← Build Your Tribe | Grow Your Business with Social Media
Build Your Tribe | Grow Your Business with Social Media
New Shift in Algorithm - 812
00:19:56
Feeling stuck with social media's changing algorithms? You’re not alone." In this episode of Build Your Tribe, Chalene Johnson breaks down the recent shifts in Instagram's and other platforms' algorithms. She reveals why the changes feel so drastic,...
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Wow. Has there been a major shift in the algorithm? This is not your typical shift you already know. That's why you probably stumbled upon this episode of Build you'd Tribe. Everyone, whether it's Instagram or TikTok, is experiencing a major shift in the algorithm. And in some cases it's exciting because you're reaching new followers, but in many cases it's depressing and you probably feel like walking away entirely from social media. But wait, don't do that. That's not a good idea. In this episode, I'm going to share with you what it actually means and how we can take advantage of this shift in the algorithm while we're experiencing what to do about to help your business grow in the meantime and not lose your mind. Hey, my name is Chalene Johnson and thank you so much for joining me in this edition of Build you'd Tribe we. And by we I mean myself and my co host Brock Johnson. We have a podcast called Build Tribe and one of the things that we focus on is helping you to grow your business in social media, giving you lots of different tips, strategies to grow, whether you are a solo entrepreneur or a small entrepreneur with a growing team. But Brock and I together operate a Instagram coaching program. It's actually a membership and the reason why we made it a membership is because Instagram changes all the time. One really nice aspect of having a program like this is we're constantly able to pull and to have regular conversations with our thousands and thousands of members. And they're actively excited and actively reporting to us what they're experiencing on Instagram and most of us at the end of 2024, as we're beginning 2025, you've probably already recognized a massive decline in vanity metrics. So what are vanity metrics? They're your likes, your comments and new followers. It feels like Instagram specifically has it out for you and it is like pulling teeth to get A new follower on Instagram. Guess what? You are not alone. There's something going on right now with the algorithm. And at first I thought it was just my account, but because we have an opportunity to talk to so many of our members and so many other people with small followings, large followings, you know, middle size, like, whether it's 10,000 or 50,000 or 500,000 or over a million across the board. I've heard this from absolutely every person that I've polled, and that is. It feels like crickets. And it can be really discouraging. I mean, I. I've talked to friends, even just today, in preparation for this episode, and one of my friends, and she's just about to crack the million followers mark, and she's like, I'm so over it. I'm so done. I hate it. Like, nothing is working. She's like, go take a look at my stats. Like, nothing is working. Well, what we're experiencing is a very real shift, not just in the social media, on Instagram, but this is happening on TikTok. This is happening on YouTube. It's happening across all platforms. So first, let me just explain that, because I think it's going to help you realize the problem isn't you, and then we'll talk about what to do about it. Well, first of all, just everybody has a social media account and multiple accounts. That's number one. Number two, things have changed wildly from when you first got on Instagram or first got on TikTok. And you enjoyed following people, right? You were hoping to see more of their content. But now most of us. And if you just ask yourself, like, what does it take for you to follow someone? Back in the day, like, you, you know, you tried to follow everyone who seemed interesting. Now it's like you come across a great piece of content, and even if you're like, this is awesome. This is funny. This is relatable, even if you share it, the likelihood that you're going to follow that person or that account is so low because most of us already feel quite overwhelmed by the amount of content that's coming at us and knowing we still have to save time to create content ourselves. So the behaviors of all of us, not just your followers, but you and I, the way that we consume content, is very different. Most of us just don't want to follow anyone anymore. Unless it's like, I just cannot miss this person's content. Then we're gonna follow. We're also gonna follow someone. If we're like, we want to get on their radar, then you're gonna follow them. If somebody says follow for more, fill in the blank, you're more likely to follow. But most of us, we just consume the content. We enjoy it and we think we're probably gonna see more of it. And we've all also experienced, like, either subscribing maybe on YouTube, or following someone on Instagram, or following someone on TikTok, and then you never see their content again. Now, if you look at the Instagram's Explore page, if you look at TikTok's for you page, what you're getting is lots of content of people who you don't follow because Instagram's just trying to keep your attention. TikTok, they're just trying to keep your attention. So if you understand that, if you understand that the, the platform, let's go back to Instagram. The platform wants to keep you on the platform longer. And they know if they just show you more of the people you already follow, you're probably not going to stay long. You need to see more exciting, better content, elevated content. Content that's even better than your friends and the people you already know who you're following. Am I right? Like, the people you already follow, they're great. But, like, when you're really captivated by a piece of content, it's usually somebody you're not yet following, and you might not follow them. The irony is, for the last several years, all of us have been trying to find ways to hack the system and to get Instagram to show our content to people who weren't already following us. But you would look at the graph. My content was only going to people who were already following me, which was great. But, you know, you want to reach new people. You don't want to keep serving up the same content to the same people who've seen your offer or who have seen your content