Kate: Welcome to the Marketing Hive. This is episode one where we are talking about Instagram and basically what the hell has happened with Instagram. Um, Amy and I both were very successful in Instagram as marketers before the latest changes, or I don’t even know, Amy, would you even call them latest changes now?
Amy: Like, Yeah, I was gonna say, I feel like
Instagram’s ever changing, to be honest with you. So, which
Kate: yeah, exactly. I mean, for me, I noticed a change. To grad. So my time is probably a bit different because I went on, before I went on maternity leave, which was in like April, 2021. Um, Instagram was like really booming reels had been out and everyone’s reels were doing really well.
And then I took a break and I came back and it was just like nothing was going well.
Amy: I was gonna say, I think it is that thing of like, I think reels was their biggest change. Yeah. But I think everyone also got excited for the change and it actually ended up becoming a good change because it made the platform more creative, more fun, more, I guess like less structured that you can do different things in terms of creativity, get your business across better.
For example, You know, I guess it would be really good for businesses that are like maybe videographers, for example. They’re creating videos all the time. To be able to then create really cool snippets in a room for, Yeah, to showcase their business and what they can do is probably a really good thing.
But I, Yeah, I feel like since then it’s gone rapidly downhill and I feel like there’s. I think it’s been, there’s too much change at once. Um, you know, I think they’ve not kind of let reals roll out enough and then they’re trying to make more tra changes, um, that then. People don’t really know what the changes are or what is happening or what needs the change.
Yeah,
Kate: like we didn’t even have like Carousel and stuff like that, that long, or like Instagram. Um, is it Instagram Live? Is that what it was called? I can’t even remember what they called it now. But we didn’t even have that stuff long before reels. I mean, we all know that Reels came out because Tea Talk was doing really well and they wanted to try and get on that form of video.
Um, I guess to take. The success away from TikTok. Um, kind of in a similar way, I suppose, to how they, they have managed to claw things back from Snapchat in the past. Yeah. But it was just, everything has just completely nose dived since then. And the reach that people initially got with reel, you don’t even get now.
I just think people dunno what they’re doing with their Instagram strategy. So for a long time it was, oh, you put some grid posts up and if you do the odd reel that will help your account. Um, Now it’s like if you don’t post reels, you don’t get any reach at all stories. I don’t even understand what’s happening there.
Like I love stories. Yeah. As a feature I massively miss since moving over to TikTok. Is that cuz TikTok stories are just not the same? Yeah.
Amy: Yeah. A hundred percent I think it is. I, I dunno what it is, but I definitely think there is no way of putting a strategy in place anymore because there isn’t really any kind of like rules, There’s never been rules to follow with Instagram, for example.
But I think it is that thing of like, now there’s just so many things you should and shouldn’t do. Like, you know, you can hear from one social media, Gary, one thing and then another from another. Whereas before you kind of, they would all kind of be, I guess, quite
Kate: consistent with, Yeah, it would be like, put X amount of hashtags and tag this in the video and make your captions this long, and there’s none of that now.
Amy: No. Whereas now it’s like, do you post five hashtags? Do you post five hashtags? Yeah. Also now Instagram saying that they’re based on keywords. So I’ve seen a lot lately, and I even tested them myself. Um, people after like their hashtags, putting keywords just at the bottom,
Kate: so like, Oh, like keywords stuffing, like the same as what like SEO practice used to be.
Yeah. So it was then,
Amy: you know, Instagram’s going down the road. Being more search based of using key words. It’s, you know, now it’s like do reels show up on stories, but then only three of your stories are gonna get seen. Oh, and also you can pin yourself to
Kate: your Yes. Like that pinning stuff. Come out and it’s like,
Amy: what?
Like what are we actually supposed to be doing with this? And also if this is all stuff we should be doing, how should we be doing it? You know? Yeah. I recently actually went on Instagram the other day, and. I dunno if this, again, is another new feature, but it’s making me not even want to enjoy like you. I like the stories side probably more and I probably engage with stories more than I do, um, posts because it’s just quicker and easier and it’s more, I think, raw in terms of I know how I use stories and more of an everyday to day update.
