Engagement, metrics and the opportunity for a more detailed analysis are other points to consider from yet another platform change
The opportunity to be more assertive in analyzing how a certain subject is being received by followers, and to serve as inspiration to help advertisers gain insights are among some of the advantages of the new option recently released by Instagram – the likes in stories.
The novelty, announced by the executive Adam Mosseri on the networks, allows the user to click the heart on content posted on the platform. Like numbers, however, will only be available to @ admins, as Instagram has been discouraging the number perception of likes since 2019.
For these and other reasons, the agenda is, ‘more than ever’, about privacy, alerts Luiz Jeronimo Stamboni, partner-director of planning at BR Media Group. “It’s about creating interactions and reactions without volume perspective.”
Therefore, he assures, there are no numbers that measure this type of engagement, however, he guarantees: “Once the user clicked on the like, he automatically gains prominence in the list of those who reacted to the content, creating a way to draw the attention of who shared the stories”, he says.
Depth in analysis
With likes in stories, the brand has yet another tool to measure the performance of this or that content. Ivan Ferri, customer success director at Emplifi in Brazil, goes further and says that advertisers gain more depth in analyzing the receptivity of the story.
“Until then, story data was mostly related to viewing videos. With likes, now, brands can measure, within the audience that watched their content, what was better received and thus make better choices for future stories with based on the data”, he says.
Immakers Ads CEO Alex Baptista recalls that, if before, engagement in stories was considered as clicks on links that lead to the client’s website, for example, now, you can add likes to that.
“Stories become a thermometer that can help advertisers gain insights into subjects that can be explored with deeper approaches in feed and reels”, he warns. “So it’s important to pay attention to the ‘behavior’ of the content published in stories to have a preview of what it would be like to have it posted in another format, it would be a planning”, he adds.
better usability
In August of this year, Instagram Stories will complete six years of existence, a technology that did not take long to become popular among Brazilians. According to a survey by consumer insights Opinion Box, 62% of Brazilians publish more stories than content in their feed, while 58% prefer to see a story rather than a feed.
And among the reasons, of course, is the user’s ease of reaction. Rocky.Monks’ head of communication, Letícia Longo, says that, in terms of strategy, it is interesting to understand that the interaction with the public has become more agile.
“That’s because, in terms of usability, the user previously needed two clicks to interact (click react and choose the reaction options with emojis). Now, in just one touch, the user reacts with the like, which makes a lot of difference in the adhesion of the interaction”, he emphasizes.
Algorithm
Likes in stories introduce a new KPI for brands. According to Luiz Jeronimo Stamboni, from BR Media Group, for creatros, the strategic advantage is the optimized reading of the algorithm, which tends to catalog the content – and prioritize it – according to its degree of relevance.
“In other words, with one more form of interaction, the creator can be favored in the endless competition for the audience’s attention”, he highlights.
Therefore, according to the head of social media at Raccoon.Monks, she says that it is necessary to encourage the public to interact with this new possible function. “For example, making interactive content encouraging likes such as ‘if you already use our product, like this story’ or, ‘like this story and get a discount coupon’, suggests Fernanda Silva.
Influencer choice
The more likes, the better. The likes, according to Stamboni, are an opportunity for the brand to get to know a content creator better and, thus, have another resource in decision-making.
“We defend that an influencer is chosen based on technical data. If it is in our selection, the justification is technical, never personal. Therefore, the main recommendation turns to the analysis at its deepest level of this same influencer”, he says.