and eventually become stale to them. So we were always trying desperately to get Instagram to show our content to non followers. Well, that's what they're doing. So in some regards, we should be happy because this is what we wanted, right? Like, didn't we want Instagram to show us to new people? And we thought we would get all of these new followers. No, they are, yes, showing your content to non followers, which is great. But non followers are not the same as they were like, two, three, four, five, six years ago. Non followers. Just like you and I, we're stingy with our follow, but we're still watching. So don't be discouraged, because, yes, this is happening. I used to get maybe between 2, at the maximum, maybe 7% non followers seeing my content. Instagram was only showing it to my existing followers. Well, now that trend has completely shifted and they're showing my content to non followers. What this means for me is good news. Or I'm having people see my content who've never seen it before. It's improving my business even though my Instagram engagement looks bleak. And so the most important advice that I can give you is to stop looking at Instagram insights in the way that we did last year or the year before or the year before where we were so focused on new followers, we were so focused on likes and comments. And today I really think you should just be looking at how many people are brand new, looking at your account and worrying less about whether they follow and focusing instead on how you can use their attention. It's free advertising. Instagram is literally showing people who've never seen you, never heard about you, they're showing them your content. So what we need to do is take advantage of this, knowing that people are less likely to follow. What they are more likely to do in these cases is to ask, like, what's in it for me? Like, okay, so what am I getting out of this content? It's time to focus on using your freemiums, your opt ins and your lead pages, lead magnets, ways to grow your business. Let's face it, you're not going to make a ton of money. Nobody's making a ton of money unless they're not. Even if you have millions and millions of followers on Instagram, Instagram's not paying you for those views. The way to make money, the way to monetize your Instagram is to have something that people who are watching your Instagram are like, oh, I want to train with that person. Oh, I want to learn how to do that. Oh, I want to do business with that person. Oh, I want that service. So if you're creating on Instagram and trying to grow your business, grow your reach on Instagram, Instagram, know that Instagram is, at least for the foreseeable near future, showing your content to more non followers. Stop worrying about the likes. I'm not telling you to not put in those same strategies, but don't judge yourself and don't judge the success of your content based solely on the likes and the comments. I've had one of my most successful months using Instagram to grow my business. And to grow, or to do, I should say, a great job to grow some of My partner's businesses, companies that I, you know, pay for posts. And I've done so, even though this is one of the ugliest months I've ever had in terms of vanity metrics. But my content's being shown and your content's being shown to new people. So what specifically am I talking about? I'm talking about creating ways to get people off of Instagram and onto your offer, whether that's a freemium or a lead magnet or directly to your sales page. If it's a low ticket offer or something that people, you know, like shoes or makeup or apparel, things that people, they see it and they want to buy it, they don't need to get to know you. They just want to know is your company reputable, is this product or service that you offer is, is this what I need? And if it's a low ticket item, you can send people directly to the sales page. One of the continuing best ways to do that is with ManyChat. And this is not sponsored by ManyChat. I don't have a deal with ManyChat. I'm telling you, I'm still using ManyChat. And I'm also going to tell you, because I don't have a deal with Many Check. And I'm going to tell you this. I was wondering, is manychat killing my reach? Is it because of manychat and which is an automation tool if you're not familiar with it. Manychat is an API. It's an approved third party service that you can use with Instagram where when people comment a specific word, you've probably seen this on a, you know, a million influencers pages. If you comment a specific word, like for example, hormones on my page, that's what I'll say in the first sentence of my caption. Comment the word hormones and I will send you my YouTube playlist or I will send you a list of questions you can ask your doctor. So when people comment that word, because I have manychat integrated into my Instagram platform, by the way, they're expanding to TikTok. When somebody comments one of those words, then when they check their dm, this is all handled through automation, they get a response from me which I've written along with a link, they can click on that link and it takes them wherever it can take them to a place where they can enter their email address and download your freemium, or it can take you directly, you can take them directly to your sales page or you can take them directly to another YouTube video. If you comment tribe on my Instagram account. If you just comment that under any post or, or send me a DM with that word, you'll get a link to the build you'd tribe podcast. So give it a try if you want. Just go right here to Chalene Johnson and then just anywhere, comment the word tribe and you'll see how it works. Or comment hormones or comment workout or comment leg day. Like, I've got so many triggers set up that I began to wonder, is it manychat? Because so many of my friends who are also using this third party automation, they're experiencing the same dilemma that I am. So I'm thinking, well maybe, maybe it is manychat. But I have to tell you, based on like doing a deep dive into their content, doing a deep dive into my content, asking everyone I know and you know, it's probably a good handful, at least 15 people that I've had a conversation with in the last two weeks and asking them, do you think it's many chat? What's going on? Tell me about your stats. Not do you think it is like go look at your stats and tell me if this is happening. Fill in the blank. And to be honest, I don't think as many chat. I really think