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Instagram Advertising in 2021

Are you ready to plan your Instagram marketing strategy for 2021? Through thorough research, we have found multiple trends that we believe will be of utmost importance to focus on this year.

1. Instagram’s E-Commerce Tools

2020 was the year Instagram furthered its foray into becoming a digital storefront for brands and creators. 

With the introduction of Instagram Shop, it created a more streamlined way to discover shoppable products, giving users the ability to “Browse Shops”, see “Editors’ Picks”, and more. 

And this isn’t the only e-commerce feature in Instagram’s tool belt. 

Over the years, Instagram’s released e-commerce tools like:

• Shoppable posts
• Stories stickers 
• Shopping from Creators
• Instagram Checkout
• Live Shopping
  

With many of these features expanding globally in recent months, why the increased focus on e-commerce tools?

According to a press release in May 2020, it was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic: 

“Right now many small businesses are struggling, and with stores closing, more are looking to bring their business online. 

Our goal is to make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand to use our apps to connect with customers.”

We predict more features rolling out in 2021 that’ll turn Instagram into a one-stop shop for everything — from advertising and selling your products to connecting with your community.

2. Short Form Videos Will Take the Lead on Explore Pages

TikTok took the world by storm in 2020 with its quirky, random, and creative videos. It was the perfect escape during quarantine and lockdowns, and became extremely popular with a younger audience: Gen Z. 

But they’re not the only ones who love TikTok! Millennials and older generations flocked to the app too, and Instagram took notice. Its response? Instagram Reels.

While Instagram Reels is a new feature, Instagram users have already shown that they enjoy bite-sized content: there are over 500 million daily Instagram Stories users.

The shift to short-form video content could be an effect of shorter attention spans, the ease of shareability, or the ability to go viral. 

With Instagram Reels, brands and creators can create educational content, showcase their products or services, and have fun in a creative way.

3. Influencer Marketing Will Get a Serious Boost

Influencer marketing is on track to become a $15 billion dollar industry by 2022, which means one thing: influencers are here to stay. 

In fact, we predict influencer marketing will see a huge boost in 2021. With Instagram’s new e-commerce features, including creator-specific tools, influencers will be able to expand their network and create long-term partnerships with brands. 

One important factor to consider when predicting the future of influencer marketing? The long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the advertising industry. 

With a decrease in ad spend for traditional formats like out-of-home campaigns, and an increase in screen time on social media, we think brands will shift their dollars to online marketing.

And this is where influencers step in.  

According to research by Fohr, nearly 80% of influencers reported an increase in engagement from their audience in March 2020, and we don’t see this number dropping anytime soon.