How the Instagram Algorithm Works for Feed & Stories
This post is inspired by an episode of the Social Media Marketing School podcast. Back in November they did an episode titled “How the Instagram Algorithm ACTUALLY Works” where the host, Ethan Bridge, shared 3 basic pillars that determine what shows on your Instagram Feed:
Interest: Instagram will show your content to people who have shown interest in related content
Relationships: Instagram will push content to people your account has a good relationship with or interact with often on the platform
Time: the more you post, the more you stay relevant, the more your content shows on people’s feed
Seems pretty simple, right?
As a frequent Instagram user, it got me curious about “The Algorithm” (how many times have people told you about this mysterious thing?) and how personal and business accounts can play it to their advantage. When I took a deeper look, it turns out that there are actually multiple algorithms that are always at play on Instagram to make sure your Feed is full of personalized content that creates a tailored user experience, likely in order to keep you coming back for more.
In this post, we are going to only focus on main Feed and Reels, since they are where most Instagram users spend their time.
Instagram says there are 4 signals that determine what shows first on your feed:
Information about the post: such as, how many people liked it, how long it is, the location, etc
Information about the person who posted: how many times have you interacted with the person who posted the content?
Your activity: what your main interests are on the app, such as a preference for videos or photos
Your history of interacting with someone: if you have commented on their posts before, it’s like you’re interested in their content
After taking all of these points into consideration, Instagram then calculates a “score of interest” to determine what rank a post will be in your feed. It questions whether you will:
· Spend time on the post
· Like it
· Comment
· Save it
· Click on the profile
If the answer to these questions Instagram is wondering about you a potential post on your Feed is yes, there’s a pretty solid chance you will see that post ranked quite highly on your feed. If not, it will fall deeper down to where you may not view it at all.
How does this relate to growing your business, you may ask?
Instagram has reported that after making the switch from a chronological feed to a ranked feed, the average post is seen by 50% more followers than before. This means that Instagram is helping your content by putting it in front of people who they believe, based on what we outlined above, already have an interest in what you are putting out. As long as you deliver on quality content, Instagram will do their part and get it to who needs to see it.
The takeaway from all of this? Always strive to create engaging, relevant and quality content, in order to find and engage your audience.
Next week we will discuss just how to do that in order to make the most of Instagram’s Feed & Stories algorithms, so make sure to check back!
Written by Katie Burcea