What are going to be the biggest Instagram trends for 2026? It’s hard to predict. The truth is, no one really knows. But there are some clues you can draw from to inspire your Instagram grid for the upcoming year. Here are a few places I’m getting inspiration from.
Pinterest Predicts
If you’re unaware, Pinterest publishes an annual trend report. This pulls together some themes based on what people are searching for on Pinterest. Now, this is obviously a different platform, but if people are searching for something, that’s always a good indicator that they’re hoping to see it elsewhere.
Here are some things Pinterest identified that might be helpful for businesses to pull from:
- Scent Stacking: If you have any scented products (body wash, perfumes, candles, etc.), people are looking for ways to stack these. This is perfect for businesses looking to upsell. Recommend combining a certain lotion with a perfume or pair two candles together to give people a specific vibe. You can make up a lot of fun combinations to give your audience inspiration.
- Poetcore: Perhaps inspired by the dark academia looks from previous years, poetcore is a new style trend that combines the look of a European professor and a trendy Brooklyn bookstore. This is perfect for anyone selling books, journals, leather goods, or clothing that aligns.
- Brooched: I’m pretty excited to hear that brooches are in style. This would be great for any antique stores or thrift stores to promote. However, you could also get creative by adding a brooch to a special coffee cup (just don’t pierce where the liquid is) or make your own special branded one for giveaways (just make sure it’s still stylish and not just your logo).
- Pen Pals:Â If you’re unsure what design features you can include in your graphics in 2026, pen pals give a lot of inspiration. It feels like a scrapbook full of stickers, stamps, handwriting, and more. Aside from the aesthetic, this trend shows that people are really interested in handwritten letters. Is that something you can provide for your best customers?
- Darecations: This is a new word to me, but it turns out that people are becoming more interested in adventure tourism, auto racing, river rafting, etc. People want vacations that include some adrenaline rushes. If you’re in the hospitality industry, how can you partner with these kind of companies or give people resources to encourage their darecations?
There are plenty of other trends in Pinterest Predict, too. Check it out if you want to see what might work for your business.
The Anti-Social Media Club
People are talking more and more about taking social media detoxes or rediscovering traditional ways to connect (see the pen pals trend above). This means that your audience might want to connect with you outside of social media. I know this article is about trends for Instagram, but this is a general marketing trend that can change how we view social media.
Look into what other forms of marketing you can do. How can you build genuine connections again? Make people feel like you care beyond just a post that goes out to everyone. A few years ago, people were talking about personalization as a key marketing tactic. I think that still applies, but now we want to take it outside of the digital world.
Ragebait and Slop
Part of what’s driving the move toward a social media detox is frustration with posts designed to be ragebait (meaning it’s meant to make people upset or intentionally has an error to get more comments) and slop (disappointing AI content). If you want longevity in your business, you’ll want to avoid these. They’re quick ways to get engagement or get content out when you’re busy, but people are tired of it. They’ll unfollow, vocally complain, or just decide your business isn’t one they want to support anymore.
Posts Over Profiles
TikTok drives a lot of what Instagram is prioritizing. That’s its number one competitor, and Instagram wants to keep up. One feature of TikTok that was unique is the FYP (for you page). This is where you scroll through TikTok and are shown random posts that TikTok thinks you’ll like. You might be on there for hours before you see anything from an account you actually follow. It’s about the posts themselves, not the profiles that are posting them.
What I mean by this is that you shouldn’t be super concerned about your Instagram bio, how your grid looks, etc. Spend your time on good content that Instagram wants to show to people. Your whole business could change from just one really good post. Don’t expect to get a ton of followers either. That’s just not how social media works these days, and even when you do get followers, they aren’t always going to see your content.
Instagram SEO
I’ve been talking about Instagram SEO for years now. For those that don’t know, SEO stands for search engine optimization. Essentially, it means that when people search for something on Instagram, you want to make sure they find your posts. So, you add in words or phrases to the caption, your Instagram bio, or the alt-text that you think your target audience might search for.
If you’re a locally based business, how often do you mention the city in your captions? Or maybe you need to switch it up to mention Pasadena on one post and Burbank on another. I don’t recommend doing this as hashtags either. Do it in the text of the caption. Do you best to make it make sense as a caption, don’t just add in a bunch of keywords and phrases.
Instagram Shopping
For all the e-commerce businesses out there, Instagram is a big deal. Targeted ads that feel like normal Instagram content (not just an ad) can be extremely effective. I especially love Instagram Story ads. Those have gotten me to buy something more than once.
If you’re someone who wants to use Instagram ads or just wants to be on Instagram, but doesn’t want to worry about posting constantly, treat Instagram like your online store. Have posts with each product (in an engaging way) and keep those live for a long time. You can add some money behind them or do other ads that might drive someone to check out what else you’re selling. If you do this strategy, just make sure your product posts are filled with those keywords so they can continue to get discovered long after your post them.
User-Generated Content
Ads feel like ads on social media. People know when it comes directly from the brand and doesn’t feel like it comes from a person. That’s why user-generated content (UGC) is so helpful. It’s content someone else made about your brand for their own audience. They’re organically engaging and likely know what people want to hear. They’re also more trustworthy and can make content that might be more interesting than what your brand can create.
Encourage people to post about your company. You can incentivize it with giveaways, pay people directly (that’s more of an influencer relationship), or just ask people verbally to help you out. Then, you can use that content on your own feed (ask for permission first and ask for the original photo or video files). Since people are more interested in posts than profiles, you want more good posts about your brand, even if they don’t come from your brand.
What Instagram Trends for 2026 Do You See?
Those are the things that I’m seeing or hearing about most frequently, but what do you see? After all, we all have very different algorithms, and my side of Instagram might be different from yours. Leave me a comment here or send me a message if you want to chat further.
Honestly, I’m not planning to post on my own Instagram this year. It’s just not how my business grows best. Reflect on what’s actually working for you and where most of your clients hear about you. Don’t waste time somewhere just because you feel like you need to be posting there.
Good luck on Instagram in 2026!