In January 2025, Instagram extended Reels to up to three minutes and switched profile grids from squares to taller rectangles. In April it launched Edits, a free video editing app, and in September Meta said Instagram had reached 3 billion monthly active users. For aesthetic and dermatology practices, it rewarded vertical, educational video from real providers, and made profile grids work more like a portfolio.
Instagram changes something almost every month. Most changes are small. In 2025, a cluster of them added up to something bigger: Instagram rebuilt itself around vertical video and creators, at the exact moment its biggest rival hit a wall.
For aesthetic and dermatology practices, which have relied on Instagram for years to show results, introduce providers and build a brand, those changes reshaped what a good presence looks like.
This retrospective covers what changed, why it happened when it did and what a practice owner should do about it today.
What actually happened in 2025
January: longer Reels and a new grid. In mid-January 2025, the same week TikTok went dark for U.S. users, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced several changes. Engadget reported that Reels could now run up to three minutes and that profile grids would switch from squares to taller rectangles, so vertical content would be cropped less. Instagram also previewed a new video editing app.
April: Edits launches. On April 22, 2025, Meta released Edits globally, a free video creation app for iOS and Android with editing tools, effects and creator insights. TechCrunch described it as a rival to CapCut, the ByteDance-owned editor many creators had used.
September: 3 billion users. On September 24, 2025, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Instagram had reached 3 billion monthly active users, according to Reuters.
Taken together, the year’s changes pointed in one direction: Instagram wanted to be the home of vertical video from creators, and it gave them more room and better tools to make it.
Why the timing mattered
The January changes landed in the middle of TikTok’s legal crisis, which we cover in our retrospective on TikTok’s January 2025 shutdown. Many creators and businesses were looking for a backup home for their short-form video. Instagram made itself the obvious one: longer Reels to match TikTok’s format, a grid that showed vertical video properly and an editing app to replace a TikTok-owned tool.
For aesthetic practices, it meant the same content strategy could work across both platforms. It also meant Instagram’s competition for attention got tougher, because more businesses were now putting serious effort into Reels.
What the grid change did to aesthetic profiles
For years, aesthetic and dermatology practices designed their Instagram grids around squares. Many carefully planned grids, with text graphics, before-and-after layouts and branded tiles, suddenly looked cropped or awkward when the thumbnails became taller rectangles.
That matters more than it sounds. A practice’s profile grid is often the first impression for a prospective patient who taps through from a Reel, a tag or a search. It works like a portfolio. If it looks broken or dated, the patient’s confidence drops before they read a word.
Practices that updated their covers and templates for the new shape looked current. Practices that did not looked neglected.
What typical agencies did
Many social agencies responded to 2025 by pushing volume: more Reels, more trends, more trending audio. Volume can build reach, but it rarely builds the kind of trust that sells premium treatments. A practice that posts dance trends next to injectable education confuses the patient about what kind of practice it is.
Some also leaned harder into heavily edited before-and-after content. That carries real risk, from platform policy problems to patient complaints to state board scrutiny, and it can undermine trust with exactly the discerning patients a premium practice wants.
We prefer fewer, better videos that show real expertise. In aesthetics, the provider is the product.
What it means for an aesthetic or dermatology practice today
1. Rebuild your grid as a portfolio
Design covers for the taller rectangular thumbnails. Keep text inside the safe area. Pin your three most important posts: a provider introduction, your signature treatment explained and a tour of your space. Make sure a new visitor understands who you are in five seconds.
2. Use length when it earns attention
Three minutes is a ceiling, not a target. Short answers to single questions often perform best. Use longer Reels for consultation walkthroughs, what to expect at a first visit, provider philosophy and complex treatments where patients want depth.
3. Put providers on camera
Patients choose an injector, a dermatologist or a nurse practitioner, not a logo. Short, natural videos of your providers explaining treatments, answering common questions and talking about their approach build trust faster than any graphic.
4. Make editing easy and consistent
Tools like Edits make it practical for a team member to produce clean, professional video on a phone. Build simple templates for intros, captions and endings so every video looks like your brand.
5. Keep results content honest
Show real results with written consent, consistent lighting and no misleading filters. Explain what was done, how many sessions it took and that results vary. Follow Meta’s policies for anything you boost or advertise, and your state’s rules on testimonials.
6. Connect Instagram to your owned pipeline
Instagram reach is rented. Use it to send people to your website, your booking page and your list. Our dermatology practice marketing guide and med spa marketing guide cover how to make that connection.
A content plan that fits 2025’s Instagram
Here is a simple weekly rhythm we suggest for aesthetic and dermatology practices. It is built around trust, not trends.
One education Reel. A provider answers one real patient question: how long a treatment lasts, what downtime looks like, who is a good candidate, what to do before an appointment.
One behind-the-scenes post. Your space, your team, how you prepare a treatment room or how a consultation works. Patients want to know what it feels like to walk in.
One proof post. A consented result, a review graphic or a short story about a treatment plan, with honest context.
Stories most days. Availability, events, quick answers and reminders, with links to book or join your list.
Three strong posts a week, done well and consistently, will outperform daily posting with no plan. They also give you a library of video you can reuse on your website, in emails and on other platforms.
