“Like, share, and subscribe!”
As a millennial raised in the early 2000s, we have all stood in front of our mirrors and said it out loud, mimicking our favorite YouTubers. Who would have thought that someday these words would become the biggest nightmare for every content creator?
Last week, a video was circulating on Instagram, explaining the use of single-word CTA. This video pushed many Instagram content creators into a frenzy, making them question their content strategy.
If you are an Instagram content creator, keep reading as we unwind what the recent “Instagram single-word CTA” fiasco is about.
Why You Should Care About the Latest Instagram CTA Update
Instagram’s growth in recent years has become a primary goal for everyone. As per Forbes, in the world of personal branding, Instagram is the uncrowned king. Therefore, if you think the latest policy update only affects big businesses, professional content creators, or influencers, you are wrong.
In the ever-evolving world of social media, more than 57% of Gen-Zers aim to become influencers. From doctors and astronauts to mere influencers, how did we come to this?
With such a lucrative ROI and nearly no investment, who can blame the growing influencer craze? With lucrative internet offers such as Xfinity internet deals, running a social media marketing business requires almost no capital at all.
Therefore, even if you are not a marketer but Instagram is limiting your reach, this newest update should concern you.
What Instagram Said About Single-Word CTA
Last week, Instagram shared a video on its creator’s account. The video mainly explains the usage of answer-specific CTAs in video clips and how it can affect the overall reach of the content.
After receiving overwhelming backlash, the video was removed from the account. But the video is back on the account but with a few more updates to explain the intent behind these updates.
Before we dive into the recent updates, let us explore the initial video and its impact.
For the longest time, marketers loved using CTA (call to action). They want the users to give feedback, tell them if the content was helpful, or otherwise.
To reduce the AI-based content that offers no value, Instagram rolled out a “single-word CTA” strategy.
As per the first video, the platform doesn’t want the content creators to hack engagement but to keep it organic. This means if the content creator is directly asking the follower to like, share, or comment, the reach will be restricted. This reach restriction will not only be triggered by the words like, comment, share, or tag, but also when the content creator uses any other alternative i.e. number, word, or emoji.
Most creators are concerned that restricting the CTA implementation will directly affect their partnerships with brands. This is especially notable for content creators using third-party automation tools to trigger a DM every time a follower leaves a single word comment.
Moreover, this will directly influence their capacity to convert engagement into leads and sales for their partnering brands.
What Instagram Really Meant
As per the recent updates, Instagram clarified the meaning of “engagement hack” that was mentioned in its initial post. It is referred to as clickbait titles that ask for comments, likes and shares.
The platform explained that if the content creator is interacting with the followers after posting, responding to the questions, and sending DMs, this does not affect the reach.
Moreover, this update will not affect the usage of third-party tools i.e. Manychat, a tool that allows content creators to engage with their followers by automating DMs or encouraging them to buy any product. Using such third-party tools, content creators can still use the same engagement strategy and not experience a slump in reach.
However, to avoid any setback to reach, the platform encourages the creators to ask open-ended questions with fun CTAs to boost engagement.
With the new strategy, the platform is trying to encourage content creators to engage with the audience and avoid engagement baits.
With Instagram having addressed the concerns of content creators, it prompts the question: Who is truly impacted by these changes?
How the New Update Will Be Affecting Instagram Posts
For most users, this update might not be concerning but experts believe that this update is just a smoke screen and there is something far more complex going on behind closed doors.
Some tech algorithm experts are labeling this update as “anti-protest” and “anti-politics”. Since the public uproar over the Israel-Palestine dispute, Instagram has been actively leveraging censorship to limit the reach of political posts. One of the primary ways these political platforms are boosting their organic reach is simply by bombarding the comment section with emojis.
On the other hand, some tech experts are considering this a user-friendly update, that will help filter out the unhelpful content showing on the feed because of engagement harvesting.
To sum it up, the platform is trying to limit the reach and increase the spam score of the accounts sharing political updates with the help of this new engagement strategy.
