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Here’s What You Can Do About Organic Reach Decline in 2023
Organic reach decline has been a hot topic in social marketing circles for years now. So what’s the real state of affairs? As of July 2023, the average engagement rate of an organic Facebook post ranges from 2.58% down to just 1.52%.
Organic social media marketing is far from dead. But the way marketers think about organic reach needs to change. The incorporation of AI and machine learning into social algorithms creates new opportunities to reach social users beyond your existing audience. About 15% of Facebook feed content is currently recommended from non-followed accounts. That’s all organic exposure to new audiences.
Organic reach is not just about Facebook, of course. But the world’s largest social media platform serves as a good example of what’s happening overall in the industry. Brands that are truly creative and compelling can excel in this new social environment – as long as they understand how to play the game.
On social media, organic reach is the number of people who see your content through unpaid distribution – that is, without spending money to reach a specific audience.
In the early days of social media, this was simple. If you posted something, it appeared in the feeds of people who followed you. But as the amount of social content being posted every day grew exponentially, this became impossible.
Facebook says the average user has 1,500 potential stories that could appear in their Feed every time they log in. For people who follow a lot of accounts, that number could be up to 15,000. It’s impossible to see everything. So, each social media platform has proprietary algorithms that define how organic content is distributed – and who gets to see your posts.
Why is organic reach in decline?
Facebook organic reach decline
Facebook was the platform where people first started noticing major declines in organic reach. Here’s what Facebook itself has to say on the matter:
“There are many factors that affect reach, including how people are engaging with your Page’s content, how people have engaged with similar types of content in the past, the quality of the content and other factors such as time of day and whether people are on Facebook on their mobile phone or computer. It’s normal for reach to change based on these factors.”
While in some ways this reads as a non-answer, there are actually very helpful tips here about how to increase your content’s chance of being seen organically. We’ll touch on all of them in the next section.
Instagram organic reach decline
Here’s what Instagram has to say on the topic of organic reach decline:
“While we’ve heard some people believe you need to pay for ads to achieve better reach, we don’t suppress content to encourage people to buy ads. It’s a better business to make Instagram more engaging overall by growing reach for those who create the most engaging content, and sell ads to others.”
The platform uses a series of algorithms to determine which content is “most engaging overall.”. Understanding those ranking factors is the key to organic reach.
11 ways to combat declining organic reach
1. Develop a consistent and strategic content plan
Achieving organic reach requires you to think strategically about your social media content, from what you post to how often you post to the best times to reach most of your audience.
Consistency is key on all of these fronts. But remember, quality always trumps quantity. A quality content strategy and social media content calendar keeps the routine sustainable and fresh.
Think long-term. Develop content themes, regular installments, or a recurring series that trains your audience to look for valuable content drops at specific times.
On that note, what exactly is the right time to reach your target audience? It’s when your audience is online and active. Hootsuite found the best times to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
But each brand needs to double-check their own analytics and adjust accordingly. (Or use Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature and get personalized recommendations for times to post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn that will work best for your unique audience.)
2. Customize your content for each platform
Never take a one-size-fits-all approach to social media marketing, especially with organic content. To reach the most people, organic posts need to be optimized. And to optimize content, you need to understand the platform (and the associated audience) you’re optimizing for.
First off, each platform has different requirements for image size, caption length, number of hashtags, and so on. And none of the platforms love content that contains a watermark from a competitor network.
That means you can’t just create one piece of content and blast it across all your channels. Instead, use the tools built into the Hootsuite dashboard to customize your post for each platform, all from one screen.
As we mentioned right up top, social media algorithms use ranking signals to sort the order of organic content. These factors typically include relevance, timeliness, and the relationship someone has with the account.
Algorithms prioritize posts that have a high probability of generating engagement. Early engagement is often taken to be a good indicator. Learn more with our platform-specific guides:
- Instagram Algorithm
- Facebook Algorithm
- Twitter Algorithm
- LinkedIn Algorithm
- TikTok Algorithm
- YouTube Algorithm
Remember: It’s better to do one or two platforms really well than to take a scattergun approach.
3. Provide real value
Organic content needs to offer followers something of value. Give people a reason to follow you, keep following you, and share your posts. Value can take many forms – like entertainment, knowledge, motivation, or the opportunity to connect with a community.
Keep in mind that promoting your products or your brand is (in most cases) not particularly valuable content from a follower’s perspective. Of course, you can still promote your products and services in your organic content, but don’t expect those to be the posts that get the highest organic reach. That’s why we recommend the 80-20 rule.
Keep in mind that news feed algorithms prioritize original content – because that’s most valuable to both the platform and to its users. Instagram in particular has said they want to reward creators rather than aggregators.
Need some help coming up with original content ideas? Use OwlyWriter AI to round out your content calendar.
4. Create content for the audience you want – not just the audience you already have
We’ve said this a few times already, but it’s important enough that it deserves to be its own point in your organic reach strategy. Algorithms show content to people who already follow you, of course. But they also show content to people who don’t follow you (yet). But only if the signals tell the algorithm those people might be interested in your content.
