Instagram’s new plan to move from a chronological to an algorithm-based feed will increase competition for social media marketers on the network.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, says the change will improve users’ experience. As the photo-centric social media network has grown, it has become harder for people to keep up with photos and videos others share. People miss 70% of their feeds on average, it says in its announcement.
The new feed will improve that situation by prioritizing what the algorithm determines users care about most based on the user’s relationship with the poster, their previous interactions, and timeliness of the post. All posts will remain, but users will see them in a different order. Instead of introducing the new feed instantly, Instagram will roll it out in the coming months.
Don’t Miss Your Favorite Musician
“If your favorite musician shares a video from last night’s concert, it will be waiting for you when you wake up, no matter how many accounts you follow or what time zone you live in,” it states. “And when your best friend posts a photo of her new puppy, you won’t miss it.”
However, users and social media marketing commentators are not so sanguine. Users protested, saying Instagram would become more like Facebook. Some took offence at its plan to tell them what posts are interesting. One wrote: “I don’t need an algorithm to tell you what I like to see. Just show me the content from the people I follow. All of it. I never ask you to do anything more than that. I never asked Facebook and you don’t see me posting that much over there anymore either.”
Brands May Lose Reach
Social media marketers will need to compete harder or lose reach on the network, much as many lost influence on Facebook after that network revamped its algorithm.
Although Instagram asserts all posts will remain in timelines, it may soon completely filter out low-quality posts, or at least what it deems low-quality posts.
Brands will need to combine advertising with organic marketing for successful campaigns.
“Maybe it’s dramatic to call it the death of organic social, but increasingly, we’re telling our clients, ‘If you’re not going to put money behind promoting your content, organic engagement is a real tough thing to produce sustainably,” said Kyle Bunch, managing director of social at R/GA told Adweek.
The change will complicate efforts for influencer marketing on Instagram, one of the most popular channels for that type of marketing, notes Patricio Robles at Econsultancy. Brands will struggle to understand the ranking formula. Some will benefit; others will falter.
An Attempt to Boost Interactions
The change may be an attempt to shore up the interaction rate on Instagram, theorizes Julia Greenberg at Wired. Its engagement fell significantly between 2014 and 2015, although it still outperforms other major networks, according to Forrester Research.
A feed that prioritizes content users are more likely to prefer may reverse that trend. Encouraging users to interact more will keep them on the network longer and boost advertising. An algorithm will also help advertising by accumulating more data.
“Understanding your available inventory, how engaged your users are, what the proclivity is to purchase based on exposure—all of these things are really important to the ad business,” Brian Blau, research vice president of consumer technology at Gartner, told Wired. “Without that algorithm, they’d have a lot less control. With the algorithm, they can fine tune things.”
The network may deprioritize posts from brands in order to encourage companies to pay for advertising just as Facebook did. On the other hand, the network may become more attractive to marketers if users interact more and spend more time on the site.
Experts recommend that social media marketers begin preparing for the shift now. Sharing photos and videos your audience will enjoy, employ contests, hashtags and other calls to action will increase interaction and help place before the algorithm.
Bottom Line: Instagram’s plan to implement an algorithm-based feed is a wake-up call for social media marketers. Competition to rise to the top of consumers’ feeds will increase. Marketers who start building engagement now will have an advantage, while others may need to re-evaluate their long-term strategy on the network.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
Awesome article William! I’m happy instagram is doing this.