instagram update – Social Nimash

Instagram is about to roll out another new feature, this time the ability to mute an account. According to an article on Adweek, Instagram’s new feature will allow users to stop interaction in a different way from simply blocking an account. Instead of not seeing anything from an account at all, muting an account lets you see their posts on their profile and be notified if you’ve been tagged in a post or a comment. Accounts that have been muted won’t know that you’ve taken this action, which is a more subtle way to avoid someone because blocking can be detected by the other party.

While this new change will help users who do not wish to see posts from certain people and keep complicated friendships in check, it does affect brands. This new change gives consumers the ability to mute brands who may be posting too much or are posting about things they aren’t interested in. The reason consumers will choose to mute instead of blocking or unfollowing is that they may really like the brand itself and its products and want the freedom to still be connected to them, but not have to see their posts.

When users decide to mute brands it leads to less engagement on their posts and the hard work they put into their posts is lost if users begin to opt out of seeing them.The best way to avoid this happening to your brand is to change what your posting if you see a dip in engagement. If you’re a clothing brand and only post images of clothing on a mannequin or on a hangar, change it up and have someone wear it and photograph it in interesting angles and make the photos interesting. It might help to try different types of content to see what works better for your account.

If you’ve worked so hard to attract the attention of a user and entice them to follow you, don’t throw it all away and lose this user’s attention. By having engaged followers, it increases the chances of converting them to a buyer of your products and if you continue to excite them and satisfy them, they’ll flourish into loyal customers that will generate a lot of revenue to your brand. Do not let this new feature swallow up your hard work, work smarter to create content that appeals to your followers.

If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave them in a comment below.

Image sourced: https://www.xitetech.com/mobiles/news/instagram-introduces-ability-to-mute-accounts-13385/

Is Instagram’s new supposed chronological feed going to benefit or hinder your business?

Instagram recently announced a new change that will bring the chronological feed back, however not to the same extent it originally was. As Harper’s Bazaar’s article outlines, Instagram is attempting to show newer posts at the top of your feed more often. They will also be introducing a ‘new posts’ button that will refresh your feed with newer posts. These changes will allow you to see more recent content and ensure that you’re keeping up to date with current events.

These changes were introduced in response to backlash Instagram received for abandoning their chronological feed to resemble a Facebook-like feed where they show you posts they think you care more about. The push towards reverting to the chronological feed has been gaining substantial momentum over the past few months. These changes were possibly pushed forward due to the wrath Facebook is facing over data and security breaches and Snapchat’s new update that was poorly received by their users.

While these changes are a step in the right direction for users, it does mean as a business you need to work even harder. This shift to showing more recent posts more often means that you need to optimise the times you post content and evaluate the possible reach. If currently you are posting at times that were convenient for you and expected the algorithm to push your post to the top of feeds through engagement and clever hashtags, then you need to change what you’re doing. You now need to analyse and decide when your target audience and existing followers are most active and set yourself reminders to be posting at that time. You also need to be wary of competitors who are going to be posting and cluttering news feeds at these times too. This presents the opportunity for you to ensure your content stands out and is personalised so users are engaged with your posts.

By paying attention to how your users are using Instagram and moulding your content so that your brand fits into your target audiences’ lifestyles, is the way to overcome this new hurdle. However, while these changes are happening and will change Instagram feeds, the platform is not switching to a completely chronological feed. At the end of the day Instagram is still a business and won’t trade off business interests.

This is a major update that will impact your business and hinder engagement and growth. However, there are ways to overcome this and more thoughtful strategies and increased knowledge of your customer will be key during this change.

If you have any questions or concerns about this new update, please leave a comment below.

Image soured: https://www.imore.com/hey-instagram-please-stop-ruining-my-feed-your-algorithm