With social media updating constantly and culture continuously shifting, the digital marketing space has always been a tricky world to navigate. As we course through uncharted and unexpected territories, now more than ever, social media plays a pivotal role in how you can brand yourself or your business. Media consumption and screen times are at an all time high due to the pandemic; people are leaning on social media and the digital space for authenticity, positivity, inclusivity, and validation. So, how can you use this to your advantage?
With over a billion monthly active users, Instagram finds itself as the pinnacle of media content. The visual sharing app has transformed itself into a way for users to brand themselves, connect with others, and delve into their interests and passions. Curating your feed can be a intimating task; Instagram’s algorithm has forced users to be smart about how they post. Whether you’re a brand, an influencer, or a digital creator, these are the most viewed, highly profitable and trend setting, audience reaching Instagram niches to give your content a boost. In no particular order, crafting and curating your content with these in mind can change the way you interact with Instagram and how other interact with you,
1. Traveling
According to Sellfy, the traveling industry on Instagram has an enormous, wide, and diverse audience reach. The industry itself is predicted to generate $818 billion in 2020, and it’s no question traveling agencies, countries, tourist high spots have leaned into Instagram marketing to attract more vacationers. 60% of travelers share their travel photos on the social media app, 87% use these posts as travel inspiration, and 40% of consumers prioritize the photo aesthetics of the location before choosing a destination. Because of the high traffic, the traveling industry has birthed travel bloggers that post professional, high-quality content (most often sponsored) to influence other users solely on Instagram. And it works real well.
2. Beauty and Fashion
Instagram has changed the beauty, make up, and the fashion industry rapidly and drastically. Rappler explains that influencers run the social media “industry” through tutorials, product reviews, inclusive advertising, beauty and skin tips and tricks, etc. Making brands more accessible to consumers, Instagram has leveraged the connection between brand to influencer to consumer. 65% of teens on Instagram discover and buy beauty products via influencers— boosting e-commerce sales and widening audience reach far and wide among the younger demographics.
A study by Sprout Social states that 96% of fashion brands are on Instagram, 91% of luxury brands, 84% of sports clothing and 83% of beauty brands utilize influencer marketing to their advantage, and have a beneficial relationship with the Shopping option as over 130 million user actively engage with the function. ROI and consume reach with beauty and fashion brands have been extremely impressive to watch.
4. Fitness and Wellness
Utilizing both Instagram’s sharing feed and Instagram Live, the health industry is booming. Posting workouts, meal plans, recipes, wellness products, links to fitness apps, etc., the platform allows the opportunity for maximum engagement with fitness videos, photos, challenges, and hashtags. Marketing this specific industry has become even larger due to the pandemic; getting outside and moving your body is encouraged for both your physical and mental health. Leaning into this can be beneficial in all aspects as many consumers and users are taking this time to better themselves to feel as healthy as possible.
5. Influencers and Lifestyle
According to Buffer, 80% of our social media posts are dedicated to our lives, thoughts, and opinions. This comes to no surprise as we delve into the world of influencer marketing, bloggers and vloggers, and aesthetics in our Instagram content. Brands collaborating with a range of users— micro, macro-influencers— in order to create user-generated content that comes across as authentic to others as well as widens engagement organically. Time and time again it has proven that it works and the influencer industry is just getting started. Highly profitably and consumed in copious amounts, taking advantage of this side (and a seemingly, large one at that) of Instagram is imperative in order to thrive.