Your content needs to serve your existing audience. But don’t design your strategy around them entirely. Think about the audience you want to target. Design your social marketing strategy to include lots of juicy content for them, too.
To get a sense of what content is already reaching beyond your existing follower base, look for non-followers in the Accounts Reached portion of your social media analytics. Look for patterns and trends to determine what gets the greatest new audience and make sure to incorporate those themes into your content plan.
5. Lean into video
With most social platforms leaning hard into video, the brands that create the best video content stand to see the greatest organic reach. Short videos like Reels are a particularly important way to reach audiences that don’t yet follow your brand.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri recently said: “The goal of Reels is to entertain you, and most of what you’re going to see in Reels is from accounts you do not yet follow.”
But keep in mind that not all Reels are going to explode into virality. Make sure your Reels are under 90 seconds, as these are the only ones that will be recommended to new audiences. And do a double-check to ensure your Reels are in line with the platform’s guidelines, including video quality.
Instagram says: “We aim to make certain reels less visible for other reasons, such as low-resolution or watermarked reels, reels that are muted or contain borders, reels that are majority text, reels that focus on political issues, or reels that have already been posted on Instagram.”
We’ve got Reels guides for both Facebook and Instagram to help you make the most of this organic exposure.
6. Engage your employees
An engaged community of brand advocates consistently interacting with your posts and sharing your content on social media can improve organic reach across the board. And what better place to look for brand advocates than your own team?
Engagement is a key signal to all social media algorithms, so getting the team onboard sends valuable signals for greater organic reach.
If you’re not sure how to streamline distributing content to your team (and come up with perks that will make posting worth their while), an employee advocacy platform like Hootsuite Amplify will help. It makes it safe and easy for employees to share approved social content with their friends and followers.
7. Highlight your brand values
Consumers increasingly expect to see more from brands than simply a great product.
A 2022 Edelman Trust barometer Special Report found that 63% of consumers buy or advocate for brands based on their beliefs and values, and 62% said they expect to see the brand’s stand on social issues in what they say in their advertising and website.
Plus, the 2023 Edelman trust Barometer Global Report found that the vast majority of people expect CEOs to take a public stand on issues like treatment of employees, climate change, and discrimination.
Source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2023
Build a strong social media community by showcasing the talent, diversity and values that are already part of your company’s community. Be inclusive and representative. The more people who see themselves and their values in your content, the more people there are to engage with it and share it.
Connecting with your existing follower base on this values-based level creates a more passionate community that can help send all the right signals to the social media algorithms to extend your organic reach.
8. Ask for engagement
Here’s an easy one. Create social content that nudges your existing social followers to engage, sending powerful ranking signals to the algorithm that your content should reach an expanded audience.
You can’t do this on every post, of course, and you have to be strategic. You can’t simply plead for engagement. Instead, try asking a question that followers can answer in the comments.
It’s also a good idea to (occasionally) ask followers to add you to their Favorites list, which makes sure they see more of your organic social posts. Mosseri said, “We’re going to do our very best to show that content at the very top of Feed next time you open up Instagram.” That’s a quick and easy way to maximize organic reach.
9. Collaborate and tag
Collaborating with another brand or a creator is an easy way to get your content in front of a larger organic audience. Using the Instagram Collabs feature, you and another user can share the same post or Reel in both of your feeds. The post also shares comments, likes, and shares.
Since the post is displayed to both users’ followers, this is a great way for both of the collaborators to increase their organic reach by accessing a new audience. Users can get to either collaborator’s Instagram profile with one tap, so you may gain new followers as well, which will continue to increase your organic reach over time.
A Collabs post can only include two Instagram users. If you collaborate with or feature more than one other user in your Instagram post, you can use tags to credit everyone involved. While the content doesn’t automatically appear in their feed, it does appear in the “tagged” section of their profile. Plus, tagging makes it much easier for those involved in the post to share it to their own feeds or Stories.
Enhanced tags offer even more visibility for the contributors to your post. If you work with others on a post, ask them to use enhanced tags to ensure your full contribution is clear.
10. Get to know social media SEO
You may notice we didn’t include a section on hashtags in this post. While hashtags are not totally dead on social media, they are not the powerhouse of discoverability that they used to be.
Instead, it’s important to understand social media SEO and incorporate the relevant techniques into your captions and alt tags.
Gen Z in particular uses social media like a search engine – but significant portions of the total population turn to social search when researching new products.
Source: eMarketer
In addition to our overall social SEO post, we’ve got detailed posts for SEO on several of the social platforms to help you expand your organic reach:
Bonus: Download a free social SEO checklist and follow pro tips for Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn to get your posts seen by more people.
11. Pay to play
If you are really struggling with organic reach decline, the sure way to get your content in front of more eyeballs is to include social ads and promoted content (a.k.a. boosted posts) in your social media strategy.
To get the greatest reach, choose awareness goals for your paid ad campaign.
