How Instagram has changed in the last 5 years

Instagram has changed a lot in the last 5 years. I recently reflected on how marketing on Instagram is a vastly different landscape to what it was back when I first started. This episode, I’m sharing 5 massive differences between Instagram marketing in 2020 vs in 2015.

 

 

 

5 ways Instagram has changed in the last 5 years

I recently realised that I’ve been on Instagram for over 7 years. First as a personal account, sharing over-filtered photos from Saturday nights out. Then, as a blogger. Then, as a social media manager for local cafes and businesses, as a little side hustle and much-needed creative outlet from my really dull corporate job. Then, with my first business – a health food subscription box. And now I have my travel Instagram and my current business one.

I’ve had a lot of Instagram accounts over the years and it’s so interesting reflecting on how the platform has changed. Here are 5 massive differences between Instagram today, and what it was 5 years ago.

 

1. Instagram isn’t just about the followers anymore

Far too many people define “Instagram success” as getting more followers. On one hand, I do understand why, because it’s a metric you can easily track and keep an eye on. But, while it’s a good thing to grow your following with the right people, you don’t want to just get more Instagram followers for the sake of it.

It makes me really sad when I see business owners giving up on Instagram altogether, simply because they aren’t seeing that follower number going up. To me, it’s only one way to measure Instagram success. What about sales? Enquiries from potential clients? Content shared by your past customers or clients?

Sure, maybe your competitors have more followers… But this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a more successful business. So don’t let it get you down.

Instagram can still have a massive impact on your business, even if you don’t have thousands of followers.  

 

2. Instagram plays a massive part in your overall business branding

Something I’ve noticed that a lot of people do these days is looking up a business on Instagram instead of searching for it in Google. I’m guilty of doing this too.

What does this mean for your business? It means your Instagram presence needs to be brand-aligned, up to date and it really needs to put your best foot forward. Your brand look and feel needs to be consistent with how your other brand touchpoints look and feel – especially your website.

Your brand tone of voice (how your brand talks on Instagram) should also be consistent.

 

3. Instagram isn’t just about sharing pretty pictures anymore

Anyone can create a pretty Instagram feed with curated images from other content creators. It doesn’t take much skill to do this. And, because anyone can do this, Instagram is saturated with beautiful feeds. While there’s nothing wrong with that, your account does need a little more substance.

This could be in the form of meaningful captions or original images that nobody else has shared before. It’s not about posting filler content for the sake of it – it’s about putting thought into each and every one of your Instagram posts.

(Here's how often you should post to Instagram).

 

4. Instagram is now about quality content, not quantity content

Like I said above, it’s not about posting filler content.

Before you post anything, ask yourself: What’s the purpose behind this piece of content? And, ask yourself, if this was the only piece of content that someone saw from my brand, would I be ok with that? Do I feel like it puts my brand in a good light?

Remember – every post you put out there is a brand touchpoint. Someone might be coming into contact with your brand for the very first time, and you want to make an excellent first impression.

(Here's what to post on Instagram in 2020).

Yes, quality content does take a lot longer to create, but that’s okay because…

 

5. You no longer have to post 3 x a day to see results from Instagram

The reason you no longer need to post as often is that the Instagram algorithm has changed a lot since 2015.

The content you saw in your feed used to be purely chronological, but then people started following too many accounts and weren’t seeing posts by the people and brands they cared about most in their feeds.

So, Instagram implemented an algorithm that prioritises content from accounts that you’re most interested in, so you see their content first in your feed. This means that if someone is interested in your content, they’ll see your posts higher up in their feed, regardless of whether it was posted 2 hours ago or 2 days ago.

 

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