Latest Social Media News, June 2022
In the ever-changing social media landscape, it’s important to keep up to date! We’ve compiled some of the latest social news and features to catch you up to speed.
It’s all about Instagram at the moment. Within the past few months, Instagram have implemented several updates which could affect your social media campaign and goals.
Instagram Testing
Instagram are currently undertaking quite a number of tests across the platform. It's important to note that Instagram chooses a small percentage of users, from across the world to test new features with. Not all users participate in tests, however tests usually change these users experiences significantly.
Please find links to articles expanding on different Instagram tests currently running:
We expect to see a decrease in engagement from users in testing, as feedback so far has been that these new features have decreased user satisfaction.
Instagram Feed Sorting
After testing new feed sorting options earlier this year, the Following and Favourites feed have been rolled out to all Instagram accounts.
These new feeds are:
- Home: The current feed view includes suggestions of posts from people you're not following
- Favourites: This feed allows users to choose their friends and family, and their favourite influencers into one feed.
- Following: The traditional chronological feed is coming back!
After implementation, we have noticed a drop off in impressions across all accounts - this means less people are seeing posts. However, this is what we typically see when a new feature is introduced. Over the last few weeks impressions have begun to pick up again, and we will keep an eye out on how these stats track over the coming months.
Best Types of Posts for Engagement
Scheduling platform Later recently released a report, after reviewing 81 million Instagram feed posts (noting this excludes Reels) to reveal what post types are best performing in 2022.
Carousel posts returned the best average engagement rate at 3.11%, followed by image posts (2.76%) and video (2.60%). This means that we need to be implementing more carousel posts into our social planners!
That's the latest social media news this month. Stay tuned for more updates!
Want to work with our team? Contact us to find out more.
The Latest Instagram Algorithm Changes
Want to know how Instagram's latest algorithm will decide what photos and videos show up in your feed? We’ve got all the answers!
Done in an effort to refresh the app and improve chronology, Instagram is opening up about what’s new and why.
A personalised feed
The new algorithm places a focus on ensuring everyone’s feed is unique and relevant to the user. This personalisation is done through monitoring who you interact with and past behaviors. Basically, a users level of engagement with certain accounts will determine how much or how little they will see of that content.
A big part of this new and improved personalised feed is to prioritise posts from your ‘friends and family’. The updated algorithm claims that users will now see 90% of the posts from their ‘friends and family’ (as determined by Instagram), as opposed to 50%, which was the percentage prior to the algorithm change.
Breaking it down - interest, timeliness and relationship
To help us further understand the new algorithm, Instagram has broken it down into three important determining classifications: interest, timeliness and relationship.
Interest = how interested they think you’ll be in the post
If Instagram thinks you’ll be interested in a post, they will prioritise it and it will appear higher in your feed. How do they determine what they think you will like? Well, they base this on your past behavior and engagement with similar content.
Timeliness = relating to how recently a photo was posted
This new aspect of the algorithm intends to limit how often users are seeing ‘old’ posts from weeks ago and helps keep users feeds more recent and up to date.
Relationship = determining the ‘friends and family’ category
Instagram is taking more notice of users relationships with other users. For example, if you frequently comment or are tagged in a person’s photos instagram takes that to mean you have some sort of a relationship with them and they will be categorised as your ‘friends and family’.
So what can your business do to make sure your posts are being seen and heard in the Instagram feed? Why not pencil in a chat with our team to discuss your Instagram strategy.
Instagram Aesthetics - The Importance of a Cohesive Theme
If you’re an Instagram addict like all of us at Melbourne Social Co., you may have noticed that many of the app’s most popular accounts have more in common with each other than just a high follower count.
Successful Instagram feeds are, above all, aesthetically pleasing, but in a cohesive way that accurately reflects the aesthetics, vision and message of the person or brand.
One of the main ways to achieve such a visually consistent and impactful feed is by implementing an Instagram ‘theme’. What this means is that there is a visual common thread between all of your posts, so that when someone views your feed it will look cohesive and organised. All your posts will in some way look like they go together.
