The complete list of UK Instagram trends for brands and businesses

According to Sprout’s Q1 UK Consumer Pulse Survey, which involved surveying over 2,000 consumers across the country, 90% of Gen Z now have Instagram profiles. Instagram popularity in the UK isn’t limited to Gen Z; almost 35 million people of varying ages in the UK, according to Statista, have an Instagram account. This makes Instagram a significant marketing and sales opportunity for UK brands.

To ensure you’re crafting a winning Instagram marketing strategy, you must be aware of current social media trends. We’ve listed today’s most significant Instagram trends across content types and approaches to help you stay relevant.

What are trends on Instagram?

Trends on Instagram are any popular social strategies or approaches being used across the network by a large number of accounts. These trends naturally go in and out of fashion as audience behaviours, and the Instagram algorithm, change. The 2025 Sprout Social Index^TM found that 91% of UK consumers use social to keep track of trends, with 54% of them specifically using Instagram.

UK Instagram trends in content and user engagement

Content creation is a fundamental part of managing a successful Instagram account. Here are today’s most impactful UK Instagram trends that attract engagement.

Relatable imagery and video content

In the UK, resonating with your audience means creating content that feels relatable and taps into shared cultural references. Create content that reflects real-life experiences, addresses a desire or concern‌, and uses relatable language and visual cues to connect with your audience.

It’s tempting to chase viral content formats, but the Index shows that 34% of UK consumers find brands chasing trends embarrassing, with 28% saying it’s only effective within the first 48 hours. Long-term success comes from creating original and authentic content that connects on an emotional level.

This means having a strategy that combines knowing what’s trending and performance data with a deep understanding of UK cultural references. You need to go beyond surface-level engagement to build meaningful, lasting connections.

For example, UK fashion brand Lucy & Yak have over 700k followers and promotes inclusive, relatable content that directly targets their audience. They employ several tactics to engage their Instagram audience in the UK, including:

• Prioritising user-generated content.
• Treating customers as influencers.
• Fostering community.

Lucy & Yak have honed in on Instagram for engaging video content. They use the network to share their sustainability and ethics, which their audience cares about.

Hashtag strategies and Instagram SEO: An evolving approach

Instagram still uses hashtags, which means brands need them to be seen by the right UK users.

Create an Instagram hashtag strategy with a list of popular hashtags in your niche and how you’ll use them. Make sure you’re researching new hashtags regularly. You can also create unique hashtags for events, campaigns, product launches, UGC engagement and more. An evolving strategy will get your content in front of more people.

Hashtags also form a core part of your social SEO strategy on Instagram. Instagram SEO takes traditional SEO practices and applies them to the network to help your account reach more users. Brands should have clear keyword strategies and other SEO approaches in place to make sure they appear in relevant searches.

Authenticity in the UK: connecting through shared values

According to the Sprout Index, authenticity is paramount when it comes to brand content in the UK. Instagram users in the UK expect authenticity from everyone they follow—brands and influencers.

Authenticity on UK Instagram is about being true to what your brand represents, and preserving those values in your content and how you behave on the network. Consider everything your brand does online, and ask why you’re doing it, and the messages and values you’re promoting while doing so. This will help you get closer to living and communicating your values on social.

For example, Mikaela Loach is a children’s author who posts reflective, open and honest content on her Instagram account about her life as a UK influencer and climate campaigner.

Popular UK Instagram content categories are diverse

Brands and influencers create a variety of content on Instagram, with many gaining popularity through their niche. Some of the most popular UK Instagram content categories roughly correspond with the most talked about topics online in the country.

These include food and drink, entertainment (including music, films and gaming), travel, beauty and fashion. Each of these categories has a notably interested audience in the UK, but their popularity can lead to increased competition.

UK Instagram trends in marketing

These are some of the leading marketing Instagram trends in the UK.

UK influencer marketing: Integrate ads with influencer content

Influencers are the latest digital marketing channel worldwide, and over half of the people in the UK who follow influencers do so on Instagram.

Partnering with UK influencers whose interests align with your audience can boost your reach. They can also help your brand stay culturally relevant because they often have a pulse on trends.

A good example of this is Stella Artois’ collaboration with “London Dead Pubs”, who reviews UK pubs. They collaborated on a recurring series called “The Perfect Serve”, where Stella’s product (their beer) is promoted within the influencer’s personal style of content.

Celebrity collaborations

Alongside influencers, a popular trend on UK Instagram is content partnerships with celebrities. These partnerships allow brands to connect their products with recognisable faces that fans know and trust.

A great example is US-based hot sauce brand Frank’s RedHot, which recently expanded into the UK market. They’ve teamed up with Danny Dyer for a recurring content series on Instagram to tailor their product promotion to UK audiences.

Videos vs. carousels

Videos and carousels are two of the most popular content types on Instagram in the UK. Both gain a lot of engagement; reels have a 2.08% engagement rate worldwide, whilst carousels have a 1.7% engagement rate.

