Crack The Instagram Code: 5 Things To Know About the Instagram Algorithm
For many businesses, Instagram is the key to success.
With its predominantly millennial user base, the visual-oriented platform is a great way to show off your products, inject some personality into your marketing and connect with your community.
But, growing your audience is often based on how well you use the Instagram algorithm to your advantage. So what do you need to know about the algorithm to ensure your photos and videos are seen?
1. There are five different algorithms on Instagram
Different areas of Instagram use different algorithms. In fact, there are five different algorithms at play across the platform:
- Feed posts
- Reels
- Stories
- Discover Page
- Hashtags
Each algorithm works slightly differently, and so has a slightly different strategy.
2. The Algorithms Look At “Information About the Post”
The Instagram Algorithm starts by looking at the post’s information to see how popular the post is. For example, the likes and comments that the posts are getting and the velocity of those likes. The algorithm also looks at the location, so you’re more likely to see posts that are local to you or are in places in which you’ve shown an interest in your feed. The algorithm also looks at the content itself to ensure it is of interest, so if you’re known for posting something in one niche and then posting something completely different to what your followers expect, it may not show up in their feeds.
This part of the algorithm rewards engagement. It encourages you to ensure that your customers like and comment on your posts. This may take offline promotion, such as encouraging your customers to follow your business through postcards in order boxes or in-store promotions.
3. The Algorithms Look at Information About The Person Who Posted
The algorithm looks at the person who’s posted. It looks at the types of people who have interacted with the poster and their similarities to you. This helps the algorithm gauge if this is the type of content you’ll engage with.
Again, this means the more people interacting with your content, the more likely you’ll be seen in the algorithm.
4. The Algorithm Looks At Your Activity
The algorithm also looks at your activity as the viewer. It looks at the types of posts you like and the posts that encourage you to comment. This allows the algorithm to show you more posts like that.
5. The Algorithm Looks At The Interactions Between Accounts.
The algorithm also shows how you’ve interacted with those accounts in the past. If you watch every story, like and comment on every post and watch every reel to the end, then it’s likely that post will appear in your feed.
What’s the Moral of this Story?
You need to encourage engagement. Encourage likes and comments. Run polls and competitions. Promote your content offline and on other platforms. The more your customers engage with you, the more likely they will be to see your content.
But engagement goes two ways. You need to reciprocate the engagement. Like tagged photos, reply to comments and comment on posts that are similar to your brand.