If you’re new to paid advertising, or you want to share content that feels more organic, you can boost existing organic posts rather than creating ads from scratch.
You can manually boost your posts from either the social platforms themselves or from Hootsuite. The social media management dashboard also allows you to boost your best-performing social content automatically based on pre-set engagement triggers, including reach.
Use Hootsuite to easily integrate your paid and organic social marketing efforts. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, boost top-performing content, create ads, measure performance, and much more. Try it for free today.
Do it better with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media tool. Stay on top of things, grow, and beat the competition.
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Responding to messages quickly is a huge part of social media customer service—and it’s no different whether you’re dealing with messages on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Luckily, Instagram has an easy-to-use option that can cut down on your team’s time responding to questions.
With Instagram auto reply, you can easily set auto-responses to common questions and messages. This feature cuts down on the time your social media support team needs to spend monitoring and replying to customers.
In this article, we’ll talk more about the Instagram auto reply feature, how it can be used, and a few message examples for inspiration.
Bonus: Get a free, easy-to-use Customer Service Report Template that helps you track and calculate your monthly customer service efforts all in one place.
What is Instagram auto reply?
Instagram auto reply is a feature available in your Instagram message settings that allows you to send automatic responses to frequently asked questions.
For example, if you regularly get a question like, “Do you offer free shipping?” your team can set up an auto reply that will answer the question instantly rather than forcing the customer to wait for a real person to respond.
There are a few different ways you can do this:
- Instagram tools: Set automatic responses for frequently asked questions or craft canned messages that your team can easily send out via Instagram DM.
- Meta Business Suite: Set up messaging automations for both Instagram and Facebook.
- Third-party inboxes: Use tools like Hootsuite Inbox to easily monitor and manage your Instagram direct messages and comments.
Learn more about how a social inbox like Hootsuite’s can help streamline your social media communication in this video:
There are several ways to take advantage of Instagram’s auto reply feature. Here are just a few types of automated responses you might consider setting up:
- Welcome messages
- Away messages
- Frequently asked questions
- Share contact information
- Share business hours of operation
- Provide shipment and payment details
- Offer discounts
- Explain wholesale pricing information
- Tell customers how to handle issues with their orders
- Share links to additional resources
Pros and cons of using Instagram auto reply
So why use Instagram auto reply? Is it the best option for creating automated responses and freeing up your team’s time? As always, it depends on your needs.
Let’s cover some basic pros and cons to help you decide.
Pros
- Make a good impression. Instagram shows your followers how quick your team is to respond. A faster response time is a better look for your business.
- Answer questions before they’re asked. Create an auto-responder that gives your customers a clear idea of when they can expect to hear from a real person—unless your auto replies can give their answer immediately.
- Save your team time. Stop writing the same reply over and over again. Automated messages give your team more time for escalated messages and other customer support issues.
- Never miss a message. You don’t have to worry about time zones when you enlist auto reply. Even when your team isn’t working, customers can get answers as soon as they send a message.
Cons
- Only for Instagram and Facebook. Instagram/Meta’s built-in features only work for these two platforms. You’ll have to enlist the help of external tools for other social media platforms—don’t worry, we’ve got more on that below.
- You have to connect your Facebook and Instagram pages. In order to access some of the more advanced tools, you must use Meta Business Suite, so you’ll have to connect your Facebook and Instagram pages.
Reduce response time (and your workload)
Manage all your messages stress-free with easy routing, saved replies, and friendly chatbots. Try Hootsuite’s Inbox today.
15 Instagram auto reply message examples
Not sure what types of auto replies to set for your Instagram messages? Here are 15 examples to help inspire you.
Welcome message
Send one of these options to all new incoming Instagram DMs whenever your team is unavailable for a quick response:
- Thank you for getting in touch! Our team is available from 10am-3pm CT. We’ll get back to you within those hours!
- Hey there—thanks for reaching out! Your message is important to us. Someone on our team will get back to you within the next 12 hours.
- Sorry we missed you! Our team is currently unavailable, but we’ll be back around 8am GMT.
Basic business information
Use one of these when someone messages you on Instagram to ask about hours of operation or contact information:
- Our hours of operation are 11am-11pm ET Monday through Saturday.
- To get in touch with a representative directly, please give us a call at [###-###-####].
- To learn more or request a demo, email us at sales@company.com.
- Our offices are located at 1234 Business Street.
Frequently asked questions
Here are a few common questions and answers you might want to incorporate into your Instagram auto replies.
How long does shipping take?
- You can expect your items to arrive within 3-5 business days of your order.
How can I cancel my plan?
- To cancel, go to the “Account” section of your dashboard and find the “Cancel plan” button.
- We’re sad to see you go! To cancel, please call one of our representatives directly at [###-###-####] or send an email to cancellations@company.com
Do you offer any discounts?
- We love that you asked! Use promo code INSTA for 10% off your purchase.
What services do you offer?
- We offer accounting services for small businesses.
How much do your services cost?
- We work on a monthly retainer basis. Packages start at $1,000/month and go up to $15,000+ depending on your needs.
