Instagram Prefers Video and No more Likes

Digital Advertising Should be Moving with No more Likes

In a June ’21 post, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, said that Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app. Instead, in the video posted to his Twitter and Instagram accounts, he noted the success of competitors like TikTok and Youtube and the massive growth on all platforms driven through video. He suggested the company will now be leaning toward entertainment and video. The company will be experimenting with embracing video more broadly by prioritising mobile-first, full screen and entertaining video content.

What does this mean for Me?

More platforms are prioritising video content, and statistics suggest video has a much better engagement rate. For example, LinkedIn video campaigns have 50% view rates. The Marketing Helpline quotes Social media posts with video garner 40% more views.

Life without the Likes

Since earlier this year, new Facebook pages have not included a Like Button. Facebook now regards followers as a better indicator of a Page’s popularity and true reach. In addition, the social media giant provided other significant changes to the Pages, including Redesigned layout, Dedicated News Feed, Easy navigation, Updated task-based admin controls, Actionable insights, and Safety and integrity features. Additionally, Facebook has also added a new text-based Q&A format to support richer, interactive conversations.

Furthermore, Pages now have a dedicated News Feed where users can discover and join conversations and follow trends. The News Feed will also suggest new connections, Pages, Groups and trending content that a Page or public figure identifies with.

Reception to Instagram’s “suggested posts” feature has been so positive that it’s launching a new test algorithm. Suggested posts will surface throughout your primary feed, sometimes ahead of photos and videos from people you follow. The platform is also testing new controls that allow users to add or snooze specific topics that may or may not interest them.

Thumb Stopping

There would appear to be a general move by the major social platforms to give their users a degree of control over display algorithms; however, they have a vested interest in surfacing suggested content.

Creating scroll stopping posts has never been more important, and 2021 seems to be all about video. For the next few months, we will be including at least one video post for existing Social Media customers and measuring engagement and ROI potential. In the future, we will be offering video only or animated still posts as options for Social, paid advertising and website content.

For more information, get in touch with our social media experts at Bold.