Likes Vanishing on Instagram? What This Means For Brands

Context – What’s Happening?

This year, Instagram has been experimenting with hiding “Likes” in countries across the globe. The test hit the US this month, causing alarm for American influencers and brands. The major concern among brands and influencers alike is that the total number of “Likes” will decrease if followers don’t see that their friends (and hundreds of thousands of strangers) have liked the post as well. Instagram is positioning this as a mental health boost for users, reducing the pressure of racking up likes on a post or having others see that your post didn’t get as many likes as somebody else’s. Here’s why influencer marketing experts are viewing the change as a positive.

The Effect on Valuation

Lower engagement will generally mean lower brand value being driven by influencers (see more on how to value a social post here). However, for brands who relied on screenshots of influencers’ social posts to see how much engagement their partners drove on branded posts, this will no longer be an option, leaving brands in the dark on which partners are the best at promoting their brand. 

Fortunately, platforms with API integrations into Instagram like Hookit will still be able to access this data on public Creator or Business accounts, giving brands access to sponsorship performance and promotional effectiveness data. Brands that are not currently using a spontech solution to evaluate their partners will lose access to any of this Instagram data. 

Getting Even More Data – The Benefit of Authentication

To get even deeper data, brands can ask / require their partners to authenticate their accounts with the Hookit platform. This authentication allows brands to access engagement data on Instagram Story posts as well as impressions data for videos. Both of these metrics are unavailable even on Creator or Business accounts unless the account is authenticated with the spontech platform. An additional benefit of authentication comes for influencers with personal Instagram accounts. Normally, none of their data is available to the brand partners, even those with spontech platforms. If the influencer with a personal account authenticates that account with Hookit, their partner brands will be able to see the posts and engagement data from that influencer, giving them the ability to compare them against the rest of their portfolio and prove their value.

For influencers, authentication with Hookit allows them to access the Pro Account tool. This tool provides a series of benefits, all geared toward increasing engagement with their fans and followers. In addition to the common metrics provided by the platforms all in one place, the Pro Account gives the influencer in-depth audience analysis, including the best times to post to achieve maximum engagement. It also shows follower trends, so influencers can see how quickly they’re growing and on which platforms. Finally, the rankings section inside the Pro Account shows influencers how they compare to others.

Authentication provides benefits to both sides, the influencer and the brand. The more data available, the better everyone in the ecosystem can be at increasing engagement with fans and consumers.

Staying Ahead of the Curve

At Hookit, we work closely with all the platforms to understand the latest trends so we can provide the most complete data set to our brand clients. With more data, clients are able to make more informed sponsorship, content, and financial decisions, giving them an advantage in the evolving world of sponsorships. Want to know more about the platform? Contact us today at sales@hookit.com or send your question through this form.