- Are you experiencing a drop
in Instagram impressions, engagement, and new followers?
If so, I'm sure you're wondering
if it's still a smart place to invest your time
and marketing efforts.
The answer is a huge yes.
Despite its ever-changing features
and all powerful algorithms,
Instagram is still one
of the largest social media platforms worldwide
with over 1 billion, with a B, active monthly users
and Gen Z and Millennial consumers
make up a vast majority of Instagrammers at 76%.
Given that the world's population is around 8 billion,
this is a huge segment of the planet
that can be reached with Instagram marketing.
I'm Tory, a marketing manager at HubSpot.
And in this video, I'm gonna break down
Instagram's priorities for 2023,
how this works with the latest algorithm updates,
and what this means for your Instagram strategy.
I'll also show you new content types
you should use to increase your organic reach,
and I'll highlight popular but outdated strategies
you should completely steer clear of.
While Instagram's priorities in early 2022
were focused on video messaging and creator monetization,
the platform recently announced
a complete shift in their direction,
which focuses on content amplification
and making new connections.
In other words, Instagram is pivoting
from its previous model to one that favors
connection, creativity, and discovery
with engagement being priority number one.
Let's start with a stat to put things into perspective.
Every single day, there are around 95 million photos
and videos being shared all across Instagram.
It has never before been as challenging to stand out
and grab the attention of your followers.
Yet the market has also never before been this diverse.
You'll often hear of the algorithm
referred to as a singular concept
that controls and oversees
what people can and cannot see on the app,
but Instagram actually uses a variety of algorithms,
classifiers, and processes,
each with its own purpose.
What these are and how they work
isn't really important to the casual user.
However, when building a marketing strategy,
you've got to understand the formula
so you can tailor your strategy
to hack what the algorithm is prioritizing
so you can reach more users
and build a community of engaged followers.
Instagram's algorithms exist to make the user experience
better and easier.
They make sure you see relevant content on your feed
instead of the equivalent of spam.
Otherwise, there's just way too much out there.
For brands and creators,
this means that you can connect and engage
with a niche audience
in a much more personalized and intimate way.
Each part of the app,
Feed, Explore, and Reels for example,
uses its own algorithm tailored to how people use it.
For example, people tend to look
for their closest friends and stories
but they wanna discover something entirely new in Explore.
Instagram ranks things differently
in different parts of the app
based on how people use these features.
So with any ranking algorithm,
how it all works can be broken down into parts.
Let's start with Feed and Stories.
The way the algorithm works in your home feed
is that it gathers all of the information
about a single post,
then uses this data as signals
to score or rank the post.
So the post with the highest score ranks toward the top
and informs the order of posts on that particular feed.
There are many signals which affect the performance
of Instagram posts organically.
Here are the top three: account information.
This includes signals like how many people have interacted
with a particular profile
in the past few weeks,
how often that account posts,
and if users frequently liked
or commented on their content.
Post information, these are signals about post content,
stuff like how popular a post is,
when it was posted, it's location,
if it's a carousel or a video,
and if a video, how long it is.
User activity and interaction history,
this helps Instagram understand a person's activity
and the types of posts they're engaging in
and includes signals
such as how often a person scrolls on the app,
so it can pick and choose what to prioritize.
From there, the algorithm makes a set of predictions
based on the likelihood of five main interactions
when deciding how to rank a post on someone's home feed.
These include time spent on posts,
comments, likes, shares,
and taps on profile.
The more likely someone is to take any of these actions,
the more heavily Instagram will weigh that action,
and the higher the post will actually rank.
This all takes us to the importance of timing
when scheduling posts.
Instagram's native analytics provide data
on when your followers are active
provide data on when your followers are active
Simply open the app,
go to your profile,
tap Professional dashboard,
tap See all next to account insights,
tap Total followers,
and then scroll down to Most Active Times.
You'll wanna post at times
when your followers are the most active.
This way, if they're scrolling through their feed,
new posts are more likely to show up for them
and early engagement
can determine the success of a post.
Okay, so let's move on to the Explore page.
If the home feed
is based on engagement with current followers,
the Explore feed is where you can find new followers
and is key to your growth.
Content on the Explore page
comes from accounts you don't already follow
since its purpose is to help you discover new things.
Therefore, the algorithm for the Explore page
delivers content that it thinks you'll be most interested in
based on these top factors:
post timing and popularity,
posts that are fresh and see a ton of engagement,
these signals matter much more in Explore
than they do in feed or stories;
Niching and engagement,
content topics and types you regularly engage with
including likes, comments, saves and shares;
connections and community,
Instagram accounts you follow
and the types of posts that see engagement
from those accounts you follow.
Your own Explore feed is a great place to start
to learn what content these users
actually engage with the most.
Delve into posts, categories, and niche finds
to identify and approach and craft your own strategy.
Questions you might be asking during this audit may include:
what tone seems to resonate most with your target audience?
For example, is it playful, educational,
sophisticated, or inspirational?
Is there a visual style that performs best?
What type of content earns the most engagement?
Is it Reels, carousels, static posts, live video?
What type of captions prompt the most resources?
By getting to know your audience
and continually sharing engaging content
with strong captions, relevant keywords and niche hashtags,
you are optimizing your posts for Explore page potential.
