Views Are The Gold Standard For Instagram Now 🏅

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TODAY’S EDITION

• Instagram makes Views the primary metric for all content formats. I break down the implications for creators and influencer marketing and what this says about Instagram’s evolution.

• Instagram’s updated algorithm is paying off — over 50 percent of Reels recommended to users in the US are original posts.

• YouTube tests less disruptive mid-rolls for live streams with Picture-in-Picture ads.

• TikTok introduces a tool to help movies and TV shows capitalize on creator content and fandom.

• Brands can now boost Linkedin creators’ newsletters as ads.

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DEEP DIVE

Instagram Shifts to Views as the Primary Metric: Implications for Creators, Influencer Marketing, and Platform Evolution

Instagram has announced a big change to Insights: Views will now be the primary metric across all formats—photos, Carousels (which can now be up to 20 photos or videos), Reels, Stories, and Live. This update will apply to both organic and boosted posts featuring these formats.

What’s Happening

Views will be measured as the number of times a Reel has started to play or replay and the number of times non-Reel content has appeared on a person's screen.

Over the coming weeks:

• Plays on Reels will be relabeled as Views, including in Meta Business Suite.

• Views will also be available for Photos, Carousels, and Stories. Repeated views of content will be counted as Views. Impressions will be replaced by Views for these formats in Insights but will still be available in Meta Ads Manager.

• In Insights, creators will see a Views icon instead of Plays. Metrics for Accounts Reached, Accounts Engaged, Interactions, and Watch Time will be located in different places.

Simplifying Performance Insights for Creators

The move to using Views as a standard metric across all formats provides a unified way for creators to understand their performance, regardless of the content format, and decide which formats to use based on their goals.

Additionally, creators might see stronger performance metrics as repeated Views are aggregated into the total count. However, this could potentially lower engagement rates, as creators see an influx in Views, but engagements remain the same.

How This Will Impact Influencer Marketing

This change offers brands a clearer understanding of content performance in influencer marketing campaigns. Previously, varying metrics for Reels (Plays) versus Photos and Stories (Impressions) made cross-format comparisons challenging. With Views applied uniformly, brands can now make more accurate comparisons and benchmarks, enhancing their ability to forecast performance and report to key stakeholders.

Since Instagram counts Views similarly to TikTok, brands can also evaluate creator content across both platforms, which often compete for brand dollars in influencer marketing.

Paid media will also be affected. Partnership Ads, where brands amplify creator content with their permission, are a key component of influencer marketing campaigns. The availability of Views across both organic and paid media allows for a more accurate apples-to-apples comparison and the ability to assess the lift in organic performance from paid media.

Lastly, these changes will require influencer marketing platforms and services to adapt. They need to align their reporting interfaces with the Views metric, whether they are utilizing the Instagram Insights API or relying on creators or marketers reporting content manually. This also means that the benchmarks they may be providing to clients for metrics like Impressions are going to be less relevant over time, so those will need to be refreshed.

Instagram’s Evolution: The Shift from Public Engagement to Private Consumption

This news is also noteworthy for understanding Instagram’s ongoing evolution. By now, you’ve probably heard about how important shareable content is to Instagram’s mission. This update reflects Instagram’s embrace of social media’s trend towards more private and passive consumption. People are consuming a lot of content but aren’t always engaging with it publicly.

As a result, Instagram is redefining what constitutes strong content — focusing on content that is viewed frequently and shared with friends, rather than just content that accumulates a lot of likes or comments.

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NEWS, TRENDS & INSIGHTS

Meta

Instagram Tests Displaying Rectangular Posts on Profile Grids

Instagram is testing a new profile display format, with some users’ posts appearing as rectangles rather than squares on their grid.

Why It Matters: Some creators seem to be unhappy with this change, particularly those who have carefully curated their profile aesthetics or adjusted Reel covers for the square format. While much content is consumed via the feed, recommendations, and direct messages, a creator’s grid appearance isn’t as critical in the greater scheme of things. Yet, as creators, we do value having control over our presence.

Given some of the early feedback, Instagram may either discontinue the test or offer users the option to choose between the new rectangular format and the traditional one.

More than Half of Reels Recommendations Are Original Posts

During Meta’s Q2 earnings call, CFO Susan Li mentioned that over 50 percent of recommendations for Reels in the US are now from original posts. She noted that this shift results from increasing the share of original posts within recommendations, allowing users to discover the best of Instagram, including content from emerging creators.

Why It Matters: This is good news and a welcome update from Meta, especially after it announced algorithm changes in May to prioritize original creators.

While the previous percentage of original posts in recommendations is unknown, having most Reels content in recommendations coming from original posts is notable. Content aggregators often benefit from smaller creators by repurposing their content, so this shift represents a significant change. If Meta can increase the share of original posts in recommendations to 70-80% of recommendations eventually, it would be a real win.

Facebook Introduces Training Policy for First-Time Violators

Facebook has introduced a new training policy for first-time violators of its Community Standards. Creators who breach these standards for the first time will receive a notification to complete in-app educational training about the specific policy they violated.

