Instagram is going back to basics and refocusing on images.
In a recent Q&A conducted on his stories page on Instagram, Head of Instagram said, Adam Mosseri said they are returning to photos. He was answering a question about photographers “losing faith” in Instagram as a platform for showcasing their work.
He said “I think we were overfocused on video in 2022 and pushed ranking too far, and basically showed too many videos and not enough photos,”
“We’ve since balanced, so things like how often someone likes photos versus videos, and how often someone comments on photos versus videos, are roughly equal, which is a good sign that things are balanced.”
I am delighted. And I’ll tell you why.
If lip syncing and doing the up and down pointing thing is your gig, great. For many it isn’t and yet they felt compelled to do it because that’s how you got more likes and more reel attention.
But the reality is, if that’s not who are you, why would you do it?
So hopefully business owners, solopreneurs won’t feel they need to act like that in order to do business or attract clients.
Additionally…
In addition to the refocus comment on the Q&A, he also talked about the ever present nuisance that is spam on Instagram.
“We definitely have spam and bots on Instagram. We’re doing our best to reduce it. I’m particularly worried about comments right now; it’s something that we’re actually actively looking into and hope to improve over the course of the year.”
I don’t know about you but I’ve definitely noticed spam comments on my posts and a number of spam requests in the DMs. Something to look out for in the announcements from Instagram in the months to come.
Lets dissect what Adam really said…
“Though we are leaning into video, we still value photos. Photos will always be a part of Instagram.”
So please don’t misunderstand this blog post, Instagram still loves videos.
I think the keyword that Adam used here is balance.
Balance your approach with photos, videos (which are all reels now), carousels, ads and stories.
Then you can look at the analytics and see what’s working for you. As a business owner, coach, consultant, service provider, it’s up to you to test and measure…a big thing for us at Achieve Marketing.
Balance your own Instagram feed – try new things. But always, stay true to how you do business.
As I always say, Do marketing your way.
#thefayway to marketing.
