Instagram feels like it changes a lot more than it does.
But it does change, and I’m not about to go into algorithm changes but changes that you need to make to your content because I don’t want you getting stuck in the past and getting frustrated wondering why it’s just not working for you.
What I’ve noticed after a decade in the social media industry is that some things (templates, jokes, visuals and even fonts) take a few cycles to “get old”.
I am noticing a change once again – especially on Instagram.
Things that used to work even a year ago just don’t work anymore.
This is what worked in 2021:
Single image posts that that included your handle as a watermark are outdated. This brought in over 500 likes and tons of comments. If I posted this today I’d get lucky if I got 70 likes on it and it would not be prioritized in the feed because it’s mainly text and it’s not a carousel. We want carousels with video as the first slide and music so that they can show up in the Reels tab.
Obviously educational posts like this listing “3 ways” or “3 things” don’t work anymore. Adding the watermark to the bottom of the template is outdated and unnecessary as Instagram adds your handle as soon as someone shares it. Your branding should be powerful enough that when someone sees you in their feed, they know it’s you. Forget your logos and watermarks.
This is what worked at the start of the year:
Short Reels with random B-Roll and the majority of it being text used to get people’s attention and hold it – today they’re a dime a dozen. People want to know WHY you do things and understand HOW you think but the catch is that they want to hear you and see you do it instead of just watching a short video that they’ll forget about as fast as it lasted.
The thing about Instagram is that you need to know when to pivot some things. I’m not talking about your entire strategy.
I’m talking about simple changes to your designs and templates, and even to how you are starting your Reels.
