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The Sprout Social Index Edition XIX: Breakthrough
Uncover what consumers and marketers are prioritizing in today’s shifting social landscape.
Written by Jacqueline Zote
Published on February 13, 2025
Reading time 13 minutes
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As competition on Instagram gets tougher, brands need to stay relevant and find new ways to engage their audiences. New Instagram trends and features pop up regularly, changing how people interact with content on the platform. Staying on top of these trends is essential to build a powerful Instagram marketing strategy that’s always up to date.
In this article, we dive deep into the top 12 Instagram trends for 2025. We’ll cover innovative tactics like AI-driven content creation and show you creative new ways to engage your followers.
Video continues to dominate on Instagram even in 2025. This is instantly visible when you open your own Instagram Feed. Notice how the first few posts are Reels. You’ll see the same trend when you go to your Explore page. This speaks volumes about how the platform prioritizes video content.
Plus, users love video. The latest social media video stats show that 81% of consumers want to see more short-form videos from brands.
Leaning hard into video isn’t just encouraged at this point—it’s essential to thrive on Instagram.
Using video not only helps you build genuine connections with your audience—it also appeals to the Instagram algorithm. So it’s effective to drive reach and engagement.
Instagram Reels launched in 2020 and slowly rolled out to all users throughout 2021. This micro video addition to Instagram was created to compete with Snapchat and TikTok. It has continued to grow in popularity. Many brands and content creators will repurpose their videos across key platforms. This includes TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
Here are some Instagram Reel trends popular with brands this year:
Instead of hiring paid actors to deliver scripted messages, social media managers are now stepping in front of the camera to create Reels.
Social media managers have an intimate understanding of the brand’s voice and values. And they’re able to quickly create content that deeply resonates with the audience at a fraction of the cost. Our social media managers here at Sprout Social hop into Reels from time to time to act as spokespeople for our social media marketing software:
An added bonus to this is that social media managers’ appearances help to humanize your brand. This is crucial to build stronger personal connections between the brand and its customers over time.
Memes aren’t going anywhere soon. And on Instagram, they continue to be one of the biggest Reels trends. Brands are remixing meme Reels with trending audio. They’re putting their own spin on funny clips or pop culture references to be relevant to their brand. See how Lego added a twist to the “the photo we posted vs. the conversation we had” meme trend.
Remember to align your meme content with brand values while still showing the lighter side of your business. When done right, it can get lots of positive engagement when you’re conscious to position your brand as relatable and culturally aware.
Speaking of relatable, POV videos are all the rage among brands and content creators alike in 2025. Traditionally filmed from the perspective of the creator, POV videos have evolved into a type of video meme.
While they’re no longer necessarily captured from the viewer’s point of view, they focus on showcasing a certain feeling or situation. These trending Instagram posts include a text overlay describing the experience to make it relatable to the audience. This is a great way to engage your audience by immersing them into the brand experience. Kayali Fragrances creatively uses a POV video to share a teaser for an upcoming product launch.
Shares are a great way to bump up engagement and get more views for your Reels. That’s why the “send this to…” Reels are currently trending on Instagram.
They typically feature a video of the brand’s products and a text overlay with a prompt asking viewers to send it to someone. The prompt may vary, with some asking viewers to send it to the most handsome boy they know, the first person on their “Share” list and so on. Either way, you encourage people to share your content with others. This translates to more views and engagements to boost your reach.
Chipotle infuses the brand’s relatable humor when incorporating this content trend on Instagram.
Just like most other tech brands, Instagram—and its parent company Meta—continues to invest in AI. For marketers, this trend could seriously change the way they create content.
Currently, Instagram offers the following AI features for creators in specific regions:
Aside from Instagram’s built-in AI features, brands are tapping into third-party AI tools to create content more easily. For example, Sprout Social’s AI capabilities help you speed up and optimize your content creation process. These include features like:
Sign up for a demo to see what you can do with Sprout’s AI tools.
But does this mean AI is going to replace social media managers completely? Not anytime soon. It is, however, increasingly becoming a part of social media strategies.
AI social media tools can help marketers automate certain tasks and speed up creative processes. Used smartly, it can help you scale content creation and improve user experiences. Not only will this help you drive more engagement, but it’s also essential to stay ahead of the competition.