Are you taking new patients?
- Yes, please head to our website to fill out the form for new patients.
- Unfortunately, our therapists are fully booked at the moment. Please check back next quarter to see if any spots have opened up.
There are two ways to set up auto replies on Instagram. The first is pretty easy—do so right inside the Instagram app. The second involves digging into the Automations option in Meta Business Suite.
We’ll walk you through each process.
How to set up auto replies via the Instagram app
First, open the Instagram app. Tap the messages icon in the top right corner of the home feed. Then, tap on the ellipses in the top right corner of your messages dashboard and select Tools.
Here, you can set either saved replies (canned responses your team can tap on to send manually) or auto replies for frequently asked questions.
Tap on Frequently asked questions to access the auto reply feature. Instagram will typically include a few starter questions. You can customize these or use them as is—just add answers.
Add as many questions as you want. You can even show these questions in chat, so customers who want to message you have options to choose from.
How to set up auto replies in Meta Business Suite
If you have your Facebook Business Page set up and optimized and your Instagram business profile connected, you can use Meta Business Suite to create automations like this.
First, head over to your Facebook Business Page, then click on Meta Business Suite in the left-hand sidebar.
You’ll then be taken to the Meta Business Suite dashboard. From here, click on Inbox in the right-hand sidebar.
This inbox section will hold all messages and comments from Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. If you’re looking for a single place to manage these, Business Suite is a great place to do so. The biggest downfall is that those are the only platforms you can monitor here (more on that later).
To set up your auto-reply messages, click the atom icon to access Automations.
Here, you can set up a number of automations relating to your direct messages across all of Meta’s platforms. If you haven’t previously set up Frequently asked questions, it will appear as one of the Suggested for you options. Click on it to get started.
Select your Instagram account from the list of places you want to turn this automation on. Then, start adding questions. You can preview them in the left-hand sidebar.
Once you’re done, click Save changes and toggle this automation into the On position. And voila! You’ve got your frequently asked questions set up.
Other automations you can create are:
- Away messages
- Instant replies
- Follow ups
How to auto-respond to messages and comments on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn
We mentioned that Meta Business Suite is great for managing your messages and comments on Facebook and Instagram. But if your brand uses other platforms, like X (formerly known as Twitter) and LinkedIn, you’ll need additional support.
Good news—you’re in luck! With Hootsuite’s Social Inbox, your entire social media and customer support team can monitor, manage, and respond to messages across all social media platforms in one space.
You can store information about various customers so you never start a new interaction as strangers, helping customers feel seen and valued. Assign messages and interactions to certain team members so the most-equipped person can handle each specific issue.
Use Hootsuite Inbox as your social media help desk, resolving messages as soon as they’ve been responded to and keeping notes on customer issues.
Create auto-responders for every social media platform you manage with Hootsuite.
Book a free Hootsuite demo and try Inbox today
Why should you use Instagram auto reply?
Instagram auto reply is a great way to minimize wait time for frequently asked questions. If you know common questions your audience has, and there’s a set answer you can provide, set it as an auto-response.
This saves your team time and ensures your Instagram followers don’t have to wait for a response.
How do you turn Instagram auto reply off?
There’s no quick on-off toggle for Instagram auto reply. Instead, you’ll have to go into your Instagram messaging tools and remove any frequently asked question responses you’ve input.
What is a saved reply on Instagram?
A saved reply is a similar tool to auto replies. Instead of sending instantaneously, though, saved replies are simply stored in your Instagram messaging settings for your team to manually send out. This works if the question someone asks has different answers depending on the time of year. You can save replies for a quick response, but you don’t want to have the response be automatic.
Keep your customers happy with faster message responses, thanks to Hootsuite. Respond to questions and complaints, create tickets from social conversations, and work with chatbots all from one dashboard. See it in action.
Save time on social messaging with automated responses, smarter workflows, and friendly chatbots — all in the Hootsuite Inbox.
Ever seen an Instagram emoji fail IRL? Maybe your grandma used an eggplant emoji in a… compromising place. Or, your uncle was trying to be funny and added the poop emoji to his bio.
Yikes.
Whatever the case, emoji etiquette exists. Understanding the meaning and placement of emojis is essential to avoiding terrible, embarrassing communication mistakes.
Here’s everything you need to know about Instagram emoji meanings.
BONUS: Want to learn more ways to wow your fans on social? Check out our article on secret TikTok emojis.
Craft perfect posts in seconds
OwlyWriter AI instantly generates captions and content ideas for every social media network. It’s seriously easy.
Instagram emoji translator
Pro tip: if you’re stuck with emoji translation, we’ve got the perfect tool for you. Hootsuite’s emoji translator is free to use and will help you crack the code on any emoji string.
Not only does the translator break down each pictogram’s meaning, but it also details how viewers typically react to the combo. Super helpful if you don’t want to send an unintended message!
Please note: This tool may display inaccurate or offensive material that doesn’t represent Hootsuite’s views. You’re solely responsible for use of any content generated using this tool, including its compliance with applicable laws and third-party rights.
