The Death of the Follower: How Fintechs Can Still Win on Social Media
Social platforms don’t care how many followers you have anymore. Here’s how to adapt your content strategy—especially if you’re in fintech.
Reading time: 3 min
You’ve probably noticed it already: follower counts just don’t carry the same weight they used to.
You could have 10,000 followers and still get barely any reach (reach meaning how many people actually see your content). Or have 200 and go viral overnight.
So, what happened?
The answer lies in the way platforms are changing—TikTok led the way back in 2020 when its 'For You Page' became the default experience, prioritizing content based on user behavior rather than follower connections.
And now Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn are following. Instagram introduced its algorithmic Explore page and Reels to mimic TikTok’s endless scroll model. YouTube launched Shorts and began prioritizing them in mobile feeds. Even LinkedIn now shows posts based on engagement potential and relevance, rather than recency or follower count.
They’re all favoring discovery-based feeds. That means it’s not about who follows you, but what content the algorithm thinks is worth showing.
And that changes everything.
What does that mean for your content?
If you’re putting all your effort into building a following, you might be focusing on the wrong thing.
Instead, you need to think like the algorithm.
Ask yourself:
Is this content engaging from the very first second?
Does it match the style and format of the platform?
Would someone who’s never heard of my brand stop scrolling to watch, listen, or read?
That’s what the algorithm is really looking for.
So, how can you make your content work harder?
Start by shifting your mindset. Don’t think “create more.”
Think “create once, repurpose well.”
This is where repurposing comes in—you already know the value of using what you’ve already created.
Instead of constantly starting from scratch, take your existing content and turn it into something new.
Let’s say you have a blog post that’s performed well.
Here’s what you could do with it:
Turn it into a short LinkedIn carousel
Pull out a quote and turn it into a graphic for Instagram
Summarize the main takeaway as a short video or audio snippet
Create a Twitter thread with a few bullet points and a link
Each version is designed for a different platform—and a different audience. And the best part? You didn’t have to create something brand new.
This applies whether you're a B2C fintech educating first-time investors—who might respond better to quick, visual explainers on TikTok or Instagram—or a B2B fintech targeting busy product managers, CFOs, or compliance leads, who prefer concise, insight-driven content on LinkedIn or in newsletters. These are completely different audiences who consume content in different ways, at different times, and in different formats—so one-size-fits-all just doesn’t work anymore.
Your content doesn’t need followers. It needs formats.
That’s the real takeaway.
Because we’re not creating for followers anymore. We’re creating for feeds.
And if you want to show up on those feeds, you need to make your content easy for the algorithm to serve: short-form, engaging, and in the right format for the right platform.
This doesn’t mean ditching long-form content altogether. It just means giving it a second life—whether that’s a podcast, a short video, or a graphic.
One final thought
Social media will keep changing, and algorithms aren’t going away anytime soon.
But that’s not a reason to panic. It’s a reason to rethink how you use the content you already have—and find new ways to reach the audience you want, not just the one you’ve already got.
So next time you publish something, don’t stop there. Ask yourself: how else can I use this?
And if you enjoyed this newsletter, feel free to reply, email me at hi@anapaulapicasso.com, or follow me on socials (@a_picasso on X) for more tips like this.