Um, so I think stories a bit more of a personality. Trying to sell stuff on the grid post, for example. But it’s like the other day I went on to stories. Um, I clicked through someone’s stories and then a couple of hours later I went back on and saw that they’ve had stories clicked on it, but it was exactly the same stories and then just like one, one.
Kate: Yeah, I experienced that as well and I was like, I swear this, this is a glitch or what? Cause I’ve seen all of these already. Yeah. I had the same thing.
Amy: I don’t know what that is. It’s like if I’ve already engaged with that person’s stories, the first three, why do I need to see those three again? I dunno if it is a glitch.
Um, I know that they’re only like showing free stories at a time, but yeah, it’s stuff like that that is just like, it makes you not want to use the
Kate: platform. Absolutely. And cuz they’ve just changed too much too quickly. Like, I mean, going back to the Snapchat thing, obviously stories was basically completely stolen from Snapchat and now reels is completely stolen from TikTok.
Um, but I just don’t think, I just think people are over it and I don’t think they realized how much of their audience were. Business owners, influencers, people that are suddenly like, Hold on a minute, I’m not getting anywhere near the reach I was getting. And if I go to a platform like TikTok, like LinkedIn, there are loads of platforms that are now emerging that you can get that organic reach, and in some instances you are then reaching a new audience that I know for me, my audience has adapted quite a lot since I’ve moved from Instagram to TikTok because I’m, well, the demographic’s different and I’ve had a complete rethink of my content strategy.
I think Instagram also is probably more, I dunno if this is completely wrong to say, but possibly more female led as a platform. Whereas I think TikTok is more of a mixture. Yeah. So again, I think that probably plays a part in, in how people’s audiences can change. But I have just noticed a huge lean and a lot of people that I follow.
Connected with on my business Instagram account, and now desperately trying to get on TikTok because they’re like, I’ve got, I’ve got to move on from, I just can’t imagine having grown, You and I were upset enough a few months ago at the amount of followers that we had, and suddenly the lack of engagement we had.
But for the idea that you might have like 50,000 to a hundred thousand followers and suddenly you are reaching, I follow someone on there who’s got just under 50,000. Her posts would regularly get, you know, even like playing grid posts would get over a thousand. Easy. She had about 200 likes on a carousel post.
And I just thought, That’s so sad because you have such a huge audience that just haven’t seen your amazing content. Yeah. And what do, where do you go with that?
Amy: I know, and it is that thing of, it’s, you know, we easily judge if we’re doing the right
Kate: thing or not. And
Amy: you know, it’s good I guess, to look at your business and your strategy and think is the, is this the content people want to see?
Am I still posting relevant stuff in my audience and so forth, but. Equally, I don’t think it’s necessarily what we as business owners are doing. Like I feel like times have been, my content has been so like great. Um, you know, it’s like that post that you messaged me about saying, Oh my god.
Kate: That was so good, that post.
Okay. Just so for anyone, this is our first episode, so actually chances of anyone listening is quite slim. But just in case anyone is listening, Amy put a post up the other day and I can’t remember the exact wording, but it was a super, it was very click, not click ba cuz it like, obviously you, I’d already have the caption expanded, but it was.
I’m done. I’m leaving like business kind of vibe, wasn’t it? I can’t even remember what you said now, but I, I
Amy: think it was like goodbye. I think it was like goodbye social media and business or
Kate: something like that. Yeah. And I freaked out, like we’d seen each other like a couple of weeks before an event and I was like, we talk all the time.
And I was like, What the hell? How do I not know? And it literally completely caught me off guard and it was great. It was such a good caption.
Amy: Yeah, but the purpose of the post was to get people to click to then talk to them about how they could purchase my services. Yeah. Or like thing, you know, done for you marketing, I guess.
But it was, you know, it was a, I guess, an effective way of trying to get people to engage with the post, because you’re making them read, you’re making them want to like it, you’re making them want to engage with. But it, the performance of it didn’t do as it should. Um, Yeah. And that is just because thing, you know, Instagram isn’t promoting and pushing stuff.