Videos may be much more engaging than static images. But Instagram carousels are the exception. A Socialinsider study found that carousel posts are the most engaging content type on Instagram.
And with Instagram now expanding the limit to 20 images, carousels offer an even better opportunity for engagement. With more photos to swipe through, you can keep your audiences engaged for longer. Whether it’s glimpses of a brand event or step-by-step visual instructions, longer carousels give you room to paint a fuller picture.
Huda Beauty made full use of this update to share images and videos from its Ube Collection launch event.
Longer carousels also give you the perfect opportunity to jump in on the “photo dump” Instagram post trend. The photo dump involves sharing a series of images that may seem candid and unrelated at first glance but collectively convey a story or a theme. It’s like flipping through someone’s personal photo album. It offers a glimpse into behind-the-scenes moments.
For brands, these moments could include events, user-generated content and photoshoots. The Huda Beauty example above is also a type of photo dump, featuring both curated and candid moments.
Combine this with other current Instagram trends to create relevant, up-to-the-minute content. For instance, sprinkle in some blurry, drunk effect photos for a dump that feels candid and authentic. Similarly, be on the lookout for any new photo trend on Instagram that you can incorporate into your carousels.
Instagram’s shift toward longer content isn’t just limited to carousel posts. The platform announced in January that creators in the United States will now be able to create 3-minute Reels. While short-form videos still reign supreme, you now have the freedom to experiment with longer videos.
This gives you the perfect opportunity to tell engaging stories that you can’t fit into a 90-second video. Think: informative explainer videos on complex topics, detailed step-by-step instructions and more.
With this feature still being fairly new, most brands haven’t yet pivoted to include it in their Instagram content strategy. But the platform’s head, Adam Mosseri, is one of the first to experiment with it. He created a 2.5-minute-long video offering a detailed explanation of shadow banning and how it works.
Instagram is constantly coming up with new features to help creators develop more engaging content. Recently, it introduced Trial Reels, which would allow creators to try out content with people who don’t follow their accounts.
Only available to professional accounts, this feature lets you share your trial Reel with non-followers. You can then view its performance after 24 hours and decide whether to share it with everyone else. This is a great way to experiment with new content ideas and get a gut check on how they might perform. So if you’re doing an out-of-the-box idea, you might want to share it as a trial before sharing it with your followers.
Brands continue to embrace the power of user-generated content (UGC) in 2025. Hard selling promotional tactics don’t work anymore. People now crave authenticity and relatability, especially on a platform they’re spending hours on daily.
And the strongest brands tap into this free marketing by creatively repurposing posts from real customers. It’s the most powerful way to build trust, drive engagement and grow on the platform.
So, how do you get your hands on quality Instagram UGC?
Big brands like BMW, Samsung and Apple use hashtags to source user-generated content.
Samsung has even created a separate Instagram account to showcase UGC. Creators gladly tag photos taken with their Samsung devices with the hashtag, #withGalaxy. This gives them a chance to be featured on the brand’s page—which has an impressive following of 4.8 million users.
Another way to encourage UGC is to run competitions and reward the best entry or entries. Or, partner with influencers and creators in your niche. Ask them to share honest product reviews or send them free PR packages to create unboxing videos you can repost on your brand’s page.
CeraVe regularly partners with relevant influencers and subject matter experts (i.e. dermatologists). Creators like @dermguru share detailed reviews from the perspective of an expert. The brand then reposts this creator content to its page to boost credibility and earn the trust of followers.
You can also repost organic Stories and posts from non-influencer public accounts. When they tag you or mention your brand, ask for permission to reuse their content. These are highly effective as they show genuinely happy customers using your brand in their day-to-day lives.
Driving engagement on Instagram takes more than just a pretty Feed. The algorithm actively favors genuine community engagement and interaction. So brands need to prioritize building connections with their audiences.
For example, you can use Instagram broadcast channels to engage with your community. These are a one-way messaging tool for brands and creators to engage with their followers. Use yours to share the latest updates to your followers in a more intimate and interactive space.
Currently, you can send text, photo, video and voice notes in broadcast channels. You can also share question cards and polls to gather fan feedback.
Netflix has a dedicated “Netflix Sports” broadcast channel with over 170k members. The brand uses this channel to share commentary and updates about recent sports events.