To decide which is right for your account, think about what your audience prefers to engage with. As an example, the UK publishing house Fitzcarraldo Editions often uses carousel posts with text because their audience is made up of readers.

Think also about the skillsets of your team, and what you’re promoting. If possible, a mix of both videos and carousels can help diversify your content.

Humour as an engagement tactic

UK brands and influencers often use humour to build a recognisable brand identity. Aldi UK is a popular example with over 850k Instagram followers. They post light-hearted and often comedic content. These posts have helped build Aldi UK’s brand identity as an accessible, friendly supermarket brand. Aldi is a discount supermarket known for lower prices, so this comedic and lighthearted tone lends well to an open and welcoming brand ethos.

Think about what type of comedy may work for your brand image. But don’t overdo it, as trying too hard to be funny can backfire.

UK Instagram trends in social commerce and monetisation

Instagram isn’t just for expanding your reach, it can also become a powerful sales channel for your business. By leveraging these Instagram trends, you can unlock new monetisation opportunities.

Social commerce through Instagram Shopping and Instagram Ads

Instagram Shopping was launched in 2024 and allows users to directly sell through the network.

Social commerce in the UK is a huge trend, and using these features can represent a significant growth opportunity for brands looking to sell more products. Read up on the best tactics for selling on Instagram in the UK. This is particularly important if you’re trying to master using social media for retail in the UK.

Alongside posting content organically, Instagram offers brands the ability to create paid ads that can reach more users.

For National Pizza Day, Pizza Express combined an Instagram ad campaign with a free pizza giveaway at their restaurants. This was a smart campaign as it promoted UGC (user-generated content), and meant more people were visiting their local Pizza Express restaurants to take advantage of the free offer. Combining this promotion with National Pizza Day made the campaign topical and increased its ability to trend.

Remember ASA regulations

All advertising on Instagram in the UK is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). They have set rules for social ads, including always stating clearly when you’re advertising something.

All brands and influencers have to follow these ASA laws when creating partnership campaigns, when promoting products and when managing competitions on social media, among other situations. It’s vital that you keep up to date with their regulations.

UK Instagram trends in demographics

These trends explain who is using the network, why they’ve chosen Instagram and how they prefer to engage based on current social media statistics.

UK Instagram user base and youth popularity

One of the key Instagram stats for the UK is the country’s overall user base of around 35 million users.

Instagram is often in the top four most used social platforms in the country, behind YouTube and Facebook (including Facebook Messenger), but ahead of TikTok.

Almost 30% of UK Instagram users are between 25 and 34. It also has a large number of UK users between 18 and 24.

Balanced use among genders and queer-friendly

Instagram use in the UK is roughly balanced between genders, with around 55% of its users being female and 45% male.

This data doesn’t account for UK Instagram users who identify as genderqueer or non-binary. Queer Instagram is a commonly understood concept in the UK, and refers to how the network has helped create a safer community space for LGBTQ+ people.

User behaviour

UK Instagram users have been some of the most engaged on the network for the past few years. The overall time spent on social media across the country is also increasing.

With 63% of people in the UK using social media every day, many people say they respond well to advertising when using Instagram. Checking and engaging with Instagram has become a core part of many people’s daily lives.

How to create a winning strategy around UK Instagram trends in 2025

Knowing the current Instagram trends is half the battle; now, you need to apply them. Here’s how:

Keep a pulse on your audience with social listening

With social listening on Instagram, you can track conversations as they happen across your account.

A solution like Sprout Social can help you identify new trends that are highly relevant to your audience, and better understand what your followers expect from your content.

Lead with authenticity

Another approach is to embed authenticity into every corner of your strategy. Create a content strategy that includes behind-the-scenes videos, interviews with real customers‌ or day-in-the-life follow-alongs.

Content like this will give audiences a better understanding of who you are and what you stand for.

Pay attention to keyword optimization

Writing long-form, engaging captions with a clear SEO approach and keyword strategy is a proven way of getting your content seen by more people and standing out from the crowd.

With Sprout’s AI Assist, you can get help writing engaging captions at scale. Small teams should also consider outsourcing this work to a creator.

Invest in micro-influencer collaborations

The most effective influencer collaborations rarely involve partnering with a big name. Campaigns are often more effective with micro-influencers that have 10-100k highly engaged followers.

As an example, English food producer Brandston created a new potato brand, Nanna Tate, and partnered with food influencer Joe.Oxley on a unique recipe to engage his 50k+ followers who are all interested in food.

Humanise your brand

Going viral might still sound appealing, but sustainable success on Instagram is a long-term process that involves community building.

That means regularly responding to messages and comments, commenting on influencer content related to your niche, and promoting and engaging with user-generated content. Use your brand’s Instagram account to foster meaningful connections with your fans, and as a way of showing the human side of your business.

Keep up with the latest UK Instagram trends

With these UK Instagram trends and strategies, you can start to refine a stronger Instagram marketing approach.

Social keeps evolving, so download the 2025 Sprout Social Index to find out more about what people in the UK expect from social brands.

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