If you’ve been creating content this year, you probably felt the shift. You spend hours on a piece of content, and it gets a hundred views. Content that used to work just fine doesn’t work anymore.
I’ve been there. I wondered if Instagram hated me (after years of telling everyone that the algorithm simply doesn’t shadow ban you, I wasn’t so sure myself) or if I forgot how to create content. Turns out, neither. A lot of things have changed this year. It’s been pretty groundbreaking when it comes to content and online behaviors.I spend a lot of time being on the internet, writing about the internet, and thinking about the internet, so I wanted to write this guide to help you understand what the shifts are and how to navigate them.
We’ll cover what’s currently working online and how you can build a strategy for your brand and content that’s not going to burn you out and will get results in terms of visibility and building brand awareness.
I also used them for our brand clients, with great results, so I hope these will be helpful for you, too.
Let’s talk about what changed first and why it matters before diving into building your content strategy for 2026.
Shift 1: The interest-based algorithm
Nearly every algorithm now follows the TikTok FYP model. You’re hardly seeing content from people you follow, but you’re seeing content that’s similar to content you’ve engaged with previously.
I can’t think about the last time I opened Instagram and saw mostly posts from people I follow. Instead, my home feed is filled with recommended reels, suggested accounts, and content from people I’ve never heard of. But it’s always something I’m extremely interested in. So, good job Instagram, I guess?
So what does it mean for you if you’re posting content? Your follower count used to guarantee a baseline of reach. That doesn’t happen anymore. If the post doesn’t get engagement from the get-go, it doesn’t get shown to more people. That’s why we’re seeing accounts with huuuuge numbers of followers with either hidden like counts or posts with 2 comments on them.
This is both good and bad. If content gets picked up by the algorithm, it gets shown to thousands of people who don’t follow you yet. You can get in front of new people, no matter your account size. But it also might not get shown at all. There’s really no middle lane anymore where it just gets shown to your followers.
What to do: Create content your audience is already interested in. Stay up to date with the conversations happening in your space. Go slightly broader. Your content doesn’t have to be 100% related to your product (because, let’s be honest, that can be a bit boring sometimes), but it has to cater to your audience’s interests and the kind of content they’re already consuming.
For example, if you’re an investment app founder, you’re not going to just be posting about investing and why people should invest - or even worse, why they should use your investment app. We’re going to take two steps back and create content about building wealth in your 20s or 30s, talking about the wealth gap, and how important it is to build financial independence as a woman. Topics your audience already cares about that are connected to what you do, but they’re going to reach a larger number of people.
The goal is to have a couple of posts that will reach a large number of people who will then go down the rabbit hole of consuming more of your content and being aware of your business as a result.
Michael Mettler is a brand management and marketing consultant based in Walla Walla, Washington.