Social media platforms tweak, change, and update their algorithm regularly. Understanding these changes is important for running successful social media marketing campaigns. The same applies to changes to the algorithm that Instagram uses to rank and display content. In this blog, we will cover comprehensively everything you need to know about Instagram algorithms for securing your social media marketing goals.
First, we look what is the Instagram algorithm. Let’s get started!
What is Instagram Algorithm?
The algorithm is a set of rules and instructions that rank and display content on Instagram Reels, Stories, Explores, and Feeds. How does it happen?
Simple. The algorithm determines the ranking of the content by analyzing many factors such as user history, location, profile, device, trends, relevance, content, and more. For instance, if your browsing history tells you that you are fond of historical buildings, you will see a lot of historical stuff in your feed.
One thing more, it is not an algorithm, but rather a combination of algorithms, processes, and classifiers that work together to provide an optimized user experience to Instagram users. But for the sake of convenience, we will use the Instagram algorithm as an umbrella term.
How Does Instagram Algorithm Rank Content?
Multiple Instagram algorithms are filtering many factors for each section such as Reels, Explore, Feeds, and Stories for the ranking of content. But the main factors that determine the ranking are primarily four:
- Information about the post or content
- The information about the poster
- User Activity
- History of user interaction
If you tweak these things, you can manipulate the algorithm for showing your contact on the top. We should explain these factors briefly before moving to our main point of discussion.
1-Information about the Post:
Multiple types of information are processed such as when the post is made live, how many likes it has gathered, whether it is a picture or video, the location and length of the post, and more. After that, the algorithm uses features such as Instagram reels, Guides, and Instagram Live to decide who is going to see that post.
2-Information About Poster:
A poster is a person who posts the content. You would have noticed that whenever you like someone’s post, you start seeing a lot of posts from that person. This is done by Algorithm. It takes into account who you are and with whom you interact and engage frequently.
This in return, determines the content on your newsfeed. Similarly, when you comment on someone’s post or tag a person, the algorithm assumes that you are linked to that one and it starts showing that person’s content on your Feed.
3-User Activity:
The way you consume content on Instagram is monitored and you are given suggested content on your user activity. For instance,
If you watch videos, you will be given video content and something like that. It is your interest shown by user activity that determines which content you will see on the app. It is some sort of in-app experience.
4-History of User Interactions:
Your interaction and engagement history also determine the order of content on your newsfeed. The more you interact with some posters, the more feeds you have!
These factors are weighed differently in different sections!
For instance, if you have a close relationship with a poster, his/her content will be shared in Feeds and Stories depending upon your past interactions. In Explores and Reels, the popular content is prioritized and shown by Instagram Algorithm.
Behold, AI is also Here!
Like in other social media platforms, Artificial Intelligence is also working to enable Instagram algorithms to analyze, understand and predict user preferences and behaviors.
Some usages of AI in Instagram are as follows:
- Instagram has deployed Facebook’s AI algorithm Deep Text for ensuring a spam-free experience for users. Deep Text can differentiate whether comments are bot-generated or users generated.
- Word Embedding, a machine learning method, is used by Instagram to identify accounts that are similar to each other. Later on, based on user interests and activity, these accounts are ranked.
- Computer Vision is also embedded in Instagram. This branch of AI enables machines to understand and analyze content, images, and videos. This AI-enabled feature is used to provide various tools such as face filters, stickers, effects, hashtags, location tags, alt texts, and more.
- Similarly, Instagram uses Natural Language Processing (NLP), Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), User Reinforcement Learning (RL), and other Big Data tools and resources.
In short, AI has enabled Instagram to deliver better user experience and engagement. It has facilitated the recommendation of personalized and relevant content to users and helped users access new features and functionalities of Instagram.
Why Should You Consider Instagram for Social Media Marketing?
Over the years, Instagram has become the preferred choice for social media marketing agencies and advertisers. You should consider using Instagram for securing your marketing goals because:
- Instagram is one of the most popular and influential social media platforms. With more than 2 billion active users and 500 million daily stories, this platform can you have huge opportunities to target your audience and increase your outreach.
- More than 90% of Instagram users follow one or more businesses.
- Studies suggest that businesses gain more interactions and engagement on Instagram than on other social media platforms. For instance, Instagram has an average engagement rate of 1.22% which is far more than Facebook (0.09%) and Twitter (0.045%).
- Businesses get more sales and revenue from their Instagram-based social media marketing campaigns than from other platforms. Shopify reports that the average order value from Instagram referral traffic is $65, unlike Facebook and Pinterest which have $55 and $50 respectively.
These facts and figures demonstrate the ability of Instagram to give more return on investment if you are looking to find the right channel and platform for social media marketing.
Tips On How to Beat Instagram Algorithm in 2023:
Now we move to our main point. We will dig deeper into the industry-best practices to tap the potential of Instagram for securing your marketing and business goals.
You can beat the Instagram Algorithm by following these tips.
