Hi my lovely people, it’s Natalia and welcome back to my channel where I help you create
better content and grow on social media!
The Instagram algorithm seems like such a mystery to so many creators and I wasn’t
joking with the Chamber of Secrets cause it sure seems like nobody knows what it really
is, there are so many myths around it and the majority of people are kind of scared
of it.
So how does the Instagram algorithm work?
Well, thanks to Adam Mosseri and the Instagram blog, I can now spill all the secrets to you
so that you how to make it work FOR you!
Let’s break it down.
1.
Instagram Algorithm 101
Let’s start with the Instagram Algorithm 101 and actually dispel one of the biggest
myths out there!
There is no one algorithm but a bunch of different ones for different places!
What it means to you is that Instagram ranks things slightly differently for Reels, Feed,
Stories etc.
Don't worry though, the principles are the same and you don’t have to create insane
amounts of separate strategies for all the different formats.
It’s crucial though that you understand how things work for different parts on IG.
What you have to know as well is that algorithms are there to understand the users to the core
and serve them with the best content possible in the present moment.
This of course means they are very individual.
What’s going to be shown and promoted to one person may be completely different to
another, not just because of their interests, but also because of who they interact with
or how they like to consume content.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Here’s what you need to know about how the ranking works in all the different places
on IG.
Let’s look at the first one,
2.
The Story Algorithm The moment you open the app, Instagram analyzes
what story might interest you the most based on a few factors which they call SIGNALS.
The most important signal for IG that this may be the right Story for you is your history
of viewing previous stories from a particular creator.
If you’re regularly watching someone’s stories, chances are that person will be one
of the first ones you see in the Stories feed when they post.
If you’ve previously interacted with that creator, replied to their Stories before or
liked them, this also tells Instagram that you’re likely to be interested in seeing
more there.
The algorithms are constantly trying to assess how close you are to other people on the app
so things like exchanging DMs often will also be a sign for IG that there is a connection
there.
Based on all these signals, the algorithm here makes a prediction as to how likely you’re
to open a story, like it, reply to a creator or move on to the next story.
That’s how it assesses how high a story should be ranked and therefore, shown.
What this means to you as a creator is that you need to **actively** encourage people
to interact with your Stories.
The most helpful tactic here is to include engagement stickers on your stories, pretty
much from the very first slide you’re going to post because if they interact with this
one, chances are they’re going to watch the rest and connect with you further on the
app.
Never let those slide!
I can tell from my own experience that when I couldn’t keep up with my story replies,
my overall story views started dropping so that’s definitely something to think about.
Alright, we’ve got Stories covered, let’s scroll down a little and look at…
3.
The Feed Algorithm
The most important part to understand here is that this part of IG is here to hook you
in, provide you with a fresh batch of interesting content posted since you last visited and
definitely, definitely keep you on the app longer.
This means you’re not only going to see posts from the creators you love but recommendations
from others that Instagram thinks you’re going to vibe with.
To understand this, the Feed Algorithm tries to guess as accurately as possible how likely
you are to like, comment, share, tap on the profile or spend some time looking at the
post.
Here, the signals are slightly different.
The most important one is your previous activity - the history of your interactions with different
types of content.
The posts you liked, shared, saved, or commented on, give IG an indication of what you’re
really into.
The next one is the information about the post itself.
Is it a popular one?
Are people engaging with it?
How quickly are they doing it?
Is there a location attached?
The bigger the impact here, the more likely it is to be pushed to other people further.
Another important signal is the info about the creator which tells IG how interesting
they might be to you.
Among other things, this is gaged based on how many times people have interacted with
that person in the past few weeks as well.
And the last one for the Feed Algorithm is how often you yourself interact with that
creator.
If you’re commenting or again, exchanging DMs, it’s likely they’re going to be the
right match for you in the eyes of Instagram of course.
The more chance there is of you interacting (and the more important this interaction type
is on a scale for Instagram), the higher the post will appear in the Feed for you.
Technically, what you’re most interested in should be closer to the top, what you’re
least into - closer to the bottom but we all know Instagram doesn’t always get it right.
That’s why we also have the Favorites and the Following feeds to have more control over
what we want to see.
Now the Favorites is pretty self-explanatory, it’s a list of creators you yourself added
to your favorites.
A quick tip from me here, it might be worth encouraging your audience to add you to Favorites
to send that great signal to the algorithm.
The Following feed is basically a stream of posts from creators you follow in chronological
order.
And a word from me on the chronological vs algorithmic approach…
I know a lot of content creators complain that our posts don’t show up in the order
that they were posted, saying that it was much easier to reach people back when it was
a thing.
Well, I have to say, times have changed dramatically, we have many many more active posters on the
app and this means a whoooole lot of content.
And I mean, unimaginable amounts posted every minute.
With the sheer volume, your posts would’ve been much more likely to drown and there are
users out there following hundreds, even thousands of creators.
I believe the algorithm is there for a reason and helps us connect with our ideal audiences,
if imperfectly at times.
