Changes and changes and more changes. Every time we turn around the social media platforms are announcing changes.
Last week we got wind that the “carousels are being prioritized with better reach” phenomenon is going away and Reels are coming back into the top spot, along with direct messaging and recommendations (specifically on Instagram).
Sometimes these announcements make me want to lie down and not deal with anything. Honestly. Can we just get a break? But we know that having this information ahead of time is such a benefit to our clients who otherwise would still be posting the same way they did three years ago (squares, with 20 hashtags in the captions… maybe even some dots separating them from the copy – IYKYK).
The truth, is however, as with all of these shifts in priorities, if you are handling social the way social was meant to be handled, this shouldn’t be a huge issue. Is the delivery of the message you want to relay being altered? Maybe. But the message, itself, is not. So maybe you aren’t creating a still graphic with that message but instead are considering how to create a face-to-camera Reel telling that same story. If you’ve been conversational and authentic all along, and not just been making grandiose announcements, then these changes when they pop up really should not make a difference.
Social is and has always been a way to create two-way conversation in an authentic, real way between consumers and companies. Of course, it has taken on a life of its own – for better or worse – as person-to-person conversation has gotten crazy and aggressive in some cases on social.
When we first started doing what we do, social strategy was meant to:
- Give the public a way to speak directly to someone at customer service whether to ask questions, get directions or, sometimes, complain;
- Give a behind-the-scenes look into “how the sausage is made;”
- Get to know the people behind the brand;
- Make it fun.
These objectives still exist. The perfectly polished photos, the over-edited videos, the life-that-can’t-possibley-exist-for-the-average-person content never get as much engagement (and therefore reach) as the “I just spilled coffee all over my white shirt and my dog is a maniac” content. Realness matters.
So no matter how you are portraying that story depending on what Meta has decided to optimize this week, remember that telling the story is truly what matters.
And if you didn’t realize all these changes were happening, it might be time to give us a call and leapfrog over everyone.
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