Say goodbye to Instagram likes and say hello to saves – it is the latest engagement metric that brands have been obsessed with, and there is a good reason for it. Learn it in the latest blog brought to you by the editors from Brybe.com.
Did you know that Instagram has started testing the removal of public likes count in certain markets? It has been affecting the overall engagement negatively – which is also a #1 reason why brands are moving to measure the private “saves” as a metric to determine the success in engagement. What is more, Instagram saves are also a key signal for how the Instagram algorithm works. The more saves you get on a post, the more people it will be shown to in the algorithm. What it means is – people find your content worth revisiting again and again. Which, to Instagram, means that your content is worth displaying to a broader audience. That is why, in order to grow your Instagram account, you should start focusing on getting more saves for your posts.
Instagram Saves? What Are Those?
An Instagram save is not a new feature – it has already been there for at least a couple of years. It is a handy feature to “bookmark” the posts that you like and save them in different collections (categories) so that you can revisit them again in the future.
That little “bookmark” sign under the post (as shown on the left) is how you can save your favorite posts and revisit them, again and again, in the collections that you create (as shown on the right). Collections are a great way to organize your favorite Instagram posts in a library-like setting. Most importantly, you will not need to crack your head to remember where you have seen it to find the post again. However, thanks to ever-changing Instagram algorithms, the more saves your posts receive, the more people it will be shown to. It can even possibly appear on the Instagram Explore page.
Your Instagram saves will be shown to you on your Instagram Analytics page. The Analytics will also tell you how many people shared your post by forwarding it to a friend (the paper plane icon), how many likes (the heart icon) it received, and how many comments it got (the thought cloud icon).
How Can You Get More Saves?
Captions Are Important, Really!
The captions are very important for Instagram. There are many microbloggers who use the platform to document their lives and experiences and guide their audiences. Did you know that Instagram gives you 2,200 characters for the caption? Long gone are the days when having a heart emoji or a laughing face was enough to engage with your audience. Today, people value sharing. Have a caption that reads like a short blog post. Engage with your audience on a personal level and provide benefits to them.
Your Content Should Be "Evergreen"
Evergreen content is a search-engine-optimized content that continuously remains relevant and fresh. Even though all content that we publish online (blog posts, articles, social media posts, etc.) stays on the web until we decide to delete it, not all content remains relevant over a long period of time. News, social media posts and trends are, for example, very time-sensitive and can generate great short-term traffic, however, in the long run, would not remain relevant or searched. Evergreen content is, on the other hand, not tied to specific news and generally accumulates the growing search traffic over time.
Having that in mind you should also know that evergreen content is also a very important component to gaining more saves (and subsequently more followers) on Instagram. People would naturally tend to save something that is “always true” for later. I noticed that infographics work wonders when it comes to saves.
Don't Hesitate to Ask For Saves
Having a clear CTA (call-to-action) in your post can be a powerful thing. Sometimes people may forget to save, and reminding them that such an option exists can gain you extra saves. Brief reminders, such as “Do not forget to save this post to view it again” or “If you want to follow these tips, do not forget to save the post,” can be very powerful. However, do not sound too desperate.
Being Unique is a Key
People will not save posts that contain information that they already know. You would not revisit what you have already seen, done, or tried. You would save something that has a new twist and would benefit you to experience or try something new. You should avoid basic posts while trying to offer unique experiences or tips to your audience.
And that is it – now you know it all! Instagram saves are the new hot marketing metric that more and more marketers choose to use to track the value of the posts. Vanity metrics, such as likes, will become less and less important in the future (especially if Instagram takes them away for good). Saves are a great way to measure how valuable your content is to your audience. If somebody likes your content enough to save it for viewing in the future, that is a huge indication of quality. It means you are delivering what your audience actually wants to see. Hopefully, when you will be creating your new campaign via Brybe.com, you will use that knowledge and maximize your efforts together with us!