Is Instagram Dead?
If you haven’t heard this question EVERYWHERE recently, you’ve probably been living under a rock.
We all have seen the signs. Decreased organic reach, less engagement, and people aren’t going viral as often. Since its launch in 2010, Instagram’s algorithm has constantly been changing. The algorithm has become so much more complex thus it’s much harder to discern what you need to do to have success on Instagram. Other factors, such as oversaturation have made it much more difficult to see growth. Now it seems like everyone is a tiny minnow in a VERY large pond. With over 1 billion active users (and counting), there’s constant competition for attention. Standing out has become increasingly difficult. On top of this, the rise of newer platforms such as *cough* TikTok *cough* has caused many to feel that they need to pivot away from using Instagram especially if they want to grow a brand online.
Why is everyone wondering if Instagram is dead if it still appears to be a growing platform?
Over 2 billion users sound like a very “alive” platform to me. To answer this question I’d like you to jump in a time machine. It’s 2011, and all you’ve been hearing about for the last year is this new app, Instagram. Everyone is sharing photos (heavily filtered, of course). You get 20 likes on your most recent photo and you’ve “made it”. The goal of Instagram isn’t to get famous, market your business, or buy ads, it's to stay connected with your friends and your family. So, how did Instagram get to where it is now?
As Instagram quickly grew in popularity over those years, it caught the attention of businesses, marketers, and influencers. Brands began to use Instagram as a marketing tool to reach their audience and build brand awareness. So, naturally, Instagram did what anyone would expect them to do. They started adding features, changing their algorithms, and adjusting the platform to appeal more to businesses, creators, influencers, and brands. To keep up with the times, they created IGTV (remember that?), they dropped IG Lives, Reels, and the list goes on. Instagram has been changing every week (which is most likely because it has been.)
So, if Instagram is so hard to grow on, why even bother?
For starters, Instagram’s user base is MASSIVE and is still growing. You must know HOW to leverage it to reach your target audience. Although it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out on this app, it’s not impossible. It’s become more important to KNOW your target audience and how you serve them differently from others. Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean you don’t need to do it!
Instagram is a fantastic place to tell a story to your audience, build your brand, reach your audience, and build a deeper connection with them. You can create a sense of belonging and community among your followers and potential clients. Every business owner understands that a feeling of loyalty and community can mean the difference between making many sales and making no sales. By publishing appealing content, you can tell a story, build a community, and create an emotional connection with your audience that goes beyond a transactional relationship.
So, now that you’re convinced that you must be active on Instagram to market your business, is that all you need to do?
Just post photos, create a few reels, use hashtags, and go live now and then. You can do that, but I will guarantee you that you’ll hit a wall at a certain point. So, how do you go to the next level with your Instagram? To start with, you need to know WHO you’re serving, how you’re serving them, and why they’d choose you over the MANY other options out there. Answering these questions can be easier said than done, but they’re essential. What do you do after you answer these questions? You create a marketing strategy.
What is a marketing strategy? A marketing strategy can be compared to a blueprint for a house. Would ANY builder set out to build a house without one? Not a good one. A Social media marketing strategy is your marketing “blueprint”. It’s a roadmap that you follow when you’re deciding how often to post, what type of content to post, and how often you post it and it helps to discern which types of content you need to post. Without a strategy, your Instagram will feel disjointed and you won't grow.
What if you don’t know where to start when building your strategy?
That’s completely understandable! The first thing you need to do is delve into market research. Market research means looking at your target audience on social media, in Google, Reddit, etc. Everywhere they might be, try to find them. See what questions they’re asking, learn about what problems they have, and what they wish people in your industry would do or stop doing. Get deep into the demographics and psychographics of your audience. Then do research on your competitors and peers in your industry. Figure out what they’re doing that’s better than you and figure out the things you’re doing that are better than them. Then compile your findings in a Google doc or a note.
Creating your content strategy.
Once you’ve done this, you need to create your content strategy. Your content strategy takes the broad findings you made during your market research and helps you build a roadmap for the content you’ll create. You start by writing out the problems your audience has and how you solve them. You need to learn about the platforms your target audience is most active on, where you can reach them, and how. Then you want to discern what content types are best. Think about it like a diet. If you only ate candy, you wouldn’t be getting the nutrients you need. But, if you only ate salads, you’d get bored and dread eating every time. So, you must create a content plan similar to a diet that will inform how much of each type of content you must create.
So, what is candy in social media terms? Candy can be compared to trends. Although they can reach a larger audience and it may draw people in, there’s no substance there. You may be able to get the eyes on your account, but they won’t stay. If they follow you, they will probably get bored of your content because there isn’t anything substantial or helpful there. On the other hand, if you only post educational infographics, no matter how informative, your audience will probably get bored of that type of content as well. Since there’s minimal personality or flavor to that type of content, you will most likely struggle to reach a larger audience.
So, what would a nutritionist tell you if you were only eating one type of food? They would tell you that you need to create a balanced meal plan or diet so that you can consume all of the food groups.
So, what are all of the food groups in social media?
Trends
Reels (this includes educational, talking head, and trending posts.)
Educational infographics
Photo dumps
Stories
Promotional content
Those are the basic social media “food groups” and the cadence at which you post each type of content is up to you and how your account does with each. You must find the middle ground between what performs the best and what you enjoy doing the most. The key is to post some of each to get the best results. For example, let’s say you want to post five days a week. On day one, you could post a trending reel. On day two you could post a photo dump with a long caption. On day three, you could post a talking head or educational reel. On day four, you could post a promotional reel. On day five, post an educational infographic. Each of those days, you can post a story relating to the content you just posted. Maybe it’s BTS (behind the scenes), or it could be going into more depth on how you feel about the topic you posted that day. You could post a story teaching your followers about your products or services.
Then, you put it all together!
After you create your social media marketing strategy, you can’t just leave it, you must put it into practice! Stick to your content plan, talk to your target audience (and they’ll find you), make sure that you show how you’re different, and post consistently!
Maybe Instagram, as we knew it a decade ago, is dead, but it’s evolved into something different and exciting! If you give it a chance and work with it, you can 100% succeed on this platform.
If you’re struggling to know where to start or how to build your Instagram strategy, reach out to us, we’d love to do a free consultation to help you get clear on your goals with social media!
