The Death of Instagram & How to Maintain an Online Business without it

In the past few years, many have noticed the significant decline in Instagram. The once popular social media juggernaut lost public favorability after several updates. Though the platform has many new features now, it is more disconnected than it ever was before. The social media app boasts new features such as stories, highlights, reels, and IG TV videos, on top of the regular posting features. However, the changes to the algorithm has caused many users to leave the app. Many users report that their posts do not show up in the majority of their followers’ feeds, leading to low engagement, despite having many followers. There is an over emphasis on video posts called reels, which were added to the app in an effort to compete with TikTok. However, reels have dulled the originality of the app and TikTok is still far popular in the short form video category. The tanking engagement, lack of discoverability, and the heavy push on promoted ads and posts, have turned several hardworking content creators off from Instagram.

How can content creators, brand owners, small businesses, and freelancers, continue to reach an audience of potential clients without Instagram? You can maintain an online presence and brand without relying primarily on Instagram! Here’s how to do it.

Create a TikTok and page and post daily short form videos related to your brand. Many people scroll endlessly on TikTok and posts in general have more discoverability on this platform. If you have never made TikToks before, you’ll need to spend a bit of time learning the app’s video making and editing features. Your videos do not have to pristine and perfectly polished. They just have to be neat, concise, and aesthetically pleasing. Pair the video with a trending music sound clip and now you can start garnering engagement!

Join Reddit threads! Reddit is a platform where there are thousands of online communities for any niche you can think of. Hundreds to tens of thousands of active users are in these communities, posting and discussing about the niche at hand. The great thing is that these are all real people, having real discussions, and sharing real opinions. Reddit is a great place to interact with real people, raise brand awareness, and secure new clients, by posting within the thread that matches your niche. Be sure not to come on so strong and openly rep your brand. Reddit users value authenticity and many communities dislike brands trying to overtly monetize off of them. Instead, subtly insert your brand here and there and offer solutions to other users’ questions within your niche.

Post on Pinterest. Create boards related to your niche. Post pictures and pinterest flyers linked back to your webpage or service. Post pictures that are eye-catching, trendy, and aesthetically pleasing to garner attention. Pinterest is all about style and beauty. Pinterest is a great tool to visually brand your business and build an aesthetic familiarity around your brand.

Network on Linkedin. The new breakout platform of the recent years has been Linkedin. A platform once solely used for job applications is now a major networking platform with new features such as posting. Create posts with succinct writing paired with an eye-candy of a picture to garner interest from others in your niche. You can also send messages and connect with others in your niche. Add other users to build connections to keep widening your outreach. Linkedin tends to be home to people who are serious hustlers and are career-oriented. You are likely to connect with serious clients here.

Fiverr & Upwork, are both sites where freelancers can get gigs. These two are a bit tougher to start off with in terms of engagement. But you can network around and offer your services for free in exchange for a five star review in the earlier stages of your account. After a few five star reviews, your account will start gaining natural traction and visibility, leading to vetted clients that are there for your services.

Facebook Communities are also a good shot. Similarly, to reddit threads, there are niche-based communities of real users who enjoy having real discussion relevant to the niche. Same rule applies here. Do not be so obvious and pushy about your business. Rather, you should post often and build up faithful clients in a more steady manner.

As you can see, Instagram is not the end all be all. In fact, these other platforms have quite a lot to offer that Instagram simply doesn’t. Gaining traction on any platform takes quality content, patience, and consistency. But compared to Instagram’s recent algorithms, you are better off pushing your business on these other sites. Good luck on your endeavors!

Thank You For Reading,

Isbah Studio