Trending Audio

How to use Trending Audio for Authentic Instagram Growth

Hey there gorgeous,

You may have noticed that each week in my Instagram feed on a Monday night (Australian time) I release a list of trending audio that I have found for you from among the Top 50 Trending Audio on Instagram.

Basically you can now DM me @quietcreativesacademy the weeks prompt (this week was 198AUDIO) and you will be sent a DM with links to all the top trending audio that I think would be potentially appropriate for Quiet Creatives to use when they are making Reels. Each time you go to make a Reel you can click through the links for a shortcut search to find some audio that you know is trending and is most likely (out of the 50) to be relevant for Quiet Creative accounts.

My main filters when I search through the top 50 for you are that there is no heavy base or beat in the music and that it is not cheesy pop or fast paced/ heavy metal.

In the mix you may get classical, acoustic, ambient electronic or even on occasion gentle country. It really just depends on what is in the Top 50 each week.

But why would we bother with using Trending Audio in the first place?

I think that one of the best ways to think about all the different components of Instagram and how we choose to use them is as ‘levers’ that when activated help us get seen by more of the people we want to be seen by.

Examples of some of the different levers you can activate include

-what you post

-how often you post

-what time of day you post

-the audio you use

-the words you use (or don’t use) in your captions and closed captions

-the hashtags you do and don’t use

-if you use new functions or stick with tried and true ones

-the accounts you follow and engage with also have a big impact

Basically every thing you do (and lots of things you don’t do too) are being taken in by the algorithm and what it does with your content (who and how many people it shows your content to) is based on whether or not you are giving it what it wants.

The more activated you can make various levers in each piece of content you put out the better the likelihood that you will be rewarded.

So let’s take a quick look at audio. Trending audio to be specific.

Trending audio is short audio clips, often snippets of songs, dialogue, or sound effects, that are gaining rapid popularity. These sounds become viral when they are used repeatedly by users in their short-form videos, creating a wave of content centered around the same audio.  

You can tell audio is trending on Instagram by the little arrow pointing up to the right next to the track listing.

When choosing audio people often click through to the audio’s home screen (see below) where they will have a look through some of the top Reels that have been created using that audio. For this reason choosing trending audio helps with discoverability. The more people using that audio at that time, the more people are likely to stumble on your Reel.

The more eyeballs on your Reel, the more possibility there is for Shares and Saves and even Follows. And with them comes recognition from the Instagram algorithm that your content is worth sharing more, further helping you get seen.

If your goal on Instagram is to reach new accounts organically, build your following and engagement then I highly recommend you use trending audio when and where possible.

It’s one easy ‘lever’ that you can pull in your favour to help get the algorithm to treat you well.

And with my weekly trending audio for Quiet Creatives on @quietcreativesacademy it should be easier than ever before.

Are you conscious about using trending audio when you create your Reels? Have you had challenges in the past about knowing which ones to use and when? Has it ever been a block to actually making your Reels?

Let me know in the comments.

X Ilona