Since the removal of public likes, the way that engagement works on Instagram has now changed. Initially the main success metric on the app, likes functioned as a way for brands to understand that a user enjoyed their content.

However, the issue with likes is that they are temporal and transient. A user may enjoy your post and like it, but once it has disappeared from their newsfeed, it is highly unlikely they are going to trawl through their ‘Liked’ posts to view it again.

That’s where ‘Saves’ come in. In 2022, ‘Saves’ are recognised as the most valuable metric in measuring the quality of a post. Why is that, you ask? Well, it is pretty straight forward. Think of the reasons why you personally would think a post is worthy of a save, rather than just a like. It comes down to this: you want to go back to it in your own time and review it.

When Instagram detects that a lot of the account’s followers are enjoying a post enough to actually save it for later, it assumes that a lot of non-following accounts should like it, too. With this, these posts are then prioritised, and thus shifted onto Instagram’s ‘Explore’ page – where non-followers can see the post.

It is because of this that you as a brand should be concerned with how many saves you get on a post – not just likes.

If you’re unsure what types of posts you should be making in order to encourage users to save your posts, then keep reading.

First off – what is ‘Saving’ posts?

If you’re not already informed: don’t fret. The option to ‘Save’ Instagram posts first surfaced around 2 years ago. You can easily save a user’s post by clicking the ‘Bookmark’ icon, which you can locate at the bottom right of the user’s post. This is then saved to your ‘Collection’, which can be located at the top right of your screen that has the icon with the three horizontal lines. In this section, you can find all of the saved images in one place. You even have the option to categorise them.

Which posts do well?

Informative posts

Informative posts are, in short, posts that provide you with information (obviously). This can be a singular image, a video, or carousel post that offers educational or information-heavy content that is valuable to the reader. Many people opt to save these as they enjoy the subject matter and want to return to it at a later date, or when it is more convenient.

Posts that inspire

For me, this kind of works like Pinterest. I like to save posts that inspire me – whether that’s home inspiration; make-up looks that I like; clothes or even tattoo ideas. Saving these allows me to go back to the images and reference them when I need them.

Posts that are evergreen (or always relevant)

Posts that are always relevant are great types of content to share as they harbour the potential of bringing traffic to your Instagram for many months – even if it is an older post. These can be as simple as an infographic on how to braid your hair or advice on nutrition – they’ll always be helpful.

Instagram quotes

Whether you’re a fan of them or not, Instagram quotes do pretty well when concerning their ‘save-ability’. Images that inspire, motivate, or make people laugh are always great to look back on, and are likely to be shared on to others, too – which is another great way to gain engagement on a post.

Posts with absorbing captions

Despite the declining attention span of social media users with the likes of TikTok and reels, believe it or not, people still enjoy reading! Posts that have long captions that are rich with engrossing material tend to do well. Sometimes these can perform as mini-blogs and can really captivate a loyal audience that may wish to reread the user’s writing.

So, you have great posts – now what?

You may be wondering “how on Earth do you track how well these posts are doing?” – and we get it. Tracking ‘Saves’ is relatively harder than tracking the likes and comments, which are right there in the forefront of your post.

You can view how well these posts are performing by tapping on the ‘View Insights’ tab on the photo you’d like to check. Instagram will then present to you a breakdown of how many times the photo has been saved.

How ‘saveable’ is your content? If you’re having trouble with creating content worth reviewing, why don’t you reach out to us at Artemeis Media today?