5 Instagram Trends all fit pros should follow in 2022
Instagram and social media are constantly changing and evolving, which makes it extremely important for fitness professionals to be aware of trends so they can stay relevant. 🙌🏻
Being in the know and staying relevant will contribute to portraying the right image of yourself and your brand in the eyes of your audience.
I have identified 5 of the following trends that you can include in your content strategy.
What's Trending in 2022:
1️⃣ Video & Reels are getting bigger,
2️⃣ Content is turning more bite-size,
3️⃣ Educational content is more important than ever,
4️⃣ Carousels continue to be the stars of the show,
5️⃣ Social proof is a non-negotiable for your IG page.
Read on to learn more about each trend in detail…
TREND 1️⃣: Video & Reels are getting bigger
To compete with other video platforms such as Tik Tok and YouTube and keep its users on the platform for longer, Instagram now prioritises video content. It encourages users to use more of it since videos can grab users attention for a longer period of time than text-based content.
This means that you need to use and create video content to grow on Instagram and stay relevant. It does not mean that you have to spend hours creating video content, nor does it have to be silly or repetitive.
I know how hard it can be to come up with engaging Reel and video ideas, but the trick is to keep them interesting and useful for your audience. Don't re-invent the wheel, use content ideas you've already used for other posts and captions; take those key topics and create your Reels using them.
Use the below ideas to help you with your video & reel content creation:
✔️ Document your training and post 15-30 second clips of educational training content at least once a week. Harriet @harrietharper_fitness does this incredibly well:
✔️ Speaking into the camera is one of the best ways to teach your audience something - share a hack you recently discovered, or share 3 mistakes your audience or 'ideal client' are making. Show them what they are doing wrong, and what they should do instead.
✔️ Give 4-5 tips (give advice with actionable points). This needs to be short and to the point; start with something like "This is how you ______" or "Use these 3 things to help you___________".
Dan @coachdanogden does this very well:
✔️ Provide 3 reasons why someone should work with you. Keep it very informative and short, focusing on the main benefits the person will receive from working with you).
✔️ Of course, you can also create funny and entertaining reels (proving a clever point) which will encourage your audience to share your reel with their friends and family.
Josh @joshtaylorpt proves an interesting point with this Reel:
Trend 2️⃣: Content is turning more ‘bite-size’
Content that’s easy and quick to read and understand is extremely important. Because we are exposed to such a vast amount of information on Instagram and social media, our attention spans are at their lowest. People want quick and easy content that they can instantly understand and therefore enjoy (and quickly process.)
Here's what you need to keep in mind:
Keep your overall point and message clear & straight.
Remove the 'fluff', don't waffle - get your message across fast.
Make it extremely easy to read; this means breaking up any long sentences or paragraphs.
Use bullet points in your content where possible to summarise your key points (within the post/graphic as well as your caption).
Don't overwhelm your posts with too much information.
Split any lengthy or more complex ideas into multiple posts.
Trend 3️⃣: Educational content is more important than ever!
Educational and valuable content is a must for any fitness professional who wants to grow their brand on social media. This trend is not going anywhere. The secret lies in balancing educational content that's highly informative and valuable with 'other' content that promotes and showcases your brand.
Remember this: people are on social media and on Instagram for themselves; they typically don't care much about anyone else. People typically go on Instagram to quickly escape, learn and discover something new, interesting or fascinating and catch up with their friends and followers.
One great way to appeal to your audience, stop them, & make them consume your content is to make your content about them:
✅ Help them do X to achieve Y,
✅ Answer their questions,
✅ Solve their common problems with actionable points that they can follow.
Posting educational content will help you build the like and trust factor and increase your chances of people spreading the word about your brand. Needless to say, this will also help in establishing you as a trustworthy expert in your field.
Use these examples for your educational content creation:
[Problem] getting worse? Here is my solution
5 Ways to easily ________
Quick-start for your ______ (quick guide)
How to avoid these stupid mistakes ______
3 Actionable ways to ______
How to supercharge your_______
What no one tells you about _______ and what to do about it.
Trend 4️⃣: Carousels continue to be the stars of the show
Currently, on Instagram, the two of the most important metrics are comments and saves. 'Carousels' encourage comments because there are multiple slides within a carousel, and therefore, there are many opportunities for you to include a variety of CTA’s or ‘comment-provoking’ messages.
A carousel with ‘value’ or actionable advice is more likely to be saved because people usually save valuable and interesting posts that they can return to later and re-read. A 'save' is more likely to be triggered when your carousel includes an attention-grabbing title/heading and an eye-catching image.
Other reasons for using carousels are:
✔️ Carousels increase the time spent by a user on your profile or post since they have to swipe through the entire 10 slides. This sends signals to the Instagram algorithm alerting that your post must be valuable and will show it to more people.
✔️ High-value carousels rank highly on the Explore pages.
✔️ They also show your audience the effort you put in to create your carousel, which means there is a higher chance of converting someone from a visitor into a follower.
Trend 5️⃣: Social proof is a non-negotiable for your IG page
Having social proof (client results or testimonials) on your page is essential to showcase your expertise in what you do. It has a motivating effect on someone who may be considering getting in touch with you about your products or services. Why?
because People are more likely to engage in something if others are doing it!
Therefore it's important to show the following to your audience (you can use these points to guide your client testimonials):
Why did they start their journey with you?
How clients have found working with you,
How they feel after working with you,
How they look after working with you,
What their life was like before they started working with you, and what it's like now,
What would they say to anyone who is thinking about working with you?
There are many creative and easy ways to showcase social proof. My 2 favourite ways to do this are 1) a graphic with a quote and 2) a video.
1) A Graphic Testimonial:
A Graphic helps to showcase a 'juicy' testimonial quote (it's a good idea to include a picture of your client). See my own example below:
This design is a “double” graphic that consists of 2 slides.
2) A video testimonial:
A video testimonial is equally effective. This kind of post may not necessarily drive a lot of engagement however, having this on your Instagram page is essential to build your brand's credibility. See my own example:
what about your Client Results?
If you're a fitness professional, showcasing client results is also essential for the same reason (to build credibility and trust). The following 6 ideas can work as both single graphics a or be a front cover of a carousel.
They are my 6 key ways to present client results (P.S. if you like these ideas but don’t have time or don’t know how to create them - you can work with my templates.🤩
Got questions? Want me to look at a post or give any feedback on your website? Contact me here or through Instagram DM or scroll down to get an IG & Website audit!