Who is the MVE (aka Most Valuable Engagement) in the Instagram game? It’s not all about the likes anymore!
Gone are the days when a double tap on your post was the only measure of Instagram success. Today, there are a number of Instagram metrics you should be focused on to gauge whether your audience is engaged, your posts are resonating and, of course, if you are playing to the ever-elusive Instagram algorithm.
According to Instagram itself, the most important engagements that will affect your account’s ranking are comments, likes, saves, reshares, and views for videos.
- Comments: If your post incites a comment from a follower, Instagram can be pretty sure the follower was interested in your content and found it TIMELY and RELEVANT.
- Saves: Dubbed the “SUPER LIKE” by James Nord (Fohr), a save is a very, very clear indicator of high-quality content. Now, you can’t actually see who saves your post, but racking up this type of engagement will really help your feed visibility and can even land you on the Explore page!
- Likes: We’ve been waiting for almost two years to see our like counts disappear. Who knows if or when Instagram will actually pull the trigger on this move, but for now, likes do still play into the Instagram algorithm. There is also a ‘herd mentality’ of sorts when it comes to likes. Seeing a large number of likes on a post can inspire a follower to stop, look and like your post for that reason alone.
- Shares: When a viewer reshares your post onto their stories it does two important things. 1) Tells Instagram that your post was quality and relevant enough for you to share with your network and 2) it spreads your content to new potential followers (aka customers) *We must note that Instagram has stopped some users from resharing posts to stories as a test. We have not seen this happening personally, but some users in some countries have been a part of the test. Who knows if this will roll out to more users…
For the average business user, mastering the Instagram algorithm can seem daunting. But with a little prep and planning—and patience—you can see improvements in your overall engagement. Our biggest tips: Stay consistent, stay real and stay fresh! If you need more specific recommendations or social media help, we’d love to chat! Hit us up at [email protected] to get the conversation started!