Now, if I probably went and made a conversation that post into a conversation on TikTok, it would definitely probably reach a much wider audience. Yeah. You know, like, you know, I’ve moved over to TikTok a lot at the moment. So, you know, I’m starting from zero followers. Um, I think I’m nearly at 500 now.
Keep going. Yeah. And I. Haven’t really followed the strategy. I haven’t been great with consistency on it. You know, I’ve gone through during a month of like posting three times a week, uh, three times a day as they recommend. I’m now only consistently trying to post once a day. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t do any engagement of like clicking on hashtags and engaging with different people or looking for businesses.
The only time I personally engage on the account is if I get comments on my own stuff. I’m then engaging and I’ve got 500 followers in. What, two months maybe? Yeah. Yeah. Um, or very little work in terms of, you know, just posting a video that’s relatable to a trending sound or Yeah. Responding to people’s messages.
And I’m already at, you know, pretty much the same amount I have as. Instagram.
Kate: So how does that work? Work? Sorry, my window’s open . Sorry, I’m just, Yeah, there now I’m like, oh, something just drove past really loud. Hopefully it wasn’t that loud.
Amy: To be fair. I didn’t, I wasn’t a hundred percent if it was yours or mine, because I said to you I was gonna shut the windows here.
But then I did shut the window, like, which is. Just further away. So I was a bit like, uh, is it me
Kate: or is it not ? I’m gonna sh I’m gonna shut it in a minute. But I actually think would be really interesting is to do a separate, possibly like episode two we could do on TikTok. Cuz I think there’s a lot that we could say about strategy with TikTok, um, in terms of what works, what doesn’t.
Like I was literally about to launch into, oh my God, like, let’s talk about TikTok strategy. But I think like, let’s not get messy with what we’re saying. The episodes are about. But that being said, on the subject of engagement, that is something else that I don’t really interact with. So I don’t really use Instagram that much anymore, but I will typically go on stories sometimes.
Um, like I always look at your stories and there’s a few other people who I really like who I always check theirs out. Um, however, I remember when engagement was a really big thing and I actually think that kind of killed the platform. If I get a comment on TikTok, I respond to that comment because I am building community of like-minded people, and I genuinely appreciate that they took the time to comment, and the comment is always super relevant to the content on Instagram.
I actually posted the same video on both platforms the other day. The comments on Instagram, excuse my language, are just complete bullshit. It is. People still following this, you must engage with X amount of accounts a day. Leave them a message telling them how great their content is. Like it’s complete shy, like everybody knows at this point.
You leave a broad comment like that. It’s just a, it’s almost like sprinkling load of business cards everywhere and then leaving, you know? I think like it’s
Amy: like. It’s so true, and it is that because a hundred percent, like I feel like when I get comments on TikTok, I can actually then engage and respond to that community because, you know, I’ll do a post on, um, you know, tips to using something and then they go, Oh, okay, cool.
What would you recommend for this? So I can reply and give them more support. Uh, whereas like you, I actually, the only stuff I’m actually posting on Instagram at the moment is repurposing from TikTok. So I’m literally. Creating most of my content on TikTok and then repurposing that to Instagram cuz I just can’t be asked the platform.
But I still want to try and test that. Have a presence. Yeah, a presence on there. But yeah, the comments I get on, Well if I’m lucky to get a comment, it’s just like, Oh wow, thanks. Great info. Yeah. Like
Kate: great post. Oh my God. I’m gonna share this. It. No, you’re not . Yeah, you’re not gonna share this. And if you did, no one would see it.
Cuz no one’s on here
Amy: anymore. . Yeah. Um, so it is that thing of it is losing, I guess it’s community touch. Like I, well, you know, me and you kind of probably found each other through Instagram. I’ve got so many business friends out who I found via Instagram, and I just don’t get that same sense anymore. Like, I just don’t feel like I could, you know, make a connection with someone via Instagram anymore because it just doesn’t feel.
One. I know that like if I follow someone, I recently followed a couple of people. I think it was yesterday or whatever. Cause I was like, Wow, I really find this content interesting. But I probably won’t ever see them on my bloody Instagram.
Kate: Yeah. I search for, I noticed this now my feed has got a load of like suggested.