1-Regularly and Frequently Post Instagram Reels:
Reels are heavily advertised. They should be your best bet to beat IG Algorithm. Make sure to post on Reels at least 5 times a week. The content should be light-hearted, enjoyable, and amusing because Instagram algorithms prioritize entertainment.
And more importantly, the length of Reels should be given serious consideration. It should not exceed 15 seconds; the story should be cohesive and comprehensively convey your message. The video content should be cropped to 9:16 to make it further engaging and attractive.
2-Optimize the Timing of Your Posts:
Interaction is what makes your content on Instagram stand out. This depends upon how many likes, comments, and impressions your post generates within a few seconds of publishing.
What does it mean? It means you should publish a post when your followers are most active. Align the timing with the activities of your target audience. In this way, you can increase the likelihood that you will engage your followers with your posts and stories.
3-Keep Up with The Trends:
Creating trendy content is a surefire way to get the Instagram algorithm on your side. Keep updated with the trends. Whenever there is a trend on Instagram, it does imply that Algorithm is prioritizing it.
Hence, when you jump into the trend and recreate it to incorporate your goals and objectives, your content will be able to reach a wider audience.
4-Never Compromise on Hashtag and Caption Quality:
When it comes to Instagram Hashtag and Algorithm, it is quality, not quantity that matters in the end. For optimized utilization of Instagram hashtags, you should focus on these areas:
- Leverage Explore to find trending hashtags;
- At least 5 hashtags should be focused on and narrowed down;
- Find out which hashtag produces the best result;
- And finally, relate those hashtags to your content because hashtags must be related to your content or profile.
In this way, you can nudge the Instagram algorithm to connect your niche to a similar audience.
And what about captions?
Though they are not important from the point of view of algorithms, they still play an important role. They provide context to your post and tell stories. They force the audience to stop scrolling down and take action on your content. Therefore, writing catchy, engaging, and relevant captions should never be ignored.
5-Deploy Right Formatting:
Instagram prefers standard sizes of content. if you use that proper and preferred sizing of content, the IG algorithm automatically favors your content. Here are some suggested sizes of content:
- In the case of static images, the size should be square 1080px x 1080px (1:1)
- In the case of stories and reels, the size should be vertical 1080px W x 1920px H (9:16).
- In case you want to take up more screens, crop your static image to 1080 x 1350 (4:5).
6-Use Carousels instead of One Photo:
Carousels are posts with multiple images and videos that users swipe to look at. When they stop and swipe to look at your content, they are spending more time on your content. In this way, you have more opportunities to gain more likes and comments. In other words, the algorithm ranks your content higher as carousels cause deeper engagement with an audience.
Your carousels should not be a mere combination of several disjointed images. The images should be arranged in a way to tell a complete story coherently.
7-Make Stories Entertaining and Post them Daily:
Make sure that your Stories involve your audience deeply. Various tools to make them engaging such as using polls, funny gifts, and question stickers to make them stand out and attractive.
Instagram Stories play a key role in drawing in brand-new and returning followers. They help you nurture your audience and sell to your followers.
Second, post stories daily, but don’t overwhelm your audience with the bombardment. Stories are the easiest thing you can post and a sure way to connect with your audience.
7-Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising:
PPC is the auction-based paid form of marketing strategy. The advertisers bid for keywords that they want to use for their ads. When a user uses that keyword, the ad triggers and appears on the top of the results.
The main objective of PPC advertisement is to reach those searchers who want to buy products and services. When they click on the ad, they arrive on the landing page, where a Call-to-Action (CTA) attempts to motivate them to perform desired tasks such as purchasing goods, signing up for email newsletters, or other actions.
8-Reply to Direct Messages and Comments Regularly:
Since the IG algorithm has been designed and implemented to rank higher those pages and content which are engaging, you should explore options to enhance your interactions with your audience.
One such option is responding to DM and comments regularly. It will show the algorithm that your followers do care about your content. Regular contact through DM is a great way to beat the IG algorithm. Similarly, when you respond to the comments of your followers, the algorithm will sense that you have relationships with them and recommend your content to your followers.
9-Try to collaborate with Other Creators:
Instagram is a social media platform. One of the fastest and quickest ways to beat the Instagram Algorithm is to get new exposure through collaboration with other creators.
Try to connect with creators and influencers with the help of the Instagram Collab Post feature that has greatly facilitated this collab.
10-Use Analytics to Track the Performance:
It is always helpful to track how your content is going on Instagram. Identifying which photo, real or video is achieving the intended objective or which is not is a great way to put in place an effective marketing strategy.
You can deploy Instagram analytics to measure key performance indicators and rectify where there are weaknesses or weak links in your Instagram marketing campaign.
Final Words:
In short, create content that is engaging, frequently, and consistently posts on Reels and Stories, and make sure that you remain updated with trends and hashtags. These are some ways that help you beat the Instagram algorithm in 2023 for securing your marketing goals.