Creator Accounts. They’re digitally ‘flippable’, with a QR code on one side so you can easily share your profile information in an aesthetically-pleasing way with brands, influencers and other collaborators. 

Social Library

Have you ever wanted to keep track of everything you’ve shared in chat threads? Now you can. Instagram is trialling a new feature for some accounts, a Social Library, that includes all of the Reels and posts you’ve interacted with — that is liked, bookmarked and shared, to be exact. This is a great way to keep tabs on that funny meme you shared, that sweater you liked while scrolling and more. 

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ October 2024 ]

While some industries might have different seasonal focuses, Halloween is a huge trend on Instagram this month. This is a prime opportunity for all types of brands to lean into their products and seasonal inspiration. Here are some different ideas for industries to capitalize on the season. 

• Fashion: Leverage UGC, or create ‘costume inspiration’ carousel posts featuring your products and how people can incorporate them into their costumes. 
• Beauty: Highlight Halloween-themed makeup looks or costume ideas based on makeup — think highlighting creative UGC, tutorials and more.  
• Home: Share modern, contemporary Halloween decoration ideas.
• Retail: Depending on your niche, this is a great time to share content featuring products that help your audience plan themed parties — from decorations to crafts, creative snack ideas, or even the best products to clean up a party — this industry has lots of potential to leverage the Halloween season. ‍
• Food and Beverage: Share on-theme recipes, or share ideas for trick-or-treaters.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ September 2024 ]

As we usher in a new season, these are the major themes on Instagram.

Longer Carousels 

Last month Instagram increased the number of available photos in a carousel to 20. This means brands and creators can take the ‘photo dump’ trend even further, sharing a broader assortment of images from a given product, campaign or other grouping. 

Add Context With Notes 

This new release from Instagram is a great way to build a community with your existing followers. Notes are a new Instagram feature that lets you add up to 60 characters of copy (think of a Post-it-Note) to your posts or Reels with additional context, which are only available to your ‘close friends’ or mutual followers. 

To add a note to your Reel or post: 

• Click the ‘Share’ icon on your Reel or post. 
• Select ‘Add Note’.
• Type up to 60 characters.
• Share with either your ‘Close Friends’ or mutuals. 
• Tap ‘Share’, found in the top right of your post.
• From there, Instagram will notify followers you shared a note, and it will be visible for up to 3 days.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ August 2024 ]

Here’s what’s trending on Instagram this August.

Sports Shines 

Even prior to the Olympics, the Sports industry has been shining on Instagram, outperforming other industries across metrics like followers and an average 0.9% engagement rate. How can non-sports brands leverage this? Social teams should look for opportunities to make memes of out trending Sports events or even collaborate with relevant athletic influencers. 

Opportunities to Leverage Reels 

While static photos and carousels continue to dominate Instagram in terms of performance, this doesn’t mean social teams should ignore video. With a less saturated space, honing your video and Reels strategy can help you reach more users on the ‘Reels’ tab and their home feeds.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ July 2024 ]

This Summer, text-based trends remain at the forefront for Gen Z, along with entertainment based news and content. Here’s a closer look at what's trending on Instagram this July, and how your brand can incorporate them into your Instagram marketing strategy.

Photography, Book and Gym Threads 

Instagram’s latest survey surveyed nearly 2,000 respondents’ Threads activity from March 17 until June 14, 2024. Their finding? Photography Threads were the most popular tag on the app, followed by Book, Gym and Art Thread tags. Tags are similar to hashtags, but don’t use their signature ‘#’. These symbols are meant to help users find more content on topics they’re potentially interested in and connect with others. Since their release, they’ve been used by users more than 50 million times. 

Brands can find opportunities to connect with tags that are relevant to their brand and their audience to forge connections with others and share their own text-based content and thoughts. 

Entertainment Reigns Supreme for Gen Z

In the same survey, 67% of Gen Z respondents reported that they log into their social accounts to check entertainment news, while 60% reported they use social media to check music news. With text-based social media interaction becoming more prevalent, this makes spaces like Threads a great base for sharing this news and connecting with other accounts. What’s more, brands can find opportunities to connect with their audience via pop culture memes, engagement with comment sections and more — be sure to maintain your brand voice and identity when engaging with others. 

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ June 2024 ]

As Summer takes over skies all around, what’s taking over Instagram’s Explore page? Here are some new features that are set to make a big splash on Instagram this month.

Stories Stickers

We’ve explained the importance of using polls, Q&As and more to increase engagement — last month, Instagram released new stickers to make your content more interactive, interesting and to encourage followers to engage with your Stories. 

Add Yours Music 

In addition to the ‘Add Yours’ sticker for images, there’s now a music version! Share your favorite song, a song from a specific memory or any other music-related memory and prompt your followers to do the same. 

Frames

Frames are a fun and interactive new Stories feature that turn any chosen moment into a polaroid. Simply select the ‘Frames’ options in stickers and select one photo. To reveal, users must shake their phones like they’re developing a polaroid picture — fun, right? 

Reveal 

Reveals blur an image, a great way to pique your followers’ curiosity. Reveals prompt viewers to view your content with a simple ‘Message to reveal!’ button. Conveniently, you don’t have to manually approve every user, making this a fun and low-lift way to share content. 