Accounts or suggested posts rather than even the people I follow. Um, and again, it’s, I don’t wanna talk about TikTok too much, but they’re just completely trying to copy the algorithm in a way that isn’t gonna work unless they completely replicate TikTok, in which case there’s already a platform like that.
People aren’t gonna move over. Like they’re not gonna move back to least around now. Yeah. But that is where I think they’re going with it. Cuz I, I think. Above the Relate, um, recommended post. It says like, you might like this account or something, doesn’t it? It’s like very obviously, and this is the other thing with engagement on TikTok versus Instagram.
On TikTok, if you like something or you comment on something, the algorithm learns. That’s the kind of content you like, and then you see more content like that. So I think you are very much, it’s in your interest as the user of your account to teach the algorithm what you like. Um, whereas with Instagram it doesn’t really seem to make any difference.
It’s j it’s just all become van like vanity metrics that don’t mean anything cuz you’re not reaching a lot of your audience. So, I, I don’t see how they can come back from it. I really don’t. I
Amy: don’t know. I think the only way they possibly could is reverting it back to what it once was in terms of being a place to post pictures.
Um, yeah. But I don’t know. I, I feel like, you know, me and you talk about it a lot, but I think generally as a whole, I think a lot of people have fallen out of love with Instagram just because, and I think it is that not knowing. What you’re doing on it because it’s like, it feels like they don’t know what they’re doing.
So it’s like if they don’t know what they’re doing, how are we supposed to know what we are doing? Absolutely. How can we use this platform if you’re not telling us what the platform’s purpose is?
Kate: Yeah, 100%. It doesn’t make, I don’t, I don’t feel like it is just business owners or influences or what have you, either.
I, I think it’s people in general. I just think people have moved on from it.
Amy: I think. I don’t use my own. Yeah, I was gonna say, I don’t use my own personal account. Um, you know, I probably go on there every now and then to like connect or check in with like friends and stuff,
Kate: but, I don’t
Amy: even use it as that.
Like I don’t post anything on there anymore. I used to love using like my personal highlights, like my own personal account. Yeah. Like if I go on holiday, I obviously like save all my stories as like a highlight, so then I can look back at that travel and be like, you know, that’s what we did when we went there.
Like, I wouldn’t do that now, probably like I just don’t, Yeah. I just don’t really know what’s the point in posting.
Kate: I know, And do you know, this is a little bit off topic, but I was thinking about this the other day because I, I actually, it’s quite funny because I post loads on social media to promote my business, but anybody that has me personally on social media will know that I’m one of those people that post like twice a year.
So I think like a lot of my real life friends and family find it really funny when they discover like my business TikTok, and they’re like, Whoa, you are really active on here. And I’m like, I know, but it’s, it’s got a greater purpose. Like I don’t feel the need to. Pictures and videos of myself. I, I dunno.
I find the whole thing. Outside of business and marketing, I find the whole idea of social media, like very fake and very, Oh, look at my wonderful, like, you know, the people that post, I’m not even gonna get into Facebook and the people that post on there, but you know what I mean, You know, the kind of person, I mean, who tells you when they’re at hospital and check in at the airport?
All that kind of stuff. So, but it, it is just, there’s two types of people. I think. There are the people that are like, Why am I sharing this with a load of people who I’m not that close with? And then there’s the kind of people that just wanna show off about their lives, but. I was thinking about people like Mrs.
Hinch and how she has created this inter, I mean, gosh, like, I don’t know if you keep up with her, but like they recently bought this beautiful house and they’ve been like doing it up and whatever, but thinking about her and how she has built an, She has not moved that community off of Instagram, I don’t think.
I know she’s got ranges at Tesco and whatever, but it all relies on that Instagram community. Well, where does that leave an account like her? She must also be noticing the lack of engagement. I don’t believe this is only something that’s affected to smaller accounts, cuz it seems to be across the board.
Amy: No, a hundred percent. And I’ve got friends who do, um, like influencer marketing and they’re exactly the same. I mean, one of my friends who’s an influencer had an issue with, well she hadn’t posted for like two weeks cuz every time she uploaded a post, her caption wasn’t there. So like, it’s just, I think, and I think that’s it.
