So what exactly does it mean to trend on Instagram? It's when your post shows up among the top results of an Explore page or a specific hashtag page. This brings you high levels of visibility, as your post shows up, even to non-followers.
With over 500 million people using the platform every day, Instagram is growing to be one of the top social networks. This makes it an excellent channel to market your product or brand as it gives you the opportunity to connect with millions of people. Among many effective Instagram marketing tactics, the best by far is to get trending on Instagram.
So what exactly does it mean to trend on Instagram? It’s when your post shows up among the top results of an Explore page or a specific hashtag page. This brings you high levels of visibility, as your post shows up, even to non-followers.
Typically on the Explore page, people will see trending posts and Stories that align with their interests based on the posts they normally engage with. When trending posts and Stories show up for a specific hashtag, it means that the user searched for that hashtag and is interested in that topic.
So users who see your posts are likely to have interests relevant to your industry. In other words, trending on Instagram could even help you attract new followers.
Besides getting featured among trending posts, trending on Instagram would also mean that your brand is currently getting lots of attention on the platform. People are creating content featuring your products, talking about your services, using your branded hashtag, and more. This means your brand gets high levels of visibility, helping you increase brand awareness and attract new followers.
1: Create Outstanding Content
The first and most obvious tip is to create high-quality content that stands out. Content becomes trending because it manages to capture the audience’s attention and engage them. This is usually because it’s exceptional in quality, aesthetics, uniqueness, or even humour. It brings value to the users by providing them with entertainment.
For instance, take a look at the top trending posts for the hashtag #landscapephotography. They’re all breathtaking photos that immediately catch the eye. So it’s not surprising that they are trending for this hashtag.
Similarly, you need to create outstanding content that will immediately make people pause and engage. While there’s no guarantee that you will trend on Instagram with this content, producing quality content consistently improves your chances. It will make a huge difference when at least one of your posts get trending, as it can help you attract new and relevant followers.
2: Use Trending, Relevant Hashtags
These hashtags can help you target the right audience more effectively as you can show up in relevant hashtag searches. Additionally, they will typically have less competition than generic hashtags such as #throwbackthursday or #picoftheday. This means you have a better chance of showing up in those searches.
This improved visibility in relevant searches means you can easily attract the right audience and increase your engagement rate. With high levels of engagement, your post has an increased chance of showing up among trending posts in relevant Explore pages.
Take a look at how @onecrazedfoodie used several relevant hashtags for her food post and managed to get trending for the hashtag #healthyrecipes.
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You can find relevant and trending hashtags for your content using tools like Keywordtool.io and Hashtagify. You can further simplify the process using the Hashtag Generator Tool from Influencer Marketing hub. Just upload your file, and the tool will find popular and relevant hashtags to use in your post.
3: Create Your Own Branded Hashtags
Another excellent tactic to market your brand on Instagram is by creating your own branded hashtag and get it trending. Come up with a relevant, brand-specific hashtag and share it with your followers. Encourage them to create their own content using the hashtag and promote it with their connections.
The goal is to get as many people to use the hashtag as possible so that your brand gains recognition. This not only drives brand awareness but also helps you build a strong community, both of which are essential elements to trend on Instagram.
Take for example how Calvin Klein created the #mycalvins hashtag and turned it into a trend. As of today, there are over 760,000 Instagram posts using the hashtag.
4: Work with Influencers
Influencer marketing is another excellent way to trend on Instagram. Since influencers have massive and engaged followings, and their involvement could help you gain more engagement for your own content. You could feature them in your posts, have them take over your account, or have them promote your branded hashtags and contests to drive engagement.
If you’re an influencer, you could even partner with other influential personalities in your niche. Brands can also go beyond working with individual influencers and partner with other influential brands that sell complementary products.
For example, Siggi’s Dairy partnered with other complementary brands like Kodiak Cakes and Chameleon Cold Brew to run a giveaway contest. Their post managed to get on the trending page for the hashtag #healthyeating.
5: Tag Locations
Tagging the location in your photos or videos is a great way to increase your chances of getting discovered as audiences in those locations will be able to find your posts more easily. Similarly, people who conduct location-based searches are likely to come across your content in their search results. This significantly improves your visibility and chances of driving engagement.
If you manage to drive tons of engagement, you might even be able to land on the “Top” content section for that particular location.
6: Tag Other Accounts
Tagging other relevant accounts in your posts is another effective tactic to get noticed. Ideally, you should do this with influential shoutout accounts that feature content from other users on a daily basis.
The goal is to get them to notice your content and hopefully give you a feature. This should help you gain a ton of visibility and drive more engagement to your account and posts.
Even if you don’t get featured, you could show up in their “Tagged” posts depending on their account settings. This means some of their followers who regularly check this section could notice your content. So tagging other influential accounts can be a highly effective way to boost your account visibility.
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It’s crucial that you approach this tactic with caution as you could end up spamming other users with your tag notifications. It’s best to avoid tagging influencers, brands, or other influential accounts unless it’s absolutely relevant. For example, you may want to tag a brand account only if your post features their product or service in some way or another.
If you look at the top post in the previous search results, you’ll see that the user has tagged the brand M.M.LaFleur. This is relevant because she is wearing the brand’s products and is working with them for an influencer campaign.
7: Get Your Timing Right
Timing is another crucial factor that influences the visibility and engagement on your posts. If you manage to publish your posts at a time when your audience is the most active, they’re more likely to see it and engage with it. If not, your post could end up getting buried toward the bottom of their feeds.
For those with a business profile, you can learn a lot from your Instagram Insights. This feature will show you your top-performing posts and your audience engagement data. Under the “Audience” tab, you’ll be able to gain more insights about your audience including their locations, age ranges, and genders.
You can also see the hours and days when your followers are most active. Then you can use that information to come up with a publishing schedule to catch your audience at the best time.
8: Use Captions that Drive Engagement
By now you understand the importance of driving engagement if you want to trend on Instagram. You need people to engage with your content as much as possible to improve your chances of landing on the Explore page.
While captivating content alone may help you drive significant engagement, you shouldn’t just settle for that. What you need is outstanding levels of engagement and getting as many people as possible to like and comment on your posts.
So in addition to a captivating photo or video, you should also include a caption that will entice people to like and comment. Include a prompt asking them to leave a comment about what they think of the post or their personal preferences and experiences.
Final Thoughts
Trending on Instagram could be the key to success for your business or personal brand. So make the most of these highly effective tips to gain more popularity on the platform and increase your chances of getting discovered through the Explore page.
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Photo: Emmanuel Obiri Yeboah
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