Remember the good ol’ link in bio?
Previously, you could only add one link to your Instagram profile. Most marketers relied on tools like Linktree to condense all their important channels and pages into a single link.
Now, you can include up to five external links in your Instagram bio. See OLIPOP’s Instagram profile to see how they show up when you click on them:
For omnichannel brands, this is a huge opportunity to drive traffic to multiple channels and touchpoints. A retail brand could take users to its best-selling product page, FAQs section, YouTube channel and online shop. A SaaS brand could send people to its highest converting landing page, latest blog post and a new downloadable eBook.
Here’s how to add multiple links to your bio:
You can also delete links and/or change them anytime you want. This offers a lot of flexibility to brands that want to boost new campaigns and content on channels other than Instagram.
Social search is a rapidly growing trend. Now, 31% of consumers use social media to search for answers to their questions. And 29% of Gen Z and Millennials even prefer to search on social instead of search engines.
Optimizing for native search is more important than ever. Instagram’s algorithm is working constantly to personalize the Feed for each user. This means delivering intent-based content that’s relevant to their interests. To stand out, marketers need an Instagram SEO strategy that goes beyond just using the right hashtags.
Here are some tips to help your Instagram content rank higher in Explore and user Feeds:
Instagram has long been the top platform for brands and influencers to work together. And that’s not changing any time soon, especially with new tools and features to encourage brand collaborations.
For example, brands can allow other Instagram accounts, such as influencers or partners, to add product tags in their posts. Users who click on these tags will be taken directly to the brand’s Instagram shop and would be able to check out on the platform.
Instagram also lets brands create collaborative posts with partners and influencers. You “invite collaborators” to your post, which will post to both collaborators’ profiles. Influencers can also tag brands in paid partnerships. This prominently displays the brand name at the top of the post, helping to boost brand visibility.
The following partnership between Garnier and Joe Mele leverages both features.
But perhaps the most exciting update is the launch of Instagram’s Creator Marketplace. It’s kind of like Instagram’s own influencer management platform where brands can find creators to work with. It also lets you exchange campaign ideas, share outlines and discuss compensation—all in one place.
Creator Marketplace is currently only available to brands in the US. Businesses interested in joining the marketplace can fill out this form.
As the popularity of social media platforms grows, the need for algorithms to best serve their users also grows. And when an algorithm is deciding who gets served your content, you might see a decline in reach. Because of this, Instagram paid promotions continue to soar in popularity in 2025.
If you go to your Instagram Feed, you’ll notice a fair number of sponsored posts in between organic content. The following ad from Thou Beauty showed up as the third post in my own Feed. Chances are that most users will have a similar experience with ads tailored to their individual interests. So there’s a good chance of boosting your reach if you invest in Instagram ads.
In fact, the latest Instagram stats show that ad reach on the platform is growing—a 12.2% year-over-year increase, to be specific.
The ability to add links to your Instagram Stories isn’t new. Since 2021, Instagram has made link stickers available to all users. This lets you direct your audience to any website or landing page you want from your Stories.
You can even add custom text to control how the link sticker appears in your Story. So instead of simply seeing a naked URL, users would be able to see something like “Shop Now” or “Read More.” Previously, this sticker text could only be up to 46 characters. Instagram has recently increased the limit, allowing users to add more descriptive text for their Story links.
Brands are using this opportunity to get creative with unique sticker text relevant to their links.
One of the latest Instagram Story trends involves using eye-catching sticker text to drive more clicks. Think: emojis like Betty Crocker, descriptive and fun CTAs like Garnier or benefit-driven CTAs like Pixi Beauty.
Trends influence how people behave and engage with content on Instagram. This makes it crucial for brands to stay on top of the latest Instagram trends and adapt accordingly. So you can serve fresh and engaging content that keeps your audience hooked.
Need more help to level up your Instagram efforts in 2025? Download our guide to using Instagram for brands and learn how to build an impactful strategy from scratch.
Jacqueline Zote
Jacqueline Zote is a professional content writer and editor. Her interests range from pop culture and mythology to content development and social activism. In her free time, she goes on food adventures and writes unrhymed poetry. Her short fiction has appeared in anthologies published by HarperCollins Publishers and Zubaan Books.
Read all articles by Jacqueline Zote
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