Even small changes on a social media platform like Instagram can have a large impact on the overall working of several individuals. Social media has become a profession for many modern day marketers. As times change, industries and professionals have to evolve as well. Marketing now is digital, and platforms like Instagram are crucial to the operational aspect of the field.
Another field that has changed gears due to the arrival of social media is influencer marketing. Influencers, before the digital age, used to appear on TV ads and newspaper banners promoting products. Now they do the same from ther social media accounts directly to their many millions of followers.
In this article, we will discuss how the hiding of the number of likes on Instagram has changed influencer marketing.
Less Focus on Vanity Metrics
Likes are considered by many as the true measure of any given post’s popularity. However, most serious social media execs know that likes can become a vanity metric at times. Measuring engagement through likes alone has always been a slippery road. Many influencers have gone to great lengths to post derivative and unoriginal content just for the assurance of a certain number of likes.
By hiding likes, Instagram is forcing influencers to focus on other engagement metrics such as comments and follows. Since doing well on these metrics requires them to produce original and truly-engaging content, the reliance of influencers on vanity metrics reduces.
Greater Demands from Influencers
With the hiding of likes, influencers can no longer hide behind there many thousands of likes on each post. They instead have to create quality content which truly engages and impresses the target audience. Thus, brands interested in hiring influencers can demand more than just a simple post and a few likes. The hiding of likes has made influencers more accountable to the value they bring to brands.
In Conclusion
Influencer marketing has grown into an important part of social media and digital marketing. In any field, there are certain influencers who have a monopoly over engagement. This is because these influencers tend to have a large following and everything they say is valued more by their followers. Thus, a brand that wants to reach its audience in a given field has a better shot at doing so with the help of influencers. In this article, we discussed how influencer marketing on Instagram has been affected by the hiding of likes.
About the Author- Lakshman Purwe is a digital marketing executive working at a top marketing agency in the Delhi-NCR. His experience in the field totals to over four years. He is also known for writing informative guest posts for popular websites like DelhiCourse.in, the best place to start a digital marketing course in Delhi.
