Social Media Industry News Worth Sharing
If you didn’t catch the previous blog post “4 Social Media Trends Worth Knowing,” then click here before reading any further. This week, we'll be taking a deeper look at how Instagram’s “Search” algorithm works, how brands can tap into nostalgia marketing, and the Instagram has finally removed the swipe-up. Let’s dig in!
Instagram’s Search feature utilizes three primary elements.
In another opportunity to have a peek behind the curtains, Instagram shared how its search algorithms work and how brands can optimize for better discoverability.
Last year, Instagram expanded its search options to show a broader set of relevant keyword matches instead of being limited to profiles, hashtags, and geographic locations. Instagram is now looking to display an even more comprehensive range of results based on your query.
"We're making search results better for exploration. For example, a search for "space" will show you space-related photos and videos, too. This is especially helpful when you don't have an exact username or hashtag in mind when searching for a certain topic."
A critical tip regarding keywords and hashtags from Instagram: "For a post to be found in Search, put keywords and hashtags in the caption, not the comments."
I'd take the above with a grain of salt because having longer captions can cause users to not engage with or view a post, further hampering a post's ability to show up in feed or be discovered through search. Additionally, the cannabis industry overall is hindered on the platform due to platform guidelines, so we may not be able to take advantage of the updated search capabilities in the first place.
Nostalgia marketing has been tapped across multiple industries and business categories.
Our friends over at Sprout Social recently put out a blog post discussing nostalgia marketing and how brands can activate on this social media trend.
Everything from reintroducing older products that fans know and love like Hi-C at Mcdonald's (e.g. Reintroducing favorite strains) or creating new products that fans wouldn't expect, like General Mills' "Monster Mash" cereal that combined old favorites like Count Chocula, Boo Berry, and Franken Berry.
Or even an experiential event that touches on nostalgia, like the recent MLB "Field Of Dreams" game inspired by the 1989 Kevin Costner movie, which was the most-watched regular-season baseball game in 16 years.
Nostalgia isn't a new marketing trend, but how can brands tap into it as our target audiences continue to grow older?
Meet the Instagram Link sticker, providing brands and creators a new method to drive web traffic.
This change has been coming for a few months now, but Instagram is officially removing the swipe-up function for a new feature, the link sticker. Apart from the apparent gesture difference, the critical difference between the two features is that viewers can respond to stories with a link sticker but cannot reply to swipe up stories.
While the feedback for this new update has been mixed, to say the least, Instagram believes this will be best in the long run. Vishal Shah, Instagram's former head of product, told The Verge that stickers fit more with the way people currently use the platform. Link stickers give far more flexibility in how and where brands present a link and make it easier to integrate it far more creatively with the art or photography in Stories.
Note that the same restriction as before is in place for who can post links, so users that are not verified or do not have 10,000+ followers can not use the link sticker. Expect this change to affect all brands in the coming days.
