So far, Instagram has been an enormous success, especially from a business perspective. They introduced more visual brand-customer relationship innovations that have continued to evolve. This has made it possible for brands and customers to interact on a more visionary perspective.

Here are the top 10 Instagram predictions for 2020:

1. 'Likes' versus 'saves' and 'shares'

Instagram is keen to improve the quality of entertainment and information that users can get on their platform. As such, 'saves' and 'shares' are becoming the new currencies over 'likes'.

The idea is, if you liked it so much, you might as well have saved it or even shared it with friends. Nobody wants to 'save' or 'share' poor content. Users are going to have to get very creative because likes will not hold much water anymore.

Your captions should be relevant and hold the reader's interest to want to interact more with your brand. You can get professional content writing services from sites such as Online Writers Rating.

2. Paid Ads

Instagram is already a top player in marketing. If you have noticed Instagram's paid ads, you would have also noticed the traditional upward trend in terms of pricing. With the anticipated cool features, it certainly looks like we should prepare for more of the same regarding ads.

3. Videos, videos and more videos 

This is not only true on social media, but also on websites, blogs, etc. Graphic content — especially videos — is going to be a big hit. Instagram is and will be taking advantage of this apparent development.

Many users shy away from making video content because of the cost involved in making quality materials. However, Instagram has made some iconic additions to help users make quality videos easily as they look to focus more on video content.

4. Improved private conversations and personalised experience

Instagram will try to engage users to employ the built-in direct messaging features more. Say that you have a free ebook giveaway — instead of putting all the details on your post, you can direct users to DM you for the link.

It can also be applicable for discount codes and the like. From there, you can also make customers carry out other actions as well. This improvement will be useful for analytics and to also help businesses maintain a better business-customer relationship and engagement.

5. Simplified shopping 

Instagram hints 'good news' as they are working on a more simplified, yet comprehensive shopping experience on the app. Users will no longer have to be redirected to third-party apps, as you can now do everything using Instagram.

Following new developments, we expect to see changes like:
  • 'Open a seller's post', instead of 'take a seller’s post';
  • 'Click on seller's product pin', instead of 'click on seller's product tag';
  • 'Next, you are directed to a products page inside Instagram', instead of 'Next, you are directed to a products page inside Instagram';
  • 'You can read descriptions, view images and even find similar products', instead of 'You can read descriptions, view images and even find similar products'; and
  • 'Click on 'Shop Now', 'Add to Cart', 'Check out now', instead of 'Click on the 'View on Website' button to initiate the purchasing process.

6. More Instagram stories

The famous Instagram stories will continue to see more users taking advantage of its possibilities. Instagram stories have grown in their engagement capabilities so much that even businesses have tapped into it.

Stories will continue to connect both family and friends, businesses and customers and so on. Instagram is looking to add more features to ensure that it remains ideal for both corporate and personal advertisements.

7. Advanced augmented reality

Instagram filters are going to be featuring some incredible augmented reality. Since its addition during the release of Instagram stories, the younger generation has become fonder of the feature. As such, Instagram will continue to make more improvements to its Instagram story filters.

8. Sponsored naturalness

Sincerity and originality became fashionable last year as celebrities and influencers kick-started the trend and made posts without filters or makeup. Naturally, their huge audiences followed after their role models and the trend went viral. This year, there will be more of this and we expect to see brands capitalise on naturalness as a marketing strategy. 

9. Sponsored activism

Activism, just like naturalness, is another notable thing that went trendy on Instagram from last year. These days, younger generations are more interested in global and societal issues. Instagram will promote this trend as it will also become a marketable asset.

10. Sound effects

80% Sound-enabled videos on Instagram receive more views/plays compared to the other 20% without. Instagram is therefore predicted to add more entertaining sound effects to the feature to promote user experience.