Every time I feel like I talk about Instagram, there’s always a problem. There’s always an issue. There is, you know, you post a story and you like you, you get five views and you’re like, Great, well what’s the Bloodying point in that? And probably those five view are like my dad and family
day, he was like, I’ve got Instagram now so I can like keep an eye on the business stuff you do. He’s like, Oh, love him. So he was like, You never post on your personal one like the same. He was like, But you are always posting on there. And I was like, Well, thanks dad. Least you are viewing it. But I said to him, I was like, You have to like these things though dad, because my engagement is so bad.
Kate: I was like, Don’t I need every like I can get, What is that phrase? It’s like, don’t just like read and ghost or whatever, but I do that all the time and I don’t do that on TikTok. If I see something I like, I like it On Instagram I was talking about your post the other. I didn’t even like it. I just messaged you and was like, What the hell?
That post is so good because there, there’s just no, I don’t know what it is. And from obviously, like I have a background in user experience, user interface design, and if I would maybe try and think about it in that sense, could I think of a reason why that might be? Maybe, but off the top of my head, there’s nothing where I’d be like, Yeah, it’s because it’s, it’s not gear up for this.
I just think they’ve completely. Killed the idea of organic engagement. For, for me anyway, as a business owner who felt like I had to engage. Like, I think when we first started talking, um, it was still a thing where you did regular engagement or you had someone do it for you. And I remember like trying to keep up with it myself and just thinking I felt so fake.
Like every comment I left felt fake, or if I had someone else do it for me, it was like, well, this is not, again, it’s not genuine. It’s not even me. Yeah, I think it is that I think
Amy: they’ve, I think you, like you say, I think it’s gone so oversaturated on engaging with people that it’s not true engagement, and I think then people can’t be asked because it’s like, What to a point, like responding to that person cuz you know it’s fake.
They know. It’s like you’re never gonna get a connection back. And also it is that thing of like when people do comment, it’s like people just saying, Oh my God, I love this so much. How the hell do you respond to someone who goes, Oh, I love it so much. Yeah, thanks. Like, there’s nothing, there’s nothing else I can say.
Like, yeah. Whereas like you say on TikTok, if I create a post on. How to do email marketing. I will always get people commenting back, like, what, what’s the best platforms to use? Yeah. I’m really struggling with my target audience. Um, and you know, getting them into my email marketing, How do I do this? Like, they’re actually asking and like making a conversation with me to then get further help, whereas, like you say, Instagram, I’m putting the same content out there.
There to help people, but they’re the people who need the help aren’t the ones replying or actually looking at it to get the help. Yeah, because. . It’s just saturated with like fake engagement of, Oh, I love this.
Kate: And actually that reminds me of a conversation that you and I had a few months ago where I, I’m sure it was you and I and I was like, I have realized that most of my followers on Instagram are other web designers and other people in marketing.
And you were like, same. And I was saying like, these people are never gonna work with me because they do what I do. Or they’re, you know, like closely affiliated enough that they’re not my ideal.
Amy: Yeah, it is almost like when you think about like that, it’s almost like Instagram’s come a place to just stalk, stalk your competitors and stuff for like gain inspiration from like people who may be like your idol of like, you know, someone who you inspire your business to be rather than actual connection.
Um, yeah. Cause yeah, it’s so true. Like if I go probably through my followers, Yeah, I work with some people in my industry, but not enough to like warrant, they’re not my, you know, main target audience. Um, yeah, so that’ll be just following to, to get insight into what I’m doing, checking in with competition and so forth.
So, yeah. Yeah. It, it is definitely not, Yeah, I, it’s a really weird one. I don’t even know, like a word to describe Instagram. Like, I can’t even put my finger on it in terms of, What, what the next step would be.
Kate: No, and I think part of the problem is maybe because it just became this platform for like aspirational stuff, and then it kind of makes sense that you would have people that are in a similar industry to you following you.
And I think it is also responsible for a lot of the, I’m gonna make a course teaching people how to do exactly what. I do, You know, like the, I’ve seen so many web designers who end up creating like some sort of training or course for people to become web designers, and I think that’s because they realized on Instagram they had this audience of other web designers and they’re probably thinking, Well, how do I.
