Oh, say it ain’t so! Instagram has begun experimenting with hiding likes on other’s posts, and the Instagram marketing strategies everywhere are being evaluated. What about you: is there reason to freak out if you can’t see others’ likes?
It’s not such bad news. You can still see your own likes, and the overall purpose of Instagram removing the likes count is that some research has shown that like count comparison stirs up some feelings of insecurity. If you’re feeling insecure when you’re on Instagram, guess where you’ll stop hanging out?
There’s a second reason to celebrate. Many brands trick the algorithms by paying for likes, which is a bit unfair to those who are playing social media according to acceptable playground rules. The change will root out those fakers who pretend to be influencers but only know how to influence with cash.
That’s right, the change is good, overall. Here’s what you need to do to make sure your Instagram marketing strategy is rolling with the new algorithms:
Get Along With Your Bad Self: Don’t make Instagram followers an end goal. Your goal is not to rack up people who engage with you on Instagram; your activity on social media is a means to an end: more sales. Think in terms of moving social media contacts on through to higher-stakes engagement, such as email newsletters or visiting your product page. Don’t peak on social media.
Diversify: If you’re focused on Instagram marketing because that’s where your audience hangs out, that’s pretty smart. What’s even smarter is having a couple of other social platforms with high engagement so that when one site makes a change, you aren’t scrambling in terror.
On the Other Hand…: Instagram will likely go the way of Facebook, where it’s a pay-to-play situation, so be an early adopter and take advantage of the opportunity to build your followers on Instagram before the next change comes around.
Instagram marketing is changing fast, so it’s a good thing we’re pretty speedy ourselves. Contact us at SJC Marketing to learn more about how you can overcome the lack of likes or any other social media problem plaguing your business. We’re on it!