What are Instagram emoji?
Instagram emoji are pictograms, icons, or small images used to express an emotion, idea, or feeling. Some emoji are universal (most people know that the heart symbol means love), while others have their own unique interpretations based on regional culture and language.
Popular emoji symbols include:
- Smiley face
- Sad face
- Clapping hands
- Thumbs-up
- Heart
- Fire
There are literally thousands of emoji characters available on Instagram—from dragons and lizards, people exercising, and even ice cream cones. You can find Instagram emojis in two places: your native Instagram app and the world of third-party keyboard extensions.
What are Instagram reactions?
Instagram reactions are a way to quickly express your feelings without typing out a response. For example, if someone posts a funny meme, you can tap the laughing face emoji reaction instead of typing out “lol” or “haha.”
Instagram reactions are generally used as a reply to Instagram Stories and Instagram direct messages.
When watching a Story, click on the Send a message box to reply. You’ll then see a pop-up of six popular emoji to choose from.
You can also choose your own emoji by clicking on the small smiley face icon on your keyboard.
To use Instagram emoji reactions for direct messages, hold your finger down on the sent message, and a list of emoji will pop up. Choose from this list, or click the plus button to use your own emoji.
Where can you use Instagram emoji
You can use Instagram emoji in comments, captions, direct messages, as replies to Stories, and even in your Instagram bio. Basically, anywhere that allows for text input.
When you’re in a comment thread or writing a caption, a list of your most-used emojis will appear at the top of your reply.
If you want more, tap the smiley face icon to access Instagram emojis. If you’ve recently used an emoji, it will usually appear at the top of the list so you can easily select it again.
Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.
Stuck at home thinking, “Why can’t I react to Instagram messages with emojis?” No worries. You may need to update your messaging app. Follow Instagram’s easy how-to here.
How to change your emoji reaction
Wondering how to react with emoji on Instagram? There are six default Instagram emoji reactions:
- Crying face
- Wow face
- Heart eyes
- Laughing face
- Clapping hands
- Fire
If you use custom emoji, they will show up in your reactions, allowing you to choose from a larger selection.
To choose a custom emoji, tap the smiley face icon on your mobile keyboard. Scroll through the list of options and tap to select the emoji you want. Once selected, it will appear in your reaction selection.
BONUS: Check out our full list of Snapchat emoji to snazz up your snaps.
Instagram reaction meanings
To avoid any potential misinterpretations, it’s important to remember the meanings behind Instagram reactions.
Here’s what each emoji reaction stands for:
- Crying face (😢) = Sadness, disappointment
- Wow face (😮) = Surprised or amazed
- Heart eyes (😍) = Love or admiration
- Laughing face (😂) = Funny or humorous
- Clapping hands (👏) = Encouragement or applause
- Fire (🔥) = Approval or agreement
Remember, the reactions you use should be appropriate for the context. For example, don’t express sadness at a funny meme. Similarly, don’t use a fire emoji to comment on your teacher’s vacation beach photo.
Popular Instagram emoji meanings
Tired of deciphering the meanings of emoji for Instagram? Here’s a quick reference sheet to keep on file.
- Thumbs up (👍) = Positive sentiment.
- Thinking face (🤔) = Curiosity, pondering ideas.
- Laughing with tears (😂) = Something is so funny you’re crying.
- Red heart (❤️) = Love, affection.
- Puke face (🤢) = Disgust or disapproval.
- Skull (💀) = Death, danger, or something is so funny you died.
- Hot face (🥵) = Passion or admiration.
- Smirk face (😏) = Flirting, teasing.
- Poop (💩) = Joking around.
- Party popper (🎉) = Celebration.
- Cat (😸) = Cuteness or someone acting like a cat.
- Drooling face (🤤) = Desperation, wanting something badly.
- Nail polish (💅) = Girl power.
- Sunglasses (😎) = Coolness, acknowledgement of a job well done.
- Eyes (👀) = Watching or paying attention.
- See-no-evil monkey (🙈) = Embarrassment or hiding something.
- Money bag (💰) = Wealth, success, or materialistic desires.
- Smiling devil face (😈) = Naughtiness or reckless behavior.
- Hugging face (🤗) = Appreciation, affection.
- Wink (😉) = Flirting or playful teasing.
- Silly face (🤪) = Fun or being goofy.
- Nerd face (🤓) = Intelligence, nerdiness.
- Confused face (😕) = Bewilderment or uncertainty.
- Money mouth (🤑) = Greed or wealth.
- Handshake (🤝) = Agreement, making a deal.
- Fist bump (👊) = Support or agreement.
- Woman dancing (💃) = Joy or celebration.
- Man dancing (🕺) = Letting loose, having fun.
- Tropical island (🏝️) = Relaxation or vacation.
- Plane (✈️) = An upcoming journey.
- Rainbow (🌈) = Optimism, happiness, pride.
- Globe (🌎) = Unity, the world coming together.
