Believe it or not, likes may be a thing of the past!
Instagram has made a shift in how we measure engagement; and it’s now time for us to adapt our strategies. As Instagram continues to test the removal of likes, brand managers near and far must now look past likes and further into their performance metrics by tracking comments, saves and shares to see just how well their content has actually performed on the ‘gram.
Instagram saves, launched mid-2017, is an overlooked feature and metric of engagement. The feature itself is pretty straightforward: users save posts they like or want to “save for later” by tapping the bottom right-hand corner of any Instagram post. Posts that have been saved can be found by going to the Instagram profile, clicking on the menu in the top right, and then hitting “Saved”. Instagram also allows you to create Collections or boards of your saved posts for whatever you’d like—so go ahead, create your “Dream Vacation” board!
So why are Instagram saves now more important you ask?
With Instagram’s newest algorithms, the more engagement means the more users see your post. Your likes, comments, shares, videos views and saves get you pushed up on your followers feed and in the algorithm. Instagram saves are now the “Super-Likes” for the platform, according to James Nord, founder of Fohr an influencer marketing platform, who shares that the more saves you get the more likely you are to have your post pushed up on a followers’ feed and even on the Explore page.
We’re sure you want to know our #ElleTips for creating save-worthy content, so here are a few for you to remember when creating your next Instagram post.
Ensure your posts are appealing — Instagram users enjoy visually stunning posts, so make sure yours are among the best that they’ve seen. So great in fact that they can’t help but save it to look at it another time for inspiration.
Share a quote — If there’s one thing Instagram users love it’s quotes! Share your favourite or most thought-provoking quote in a visually appealing way with your followers for them to save and even share with their friends.
Keep ‘em informative — Whether it’s a recipe; tips on how to lose weight in 48 hours; a tutorial on how to perfect the art of contouring, or even learning the moves to the newest dance challenge, once your post is informative, followers are more likely to hang onto it to access at a later date. So go ahead and educate them!
Tackling Instagram and it’s ongoing battle of engagement and algorithms shouldn’t be something you shy away from, but instead take as an opportunity to level up your content and strategy for your brand. Try different methods and tips to increase your Instagram engagement, and find what works best for you.
Now go forth and create save-worthy content!
