How Instagram’s Decision To Hide Likes Could Impact You

Instagram’s recent move to hide likes has been met with some controversy, and many bands and artists are justifiably concerned about the impact the switch will have on their marketing efforts.

__________________________________________

Guest post by Liz Ohanesian of the Repost Network

As Instagram prepares to rollout its move to hide the numbers of likes on a post, you might be wondering how this will impact your marketing strategy. After all, likes are the most visible sign that people are interested in your work and that number lets everyone from concert promoters to record labels know that people are following your work.

Jared Rapoza, founder and CEO of Artist Influence, who handles social media strategies for clients that include Sony and WMG, suspects that there might be immediate impact once the likes go into hiding. “I think that everyone is going to have a drop in engagement,” he says.

But, that might not be as bad as it sounds. “I think people are going to start caring about the actual content,” he says. “They won’t just be jumping on the bandwagon because a post has 100,000 likes.” That could actually be better for developing a following that engages in your posts, so long as you take the right approach. Focus on the message itself. You won’t be posting for the likes. Says Rapoza, “It’s going to be important for artists to work on their visual content development and making compelling content that aligns with their brand that’s going to get people to click on it.”

Liz Ohanesian writes about the intersection of music, arts and technology. She is based in Los Angeles.