- Praying hands (🙏) = Asking for blessings or help.
- Rocketship (🚀) = A great success or achievement.
- Disco ball (🪩) = Partying or having a good time.
- Peace sign (✌️) = Affirmative, agreement, or a sign of peace.
- Heart (💖) = Love, care, and affection.
- Cat with heart eyes (😻) = Happiness due to love.
- Birthday cake (🎂) = A celebration of life.
- Star (⭐️) = Stardom, achieving greatness.
- Four-leaf clover (🍀) = Luck or fortune.
- Sparkles (✨) = Magic, beauty, and awe.
- Trophy (🏆) = Accomplishment or success.
- Shooting star (🌠) = Wishes coming true.
- Lightning bolt (⚡️) = Power, energy, and excitement.
Looking for fun emoji to use on Discord? Check out our full list of Discord emoji, complete with customizations and tricks.
Instagram emoji caption ideas
If you want to get creative with your Instagram bio, here are a few cute emojis for Instagram bios:
- Chasing dreams and sunshine. ☁️🌈
- On a seafood diet: I see food and I eat it! 🍣🍕🍔🍰
- Life’s a game 🎮, and I’m the master of figuring out the rules as I go 🤷♀️.
- Bringing a little sparkle wherever I go. ✨
- Hoping for a year where all my socks find their soulmates. 🧦❤️🔍
- Sunkissed and heart full of joy. 🌞❤️
- Nature doesn’t hurry, yet everything is accomplished. 🌲🕰️🌳
- Collecting memories like seashells. 🐚📸
- Plotting world domination 🌍, one project 📁 at a time.
- Life’s a blend of chaos ⚡, caffeine ☕, and a pinch of serendipity ✨.
- Lost in the pages of a good book and a happy heart. 📚❤️
- Radiating good energy, one smile at a time. 🌟😊
- Exploring new places with a skip in my step. 🗺️💃
- Happiness blooms from within. 🌻🌱
- Living life unapologetically and loving it. 🌟💖
- Sunset state of mind. 🌅🧡🌴
- Embracing adulting like… wait, how do you adult again? 🤷♀️👩💼
- I take mirror selfies because my reflection understands me. 🤳👯♀️🪞
- Wearing my invisible crown and ruling the day. 👑💁♀️🌟
- Professional napper and aspiring world traveler. 💤✈️😴
- Dressed to impress 💃, ready to conquer deadlines 📊 and dance floors 🕺.
- Spreading positivity like glitter – it gets everywhere! ✨😄💫
- Slaying the day one caffeine molecule at a time. ☕⚡️👊
- Living that “I’m not a morning person” stereotype proudly. 🌅☕😴
- Exploring the world, one food coma at a time. 🌍🍔🍟🍦
- Absolutely loving the sunshine on my face. ☀️
- Embracing the little moments that make life big. 🌟
- Laughing at my own jokes like… 😂
- Dancing through life’s ups and downs. 💃🕺
- Finding joy in the simplest things. 🌼
- Balancing dreams 💭, goals 🎯, and the occasional pizza slice 🍕.
- Hiking trails and chasing sunsets – that’s my kind of therapy. 🥾🌅🏞️
- Adventures and smiles, that’s my kind of therapy. 🌄
- Savoring the sweetness of today. 🍭
- Life’s a puzzle 🧩, and I’m collecting moments 📸 to complete the picture
- Living life with a little bit of sugar, spice, and everything fried. 🍔🍟🍦
- Spreading positivity like confetti. 🎉
- Collecting memories around the world, one destination at a time. 📸❤️
Life’s too short for a boring adventure. Let’s get lost! 🌟🌍 - Living in a world of filters, but my personality is 100% real! 😂📸🙌
- Lost in a world of good vibes. 🌈
- Living for the moments that steal my smile. 💖
- City lights and late nights. 🌆🌙 Chasing waves and dreams. 🌊🌌
- Living life in full bloom. 🌸🌼
- In a world full of trends, be a classic. 👗👓
- Sweatpants enthusiast with a PhD in Netflix. 📺👖🍕
- Taking each day one cup of coffee at a time. ☕❤️
- Exploring art, one brushstroke at a time. 🎨🖌️
- Adventures are calling, and I must go. 🌄🌍
- Counting memories, not calories, on this vacation. 🏖️🍕📸
- Finding joy in the rhythm of everyday life. 🎶😊
- Living life like a work of art in progress. 🎨🌟
- Weekend warrior on a quest for relaxation. 🌴🌴
- Capturing moments that make my heart skip a beat. 💓📷
- Trying to adult, but my snacks keep distracting me. 🍕📚🤔
- Chasing goals and catching smiles along the way. 🏃♀️😄
- I’m not procrastinating, I’m just giving my ideas time to marinate. 🤔🍳🧠
- Flipping my hair and conquering the day. 💁♀️💪
- Exploring the great outdoors and my own backyard. 🏞️🏡
- Celebrating life’s beautiful mess one day at a time. 🎉🤹♀️
- Making my own sunshine because I can’t find the remote. ☀️📺🤷♂️
- Happiness is homemade, and I’m the chef. 🍳👩🍳
- When life gives you lemons, add tequila and have a party! 🍋🍹🎉
- Living life like a perpetual DIY project – mostly Pinterest fails. 🛠️📌😅
- The only drama I enjoy is in my lashes. 👁️🗨️😂
- Current status: Coffee in one hand, confidence in the other. ☕🙌
- Facing challenges with the determination of a honey badger 🦡 – fearless and a little bit sassy 💁♀️.