Upon completing the training, their warning will be removed. If they avoid further violations for one year, they can continue using the platform without additional penalties. However, a repeat violation within that year will lead to a new warning, and further breaches could result in reduced reach and fewer monetization opportunities.

Why It Matters: This policy mirrors YouTube’s recent initiatives, which focus on educating first-time offenders rather than immediate punishment unless the violation is severe. It offers creators an opportunity to understand their violations and learn from them while also mitigating the negative impact on their presence and monetization opportunities on the platform.

TikTok

TikTok Introduces Spotlight Promotion Solution for Movie and TV Studios

TikTok introduced TikTok Spotlight, a new solution for movie and TV studios. TikTok will identify and link relevant videos from creators—using hashtags, keywords, visual matching technology, and video performance—to dedicated landing pages for new movies and TV shows.

The landing pages will feature synopses, cast information, official accounts, incentives for creators such as exclusive profile frames, filters, and merchandise, and the ability to purchase tickets or stream content.

Studios will have access to a dashboard to track trends and conversations around their movies and TV shows.

Why It Matters: TikTok’s connection to Hollywood has grown stronger over the years, with creators reviewing new releases, studios clipping their movies, integrations with IMDb, and even an appearance at the Sundance Film Festival.

TikTok Spotlight will help studios leverage the platform’s robust movie and TV communities and capitalize on creator content and fandom to drive actions. The dashboard will also aid studios with social listening and enable them to react quickly to emerging trends.

While this solution benefits TikTok and studios by enhancing their relationships and revenue streams, it’s hard not to think that creators are getting the short end of the stick. Their content is driving revenue for TikTok and the studios, yet they receive relatively small perks in return. Hopefully, creators will have some control over whether their videos are featured on these dedicated landing pages, allowing them to decide if it’s worth it for them.

YouTube

YouTube Tests Picture-In-Picture Ads for Live Stream Creators

YouTube is testing picture-in-picture ads for live streams. Viewers on select mobile devices will see these ads displayed as a picture-in-picture overlay on the stream.

Why It Matters: This new ad format provides a less disruptive way for creators to monetize their live streams. Last fall, YouTube began testing mid-roll ads for live streams with countdown timers and allowing creators to stop ads from running.

Picture-in-picture ads can further encourage creators to run ads, as they are less likely to interrupt the viewing experience compared to standard mid-rolls. This also benefits YouTube, as it creates more opportunities for ad placements, allowing the platform to sell and run more ads for brands.

YouTube Experiments with Google Gemini Integration

YouTube is experimenting with a new integration with Google Gemini, the AI tool from YouTube’s parent company. In YouTube Studio, creators will soon have the option to use either YouTube's previously launched Inspiration tool or "Brainstorm with Gemini" to generate video ideas, titles, and thumbnail suggestions.

Why It Matters: "Brainstorm with Gemini" offers similar functionality to Ideas and Outline but is based on Google's large language models rather than YouTube-specific data. This broader dataset could potentially lead to more robust and creative outputs for creators than what is generated from YouTube’s data alone.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Expands the Capabilities of Sponsored Newsletters

LinkedIn has added the option for companies to amplify newsletters from creators via Thought Leader Ads — its iteration of Meta Partnership Ads and TikTok Spark Ads. This follows the rollout of allowing Company Pages to boost their own newsletter content through paid media. Creators can also run their newsletters as ads to drive subscribers.

Why It Matters: In addition to running branded content in their newsletters, creators can offer brands paid media usage. This is beneficial as it allows brands to target specific audiences and maximize the organic performance of their creator partners.

It also provides more flexibility in creator partnerships. By allocating budget to paid media, brands can collaborate with smaller creators who may be a great fit but lack the organic reach needed.

LinkedIn Adds a Save Button Directly to the Post Menu

LinkedIn has updated the post menu. While the like and comment buttons remain, the Repost and Send buttons have been replaced with Share and Save buttons. The Share button now includes options for reposting, sending the post as a message, and copying the post URL. The Save button allows users to save posts directly from this menu.

Why It Matters: These updates build on LinkedIn’s previous addition of a Saved Posts tab in the left panel on desktop and mobile, simplifying access to saved posts. The menu changes reduce the steps needed to save a post, potentially leading to more users saving posts. This could increase engagement, as users often save posts to view and comment on later. Will we ever get reminders for saved posts?

Reddit

Reddit Plans to Test AI-Generated Summaries & Paywalled Subreddits

Reddit will soon begin testing AI-generated summaries. During the company’s earnings call this week, CEO Steve Huffman revealed that AI-generated summaries and recommendations will be added to search result pages later this year. These will be based on a combination of first-party and third-party models.

In addition, Reddit may also experiment with paywalled subreddits, where users pay for access to exclusive content or private areas.

Why It Matters: AI-generated summaries have been rapidly making their way to social media, with platforms like YouTube already leveraging them. Reddit hopes to help users delve deeper into content and better understand it, especially when threads are long and people seek quick, concise information.

With paywalled subreddits, creators and moderators could directly drive revenue through their communities, which would also provide another revenue stream for Reddit by taking a cut of transactions. Monetization has been a key focus since Reddit became a public company, leading to investments in its advertising and partnerships.

THANK YOU

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