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Instagram and influencers, a defective relationship?



Instagrams algorithm is ever-changing, flexing and shifting depending on their new products and objectives.



However, it's no secret that Instagram has been killing organic reach for both brands and creators over recent years. 



Slowly but surely, we're seeing history repeat itself. The organic reach on Facebook went from 16% in 2012 to 2.27% in 2015, and it's continued to decline ever since. 



At the same time, we're seeing paid advertising across Facebook and Instagram becoming less effective, with users increasingly frustrated by their frequency and intrusive nature. This month, leaked documents revealed that Facebook (Meta) experimented with showing no ads and fewer ads because young adults complained about seeing too many of them. (US young adults user sentiment analysis report)



With brands increasing shift to influencer marketing, Instagram faces a problem. 



On the one hand, creators are required to drive engagement on the platform. On the other hand, brand partnerships directly with creators push budgets away from paid advertising.



With Instagram's 'Branded Content Ads' launch in 2019, Instagram made its intentions known. They would begin to decrease the organic reach of #Paid partnerships and force advertisers to boost creators posts. Despite this move, widespread adoption of 'Branded Content Ads' has yet to become an industry norm. 



For Instagram to force widespread adoption of 'Branded Content Ads, it's clear that they will drastically limit the organic reach of #Paid partnerships forcing advertisers hands. 



Could Instagram's desire to drive revenue result in its downfall?

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