- My bed and I have the perfect relationship – we’re always in a good sleepover. 🛏️💤😴
- I’m not arguing, I’m just explaining why I’m right. 💁♀️🗣️🤣
- Taking life one cup of coffee at a time, with a splash of sarcasm. ☕️🙃
- “Adulting” was a typo, and I’ve been trying to “adult” ever since. 🤦♀️👶👩🍳
- When in doubt, add more glitter. And then some more. ✨✨✨
- Living life like it’s a marathon, but I’m definitely built for sprinting. 🏃♀️🍕😅
- Behind every great person is a pile of laundry they’ve been avoiding. 🧺🤷♂️👑
- I put the “elusive” in exercise. 🏋️♀️🤷♀️😆
- My superpower? Turning pizza into energy. 🍕⚡️🦸♀️
- If I were a superhero, my power would be finding the last piece of chocolate. 🍫🦸♀️
- My horoscope said I should do something crazy today. So I wore mismatched socks. ♒🧦😜
- I’m not clumsy, I’m just participating in the floor’s obstacle course. 🤸♀️🤦♂️😂
- Too glam to give a damn, but not too glam to eat leftovers. 💅🍛😉
- When life gives you lemons, trade them for coffee. ☕🍋🤝
- My life is basically a series of unfinished DIY projects. 🛠️🙈🤷♀️
- Life update: Still using “adulting” as a verb, still unsure how to do it properly. 🤷♀️👩💼📆
- I’m not lazy, I’m in energy-saving mode. 🛌💤💡
- Currently taking applications for a personal chef, laundry fairy, and motivation guru. Any takers? 🍝🧚♂️🧘♀️
- Life’s a rollercoaster, and I’m the one screaming in the front seat. 🎢🙀🤪
- I run on caffeine, chaos, and a dash of lipstick. ☕💄🌀
- Wander often, wonder always. 🚶♀️🌍🤔
- Trading WiFi for wide-open spaces and unforgettable moments. 📶🏞️📸
- Counting down ⏳ to Friday like it’s a rocket launch 🚀 to the weekend.
- Juggling tasks like a circus performer 🎪 – except with more coffee ☕ and fewer acrobatics 🤹♀️.
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Have you ever heard the phrase, “all sizzle, no steak”? It’s the perfect “meaty” metaphor for social media vanity metrics.
It can absolutely be exciting to rack up the likes or see your follower count jump. Of course you want to shout your reshare rate from the rooftops!
But be careful. any social metric can turn into a “vanity” metric if you’re bragging about it without any context.
Social media metrics are incredibly important for a social media manager and shouldn’t be ignored. They can be key performance indicators: numbers that inform and measure your social media strategy and help your team see where you’ve been and where you’re going.
But here’s the thing. Not all social stats are created equal. For a metric to be meaningful, it has to tie back to your business objectives.
Lucky for you, we’re here to help you cut through the vanity-metric hype to find those beefy, meaty metrics that help you prove the true value of your social media marketing.
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What are vanity metrics?
A social media metric is a number that quantifies a particular action or behavior related to your social media account. A vanity metric is a social media metric that looks impressive at a glance but doesn’t necessarily indicate a company’s overall success in reaching its goals.
In the words of the all-mighty Hootsuite glossary:
A vanity metric is an analytics item that can be measured but is not a signifier of real return on investment. Examples include the number of followers, likes, or comments on social media posts. These metrics are best contextualized by more concrete numbers such as click-through rate or visitor-to-lead conversions.
For example, the social media manager at the Acme Alarm Clock Company might be able to show the CEO that there are 200,000 followers on the brand’s Instagram account. But the goal of the company is actually to sell alarm clocks. And sales haven’t improved at all with this growth in followers.
So, in this case, follower count is actually a vanity metric. Sure, it sounds good on paper, but ultimately, it’s not helping the CEO move those clocks.
The moral of the story: any social media statistic from any social media platform can be a vanity metric, depending on the situation.
The number of likes on a TikTok video isn’t meaningful if your target audience isn’t on TikTok.
The number of comments on your Instagram Story doesn’t mean much if they’re all from spam accounts.
A brand’s follower count can skyrocket, but if those followers aren’t engaging with your content, what good is that? (Which reminds us: never buy followers. Trust us.)
In other words, a “vanity metric” for one brand will be totally different from a vanity metric for another brand. It all ultimately depends on what business success you’re hoping to get from your social media strategy.