Review the plan every quarter. Look at which topics drove profile visits, website clicks and booking inquiries, not just views. Then make more of what brought patients and less of what only brought likes.
Turning views into consultations
Views are not patients. The step most practices miss is the path from a good video to a booked consultation. Every Reel should make the next step obvious: a link in your bio to a page for that specific treatment, not just your home page, and a clear call to book or ask a question.
Direct messages matter, too. Many aesthetic clients ask their first question in a DM. If those messages sit unanswered for a day, the interest fades. Assign someone to answer within business hours, use saved replies for common questions, and move serious inquiries to a phone call or a booking link quickly. Be careful not to discuss personal medical details in DMs. Move those conversations to a secure channel.
Finally, track it. Use a distinct booking link or a simple intake question so you know how many consultations started on Instagram, which treatments they were for and how many became patients. That is the number that matters, and it will tell you which content to make more of.
Review those numbers monthly.
Profile basics that still matter
With all the attention on Reels, it is easy to forget the basics. A clear profile name that includes what you do and where, such as your practice name plus “Aesthetics” and your city. A bio that says who you serve and how to book. Contact buttons that work. Highlights that answer the common questions: treatments, pricing approach, team, results and reviews. And a link that goes somewhere useful.
These details take an hour to fix and they shape every visitor’s first impression. They also help Instagram’s own search understand what your practice offers.
Dermatology has an extra advantage
Dermatology practices can do something most med spas cannot: combine medical credibility with aesthetic results. A board-certified dermatologist explaining why a mole check matters, how acne treatment works or what sun damage looks like over time is valuable content that also builds trust for cosmetic services.
Instagram’s push toward longer, creator-style video suits this well. A dermatologist who becomes a trusted local voice on skin health builds an audience that flows naturally into both medical and cosmetic appointments.
Who should make the content
Practices often ask whether to hire a content creator, use an agency or film in-house. The honest answer is that the best aesthetic content almost always features your own providers, in your own space, talking the way they talk to patients. An outside team can plan, film and edit, but it cannot replace your injector’s expertise or your dermatologist’s credibility.
A practical setup for most practices is a monthly filming session of one to two hours, planned in advance around a list of patient questions, with one team member owning editing and posting during the month. That keeps the voice authentic and the workload manageable. It also means the content reflects your actual standards, which matters for compliance and for trust.
Whoever makes the content, hold it to the same standard as your clinical work. Accurate, clean and respectful of patients. That is what makes it worth watching, and what makes the right clients book. Content that would embarrass your medical director in a year is not worth a spike in views this week.
What the 2025 numbers do not tell us
Instagram’s 3 billion monthly users is a global figure for the whole platform. It does not tell you how many people in your market follow aesthetic accounts or book treatments from Instagram. We are not aware of reliable public data showing how the 2025 changes affected bookings for aesthetic practices specifically. Measure it yourself: track inquiries and bookings that start from Instagram, and ask new patients how they found you.
The premium practice advantage
When everyone has the same tools, quality and authenticity win. Premium practices have both: experienced providers, beautiful spaces and real results. Instagram’s 2025 changes made it easier to show those things well, which favors practices with something real to show.
That is how we approach dermatology practice marketing and med spa marketing at Prestige: provider-led content, an owned pipeline behind every platform and fast follow-up on every inquiry. Our team works from Austin with practices nationwide, one per specialty per market.
The bottom line
In 2025, Instagram added three-minute Reels and rectangular grids in January, launched Edits in April and reached 3 billion monthly users by September. For aesthetic and dermatology practices, the winning profile became a vertical-first portfolio of real providers, real expertise and honest results, connected to a pipeline the practice owns.
Check if your market is open. We take one practice per specialty per market. Request a market check or call (716) 400-0084.
Put this playbook to work: see how it applies to the Prestige System for medical practice marketing and plastic surgery marketing.
Frequently asked questions
What did Instagram change in January 2025?
Instagram announced Reels of up to three minutes, up from 90 seconds, and changed profile grids from square thumbnails to taller rectangular ones so vertical photos and videos would be cropped less. The changes came the same week TikTok briefly went dark in the U.S.
What is Instagram's Edits app?
Edits is a free video creation app from Instagram, released globally on April 22, 2025. It includes editing tools, effects and insights for creators who make Reels. Practices can use it to edit short videos on a phone without third-party watermarks.
How many people use Instagram?
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in September 2025 that Instagram had reached 3 billion monthly active users worldwide.
Should a dermatology practice post longer Reels?
Only when the topic needs it. Three minutes is a ceiling, not a target. A clear 45-second answer to one patient question is often better than a long video. Longer formats suit consultation walkthroughs, provider introductions and detailed education.
What should an aesthetic practice's Instagram grid look like now?
Like a portfolio. Consistent, high-quality vertical covers, clear provider introductions, treatment education, your space and your team. Make sure important text is not cut off in the new rectangular thumbnails.
Are before-and-after photos allowed on Instagram?
Platform rules and state rules both matter. Follow Meta's advertising policies for paid posts, get written patient consent, avoid misleading edits or filters, and check your state medical board's rules on testimonials and results. When in doubt, ask counsel.