that's right now. It's those are still my very best posts in terms of new followers, in terms of still reaching brand new people, non followers, in terms of engagement and comments. So what I do think is happening is this. The Instagram algorithm is currently focused on showing your content to non followers. So you're going to skew more in that direction than you are your existing followers. Existing followers, they are more likely to like your post, comment on your post, share your post. The non follower, which is you and I, it's a lot tougher to get a follow from them. But if you have something that they want, you've got to make it really easy for them to get it. So that's why I encourage you to use ManyChat or to use whatever system you maybe it's sticking, you know, a stand link. Maybe you're sending people to the link in your bio. Maybe you're, you're putting a call to action or maybe even a web or domain name. Like a really easy, short, pretty link that you're putting in your captions. Like go to chalene.com forward/midi or forward slash oil, whatever it is like something really easy for people to remember when they see it on the screen and just type that in. Whatever the case, the way to respond to this change in the algorithm is to have a change or a shift in your mindset as it relates to social media and your business. Focus on creating new freemiums, focus on pulling up content that's worked for you in the past. You can replay that, you can repurpose that content. Now Instagram recently came out and made a statement that they've made it very clear they don't want you to repurpose somebody else's content. So that's why feature accounts, you're seeing those not do as well. Meme accounts, you know, accounts that just posted, reposted other people's funny stuff. It's tougher to make that work. Instagram frowns upon it. But when it comes to reposting your own content, it's free game. And you've got so many now new non followers seeing that content that you should definitely take advantage of this. And let's face it, you start to lose motivation to create new content when your likes are down and your views are down. It can be very discouraging. But I want you to know it's happening to everyone. It's not you. So don't be discouraged with yourself. Don't be discouraged with your content. Instead, have a shift in your thinking and focus on using this to get yourself motivated to be creating new freemiums, new lead magnets, new ways to attract your customers, new calls to action, new ways to get people who are looking at your content to become your customers. Because ultimately, isn't that why we're on social media anyways? I mean, I don't know about you, but I have to remind myself sometimes, like, I don't care about likes. Likes don't pay the bills. When somebody sees my content and they're like, hey, I want to work with this person. Hey, I want to learn more about Instagram. I want to be on the cutting edge. I want to know what's happening before, you know, I lose my mind and I find out and that trend is already over. That's why I'm here on social media, to help people understand like what it is I offer. And specifically that is an Instagram coaching membership. So I guess it's a perfect plug at this moment for the Insta Club hub. It is by far the best deal on the Internet, if I do say so myself. Like we over deliver and we've got a lot of specials going on right now. Anyways, I digress all of that back to you to remind you that we're, we're not on social media to be popular and it can really be a dopamine hit when you get a bunch of likes and people are saying nice things. But why? Remind yourself that the why is to grow your business. So use this as free advertising. Think of it as just like a commercial, right? We don't get to like physically like commercials or leave a comment on a commercial. When we see a commercial, we make a mental note until we see it again and then we make a mental note until we see it again. And then eventually we're like, okay, where can I get that thing? And we go online and we buy that thing. Think of your social media as a commercial and it's an opportunity to get that viewer and put them on your email list because that's something you own. We don't own social media platforms. To make matters worse, this week I was placed on ban on Instagram. They sent me a notification that they were not gonna be showing my content to any new non followers because I had used the word that starts with an S and ends with an X, talking about women's hormones. I mean really literally. So they banned my account and I've appealed it, we'll see. But it was just a reminder to me like at any moment's notice. And I know you hear this and you've heard this from us many times, your account could be banned, it could be hacked, the algorithm could change. So while we do have attention from non followers, use it, redirect it, focus on creating better lead magnets, better offers, better irresistible offers for your customers. And if you do have a high ticket offer, consider creating something that's a low ticket offer where people don't have to be on your email list and you don't have to allow them to get to know you for months and years. Offer them something that's so affordable. Like our seven dollar Insta Club Hub trial. Yeah, if you click the link, you can try for $7 and you can see for yourself what exactly the Insta Club Hub is all about. But I think that's a great way to turn a customer into a low risk opportunity for them to experience your business. So lastly, don't be discouraged. I know it's frustrating, trust me, especially when you spend hours creating content. My recommendation is not to stop doing that because frankly, it's really gotten competitive out there. People want high quality content with a strong hook, something that's funny, something that share worthy that they're going to send to their friends. It's got to have value, it's got to grab their attention, it's got to be visually appealing. It's a lot, I know. So instead of focusing on quantity, focus on quality. If you need to take a day off, create a, you know, reel every other day. Carousel posts are also performing well. Experiment. But more than anything, focus on building your email list. Focus on your customers and not those vanity metrics. Thanks so much for listening to this edition of Build you'd Tribe. It is my goal to be brief, to be bright, to be fun, and then be done. Ladies and gentlemen, we're done.
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