Vanity metrics vs. actionable metrics
Now that you’re crystal clear on what a vanity metric is, you’re probably curious about what an actionable metric might be. Don’t be embarrassed, it’s only natural.
Actionable metrics are social media metrics that are all meaningful — important social media metrics that help you measure, analyze, and strategize. Actionable social media metrics provide concrete insights and can be directly tied to specific actions that drive business growth. Really, an actionable metric is just the opposite of a vanity metric.
While much of life exists on a spectrum, for social media metrics, a number is either pure vanity or truly actionable. But what side of the binary any given social media metric sits on, of course, will depend on the social media account. We’re all beautiful flowers, et cetera, et cetera.
Vanity metrics examples
We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: It’s important to note that any metric can be a vanity metric without proper analysis. And any metric can be meaningful when presented in context with the proper analysis. That being said, the following metrics are most commonly prone to being viewed as vanity metrics for any given field.
Vanity metrics in social media marketing
In social media marketing, vanity metrics include follower count, likes, and comments. Sure, these numbers can offer a quick ego boost, but the truth is, they often fail to reflect the true engagement and influence of your brand on your business’s bottom line.
This might lead you to ask: so, what are the actionable metrics for social media marketing? Engagement metrics like engagement rate are probably meaningful numbers that can offer you and your team some insight. Shares also say more about whether your content is resonating with your audience than likes (try putting your posts through Rachel Karten’s shareability test).
But at the end of the day, it really depends on what your specific goals are with social media and your business.
Bonus: Get a free social media report template to easily and effectively present your social media performance to key stakeholders.
Vanity metrics in digital marketing
Digital marketing encompasses a wide range of channels, including social media, email marketing, and advertising, so this is a pretty tough one to identify vanity metrics for. In some cases, vanity metrics for digital marketing could be likes; in another case, it could be page views.
If you’re tracking the ROI of digital marketing, you need to identify vanity metrics specific to each channel to make sure that you can prioritize actionable metrics that align with your unique business goals.
Vanity metrics in content marketing
Social media can be a great tool for driving traffic to your blog posts, articles, whitepapers, or research docs… and content marketing, in turn, can be an effective conversion or branding tool. This leads many people to assume that pageviews or click-throughs are the metric for measuring success. In reality, these can be vanity metrics.
Is your bounce rate low? Is the time spent on the page high? Those are numbers that can provide context to the pageview stats and let you know if those views are actually valuable. (Metrics like conversion rates, in this case, can be far more informative about the impact of your content on audience behavior.)
Vanity metrics in email marketing
People are opening your emails! That’s wonderful news!
But are they actually reading those emails? Are they clicking on your links?
Is anyone actually buying any of those alarm clocks you’re still trying desperately to sell? If not, your high open rate might actually not be that impressive after all. (Sorry!)
Open rates and click-through rates are commonly mistaken as the ultimate indicators of email marketing success. But the truth is that conversion rates and revenue per email are more actionable metrics that reveal the true ROI of your email campaigns.
Vanity metrics in advertising
The online advertising industry is built on the back of impressions. After all, if Meta tells you you’ve reached 300,000 people, that certainly sounds like a good use of $100. But impressions and click-through rates in advertising can be deceiving.
A more concrete way to measure the success of a social media advertising campaign would be to concentrate on metrics like cost per acquisition (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS). These are stats that will more accurately allow you to assess the profitability of your advertising efforts.
Vanity metrics in brand management
While they can be really important and helpful, metrics like social media reach and sentiment scores can also be misleading out of context.
Just because someone has seen your post doesn’t mean they care for your brand or products. Just because you have a positive sentiment score doesn’t mean that your target audience likes you more than your competitor. (Oof.)
To gauge brand perception accurately, consider metrics like brand awareness, customer lifetime loyalty, and Net Promoter Score (NPS). But, again, a meaningful brand management metric really will vary from brand to brand, depending on what you’re trying to accomplish with your brand management strategy.
Vanity metrics in search marketing
You’d think measuring the success of search marketing efforts would be simple: did people find you when they searched for you? But metrics like rankings and organic traffic numbers can be surprisingly superficial.
Instead, focus on metrics like organic conversion rate and keyword ROI to measure the actual impact of your SEO efforts. (Psst, while you’re here, maybe brush up on your social SEO skills?)
Vanity metrics in public relations
In the PR world, metrics like media mentions may seem like an obvious mark of success. But that number is really just a surface-level impression of the success of your efforts.
To really see the impact of public relations work, you might be better off focusing on metrics that demonstrate the impact on your brand’s reputation and credibility — think sentiment analysis and share of voice.
So there you have it: everything you ever wanted to know about vanity metrics for social media. Please, please, no need to thank us. Just go forth and practice analysis with all this info!
Go beyond vanity metrics and track the real value of your social media performance with Hootsuite. Publish your posts and analyze the results in the same easy-to-use dashboard. ROI has never been easier to prove. Try it free today.
All your social media analytics in one place. Use Hootsuite to see what’s working and where to improve performance.
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