Instagram is the Platform for 2022
As we dive into the new year, marketers everywhere are having strategic conversations in order to prioritize effort and investment in various social platforms. According to research from Social Media Today, Instagram should be your platform of focus, garnering 40.5% of votes from marketers when asked which platform will be the highest priority in 2022.
This may seem strange considering the popularity and rocket-like rise of Tik Tok, but when it comes to reaching a broad audience, Instagram is still a stronger choice as one of the most used platforms available. Comparatively, Facebook garnered 9.5%, LinkedIn 24.1% & Tik Tok 25.9%.
In a lot of ways, the same adage remains true– meet your audience where they are. Tik Tok skews younger, Facebook skews older and LinkedIn continues to exist in its own weird little bubble. Considering the popularity of IG then, what strategies are the most popular? Are there carryovers from last year, and what can your brand be doing to gain and maintain relevance this year.
According to Instagram, these three pillars are crucial for success in 2022.
Photography is everything. As Instagram moves back to its roots in some ways, maintaining its status as a visual platform, product and lifestyle photography has to be absolutely top-notch to represent your brand well. Whether you’re hiring photographers or doing DIY photoshoots, investing the time to take visually striking photos will keep customers and followers engaged.
Work within the community. User-generated content is crucial to growing followers and circumventing the algorithm to get your posts in front of as many people as possible. Engaging with followers by commenting and liking, responding to questions and messages, and participating in the greater discourse on Instagram will keep your account active and keep the algorithm happy.
Clean up your feed. While stories are where many followers experience your brand, the feed is where they learn about it and research your values, personality, and offerings. Curating your feed to create a cohesive, structured, and appealing aesthetic will help present your brand in a way that garners interest and keeps followers engaged.
Of course, the fluidity of the algorithm changes and other shifting elements at Instagram will shape a lot of the platform’s course for the year. One thing is clear though– Instagram isn’t going anywhere and is still a crucial pillar of any brand’s content system.