Instagram is currently testing like hiding internationally. Further to this, they’re now testing ‘Saves’. They act as a super-like, similar to Tinder. With the like button being hit on average of 4.2B times per day (AdEspresso), it’s out with the old and in with the new. Saves are currently the hottest engagement metric. Brands are tracking this metric, for good reason. They’re likely to replace likes as IG’s key quality metric. Let’s get into why.
Out with the old, in with the new
Are likes a thing of the past? with IG testing their removal, saves has become the primary metric to track success. Success metrics are moving away from public likes. Instead, shifting to the private saves. They’re a key indicator of how IG’s algorithm works. So the more saves a post gets, the more it will appear on peoples feed. Therefore, saves directly boosts reach. How do they work? By tapping the ‘bookmark’ icon in the bottom right of a post, adding it to saved posts to find again. These posts are organised through ‘collections’. Letting people classify posts as they wish, as a personal library.
Saves; their importance to IG’s algorithm
The more saves a post gets, the more likely the algorithm will position/rank it higher in the user’s feed. The algorithm uses 7 key factors to position a post in the feed. These include saves, comments, views and likes. It reads the saves as a crucial indicator of quality. In fact, due to this shift, the number of likes a post gets is losing value. Especially to brands when it comes to tracking a posts quality/success. Due to IG’s like hiding, the focus is now on engagement, such as the number of comments and saves. Therefore to measure this engagement, tracking saves is crucial. To help measure this, businesses are using the ‘true engagement calculation’:
- Engagement Rate = (likes + comments + saves) / impressions x 100
IG’s saves are a great indicator of a post’s value, seen as users wish to revisit the content at a later date. It’s no wonder it’s about to leave likes in the dust…
