Have you noticed as you scroll through your Instagram feed that you can no longer see how many ‘likes’ a post has?
Now the only way to see the total ‘likes’ is to click on “others” and if you have the time you can add them all up yourself – but let’s be honest who has the time for that!
Why did Instagram hide ‘like’ counts?
Instagram implemented the change to help users feel more comfortable to share posts without judgement and remove the pressure of how many ‘likes’ they will receive. This is a great move in the social media space for users wellbeing, however, the recent removal of ‘like’ counts may impact how many users see your businesses posts.
Have you noticed a drop in engagement with your posts recently?
This may be because your followers are now less inclined to ‘like’ your post, with fewer ‘likes’ your post will have less momentum to show in other users feeds and this will reduce the reach of your post. This has an impact because which posts make it to the top of a users feed is determined by various factors such as how recently a photo was posted, how much engagement and ‘likes’ it has.
What can you do to engage with your Instagram followers?
Now is the time to rethink how you reach your potential customers on Instagram and how you engage with your current followers. In order to help your posts appear and gain a wider reach, without forking out to buy ads, you need to think about how you can make the content you are sharing more engaging to your followers. The focus is now on your content, rather than the number of ‘likes’ the post receives – this allows you to get creative and post more freely, without being limited to the best times to post to get more ‘likes’.
You will now have to think critically about what you are posting, get specific about what content you post is actually driving your business and appealing to your intended audience. ‘Likes’ have been an easy way to measure how content was performing and an easy way to compare to other businesses, this shift will force us to look at what’s actually working and driving engagement!
If you need a hand with your Social Media Marketing – let us know, we would love to help!