But let me know in the comments what you think about it, I want to know how you feel.
For the Feed, I’ve got a bit of tough love for you.
To rank better, you need to create better content consistently.
It’s not enough to string a few random posts together with no consistency of strategy behind
them.
In order for the Algorithm to deliver your content to your ideal audience, you need to
create posts that constantly bring value, are super engaging to the right people, and
build a community around you.
Without continuous interaction from your audience, you’re unlikely to rank high on a consistent
basis.
Activating your audience before you post may also be a good tactic to boost the interactions
- if you want to know more about how to do it and what other things you can do before
posting to help your post do better, watch this video right here.
Ok, I think it’s time for the…
4.
The Reels Feed Algorithm and here, the goal is to entertain the viewer.
For this reason, Instagram wants to introduce loads of novelty for you so the majority of
content there comes from people you don’t follow.
But how do they assess which Reel is the right one for you?
Here, the most impactful signal is what Reels you’ve interacted with lately, by liking,
commenting, sharing, or saving.
This gives IG the overall context for your current interests.
Then, the history of your interactions with the creator comes into play.
Even though you don’t follow the majority of people you see there, if there were previous
interactions, it’s going to be beneficial for ranking.
Next, we’ve got the information about the Reel itself like the visuals and the audio
that’s attached plus the popularity.
Finally, we’ve got the info about the creator as well, especially how many followers they
have and how high their engagement is.
Pretty similar to the feed, but there are some differences since Instagram is looking
for entertaining content here.
What’s the takeaway for you as a creator here?
Hook people in!
You want to create engaging, visually stimulating, snappy, and highly valuable Reels that entice
people to interact with them.
You can increase the entertainment factor with some trending audios because when you
actually scroll through the Reels Feed, probably around 90% of videos you’ll see there use
trending tracks.
To find if a sound is trending, look for the arrow icon in the bottom left here and to
find a whole list of what’s popular right now, tap on any trending audio, and click
Trending below the audio name.
Another place to get discovered is…
5.
The Explore Page
so it’s the perfect time to figure out how to get on it.
To find the best content for you, the Explore algorithm selects a set of posts to rank,
based on your past activity.
Then, Instagram orders them according to your predicted interest level, looking at likes,
saves, and shares as their priority.
Here, the signals are different because the most important one is the information about
the post itself, especially its popularity.
The algorithm analyzes how many people are liking, commenting, sharing, and saving a
post and it’s very important how quickly it’s all flowing it.
In fact, Instagram emphasizes that it’s more important here than on the Feed and with
Stories.
Apart from this general activity, your own interactions within the Explore page are being
assessed, again, in terms of your own likes, comments, shares & saves you leave under those
newly discovered posts.
That’s a signal for Instagram to show you more similar content in Explore.
Then, we’ve got the history of interactions which, similarly to the Reels feed, is less
likely to have happened since it’s mostly new people being shown there for you and information
about the creator to see how many times people have interacted with them in general.
If you’re hoping to land on the explore page, you need to consistently create valuable
content so that people are interacting with it of course.
The key here is to use striking visuals and strong hooks that instantly capture attention.
Don’t forget about adding some relevant hashtags to help the algorithm understand
the post better.
And of course, if you want to increase interactions, you have to give back as well which means
engaging with your followers and other creators as well.
This social aspect is so often overlooked but is crucial to stimulate even more engagement
for your posts across the board.
6.
Now, a word on downgrading content…
What’s important to note here is that there are signals that the algorithms use to demote
content.
If a post goes against the Community Guidelines, it gets removed.
Pretty straightforward, right.
When misinformation is detected by third-party fact-checkers, the post may be marked as False,
Altered, or Partly False, and consequently, it will be ranked lower on the Feed or Stories.
Also, based on what you reported previously, Instagram may rank certain posts lower too.
I think it’s the best place to talk about Shadowbanning a.k.a.
the algorithms artificially capping or limiting your reach.
It’s something that Instagram consistently said does not exist and does not happen.
If you’re experiencing lower reach, it’s most likely that you’re a) not posting enough
and consistently enough, b) not creating engaging content that speaks to your ideal audience,
and c) not having a clear brand message and a clear niche.
If you suspect that something may be wrong with your account, it’s best to go to the
Account Status which you get by going to your profile, tapping the burger menu in the top
right corner, choosing Settings & Privacy, then scrolling all the way down to find it
here in between Help & About.
It is basically how you can tell if your account and content are good to go and are eligible
to be recommended on Instagram too.
It's like a way of checking if you meet the requirements to get featured on the platform
and for your content to rank well in general.
The best way to consistently hit your social media goals and set yourself up for success
is to have a strong content marketing strategy and I’m confident this video here will help
you create it.
Give this video a big thumbs up if you’ve enjoyed it and consider subscribing, it really
helps my channel grow and allows me to bring you even more in-depth content like this!
If you have any questions or comments, leave them down below and I can’t wait to see
you… next time!