There were three updates I found particularly interesting for arts organisations:

First Draft for Reels: gives creators more space to develop an idea before committing to the final edit. Alongside Trial Reels, it makes experimenting with a new tone or format feel considerably less risky.

Connected TV promotion: means paid Instagram content can now extend beyond the mobile screen. It will be interesting to see how this develops for exhibition films and other cinematic content.

Automatic DMs from advert comments: are being tested by Meta. This could be genuinely useful for exhibition RSVPs, ticket enquiries and viewing requests.

Instagram is also experimenting with a “Friends” count, account-level labels for profiles regularly sharing AI-generated content, a dedicated hub for episodic Reels and even a standalone Reels TV app. These are still tests, but they give us a fairly clear sense of where the platform is heading.

Trending: art hopping across the islands

One of my favourite trends this summer has been the number of galleries and foundations taking exhibitions to seasonal locations. Marie Claire called it “the new trend”: art hopping across the islands.

We saw this first-hand with our client L’Appartement Gallery, whose exhibition Melting Beauty took place in a private home on Antiparos. The content naturally became more summery, with the island’s landscape, architecture and light becoming part of the exhibition story.

The DESTE Foundation’s annual programme at the former Slaughterhouse on Hydra has been an art-world summer fixture for years. Jeff Koons’s Apollo installation from 2022 remains one of its most memorable projects.

Then there is Hauser & Wirth Menorca on Illa del Rei, reached by boat from Mahón. This summer’s programme included Directionless, a group exhibition organised by Rashid Johnson.

These settings also lend themselves particularly well to social media. Combining the exhibition with a distinctive location, journey and atmosphere creates visually engaging content with several points of interest, increasing its potential to be shared beyond an organisation’s existing audience.

Relevance is beating reach

The most important shift is not really a new feature at all. Social media is increasingly organised around interests rather than follower counts.

A smaller gallery or museum can now outperform a national institution if its content connects with the right audience. This is something we see regularly across our client accounts. A large following still helps, of course, but it no longer guarantees attention.

The question is less “How many followers do we have?” and more “Would someone who does not know us yet still stop for this?”

Cultural organisations are becoming creators

The strongest museum accounts are developing recognisable formats rather than treating every post as a separate marketing exercise.

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History generated millions of organic views with a sitcom-style series starring its staff. The Sacramento History Museum has built an audience of more than seven million across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube with simple videos demonstrating a historic letterpress.

Neither concept required an enormous production budget. They worked because they had personality, consistency and a very clear reason to keep watching.

Documentary content is still winning

Studio visits, interviews and process-led films continue to outperform content that follows a trend without a clear point of view.

That does not mean trends should be ignored. The Working Arts Club’s “kinda chic to believe working-class people belong in the arts” post used a familiar format to say something distinctive. Its success came from the strength of the message, not the trend alone.

That is probably my biggest takeaway from August. The content travelling furthest is not necessarily the most polished or expensive. It is the content with a recognisable voice, a clear idea and something worth sharing.

Cassandra Bowes
Founder, The Social Art Agency