Why Followers Matter Less Now
Ah yes, the focus on follower counts.
This is a number still prominently displayed on social media profiles like Instagram and TikTok, and many brands will use followers as a KPI (key performance indicator) for their own accounts.
It remains a symbol of status, but many have begun to say that followers don’t matter as much anymore.
This insight will explain why social media followers don’t have the same value as they used to.
How social media used to be
A few years ago, the goal on social media was to accumulate followers so that you’d have a connected audience to talk to about your products and services, and hope that some of them will eventually decide to purchase.
The more followers you had, the better the perception profile visitors would have of your account, and the higher the chance that they’d follow as well.
Since this time, things have changed quite a lot.
Content is seen less and less by followers
Let’s take a look at analytics for couple of clients’ Instagram accounts:
Reach of a smaller account over the past 90 days
No ads were run during this period
Follower reach was about 1/3 the actual follower count
Vast majority of reach went to non-followers
Reach of a large account over the past 90 days
Ads were run during this period
Follower reach was significantly lower than the actual follower count
Vast majority of reach went to non-followers
What is very clear when looking at these 2 Instagram accounts of various sizes is that most of a brands’ content goes to people who are not followers.
In fact, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said that this is on purpose in order to help people discover new and interesting things that they didn’t know existed.
👋🏼 There’s a lot happening on Instagram right now.
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) July 26, 2022
I wanted to address a few things we’re working on to make Instagram a better experience.
Please let me know what you think 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/x1If5qrCyS
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also said that roughly 15% of content in the Facebook feed, and a little more than that in the Instagram feed, are from accounts that people don’t follow. He expects that number double.
Interesting comment from Mark Zuckerberg just now on Meta's earnings call:
— Kurt Wagner (@KurtWagner8) July 27, 2022
Roughly 15% of content in FB feed, and a little more than that in the IG feed, are from accounts that people don’t follow. He expects those numbers to double...
Why does this happen?
Social → Interest
Algorithms on social networks are moving away from who you’re connected to to what you’re interested in.
Let’s face it, we may be following our college buddy but we’re not that interested in their food pics or their Disneyland trip with their kids. This leads to people not wanting to use the app as much or stay on it as long.
TikTok accelerated a social media shift that prioritizes interests.
When you open the TikTok app, the first screen is the “For You” page, a feed of recommended content based on what it thinks you may find interesting. This is very different from apps that came before it like Instagram, where it’s a feed from people you follow.
But recently, feeds on social networks like Instagram or Twitter have changed. There’s a lot more suggested content and suggested profiles. This appears in your main feed and there’s even a dedicated section of the Instagram for it on the Explore Page.
So what does this mean?
Followers should not be the primary KPI
If you’re a brand looking to build a meaningful social media account, the goal cannot be follower count anymore since your content is only seen by a fraction of your followers. The value of a follower has decreased and has become more of a vanity metric.
Most of your content’s reach is likely to go to non-followers. This means that you can no longer just post salesy content, you have to produce content that people find interesting enough that the algorithm decides to show it to more people.
A number of metrics combined will tell you how the account is doing. Looking at the account’s overall reach, likes, comments, shares, saves, and DMs will provide you a lot more clarity on how you’re doing rather than simply follower count.
Feel free to contact us if you’d like to learn more.
