Now that chasing likes on Instagram is dead. Over. Kaput. What’s the new engagement metric to pursue that’ll give you that familiar dopamine hit?

Caravan Creative founder and Chief Word Slinger, Joanna, was invited to discuss this along with other social media experts on Create Connect Convert, a podcast Gigi from brand strategy and web design studio One6Creative.

While this social media change is topical, the advice will continue to be relevant long after the initial uproar from Instagram users has died down. The drama is tomorrow’s chip paper, but the advice remains evergreen.

You can listen to the podcast episode, How to Thrive in a World Without Instagram Likes, here. It’s a goodie, and you’ll be glad you did. Make sure to subscribe. Gigi is brimming over with knowledge that’ll help you elevate your brand.

004 Create Connect Convert_Instagram Hiding LIkes_Square_Joanna.png — ‘Don’t fear the algorithm’

‘You don’t need to beat it, fight it or crack it. The algorithm is your friend.’

Firstly, Newsflash! Instagram is a business and it wants to make money.

And in order to do that, it needs to have people to serve ads to. And if the platform isn’t a fun place to hang out, if people don’t want to spend their leisure time on there, then there’s no audience to advertise to.

While Instagram is ultimately a paid media platform, it’s within a social context. It’s called social media for a reason.

They want advertisers, brands and all users to give more than they take. To offer value. To connect. To share…

And vanity metrics, like the sought-after likes count, is valuable to no one except the person whose post is gaining likes.

So by taking the focus away from how many likes a post received lets the content do its job. It allows the brand to put out content based on what they think is a thing of value and not simply a post that will gain likes. It keeps them telling the story THEY want to tell, not bending their narrative to drive up the likes count.

This is a good thing. A good thing for everyone.

Here are five tips to help you create the kind of content that helps you tell your story and get in front of the people who want to work with you.

1. Don’t fear the algorithm.

You don’t need to beat it, fight it or crack it. The algorithm is your friend, it’s there to make sure that when you do something good, that you get rewarded for it. So, if your content is resonating with people and they are engaging with it, the algorithm sees that you’re offering value and pushes it out to more people. And feeds are filled with content that people enjoy, meaning they stick around on the platform for longer. It’s as simple as that.

2. Give more than you take.

It’s a bad habit and all too common that so many accounts post content but don’t spend any time engaging within their community. Make sure you are on there connecting with other accounts in a genuine and meaningful way. That doesn’t mean sticking an emoji on a comment and then ghosting. Instead, respond to posts that strike a chord with you. Get involved in the conversation.

3. Stop focusing on hashtags.

Yes, they help to get you seen by people searching for those tags but keep it relevant. Avoid filling up your post with broad hashtags like #coffee or #travel, they’ll just get lost. For instance, our Instagram content would be tagged #socialmediamelbourne which is a much smaller tag than #socialmedia and there’s a better chance it’ll be seen by more relevant people. And while you can use up to 30 hashtags, Instagram recommends you use no more than 10.

4. Use your captions wisely.

If you’re posting a quote you love, great. But tell a story in the caption why you love it and how it’s helped you. And make sure that the first line of your caption hooks your reader in. Treat it like a news article heading that makes you want to click more. And finish it with a call to action. Something like ‘what do you think’ or ‘How would you do this differently’ – invite your reader to respond.

5. Post less content.

Seriously, it’s better to create one really well put together post or story each week than five posts with #mood or #mondaymotivation as a caption. Spend less time churning out mediocre content and more time engaging with your community.

Like everything in life, Instagram is constantly evolving, and it’s driven by human needs and how we use it. So, be prepared to roll with it. This is definitely not the last time we’ll see a big change coming from them.