Monetize this. Um, and I know at one point I felt like that as well. Everyone who was in my DMS was a designer and they were like an aspiring designer and they wanted to know how I did blah, blah blah. And I was thinking, God, should I be charging these people for like consulting or you know, cuz it took up a lot of my time.
But I just think it was possibly, it was the best platform we had available at the time for marketing. But when I look back, , I have reached so much more of my target audience who actually going to work with me since I stopped using Instagram. And obviously the engagement’s now terrible, so I’m not reaching anyone on there.
Yeah. Although I posted this reel the other day, I posted it on TikTok and it got like just over a thousand views. I posted it on reels and it got like three and a half thousand views and I thought, I bet that’s that. The vanity metrics of trying to get me back on there.
Amy: I was gonna say, and also I do find like it’s the same thing.
It’s almost like we should play, um, Instagram this game of, I know like when you haven’t posted for a while, it then notifies all your followers to say so and so for the first time in a while. So then obviously. If your followers are like, Oh, haven’t, you know, seen Cape for ages, they, nine times out of 10 will click that post.
And we are inquisitive us, of course, we like to know things. We don’t like to feel like we’re missing out. So you know, if we’re following someone and then suddenly they’ve come back on the grid. Like even if it’s not something that you are like interested in, nine times outta 10 people will be like, Well what is it we wanna click at night?
Yeah. So it’s almost like everyone should just not quote like post once a month. So then Instagram can constantly be like, Oh, so and so first time in a while. And then like, we’ll feel good about our engagement, about our businesses are actually reaching what they need to because it’s it, you know, Instagram’s letting people know that we are there instead of leaving us in this kind of like dark hole.
Kate: Emptiness. Yeah, that’s a good idea actually. I might start doing that. I might try all that. I might come back to this as a case study. Maybe we should do an update episode at a later date where we’ve trial it and say like, This is the Instagram strategy for you. We could be the ones that come up with a new Instagram strategy that works.
Yeah. It would be easy too, like imagine saying to people, Imagine if you could post on Instagram the least you’ve ever posted ever on there and get the most.
Amy: I know, but it is like, I think that is the only time like posts have ever done well. Yeah.
Kate: Yeah, that is true. I remember just remember being so shocked.
I was like, this is so funny cuz I didn’t even wanna post this on Instagram and it’s actually like, outperformed what it did on TikTok. And then I had like a, a few new followers and I was like, Oh God, they’re gonna be disappointed cause I don’t post it like ever. So they’re gonna follow me thinking they’re gonna get content like this a lot and they’re not.
Um, but yeah, I don’t know. I feel, I feel like there’s. conclusion for the Instagram stuff. I personally think it’s dying a really slow and painful death, and people are just gonna clinging onto it because they have these huge communities. If there’s one thing it’s taught me, it’s that with the fact that I am now building a community on TikTok, I don’t wanna leave them on TikTok.
I’m trying really hard to find different ways to expand out my marketing. So, I’m not
Amy: on one, just one platform.
Kate: Because I think a lot of people, like we’re saying about Mrs. Hinch are just on one platform and now the platform is going down the toilet. I mean, I just think of it continues to go the way it is in a year, two years time, no one’s gonna be using it.
A
Amy: hundred percent. Yeah. And I, it is that thing of like, I notice, you know, I know like it’s a small fish in a pond as such. If like two of us are noticing it and like myself, I know I don’t use, you know, I probably go on the channel to like post my stuff and like keep a presence, but I’m definitely not engaging with it in the same way as I could of, Cause I’m like, I, you know, I’m not seeing the stuff I want.
It’s not, it’s not true to what I want and stuff. it, it is that thing of, at the moment, I guess I’m just looking to see what they like, if they can come out of it to make a change. But equally, a reason why I started TikTok is to then, you know, make sure I’ve got a presence elsewhere and I can grow, you know, a, a new.
Engaged audience somewhere else and not have to worry that if Instagram was way, it is that thing, isn’t it? Like even just saying it then it is that thing of like it, Instagram was to go down tomorrow. What do you do like. Either way, whether you’re listening to this now or not, like you shouldn’t just have your business on Instagram.
