To what extent is Instagram to blame for poor performance rates on creator posts?
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:44 am
A common refrain from creators on both sides of the Atlantic over the past two years has been that “ the Instagram algorithm” is to blame for declining reach and lackluster engagement rates.
Many European countries, including France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, have tightened transparency rules for labeling posts in recent months, as has the United States.
"It is too early to say whether the new French law and its transparency obligations have led to a decline in results. The platforms claim otherwise. In any case, engagement has been declining for several years due to various factors," says Charlotte Caron, director of consultancy in charge of influencer strategies at Agence Wellcom.Unidos.
In Spain, the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation announced at the end of 2023 the preparation of a Draft Royal Decree aimed at regulating the work of influencers, YouTubers and content creators. This regulation focuses on supervising promoted products, commercial communications and content in general, in order to protect users, especially minors.
The General Law on Audiovisual Communication, approved in July 2022, already aimed to find a balance between access to these services, consumer protection and competition. However, the new project prepared by the Ministry of the Economy introduces new obligations for influencers who generate income of more than 500,000 euros per year and have more than two million followers.
While these regulations may create additional uncertainty and challenges for content creators, they can also promote more ethical and transparent practices in influencer marketing.
Does using the branded content tag really affect the performance of Instagram posts?
There has been much speculation about the poor performance of posts that feature the paid collaboration tag, but Instagram has been at pains to deny accusations that tagged posts are automatically penalized by “the algorithm.” To counter the flood of complaints, the company has revealed more details about how its recommendation systems work.
Indeed, we saw how some time ago Melanie Rodríguez, in charge of product marketing and creator monetization at Instagram, explained that it is necessary to include collaboration tags to comply with the social network's polic quality directors email database ies, without mentioning the new regulations that are beginning to operate in various countries on the European continent, so the reach or engagement of a publication will directly depend on the creativity and authenticity of the content itself.
The hope is that a better understanding of how Instagram decides what content users should see, coupled with new tools designed to support creators, will lead to better content and higher performance.
So what do creators and brands need to know? It may come as a surprise, but Instagram uses a variety of algorithms, processes, and classifiers to rank content and determine which feeds to direct it to. So, content in Feed, Stories, Reels, and Explore is ranked differently based on how people use those parts of the platform.
Stories, for example, are meant to connect with followers on a more intimate level, while Reels are meant to entertain and hopefully help grow your audience.
Just as it's important to understand the inherent differences between platforms—Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat , YouTube—it's also important to understand the pros and cons of different content formats in relation to Instagram's user base and the specific audience they're targeting.
Many European countries, including France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, have tightened transparency rules for labeling posts in recent months, as has the United States.
"It is too early to say whether the new French law and its transparency obligations have led to a decline in results. The platforms claim otherwise. In any case, engagement has been declining for several years due to various factors," says Charlotte Caron, director of consultancy in charge of influencer strategies at Agence Wellcom.Unidos.
In Spain, the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation announced at the end of 2023 the preparation of a Draft Royal Decree aimed at regulating the work of influencers, YouTubers and content creators. This regulation focuses on supervising promoted products, commercial communications and content in general, in order to protect users, especially minors.
The General Law on Audiovisual Communication, approved in July 2022, already aimed to find a balance between access to these services, consumer protection and competition. However, the new project prepared by the Ministry of the Economy introduces new obligations for influencers who generate income of more than 500,000 euros per year and have more than two million followers.
While these regulations may create additional uncertainty and challenges for content creators, they can also promote more ethical and transparent practices in influencer marketing.
Does using the branded content tag really affect the performance of Instagram posts?
There has been much speculation about the poor performance of posts that feature the paid collaboration tag, but Instagram has been at pains to deny accusations that tagged posts are automatically penalized by “the algorithm.” To counter the flood of complaints, the company has revealed more details about how its recommendation systems work.
Indeed, we saw how some time ago Melanie Rodríguez, in charge of product marketing and creator monetization at Instagram, explained that it is necessary to include collaboration tags to comply with the social network's polic quality directors email database ies, without mentioning the new regulations that are beginning to operate in various countries on the European continent, so the reach or engagement of a publication will directly depend on the creativity and authenticity of the content itself.
The hope is that a better understanding of how Instagram decides what content users should see, coupled with new tools designed to support creators, will lead to better content and higher performance.
So what do creators and brands need to know? It may come as a surprise, but Instagram uses a variety of algorithms, processes, and classifiers to rank content and determine which feeds to direct it to. So, content in Feed, Stories, Reels, and Explore is ranked differently based on how people use those parts of the platform.
Stories, for example, are meant to connect with followers on a more intimate level, while Reels are meant to entertain and hopefully help grow your audience.
Just as it's important to understand the inherent differences between platforms—Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat , YouTube—it's also important to understand the pros and cons of different content formats in relation to Instagram's user base and the specific audience they're targeting.