Instagram’s announcement last week about their changing algorithm slipped out with minimal fanfare - don’t be fooled! This is a seismic change in how people will experience Instagram; users, creators and brands. Moving to a content-led algorithm over a community-led one; choosing the TikTok model over the (old) Facebook model.
What it means for creators:
- Big creators will have to re-learn how to engage their audiences, when they can no longer rely on their big follower counts to drive views.
- Small creators can now go viral, because if a video gets early traction, its visibility will grow (and grow) far beyond its follower base.
- Meme accounts will be phased out, because the algorithm will always show an original post over a repost - unless it’s been changed enough to constitute a parody or meme (or stitch, duet to steal TikTok’s language).
What it means for brands:
- Brands will benefit from an increased choice of creators to work with, as an influx of small talented creators start to get traction on Instagram who didn't flourish before.
- That extra choice will bring the need to re-learn how to choose the right creators to work with, no longer relying on follower counts to benchmark organic views - but looking at the creative opportunity.
- Agencies will need to work harder to make collaborations with creators that cut through even more.
- Brands will start to look at their creator and paid media strategies as one plan, as organic views are now not predictable enough to rely upon.
Instagram will become a viable place for new creators to start posting on the platform. Instagram has always rewarded people who have built big follower counts over time, and as this change rolls out, everything will change.
We think that makes Instagram an exciting place to be collaborating if you’re a brand – I probably wouldn’t have said that phrase 2 weeks ago 🙂