Senior Media Planner/Buyer Krystin Dunbar is a Buffalo native and a big fan of her hometown Bills. Bar owners, beware - she has high standards when it comes to pizza and wings, and she's watching you. Krystin landed at her first agency following a handful of college internships and knew she'd found her calling. We're glad Krystin answered the call of warmer weather and now calls Charlotte, and Wray Ward, home.

A new algorithm on Instagram that prioritizes paid content has a lot of people up in arms. When the news broke, many bloggers and brands encouraged their followers to turn on their post notifications in hopes that their devoted followers would never miss an update.

But here’s the thing: the algorithm is a golden opportunity for brands to rethink their marketing strategy and come out on top in the news feed. Because if you have authentic, engaging content, you’re likely to rank highly in the algorithm.

Still worried? Carve out a budget for your content, and follow these guidelines to ensure that your time, effort and dollars don’t go to waste.

Embrace social as part of your budget

As Ashley shared in last week’s post about Instagram content strategy, early adopters of the new system will capitalize on the long-term benefits. A paid post will guarantee exposure and, in turn, boost your brand’s performance. You’ll be able to evaluate what content users are most likely to engage with – and optimize along the way – instead of getting pushed down the funnel or (even worse) out of sight.

Organic + Paid = Success

It’s clear that Instagram is following Facebook’s content delivery methodology. A lot of advertisers believe they’ll do just fine as long as they prove they can perform; after all, targeting capabilities are handled via the same platform.

True, some brands can reach their target audience via organic efforts. But even the most successful brands need to include a paid social element in their plan if they want to maintain that reach on Instagram. The marriage of organic and paid content will be essential for campaigns moving forward.

Quality over quantity

In this new world, brands should post less and focus on making their posts relevant. An overload of posts could be viewed as spam and leave a bad taste in the mouth of any consumer. Plus, consumers are savvy enough to identify content that’s forced or artificial and doesn’t align with their interests.

Similar to Facebook, Instagram offers a variety of post types. Strong carousel ads and video ads are highly effective at driving user engagement. You can maximize the potential of this space by posting high-quality photos, attention-grabbing captions and thoughtful hashtags. #TrustMe