Facebook-owned Instagram is making its first monumental shift in how it displays your newsfeed. Like its parent company, this involves reshaping the order of your feed to move more relevant content to the top.
The reasoning is the same as before; Facebook made these changes to deliver only the posts that people want to see. Changing how a newsfeed is displayed, they claimed, was a natural way to stem the tide of overwhelming advertisements or posts from acquaintances you’d rather not see.
The result for brands and publishers has been sobering. Since Facebook’s algorithm change, the organic reach for business and brand posts have dropped to the point where only 3% to 5% of your fans may see your post, from a height of 25% to 50% just 3 years ago.
If you have a brand or product post, you will absolutely see a drop in engagement, post virality, and fan growth….unless you advertise. That has been the reality on Facebook, and is the new reality on Instagram.
However, there are certain strategies you can implement to stem the tide of these changes. Here are five:
1. Post More Original Content
Providing more service and entertainment to your fans is one way to increase engagement. It’s the smarter, not harder, approach. Creating better organic media from your brand can also help throughout the organization. We can help consult and craft engaging media campaigns for your page.
2. Pivot Your Page's Purpose
Most Instagram pages face outward, constantly promoting only new products and services. However, due to the personal nature of the platform and its young audience, you can also look inward. Consider using your Instagram more for customer service or curating content. This emphasis on satisfaction, not likes, is a surefire way to increase customer loyalty.
3. Experiment with New Platforms
If you have not seen success on Instagram, and these changes have you wary, consider investing in a new, developing platform. Snapchat, Persicope, and Anchor all have significantly smaller usage than Instagram, but are prime environments to discover valuable niches for your products and services. We can help discover if these pages can be beneficial for you.
4. Invest in Email
Email is the bedrock of digital marketing. Here, you can cultivate, grow, and utilize paying customers without being affected by algorithm changes, trend shifts, or redesigns. Consider allocating budget and time to growing your email list, and enhancing your outreach efforts.
5. Pay Up
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down! If you’re highly successful at Instagram, and a significant amount of your customer base is tied to it, then it may be time to discuss allocating an advertising budget to the platform to keep your engagement up.
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