Times are changing as we know it. As of this week, social media behemoth Instagram will be hiding user likes. This change is an attempt by the platform to promote user well-being, and has been in the works since 2018.

But what does that mean for those of us who make a living off the ‘Gram? And how can we be sure that our online businesses survive when we don’t have likes to show for our engagement?

Many users are concerned that hiding likes will negatively impact influencers and people who derive income from the platform because companies look at likes on posts as a metric of how successful a campaign has been. So, without likes, it will be challenging for companies to know how actively engaged followers are with sponsored posts, and many individuals think this will discourage companies from sponsoring content at all. 

However, fake likes have been a huge problem for Instagram, almost for as long as the platform has been around. Millions of users have engaged in purchasing likes and using bots to boost likes. Therefore, likes themselves cannot be used as an accurate measurement of how engaged followers are with each post. 

As a result, many companies do not get accurate statistics when they use likes as a measure of post engagement for sponsored content. Additionally, many users feel that the pressure to get as many likes as possible changes the nature of the content they post. For example, there are influencers who admit to having “Fintagrams” or “Finstas” (fake Instagram accounts) that they use to post content that is funnier or more “real” than what they usually post – because they’re not using these accounts simply to get likes or followers. So, eliminating the ability to show how many likes you get on each post might be a good thing; we might start seeing a lot more authentic content posted on the platform as opposed to so many posts that stress fake scenes from people’s lives. 

One thing is for sure: eliminating the ability for followers to see the number of likes on each post is definitely going to alter our experience of Instagram one way or another. It’s time to start thinking about how you can adjust your Instagram strategy. Here’s how to ensure that your brand or business is here to stick around for the long haul – even without user likes:

1. Promote user engagement by writing captions that incite people to comment on your post.

So, if likes are taken away, there are still other metrics we can use to measure engagement. One of these is the amount of comments we get on each post. Now, more than ever before, it will be crucial to ensure that followers are commenting on each post. In order to make this happen, you have to be sure that the content you’re posting is something that sparks a conversation. Be sure to post a question along with your Instagram photo in order to invite people to engage. Or, have them weigh in on an important issue. Whatever you can do to get people to leave a comment and be part of the conversation will definitely ensure that your content is getting the attention it deserves.

2. Think about what you really want to communicate on your account. 

What story do you want to tell? What do you really want to say? For many of us, the pressure to get likes has interfered with the things that are most important to us. Now, we have a unique opportunity to start creating content that shows who we really are. And, what I often tell my clients is that, once we start creating posts that are more true to us, engagement spreads like wildfire. Use this as an opportunity to get really creative! 

3. Create authentic content that inspires people to spend meaningful amounts of time on your page. 

Authenticity has always been at the foundation of social media. After all, social media was our first opportunity to circulate individual opinions as opposed to having our thoughts overpowered by major media channels. However, through the years, as more and more sponsored content has emerged, Instagram has definitely lost a large majority of authentic content. Now is the time to create original and thought-provoking posts that made Instagram so interesting in the first place. Really let your personality shine through! You might be surprised how much this boosts your brand in the long run! 

P.S., here are a few non business-related things to keep in mind:

1. Post for yourself, not for anyone else.

This is definitely challenging to keep in mind, but at the end of the day, social media is about YOU: it’s about sharing your story, your life, and your brand. No one else can ever be quite like you, and once you realize that, and once you start to really fall in love with the story of your life, you’ll find that posting content becomes effortless. (And, a lot more fun!)  

2. This is an opportunity for us all to become a little more authentic.

At one point or another, we’ve all dealt with the fact that social media has been a source of stress in our lives. It’s all too easy to start comparing our lives to people we don’t know on the Internet and to start feeling down about ourselves. And, it’s also very easy to feel the need to share only the “perfect” aspects of our lives with the rest of the Internet. However, eliminating the number of likes each post gets will definitely be a reason for us all to start posting more authentic content: to reveal who we really are, the moments that are not so perfect but that are certainly true to us. 

XOXO

Mara and the GKM Team