How it Works: The Instagram Algorithm
At Squirrels&Bears we believe in simplicity, and we like to provide clear answers to your questions. In our #howitworks series we focus on simple explanations of various aspects of marketing, highlighting the basic facts, what works and what doesn’t work. And we hope to make your life a little easier.
The Basics:
Instagram is a powerhouse when it comes to social media marketing and it isn’t going away anytime soon. It is currently the highest-ranking platform for brand discovery.
The algorithm is geared towards showing users the content they are most likely to engage with. When a person likes or interacts with a post or page, they will see more of that accounts content in their feed.
Your ‘virtual’ closeness to a follower will determine where your business ranks in their feed. This is where Instagram community engagement comes in. Being active in DMs, tagging and leaving comments are all actions that indicate a close relationship between accounts.
Instagram studies past interactions to try pin down your relationships, such as people you searched for and people you know in real life. They will prioritise the accounts of the people you care about in your feed.
Do:
Implement User-Generated Content into your social media strategy. This a great way to utilise ‘word-of-mouth’ among friends and family on the platform.
Use targeted and specific posting, this is especially important for businesses, as the user is the key to what is shown in their feed. Brands need to know their audience, understanding what content they are interested in and emulate that within their own posts.
Time your posts as best you can, play around with the formula and see which performs better. A common misconception is that Instagram hides posts. It does not. Every post from who you follow will show in your feed if you scroll long enough so timing is everything to be shown at the top of the feed.
Focus on using genre specific hashtags, Instagram uses advanced technologies to categorise the images from posts into genres. With this and looking at the hashtags used, it will curate a feed focusing on user interests first.
Don’t:
Get bogged down with numbers! These days the algorithm favours the types of engagement you can’t see as a user. Likes and comments are great but things like sharing and saving posts really improve overall engagement and will be rewarded.
Rely on a static and well curated feed. Play around with all the multimedia tools available on the platform including stories and reels, video content will soon dominate Instagram in order to compete with up and coming app TikTok. It will be better to familiarise yourself with these as soon as possible.
Be afraid to show yourself and your personality. We always say people buy from people and where social media is concerned, particularly with Instagram, showcasing a bit more of the personal side behind your business is more engaging for followers and potential customers. They value authenticity.