Preston Snyder 00:00
Imagine if you will, that you have just bought a home, congratulations for are very happy for you. However you come to find out that every single time you go through a door, the entire layout of the home changes. No matter what you do, whether it’s going to your room, going to the bathroom, going to the kitchen, every time you walk out a door, everything is changed. And that’s kind of how we feel about Instagram, right? Instagram made a bunch of changes. And we’re going to talk about him this week on your weekly social. I’m Preston.
Alyssa Mullins 00:37
I’m Alyssa. And
Preston Snyder 00:40
today we’re talking about Instagram. So what happened?
Alyssa Mullins 00:45
Well, I mean, I know it’s April Fool’s. But we’re not joking when we say this, Instagram is including new feed features. And then some little bit of hashtag changes. And they’re also switching up the way that you can view your regular Instagram feed. So now instead of the one option that was a bit wonky, that people didn’t really like and got a lot of hate for, you can now do favorites, you can do chronological or you can still have the wonky one that they’re just calling home. It’s kind of like a for you page if you think about it.
Preston Snyder 01:19
So it definitely seems like they are taking the algorithmic content and feeding and finally incorporating it into most of their brand features. Is that a correct read?
Alyssa Mullins 01:32
I would agree with that. So the way that it’s gonna work is on your regular feed, the first thing you’ll initially see is going to be the home feed, which is the current feed that you have come to know, then you have the option to switch over to your favorites, which is where it’s similar to subscribing to someone that you’re following. Where that is like, these are your people whether you want to separate that between like your favorite businesses in town, some of your favorite like family members, your best friends.
Preston Snyder 02:02
So then do we know what the difference is between a follow in a favorite? Yes, wouldn’t they be the same thing?
Alyssa Mullins 02:10
Well, you got to follow someone to favorite them. So there’s that. But then when you favorite think of it as the close friends lists that you can create on your stories feature where you can select however many accounts you want to be a favorite. And when they become a favorite, then they get their own specialized feed. If I only wanted to see things that my family posts, not be so cluttered by random businesses that I may follow friends and other things like that, and I just want to see things from family, I can create that favorite. And then my family’s in that favorites. And that’s all I’ll see. Then the next one is the following. One, which is where then you can only see things from people that you’re following. And no more, no less no like sponsored ads, no suggested people to follow, because that’s been something that’s been popping up. People have been comparing it to Tik Tok, and the for you page versus the following feature that they have on their feeds. Very similar to that. Well, and then what about hashtags, I know they is going to be a good weekly social guys. Hashtags are different, right?
Preston Snyder 03:20
So hashtags have changed in a way that makes more sense to people, I would say, in web development. One of the key things that we have been using hashtags on for a good while now, and has kind of been commonly accepted is that hashtags are a sorting mechanism and a way to insert yourself into specific conversations. If you are in like Washington, DC, and you want to get into that local conversation, you would do hashtag Washington, DC, hashtag DC area, etc, all of these to be like, I’m here, and I’m part of this conversation. It was a sorting, insert and discovery feature. But we’ve kind of come to find out that that is really no longer the case. And instead, you are algorithm feeding now. So your hashtags need to be descriptive. They need to give you an understanding of what is going on in the picture carousel video that you are posting, because it is trying to figure out on your behalf, which conversations you belong. And so instead of kind of overcompensating with a bunch of hashtags, being like, I want to be everywhere. Instagram may now start viewing that as spam of just okay, about 10 of these things aren’t even close and it doesn’t even match what we’ve identified the picture to be. So instead, you will want to shift your hashtags into almost what you describe as metadata and alt tags on traditional website you were describing What’s going on? For example, if your picture for some reason broke, what would the text describe your picture as, so you would at least get an idea. That concept is now Instagram at large. By and large, as everything is now you are to succumb to the algorithm, where are trapped, you can’t escape it. And that that’s the base thing. Instagram knows what you want.
Alyssa Mullins 05:24
I wish I could say profiles to that. So so with that being said, Are you saying we need we’d have to stop doing hashtag LOL, hashtag why, and start doing hashtag digital marketing tips.
Preston Snyder 05:46
Yeah, a degree, if it isn’t a relevant hashtag, then it’s not particularly helpful. But if it’s contextual, then that’s different. If it’s non sequitur, hashtags that aren’t relevant, and you’re just kind of using them for sake of using hashtags, that is not going to do you any favors going forward.
Alyssa Mullins 06:09
Oh, that being said, three things, three things that we can do. We can do, you can do everyone can do to still find the normalcy and just kind of keep things going good on Instagram, is first resume normal posting schedule, don’t think you have to change how you post and how frequent you post, whatever works for you is gonna work, it will
Preston Snyder 06:35
be fine, it is still your best friend
Alyssa Mullins 06:37
CSUN, your Yes. And then the next thing that you can do is use other features that aren’t going through so many changes, you know, rails are still good, you get a lot of reach with reels. Stories are still good, that’s a good way to kind of keep consistent with your followers, and continue engaging with them. They do only last for 24 hours, though. So keep that in mind, if you want to keep it on your profile forever add it to a highlight.
Preston Snyder 07:05
And on that, like a lot of these features are subtly being implemented into real sad stories, but more of a additional boost than an overhaul. So they’re still safe. Yeah,
Alyssa Mullins 07:17
the third point is just reevaluating what your hashtags are, what you can change and what you can add, it doesn’t mean that the hashtags that you’re using right now are wrong. But there’s always room to improve. There are always other hashtags, you can change, you have up to 30. So you have room to mess around with the hashtags and see what works. And also keep in mind, the feed changes and features and the hashtags thing are in a process of changing, your feeds are going to look different your reach and your analytics overall might seem a bit weird, and either low or really high, depending. And that’s because the things are changing, things will normalize out and like level out, as Instagram does its final like this is it, this is what it is. And we’re all going to figure it out. So your followers, we’re going to be messing around with it, things are going to look a little different. But it will go back to this new normal. Hopefully, within like I want to say the next month or so. But Instagram is aiming for like mid year.
Preston Snyder 08:23
But the real joke is as soon as they fix one thing, another will change, another will change these platforms will be in flux until they’re done. April Fool’s if you thought there’s going to be stability of these platforms. There really isn’t. But again, a good point, monitor your analytics, understand what your posts are doing, how they’re operating, understand what’s working, and what isn’t pivot, adjust. And always be experimenting, and testing. Because if it doesn’t work one week, or one update, it might be your big winner in the next one, you know. So keep your mind open your posts and your schedule optimistic and make somebody laugh this week. You can do it. You’re clever, you’re so even, you can do it. I believe in you. And this has been your weekly social and if you would like more information about the ever changing ecosystem of metta, Google, Instagram and all of the wonderful tools, tips and tricks, please like please comment, please subscribe, you could ring the bell and we will
Alyssa Mullins 09:36
ring the bell not that you could you should so that you know and you can rely on our consistency that we will post again and you will get more information because it’s your weekly social.
Preston Snyder 09:48
And we’ll see you next week on your weeklies. Thanks for
Alyssa Mullins 09:51
Thanks for watching guys. Bye
