We're about to be in the pay-2-play era of socials...

I've been saying this is coming since 2019... and here it is. Here's what to do.

Welcome to all of my new friends, here! I’m so very glad to have you in my little neck of the ‘stack woods where I share social updates, help you with SMO and SEO tactics, ANNNND (my fave part) cheerlead you on. 🤸‍♀️

Recommendations! Thank you to

Kristi Keller

for my super cute new images,

Kristina God

for all I’m learning about Substack and Medium,

Maya Sayvanova | OPBS

for the writer support.

I was going to focus on the news from Instagram about how they will highlight and help smaller accounts and creators and de-incentivize reposts (what?!) … instead, let me give you the quick 411 on that and then move to the big news from Meta’s announcement of paid tiers…

FIRST! Instagram is listening (I think they are feeling the loss of people going to other platforms) and has now CHANGED their algorithm to find smaller accounts…

From Instagram via Social Media Today…

“Historically because of how we’ve ranked content, creators with large followings and aggregators of reposted content have gotten more reach in recommendations than smaller, original content creators. We think it’s important to correct this to give all creators a more equal chance of breaking through to new audiences.”

Instagram’s new approach will see that all new content will get more initial reach, with the posts that see the most engagement in that initial test audience than getting more distribution.”

My take on this:

• First, note “initial reach”. Try not to make any edits, like last-minute hashtags or caption rewrites. Take your time. If you have to, DON’T FREAK OUT. Only fix if it’s an egregious error like time is wrong etc.

• Next, note “original content”. Videos and carousels will RULE. HOWEVER! This is not the time to regram or repurpose content. IF you want to regram a friend or colleague I recommend doing that in your stories, or even better use collab posts. 😉

• SO! NO REPURPOSING?! Instead, recreate content so that it is fresh. I’ve never been a fan of template graphics. 😬 I KNOW YOU ARE ALL YELLING. Sorry, but as soon as I and obvs so many others, see your template that looks the same but a few new words/pics… well, most of us don’t read it.

• If you have an account with less than 20k followers GET OUT THERE! This is the time to shine! If you want Instagram to be your biz bestie, figure out how (I can help you) and post AT LEAST 3X ++ per week right now to ride the wave.

  ---

  I’ve written on Medium pretty extensively and you might find it helpful!

---

Let’s address the 🐘 in the room

If you haven’t heard, Meta has announced paid tiers… 😅

Here it is:

Meta is introducing three new subscription tiers for businesses: Business Plus, Business Premium, and Business Max, which are priced at $50, $150, and $500 per month, respectively. Special pricing is available right now if you are in the beta test…I’ve put myself on the wait-list. When I spoke to Meta this morning, they said they are rolling out slowly to avoid “issues”.

Here they are straight from the Meta page. These are in addition to the standard Meta-verified subscription at $15 per month.

From Meta Paid Tier information

Benefits Across Tiers:

1. All Tiers Include:

   • Verified badge

   • Impersonation protection

   • Support

   • Enhanced profile features

   • Search optimization

2. Additional Benefits by Tier:

   • Business Plus ($50/month): Featured account placement, ability to include direct links in two reels per month.

   • Business Premium ($150/month): Links in four reels per month, employee impersonation protection for two employees, enhanced messaging features, five linked business addresses, and link three profiles.

   • Business Max ($500/month, currently discounted to $350): Most prominent featured account placement, links in six reels per month, five employee impersonation protection, eight linked business addresses, eight linked profiles, and an annual review with a Meta strategist.

3. Featured Account Placement: Similar to existing account recommendations but positioned as an ad within the feed.

4. Direct Links in Reels: This eliminates the need for third-party services like ManyChat for automated DMs or the 'link in bio' approach, simplifying direct audience engagement.

---

I’ll test the $50/month tier (when offered) to assess the practical value and potential benefits, especially for businesses with multiple related profiles or those seeking enhanced visibility.

My hot-take on this:

Friends, we have been using these socials for FREE for a long time. And, not just for personal use. We have sold products and services, sold books, sold tickets to our shows, asked for money for charities we love, and more.

Whether we want to think of these platforms as a business or not, isn’t the point. They ARE a business.

While these features look promising and could streamline how we manage our business visibility and integration, their biggest benefits might be more noticeable for the bigger players or businesses juggling multiple projects. But, as with anything new, the real test will be in trying them out.

I'm all for giving these a test drive to see how effective they really are and OF COURSE I’ll let you know.

The truth is… big follower counts don’t matter if you aren’t CONVERTING to a paid client/customer. 🔑

---

So what SHOULD you do?

Five action steps for you to take…

1. GET THOSE EMAILS. It would be best if you had an ECS (email collection system, I’ve been yelling about this since forevs). This is the only way to have access to your clients and potential clients.

2. Now that you’ve got those emails, use Substack (my personal fave!), use Notes on Substack, use Beehiiv, Convert Kit, whatever makes sense to you. Substack has been incredible for me so far. Lots of fabulous writers on here, the familiar style of its layout feels comfy and the recommendations so helpful to grow your account.

3. How is your website doing? I’ve been kinda slackie on mine but I’m working on it. I use getrealnice.com and LOVE them. Easy to use and GREAT for the budget. Check it out here.

4. Make LESS and BETTER content. Share your know-how, sell the how-to.

5. Consider YouTube. Right now, I think the BIGGEST opportunities lie in Substack and YouTube. If you are making reels, you can make slightly longer form videos. Pinky promise. 🤙

OK! This is a LOT to think about. Please reply if you have questions. I’ll be in Notes too, posting more about this. Lemme know how I can help you.

As always, #ImWithYou,

Karen

PS. 🦋 Support my butterfly work here without having to have a subscription… and thanks for considering!

PSS… my podcast is WOEFULLY behind and it’s hurting my heart.

New episode finally happening… early next week.