From "Good Enough" to Content Excellence

In the previous decade, Instagram’s oligarchic algorithm turned community size into a holy grail: larger communities meant higher reach and ROI potential, but also faster community growth, which over time has led to a concentration of clout in the hands of the very largest accounts (‘oligarchs’).

But if size fuelled growth, what fuelled size in the first place?

Multiple drivers, none more important than Earned influence in the form of @mentions. Of course, owned content quality mattered, but less so than the amount of @earned a brand account received, and less than the brand’s Follower size and posting frequency.

We used to call it the “good enough” content strategy: data showed it was better to post twice a day “good enough” content than one outstanding post every other day.

Fast forward to today, and brand Follower growth drivers have radically evolved: paid endorsements are now so distrusted that influencers’ ability to @redirect their followers to brand accounts is greatly diminished:

On top, our data shows ⬇️ Follower size and posting frequency no longer guarantee Follower growth anymore. Instead, content quality is now the top driver of growth: consumers have so many choices of accounts to follow that they now only follow brands they already love, or those whose content engaged them deeply.

Similar dynamics rule on TikTok, where the best predictor of new followers is deep owned engagement, though growth can be accelerated by

1. media behind quality content (e.g. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior), and/or

2. organic earned activity (e.g., jeanpaulgaultier, bubble, glowrecipe etc.), i.e., people posting and commenting about the brand, which are responses to owned content quality, brand penetration and momentum, & an offline marketing mix that facilitates consumer participation.

Implications from this evolution in social drivers are fundamental - brands ought to:

• Master Owned social content codes first and foremost: extensive analyses of tens of thousands of (recent) viral and top performing posts on TikTok and Instagram allowed us to identify 6 Guiding Principles, as well as Do’s and Don’ts on content components (storytelling/editing, who, where, sounds, effects, text etc.) 

• Shift away from the “good enough quality at high frequency” mentality (which was OK in 2014-2021), to instead adopt a “fewer/better” content approach

• Lower reliance on paid influencers, given a big chunk of their past value (grow brand communities) is now largely gone - also adopt a fewer/better approach with them: some really are skilled, but most offer formulaic renditions that halo poorly on your brand.

• increasingly factor in social participation in one’s offline marketing choices and execution (e.g. sampling, sizing, product qualities, packaging, “merch”, outdoors, events, etc.)

About the author: 20+ years experience in insights & marketing mix at P&G, marketing & media consultancy at McKinsey, head of Europe at L2, co-founder at eBench and Rethink x Social. Have worked with over 250 clients teams across 100+ companies in a dozen categories.

About Rethink x Social: we’re a boutique marketing consultancy, backed by our proprietary tool that tracks and analyses hundreds of thousands of accounts, surfacing insights on trends, best practices, category leaders, and content excellence. We help clients on everything from investment priorities, to social strategies. Our most recent R&D emphasis has been on video content codes, tackling tone of voice, storytelling/editing/pacing principles, the roles of subtext, sounds, protagonists, content big ideas.