Similar to the Explore page,
the majority of what you see on Reels
is from accounts you don't actually follow.
So Instagram prioritizes Reels
based on the algorithms predictions
of a user's interest and engagement,
and then uses a set of signals to help rank that content.
This makes them a great place for getting seen
by a much larger audience.
With Reels, the focus is on entertainment.
The most important predictions the algorithm will make here
is how likely you are to watch a Reel all the way through,
like it, comment on it,
and go to the audio page
which is a proxy for whether or not you might be inspired
to make your own reel.
Much like Feed posts,
Instagram prioritizes Reels
based on what it believes a viewer
will be most likely to interact with,
and then uses these signals to help rank that content.
Reels should be original, entertaining or inspiring
combined with content your audience finds useful
such as tips, DIYs, or tutorials within your niche.
This encourages saves for your posts
and the more saves your post receive,
the more signals the algorithm receives
to show your post to even more people.
It could even appear on the Explore page,
which as we know, can translate
into more followers and more growth.
Now engagement rates can drop due to many reasons
so it's best to find out what caused the drop
and come up with a strategy.
The first step is to do an audit of your Instagram account
in content to make sure
you're not using outdated strategies that no longer work.
Instead, replace them with these:
followers, do not fall victim
to the follow-for-follow culture
that is common among small influencers.
Small accounts often try to build followers
through this approach.
It creates a base of followers
that rarely interacts with your actual content
which is devastating for your engagement.
Also, check for spam followers
and remove these accounts asap.
Think quality over quantity,
engagement over followers.
Your content will perform much better.
You'll receive more authentic engagement
and you'll have the algorithm on your side.
Hashtags: do a complete audit of the hashtags you use.
Not all hashtags are created equal
and not all hashtags work.
With the new Instagram layout,
fewer users explore by hashtags
and many successful brands don't tag their posts at all.
For budding small businesses,
hashtags are still highly recommended,
but not in excess.
Use one to five.
Only use niche specific hashtags,
mostly in the range of 30K to 300K posts.
Also, be sure to make sure you are not using
any banned hashtags.
This could put your account at extreme risk
of being completely blocked.
Also, also, don't use the same set of hashtags
for every single post.
As the algorithm develops,
spamming a relevant hashtag
will not get your posts seen.
Now that you understand that the algorithm
is not something to be feared
but instead a power to be harnessed
and used for complete good,
I'm going to share five posting strategies
you must pay attention to
if you wanna optimize your Instagram profile
to increase your organic reach.
Number one, perfect your timing.
A five post a week, two Reels a week,
one story a day system is more in line
with what top brands are doing in 2023
with the algorithm shift toward image posts
and the decline of stories.
Remember to reference Instagram's native analytics
to time your posts when your followers
are most active to get higher engagement,
which is a critical element
to getting your posts onto the Instagram Explore page.
Number two, use both carousel photos and Reels.
These are the posts that have the most organic reach
that Instagram is pushing on the Explore page,
Reel feed and Home feed.
For carousels, the algorithm emphasizes viewer retention
so you want viewers to swipe all the way through to the end.
Three to five slides are recommended.
No more, no less.
If you have less, you're not going to get the engagement.
And if you have more,
the odds of you getting the user to swipe
all the way through your long carousel are very slim.
Pro tip, use a hook on the first slide
to lead in and encourage swipes.
For Reels, feature people in your Reels.
Feature trending music.
Post reels to both the Reels tab and the feed.
Again, the algorithm emphasizes your retention
so keep Reels short and fun,
three to 15 seconds,
as short Reels tend to loop
and will count as multiple views.
You should also avoid posting Reels that are low resolution,
too blurry, have already been shared elsewhere,
or are visibly recycled from another app.
These type of Reels will be deprioritized,
meaning they'll be less likely to appear across the app.
Number three, include onscreen text and captions.
You need a hook.
You need text.
You need captions to capture someone's attention
and draw them in.
Add a hook in your videos before you add text.
Post questions in your captions
so your followers can answer them in the comments section.
Videos with captions tend to perform better
on every engagement metric,
impressions, views, and likes.
Plus, it makes your content way more accessible
to all kinds of social media users.
Number four, create calls to action.
Every Instagram post needs one and you need one in your bio.
Adding CTAs to some of your stories is also essential.
Use question stickers, emoji sliders,
and polls to boost engagement.
Use stories to share posts that tag your brand.
Reshare those Reels and posts to your story.
Reels and posts are best for expanding to new audiences
but stories are great for engaging
with your core group of existing followers
and driving interactions.
Number five, collaborate with other accounts.
Build relationships through targeted interactions
and replying to your community
to create affinity in the algorithm.
Respond to all comments and DMs to boost engagement.
Don't just like the message or send an emoji back.
Use the Collab Post feature to co-author content
with other creators and brands in your niche.
The post will show up on both of your profiles.
You'll share views, likes, comments,
all the good stuff.
Optimizing your Instagram posts
is crucial to unlocking the potential behind the algorithms
to get your post seen by more people and drive engagement.
And HubSpot has partnered with the experts I mentioned
to create a comprehensive report that includes everything
from general data on account performance
to specific tips to help you achieve your Instagram goals.
You can download from the link down of the description.
And while you're down there,
make sure to like and subscribe
if you like what you heard and you want to hear more.
Until next time!
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