Market Insights: How Hong Kong People View Instagram's 2022 Updates

In 2022, Instagram rolled out a series of updates, including a large number of recommended posts in the Home Feed, changes to the algorithm promoting Reels, converting videos into Reels, a brand new Following and Favorites Feed, and even tested a full-screen layout design, which drew negative feedback from international users. How do users in Hong Kong perceive these updates? Have the new measures changed their usage habits? How should brands adjust their marketing strategies in response?

We collaborated with Fimmick Limited, a big data and digital marketing company, to conduct this research. Utilizing Fimmick's data analytics platform xMiner, we provided technological and data support, followed by analysis from Fimmick.

We analyzed the online discussions in Hong Kong from November 2021 to July 2022, let’s see what users in Hong Kong are talking about!

What Instagram update are Hong Kong people discussing the most?

Among the numerous updates from Instagram, Reels is undoubtedly the topic that Hong Kong people discussed the most. According to Google Trends data, the search volume related to Reels has been increasing since the end of 2021.

In our analysis, Reels far outpaced other updates, with related discussions reaching a scorching 74%! Other features, such as the pinning function and algorithm changes, while discussed by some, had noticeably lower heat, around 4%. Interestingly, even though the IG filter had no major updates, its heat value was still at 16%, indicating a strong interest from Hong Kong netizens toward new content formats.

Do Hong Kong people like IG Reels?

Recently, Instagram has been heavily promoting Reels, not only adding numerous Reels to the Home Feed but also automatically converting videos shorter than 15 minutes shared by public accounts into Reels. These “TikTok-like” activities have caused significant dissatisfaction among users, and internationally, there has even been an initiative to "Make Instagram Instagram Again," urging Instagram to revert to its original design. So how do Hong Kong netizens feel?

In our analysis, overall, although Hong Kong netizens did express some negative discussions about Reels, the majority of the discussions were positive and neutral, accounting for 51.9% and 31.2%, respectively. The most frequently mentioned terms in these discussions included “tutorials,” “usage,” and “sharing,” indicating that Hong Kong users are primarily concerned with the functionality and uses of the new features. As for the negative discussions, Hong Kong netizens mainly focused on the comparison of Reels with TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Twitter, as well as user growth on these platforms, expected development trends, and impacts.

What Instagram marketing strategy should brands adopt?

From the data, we can see that Hong Kong customers generally have a positive attitude toward Instagram's updates and are also willing to try new content formats. If you want to capture the attention of Hong Kong customers, Instagram Reels is definitely your best choice. Brands are encouraged to search for Reels related to their industry on Instagram to ignite inspiration! For example, F&B brands can share quick recipe Reels, maintenance service companies can share #oddlysatisfying cleaning processes, fashion brands can showcase various outfit combinations, and mattress brands could launch a pillow stacking challenge.

However, there is one thing to be cautious about. Since users are still not very familiar with the Reels feature, if you plan to implement promotional activities related to Reels, such as asking customers to share Reels videos using your products in exchange for discounts, you might want to include clear instructions to help customers follow through. As for the long-term development of Instagram, Hong Kong netizens seem to be more conservative. We recommend closely monitoring the latest news in the industry and preparing backup plans to respond to new measures when they are introduced.

Tips for Creating Instagram Reels

Tips 1 - Understand the Instagram Reels Algorithm

While customers may not be very interested in algorithms, as a marketer, you need to know how to leverage the algorithm to enhance your brand's exposure. Since Instagram Reels has its own algorithm, its emphasis and focus differ somewhat from Posts and Explore. Therefore, content that typically performs well on Instagram posts may not yield the same results on Reels. We suggest developing a specific strategy for Reels and conducting more tests to achieve maximum returns.

Tips 2 - Balance Sound On and Sound Off

Music is the soul of Reels. Choosing popular music on Reels can help your Reels climb the trending charts. However, according to Hubspot's survey on Instagram Stories, 15% of users never turn on sound, 56% turn on sound sometimes, and only 29% regularly turn on sound. If we apply this data to IG Reels, it means your Reels must cater to both Sound On and Sound Off audiences. We recommend adding captions to your videos to ensure that most users can understand your content.

Tips 3 - Be Aware of Advertising Restrictions

Although Reels has many fantastic features, not all of them can be used for Reels ads. For example, Reels ads cannot use licensed music, cannot include face filters or camera effects, cannot have GIFs, and cannot have product tags. We recommend familiarizing yourself with Facebook’s related requirements before devising a marketing plan.

 

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uMax Data Technology Limited, founded in Hong Kong in 2016, is an innovative technology company driven by artificial intelligence and data. uMax Data offers a variety of SaaS products and solutions, including Social Intelligence Platform (SIP), on-premises AI server, social listening and online alert systems, all-in-one intelligent research and event management platform, AI search engines, social intelligent customer service platforms, AI Agents and chatbots, brand public opinion insights, social media risk management, and multimodal data processing and digital upgrading solutions. These are collectively known as "Social Intelligence." These products not only enhance enterprise productivity and efficiency but also help businesses make more informed decisions.

Want to analyze customer opinions through online discussions? Understand what netizens are thinking? Emailinfo@umaxdata.com immediately to request related case studies and insight reports.