Instagram Likes Are Going Away... Don't Panic

Last week it was reported that Instagram will be testing hiding likes on the platform in the United States. The test has already been taking place in several other countries, including Australia and Ireland, so many digital marketers have been bracing for this for months.

According to Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, "The idea is to try to 'depressurize' Instagram, make it less of a competition and give people more space to focus on connecting with people that they love, things that inspire them." (source)

I hopped on Twitter Sunday night to see what my network had to say about it, and gathered some interesting (unofficial) insights.

1. Influencers were concerned that brands would no longer want to work with them.
2. Marketers were worried about how to measure influencer marketing campaigns.
3. In general, people seemed to be split on whether or not this was a good move.

Scroll down, click play, or keep reading for my personal thoughts.

Is this the death of influencer marketing?

I doubt it. Like I posted on Twitter, brand partnerships shouldn't be measured by likes. In fact, no marketing campaign should be (more on that in a minute.) Even still, Instagram Insights aren't going away. This update will affect how like counts are shown externally, but brands can still ask creators to send over their metrics before engaging them in a campaign, and influencers can familiarize themselves with their stats to come prepared to those conversations.

One of the concerns I noticed was the potential of brands avoiding influencer marketing because they'd be put off by the lack of visible ROI -- and I think it's a valid concern. But likes aren't really ROI. They're what I call vanity metrics, and most experienced marketers would agree.

So how will we measure success of marketing campaigns?

Sure, likes are an indicator of the quality of the content to some extent, but likes alone are not currency. To measure the true success of a campaign, you have to know the full path. And the best way to do this is simple: tie your business goals to social media metrics, then track, measure, and optimize.

A few examples:

If your business goal was to sell tickets to an event, you'd want to track your link clicks by using a UTM code or link shortener and placing it in your bio. You'd also create a different tracking link for every paid advertising method you used, like an Instagram ad or influencer partnership. If working with influencers, you may consider giving them a coupon code to incentivize their audience to purchase, and also to give you more insight into how that initiative was converting.

If the goal was brand awareness, social media metrics like impressions and reach tell more of the story than likes. Impressions are the number of times your content was seen across the platform, while reach refers to the number of accounts that saw it. Again, Instagram Insights are not going away, so these numbers will still be accessible to individuals on their own accounts.

It's worth noting that comments are probably going to matter more now than ever, too. While they're still a bit of a vanity metric and can be automated, fraud is seen less often than with likes, and is a bit easier to detect. Even still, they are a display of engagement and can also provide valuable feedback... so get conversational! Use your captions to tell stories and get people excited about what you have to say.

Is your Instagram-focused brand at risk?

Probably not, but times like these are always great reminders to diversify your brand. No, you don't need to spread yourself too thin, but you should never be putting all of your eggs in one basket, either. My personal rule of thumb is at least five revenue streams and lead generation channels. That way, if one is at risk, I still know I can pull the lever somewhere else and make up for it... or at least get by.

Quick tips on that:

• Get people to your email list. I know you've heard this before, but Mailerlite and Mailchimp are great solutions. Start with one opt-in and direct folks there (for my coaching business, I'm offering this free social media management starter kit.) Then, set up some automations to eventually drive them down the funnel towards becoming a paying customer.
• If you're an influencer, consider making longer-form content on YouTube. In addition to sponsorship opportunities, YouTube also allows you to collect revenue each month without having to form a brand partnership first. There is a bit of a barrier to entry, but if you get started now, over time you'll get there. YouTube content is also, in my experience, more marketable. Even though it takes longer to produce, it tends to be higher quality and also tends to generate sales years down the line. This is unlike Instagram content, which often has a shorter shelf life.
• Lastly, take a long hard look at your content and target audience. Instagram is convenient and a lot of fun. But is it really where your target audience hangs out? It very well may be, but I often work with clients that are spending heaps of time on Instagram when their target audience is actually more accessible on a platform like LinkedIn. Or, we'll make the decision to run a targeted paid campaign and see immediate ROI that's comparable to six months of organic posts. There's no one-size-fits-all strategy that works the same for every brand, so working with a trusted social media partner to develop a strategic plan is essential to making the most of your advertising budget.

My friends and clients in Australia and Ireland had very positive things to say about the results of the test in their respective countries, but those of us in the States will just have to wait and see how it all pans out. I'm cautiously optimistic about the effect this will have on mental health, and although it's a new challenge for marketers, I'm ready for it.

After all, the only constant in the world of social media is change.

What are your thoughts?