Update as of June 8, 2021: At the time we wrote this blog, engagement was down substantially. It has since shown some great signs of improvement. Many people have attributed the down time to the US elections in which social media platforms were attempting to suppress the spread of false information which impacted everyones engagement. Since then, we’ve actually seen hashtags regain effectiveness, and Reels have spread like wildfire. At this moment in time, you can still successfully grow your audience organically on Instagram. However, it will likely require an adjustment to your strategy and content.
So please, take this blog with a grain of salt. There is still some important things you should note. Namely, the fact that you DO NOT OWN your social media accounts, and things can change very quickly. It is important to diversify and grow your audience outside of one individual platform. That being said, enjoy this (slightly harsh) blog!
R.I.P Organic Instagram Engagement 😢
Hey Instagram, what the hell are you doing? You’ve already taken stories from Snapchat, live from Periscope, Reels from TikTok… and now Shopping from Amazon? Honestly, it seems like Instagram is having an identity crisis. Or they’re just going full on corporation and crushing every competitor in sight. Either way, why are Reels and Shopping now in the main nav while my posts, stories, and notifications are hidden up in the top? I understand that it’s good to shake things up, but this seems a little ridiculous. Oh… and people hate it. I asked people what they thought of the new update and this is what I learned:
Anyway, that’s all just a distraction from what’s really happening. That is: Instagram is killing organic engagement. There is literally no more evidence required to see that Instagram is becoming a “pay to play” platform, just like it’s now-owner Facebook. To quote from our blog Email Marketing Isn’t Dead (written back in April of 2020): “There was once a time where Facebook was the best place for artists and businesses to gain a following. However, once Facebook introduced paid advertisements, the ability to reach a new audience organically went out the window. FYI, this is starting to happen on Instagram as well.” We’re no psychics though, the signs were already pretty clear at that point. It’s even more evident today. Recently, I was made aware of a couple influencers sharing their experience with the drop in organic growth. Check out these images via this James Charles tweet:
August 2020:
October 2020:
Definitely some alarming numbers here. A couple things I really want to point out:
- Look at the % of accounts not following at the bottom of each screenshot
- This is the most obvious indicator that Instagram has changed its algorithm to limit the amount of accounts that you can reach organically
- Things like hashtags, location tags, and other forms of organic IG Marketing strategies are clearly becoming less effective
- Look at the difference in website clicks
- This is extremely disheartening for small business owners – James Charles has 22.9 MILLION followers, and he’s getting less than 400 clicks per post
- For anyone trying to promote their website, Shopify stores, or anything through the link in their bio, it is much more difficult than it once was
This is a clear effort to get more people to buy paid promotion through Instagram. This is exactly what happened to Facebook, so it’s no surprise to see this happening to Instagram, which is now owned by Facebook. Something else I should point out is I’ve been noticing A LOT more sponsored posts appear on my feed and in-stream for Stories, Reels, and IGTV videos. If you’ve been on Facebook lately, it’s the same way. It feels like roughly 25% of the content we’re seeing on Instagram at this point is “sponsored”.
Further, a large amount of the ads that we’re seeing are from accounts that we are already following. This is very frustrating, as people should not have to pay to reach their own followers. Your following should basically act as a subscriber list, and each post should be a message to your subscribers. Still, we’ll visit a profile we follow, and it will still seem like we have hardly seen any of their photos!
This is yet another example of why it is so important to diversify your online presence (blog coming soon). However, many people already have a lot invested in their Instagram account. For those people, here are some suggestions on how to try and get on the “good side” of the Instagram algorithm.
Tips for Organic Growth on Instagram:
Use new Instagram features
- Reels
- IGTV
- Guides
- Live IG stories
- Polls, Questions, Quizzes, Donations and other new story features
- Set up a shop if applicable
Diversify your content
- Photos (Posts)
- Stories
- Reels
- IGTV
- Short videos
Continue using best practices – even though these may not be as effective as they once were, it’s still worth the effort
- Curated hashtags
- Location tags
- Edit alt text
- Include a call to action in your captions and content
- Create engaging content
- Share new posts to your stories
- This is more important than ever – Instagram is doing a poor job of presenting your content to your own followers. This may be an effective way of presenting your new content to followers who didn’t see your latest post on their feed!
How you can support your friends, family, and favourite small businesses
- SHARE, SHARE, AND THEN SHARE AGAIN.
- Sharing the content of others is probably the most effective way to get new eyes on their content
- Much like word-of-mouth marketing, your followers are more likely to support something that you endorse. By sharing a post, you are essentially endorsing that content.
- Engage with content
- Like
- Comment
- Save (little book mark logo)
- Share
- Interact with their story content (Polls, Questions, Quizzes, etc.)
Send a positive direct message
- This really has no bearing on the IG algorithm, but a positive word of encouragement means a lot to someone using Instagram as a business tool!
- Using social media as a business tool is a lot more work than people realize, so positive messages go a long way in keeping small business owners and individuals motivated
- Get comfortable messaging people you don’t know, it’s perfectly normal to establish online relationships now!
Tell your friends
- Find an account you like? Your friends might too!
- As we mentioned, word-of-mouth is still the most effective form of marketing
Hopefully this massive drop in engagement is just Instagram trying to figure out the most effective algorithm for its users. However, it’s hard to be optimistic when this is the exact same trajectory that Facebook was on. It really does appear that Instagram has realized that the way they can make the most money is by basically forcing people to use paid promotion. Further, don’t be surprised if you see this trend continue across other social media platforms. Pretty much every platform has paid promotion, so it’s definitely a possibility. It’s definitely not ideal for small business, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be found online! If you’re looking for support with your social media marketing, our team of experts would be happy to help! We also have more content coming soon, including a blog about creating engaging content, and another about diversifying your online presence. We’ll also be releasing some guides for Instagram best practices very soon, so stay tuned to our Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin page for more updates.