Like if that is your only thing to rely on, um, you know, it could be that you’re doing really well on Instagram. It does serve you a purpose. It’s still the principle of like, you shouldn’t rely on just Instagram. Um, because they might bring out, they might come back from this, They might bring out a big change.
That big change could be something that you don’t want to do. Like loads of people don’t like doing reels like, so I’m sure that’s be why the platform’s gone down, because maybe that’s why engagement’s gone down, because you know, Instagram is pushing bills. Those people don’t want to do that type of content, so they’ve left the platform if, yeah, you know, who knows what else Instagram could bring out that’s gonna drive more people.
Kate: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. And I think as we start to see new platforms emerging, cuz I don’t think TikTok is by any means gonna be like the last of the new platforms. I think it’s just gonna continue to, They’re gonna try and claw it back and they’re not gonna be able to, because I even think now, like the community of posters who enjoyed grid posts and long form captions.
I think a lot of them have probably moved over to something like LinkedIn because that is where content like that does really well now, and you can connect with other people who like that sort of content. I’m trialing videos on LinkedIn at the moment and they’re doing okay, but from the research into posts that do well on there, it’s pictures and engaging captions.
It’s exactly what was working on Instagram like two, three years. .
Amy: Yeah. Yeah. I think it is that thing. I think that’s, that is probably, I think talking about it now, I think it is probably a reason why engagement’s down is because, you know, you’ve got people who enjoy it for a different, a different thing.
So yeah, people who enjoyed it once for all pictures are no longer seeing pictures, so they’re gonna be finding elsewhere to do that. Maybe it’s even Pinterest, for example, cause that’s not very based. Um, you know, people who. Um, like reels and ticks, maybe they do stay on Instagram cuz they enjoy video content that they can switch between the two.
Um, but I definitely think, yeah, I, I think Instagram is slowly losing it’s, uh, target audience.
Kate: I agree. I know. I don’t even feel like there’s anything left to say on it now. Like I’m literally just, I’ve got to the point where I’m like, We’ve just bashed Instagram for, I don’t even know how long, and we don’t even have, You know how like normally you’ll finish something like this and you’ll be like, Here’s some action points, or here’s what we recommend.
Well, I do have something I’d recommend. It’s to. Not to stop posting on Instagram, that’s completely unfair. But to seriously veer away from it and be looking into other platforms, and I definitely think that we should do an episode on TikTok to and talk tick to strategy cause it’s super interesting. And unlike the TikTok algorithm, you can very much have a strategy with tick to that.
Like you can say that, Well, there’s a few different types I think, but you can say, And the same with LinkedIn, Twitter, even, I’ve been looking into that lately as well. Actually Twitter, it’s not bad. Yeah, you seen that last time. Yeah. But yeah, I
Amy: think, I think, yeah, I don’t think there is any, I guess the action point from this would to be really look at why you are using Instagram and you know, I guess maybe look at your audience and ask those people why they use Instagram, if they’re still using Instagram.
Um, and then utilize that in terms of your strategy to. Is this a platform that I should still be using? And if so, how should I be using it? Um, you know, trying to find out that info from your audience and as a person yourself to then be able to, to make sure that you are actually just doing stuff with a purpose and value, not just because Instagram is a channel that.
Kate: You’ve been told to use, To use, Yeah, yeah, yeah. That cuz that’s the thing, isn’t it? I think for a lot of people it’s, Oh, well, you know, everyone says to go on Instagram, but it’s like, well no, that’s, that’s very 2020. Well actually, is it 2020? Possibly even earlier than that. But you know, Yeah, but, okay. Well, I thought this was super interesting.
I definitely think that we should chat about small platforms later on. So, Amy and I, this is our first episode and our plan is that we obviously want to discuss all things marketing on this podcast. We’re very open to any suggestions that you guys have about topics that you would like us to cover. We both come from, actually, we’ve got an introduction episode.
You should go and listen to that so you can get an idea of what Amy’s and i’s backgrounds are so that you know. What sort of things that we’d like to tell people that we’re experts in and see if there’s anything that you’d like us to chat about. Um, but that is all from us, so we’ll speak to you guys soon.