But what's the right approach for your brand? We discuss a few different ways to implement an Instagram theme below.
Pick a colour
There’s an infinite number of themes to choose from for your feed, but you’ll want to pick one that suits your content and aesthetic. For example, you could have a colour coordinated theme, where a certain colour (or colours) appear in every post. These colours should reflect your aesthetic, and perhaps the design of your brand’s product or logo. The repeating colours will help make your feed look visually stimulating and organised, as well as creating an association between you/your brand and those specific colours.
A common subject
Alternatively, your theme may govern the content of the images you post. For example, your theme could be based around a specific object that appears in every post, such as coffee, plants, water or food; whatever you like! This type of theme tends to be best suited to Instagram accounts that function to promote a specific type of product.
Post & repeat
Another popular theme that guides the content you post creates a repeating pattern of two or three different types of images. For example, this could be set out with two photos of people or scenery for every text post. The text post is usually positioned in between the two photos so that when the feed is viewed as a whole the text posts create a line down the middle. This theme allows for some diversity of content, while also maintaining an organised and symmetrical look to your feed.
A theme for your Instagram page is important for more reasons than just creating a uniform feed and guiding the content you post. Remember that the follow button is located at the top of your main feed, so people are viewing your account and most recent posts as one entity that represents your brand as a whole when they are deciding whether or not to follow you. For that reason, you want to put your best foot forward with the type of cohesive, visually pleasing and professional feed that a theme can help you achieve.
Improve your engagement
One of the other key reasons an Instagram theme is so important is because it can help improve engagement and your connection with your audience. A consistent theme will help your posts stand out to your followers in their feeds littered with hundreds of other accounts’ posts. The element of repetition in your theme will also mean your audience will know what to expect from your posts, allowing them to easily understand the messages you are trying to communicate relating to your brand.
Because Instagram is one of the most powerful platforms available to you to promote yourself and your brand, it is important that your feed reflects who you are and effectively communicates the messages you are trying to get across to your audience. A theme allows you to achieve this in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible, while still appearing professional and creating interesting content for your audience. So, if you haven’t started planning a gorgeous new theme for your feed already – what are you waiting for?!
Do you need help developing a theme for your Instagram account, or creating gorgeous content to fill your feed? Get in touch with us here at Melbourne Social Co!
Contact us today: [email protected]
The real cost of buying likes and followers
If you’ve ever been frustrated or disappointed by a lack of followers or likes on your page, chances are you’ve considered purchasing followers on your Facebook or Instagram platforms. At first, this may seem like a simple solution: it’s a small cost and you now have a heap of followers! If users see your online popularity that’ll attract genuine customers, right?
This is the logic that platforms selling followers would promote. The reality is, purchasing likes and followers is not only wasted money, but is detrimental to your analytics, and can create distrust amongst your target audience.
One of the reasons social media is such a powerful platform for advertisers is not only the opportunity to reach consumers, but the analytics it provides. If you run your own Facebook or Instagram business page, the reports you can access on who’s engaging with your page are vital for planning any campaign.
In the age of widespread digital advertising, the way to engage with potential customers is tailoring ads to their interests and social media habits. If your reports and analytics are cluttered with disingenuous likes and follows, not only will you be missing out on the analytics of your potential customers, but your advertising dollars will be wasted on wide reach ads (which thanks to the algorithm changes, are less likely for anyone to see).
Another major disadvantage of buying followers is that it can damage consumer trust. If you’re advertising via social media, chances are your target audience includes some tech savvy, regular users, who know what organic brand engagement looks like. If your page has a heap of followers which doesn’t equate to likes and comments, consumers will suspect your followers aren’t genuine, and may deter the users that could have turned into customers.
Ultimately, the main reason your brand is advertising is to attract genuine customers. Having likes and followers is a great measure of how your audience is responding to your content, but the only value behind these likes is to tailor engaging content, which will attract users to your brand. The money spent on buying followers could be spent better on literally anything else: buying props for your flatlays, boosting a Facebook post, even an extra coffee will be better for your brand than followers that have to be bought.
If you’d like to know more about creating great content and reaching your audience, contact us at [email protected]
Instagram algorithm changes – a return to form?