Cutouts 

Cutouts are a customizable feature that lets you turn any part of your image into a Cutout sticker for use in future Reels. Simply navigate to Stickers, click ‘Cutout’ and select a photo or video from your image library with a clear focus image. This will become the new ‘cutout’.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ May 2024 ]

April showers bring — more Instagram trends! Here’s what’s trending on Instagram throughout May: 

AI-Powered Content Recommendations

Instagram recently rolled out an AI algorithm that makes personalized recommendations for users based on interests, engagement, history and overall Instagram activity. Social marketers can leverage this new feature by tailoring their Reels and static content to focus on their target demographic’s specific interests. Instagram has also revamped its analytics to offer social teams and creators a deeper look at user demographics. 

It’s Going down in the DMs

Like we mentioned in February (see below), there’s been a shift from connection in the comment section to the DMs — more users are engaging with content by sharing directly with their friends (versus tagging them in the comments, for example) and Instagram is responding to the shift. They recently unveiled the ability to save stickers, pin conversations and turn read receipts on or off. In addition to this, users can also change their DM themes, switching them up for different conversations and different vibes. 

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ April 2024 ]

As we move into Spring and celebrate historical events like the Solar Eclipse, here’s what’s trending on Instagram’s Explore page and beyond. 

Hello Sharks 

This is a fun trend almost everyone can participate in — use this suspenseful audio to accompany your Reel, and use a video or even a single photo to pose a question to the ‘sharks’ from television’s ‘Shark Tank’. No, this isn’t your chance to pitch a business idea, but rather to poke fun at something you love, want or a common habit you do. For example, ‘sharks I am asking for $20,000 to fund my shopping addiction.’ 

Static Content Reigns Supreme

According to our recent social media benchmarks, static and carousel content continues to outperform Reels content, with a 57% higher reach and 0.4% engagement rate — however, Reels engagement is close behind, with a 0.3% average engagement rate. Does this mean brands should neglect their short form video content? Not necessarily — with engagement so close to static content, this presents brands with a unique opportunity to capitalize on the less-saturated Reels space.

What’s Trending on Instagram Right Now [ March 2024 ]

Wondering what trends to include in your Instagram posts and Reels this month? Keep reading to discover which trends are taking off on the Explore page in March.

Leverage Celebrity Memes 

75% of Gen Z Instagram users report being part of a ‘fandom’ — brands should look for opportunities to get creative and leverage trending celebrity interactions from awards shows and outings to create interesting memes or connections with their products or services, or make a concentrated effort to align your brand with celebrity partnerships. 

For example, Living Proof leverages its celebrity brand ambassador, Paris Hilton, to tap into Y2K culture and promote its haircare line in a clever, pink homage to the naughties.

Enter Your Growth Era

According to Instagram, Gen Z has identified self-improvement and development as their number one lifestyle concern. Brands should find opportunities to showcase how their brand, products or services contribute to overall well-being — especially if they have goals around reaching Gen Z. They’re also prioritizing healthy living, with self-care, regular workouts, career path growht and traveling as factors to achieving a healthy life — don’t miss a chance to use Instagram to highlight how your brand can help individuals actuate these things. 

Instagram Trends Made Easy With Dash Hudson’s Social Media Insights Solution

Staying on the cutting edge of Instagram trends is necessary in today's fast-paced social landscape. However, it requires adaptability, strategic experimentation, and the ability to analyze the impact of various initiatives seamlessly. This is where Dash Hudson's Social Media Insights come into play, serving as a powerful tool to guide your Instagram strategy.

Dash Hudson simplifies the process of keeping up with trends, even in the 24/7 whirlwind of social media. Its Scheduler feature ensures you never miss a beat, allowing you to schedule trend-focused posts in advance, reassuring you that you're staying ahead of the curve.

Moreover, it offers essential Instagram management solutions designed to foster your brand's growth, such as:

• AI-Powered Insights: Showcases the best-performing content that resonates with your audience across various channels, allowing for data-informed content strategy.
• Actionable Analytics: Helps refine and evolve your strategy with reliable insights that every team member can trust, leading to improved decision-making.
• E-commerce Integration: Facilitates seamless social selling by integrating your e-commerce strategy with a one-time product feed connection.

With Dash Hudson, navigating Instagram trends and leveraging them effectively for your brand has never been easier.

FAQs

What trends are popular right now in Instagram?

There are a variety of trends popular on Instagram right now, but the  Notes Numbers Trend is particularly prominent. In coded Notes, users may hint at the initials of their current crush with codes such as o99 or o23. As a result of this playful trend, Instagram has become an exciting guessing game where friends are eager to uncover each other's secret love interests.

How do you see trends on Instagram?

Identifying trends on Instagram involves paying attention to various features on the platform. You can use the "Explore" tab, which highlights trending content tailored to your interests. Hashtags are also crucial in tracking current topics and engaging users. Watching Instagram Stories and Reels is also helpful, as these are often the birthplaces of new trends, be they challenges or popular filters. 

What is the new trend in Instagram Story?

Instagram stories are constantly evolving, and one of the latest trends involves interactive stickers, particularly the 'Add Yours' sticker. Use this sticker to create a compelling prompt, such as "Share what you're eating" to "Reveal your skincare routine." The key is ensuring your prompt aligns with your brand while still engaging enough to inspire your followers to share their own photos on their stories.