If you want to generate more engagement on Instagram in 2023 and build up your account authority at the same time, you should be publishing more videos. This is because videos still drive more engagement than photos, as this study from Quintly shows.

1. Create more how-to videos

Sales videos can help you get more sales on Instagram, but just publishing them alone won’t suffice. You need to intersperse promotional video content with free content that doesn’t promote anything. This is because free content helps nurture your audience and build a relationship with them. This will get them to trust you more. So, when you nurture your audience first with non-promotional video content and then share sales videos, you will drive more sales.

Are you wondering what type of content you should create to nurture your audience?

The answer to that is how-to videos. A recent study from Wibbitz found that the most popular form of video content on Instagram is how-to video tutorials. 80% of people prefer it to other forms of video.

The how-to tutorials you create should depend upon what your audience wants and your niche. You can find this information by directly asking your followers using Instagram story polls and question stickers.

You can simply create a video story where you ask your followers a question and then present them with the stickers so that they can provide the answers.

You can also use the data from your Instagram analytics and the analytics of all other social networks. You can even view your Google Analytics data to see which how-to posts on your blog perform best.

2. Publish more video ads to drive sales

The above study from Wibbitz also found that 31% of Instagram users made a purchase after watching a video ad on the network.

According to a report from Verizon Media, 83% of people watch videos in mute. This number climbs up to 92% on mobile devices. This is why if you want to get more people to watch your videos, you should optimize them for silent viewing by adding subtitles.

You can just add the words you are saying in the video as overlay text or you can create videos where you don’t say anything.

3. Live streaming no longer very important 

In 2020, many of us were left craving the real life connection and human interaction you get from in-person events. So savvy marketers and influencers tried to fill the gap. They recreated live events via live streams, connecting with audiences in new and meaningful ways.

Consumers watched over 7.46 billion hours of content  across all live streaming platforms in Q3 of 2020—a massive 92% growth year on year. Amazon Live made livestreams shoppable, IGTV and Twitch were used more than ever before, and we haven’t even gotten started on TikTok.

Recent studies show that the live stream trend is not going to stay.

4. Usefulness of your posts and human values should take the central stage

Today, the most popular posts on social media, are the ones that bring value to the viewers and are actually useful, not just attractive.

Today showing values in your posts matter, with research showing that consumers are happy to pay a premium in order to buy brands that aligned with their values.

A failure to engage with these issues became a big no-no; as did talking up a set of values without actually demonstrating them. Consumers were quick to point out hypocrisy and bandwagon jumping wherever they saw it.