In March, Instagram launched a fresh series of algorithm changes that aim to organise user feeds more chronologically. This change addresses criticism by users that feeds are regularly clogged up by old photos viewed hours ago, with new posts seemingly lost.
The shift will be a welcome change to users, who can now feel more confident that their posts will be seen by their followers in a timely fashion. However, these ‘changes’ aren’t really a huge shift, if anything they’re a return to form for the platform, who until 2016 arranged user feeds entirely chronologically.
If we had to organise social media platforms in terms of their user feeds, you could quite neatly divide most platforms into two camps. In one camp are platforms such as Facebook, who rely very heavily on algorithms to predict and arrange a user’s feed according to their activity and habits. In the other camp, real time platforms such as Twitter, who arrange their user feeds predominately chronologically and encourage news-based interaction and live tweeting.
Increasingly, Instagram isn’t very easily distinguishable into either camp. While the platform was founded on the principle of showing you and your friends’ personal snaps as they happen, the major shift in 2016 to an algorithm based feed mirrors its parent company Facebook. This latest ‘change’, best described as a ‘revision’ will hopefully strike an equilibrium by controlling what a user sees while keeping feeds fresh and timely.
The main takeaway from this latest round of changes? Expect to see more up to the minute posts, less photos from 2 days ago but a feed that is still arranged around your user habits. This minor tweaking of the Instagram feed is a timely reminder for businesses to evaluate their own social media strategies, and to explore the growing list of features Instagram now offer. At the top of the list is Instagram stories. Stories are a great way to reach users up to the minute, encouraging a series of posts throughout the day and lessening the dependence on the traditional feed to reach users.
Would you like to review your social media strategy or content plan? Get in touch today.
Why social media content must be engaging in 2018
Why creating and sharing engaging social media content is more important than ever
We are living in a day and age where our train ride to work, lunch time smoothie and evening workout are projected into the digital world. And brands have moved into the world of Instagram and Facebook as a means to further their influence and increase engagement. So much so, that our social media feeds are now flooded with ads and promotions, frustrating users to the point where there has been a decline in usage, particularly on Facebook.
In retaliation, both Facebook and Instagram have changed their algorithm. The algorithm affects where your posts appear on the feed, who sees your content, and therefore your reach and organic engagement.
Through the altered algorithm, the social platforms intend to show content that will encourage meaningful interactions between users. The posts appearing on our social media accounts are now arranged according to the content you are most likely to interact with. This change in the algorithm penalises brands that come across as overly promotional, therefore pushing them to work harder on gaining customers and potential clients attention. Many aspects of user’s online interactions are taken into consideration within the algorithm, but ultimately, content needs to be engaging to further reach and gain followers.
So, what makes a social media post engaging? How can you influence your followers and encourage them to interact with your content? And hence, how can you grow your following and further your reach?
Know your target audience.
And work hard on providing them with content they will take an interest in.
Ensure images, captions and comments are all “thoughtful”. This is vital in maintaining an identifiable persona. “Thoughtful” content is the kind where followers can see the authenticity, value and quality within each online interaction. Your account is a reflection of your brand, consequently, your online interaction must echo your accounts personality.
Encourage interactions on your account. The more interactions occurring on a post and the longer users engage with it, the more people who will see it. Prompting users to comment on your post, through questions or content they can relate to, will encourage conversation within your account.
Utilise your social platforms. Facebook and Instagram will reward you for this and it will also add dimension to your digital identity. Create stories, send messages and comment on other account’s posts. Videos gain more engagement than images and live videos gain 6x more interactions than regular videos on Facebook.
Social media is constantly changing and evolving. Staying informed of the latest changes will help in maintaining a strong digital presence. But, perhaps most importantly, ensure your online interactions reflect the essence of your brand.
“Social media is a way that businesses can humanise their brand. By creating and sharing really engaging content, both internally and externally with your customers, you put a face to your brand which helps develop trust – be it among your team or with your customers." says our Director Shelley, in a recent article.
Make sure every post, comment and like is made with intent and speaks to who you are as a business. Genuine interaction and engagement will always follow.
Want help creating engaging content for your brand? Find out more about our content creation services by getting in touch today.
Why Facebook algorithm changes aren’t as scary as we think
On January 11th, Mark Zuckerberg announced a series of changes to the Facebook algorithm, designed to reduce excessive news and business related content and promote interaction between family and friends, dubbed ‘meaningful interactions.’ By returning to their social roots, the shift has alarm bells ringing for many businesses and organisations – shares in the site immediately fell four percent, effectively wiping over $3 billion from Zuckerberg’s net worth.
For news sites, this Facebook algorithm shift will also involve the prioritisation of news sources deemed ‘trustworthy’, while celebrities and influencers can also expect to see less of their posts in followers’ feeds. In terms of hard data, Zuckerberg committed to reducing news content in users’ feeds from five to four percent. The changes have been deeply concerning for organisations – entire social media strategies have been plunged into jeopardy and many businesses are searching for viable solutions.
However, Facebook algorithm changes and calls for more user tailored feeds are nothing new. In fact, Facebook made a strikingly similar commitment back in August of 2014. Back then, the site pledged to show less promotional and recycled content, causing similar uproar among content creators, businesses and influencers. However, as these previous changes have demonstrated, organisations providing quality content and genuine engagement with users have emerged unscathed from algorithm shifts.
Crucially, data shows actual page engagement declined over 20% in 2017, highlighting overall user fatigue caused by clickbait pages and duplicated, poor quality content. The removal of low quality pages from users’ feeds is therefore a positive for the site overall. By creating an environment that favours meaningful content tailored to a user’s tastes, Facebook is effectively creating a more trustworthy and reliable site for both individuals and businesses.
While the changes won’t perhaps be as catastrophic to existing marketing strategies as first thought, algorithm changes are a timely reminder as to the importance of a dynamic and meaningful content plan.
So - what can you do to make sure your business content is seen and heard in 2018?
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Quality Content
It underpins any successful marketing strategy. Users don’t want to feel spammed or overwhelmed by the pages they follow. Be mindful in the regularity of your postings and enforce a standard tone and length to your content. Remember, poorly written and untailored content is the main target of the Facebooks algorithm changes.
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Prioritise building a genuine and targeted following
By creating content which users consistently click on, you can take advantage of the new algorithm which notes who is clicking on your content, and what they're clicking on, and knowingly promotes those pages.
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Embedding Posts
Pinning key posts to your business’ page is a practical method of making sure your content isn’t lost in the fray amidst newsfeed changes. Make sure that as soon as a user clicks on your page, they are presented with the most relevant content as opposed to merely your most recent posts.
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Facebook advertising
As actual page engagement declines, the importance of exploring a paid Facebook advertising campaign is continually increasing. Banners, page promotion, email opt ins and targeted viewers – advertising with Facebook is a multifaceted means of reaching your desired audience. Crucially, the algorithm for Facebook advertising is currently not being changed in tandem with these new shifts.
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Broaden advertising to Facebook’s additional features
Increasingly, younger users are engaging less with the traditional Facebook interface in favour of the dedicated messenger app. Take advantage of changing user habits and target your advertising to within the messenger app. Similarly, Facebook live is an emerging method which promotes active user engagement, with endless opportunities for business promotion.
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Like and share… and unfollow!
Promotions and competitions imploring users to like, share and tag your posts are set to be another casualty of the Facebook algorithm changes. Data suggests such competitions are a poor means of building an engaged audience, and worse, alienate your existing audience. In fact, many such competitions actually break Facebook’s community guidelines, running the risk of post or even entire page deletion. Choose your promotions and competitions wisely.
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Influencers
According to Forbes, influencers are not currently bound by the same restrictions placed on businesses amid these new algorithm changes. For the time being at least, collaborating with influencers is more important than ever, especially if your business is currently not engaging in a paid promotion with Facebook. The key to a successful influencer collaboration is choosing an influencer that has a genuine link to your product or service or desired audience.
Want to chat to our team about your Facebook strategy for 2018? Get in touch today!