“What’s an algorithm?”
“Why should virtual assistants care about the Instagram algorithm?”
“How can I maximize my reach on Instagram?”
“It feels like every time I turn around, Instagram has changed again!”
Some days it feels like there are more questions than answers. But today is not that day! I’m here with the answers to these questions and more. Ready, set…let’s learn all things Instagram algorithm!
What’s an algorithm and why should I care about it?
Every social media platform has an automated system that decides WHO sees your content and HOW OFTEN they see it. Using data from each user’s social media behavior, the platform tries to show each user a customized feed based on what they think the user wants to see.
This means that just because someone follows you, they won’t automatically see your posts or stories in their feed. By the way, THAT’S why you should care about the algorithm, because if no one (not even your followers!) is seeing your content – what’s the point?
Here’s an example of the algorithm at work: Have you ever noticed that the Instagram stories and posts from some accounts ALWAYS appear first in your feed? That’s NOT because they were the last person to post a story or post before you opened the app. It’s because you’ve “told” Instagram that you want to see content from that account (by liking, watching, commenting, and interacting with their content) and so it’s prioritizing their new content for you.
Instagram doesn’t release the formula for their algorithm, which means people are constantly trying to “crack the code” and figure out how they can get their content seen by a wider audience.
We DON’T know exactly how the platform weighs each action and factors it into the algorithm. But we DO know that when a user interacts with content on the platform, it tells the algorithm that it wants to see more of that type of content. With that in mind, let’s dive right into how to beat the algorithm!
Consistency Matters
What is our goal on Instagram? No matter who your target market is, the goal is always going to be two-fold: 1) to reach as many of our followers as possible with our content and 2), to consistently increase our organic reach to new accounts (aka, bring new ideal clients into our world). In order to do that, we have to post consistently.
That’s not the only reason we need to post consistently. Maintaining a regular posting schedule is shown to improve overall Instagram growth and reach. So what does a “regular posting schedule” look like?
There’s a lot of controversy about exactly how often to post, which tells us the algorithm isn’t automatically prioritizing accounts that post daily. For most people, that’s an unsustainable objective. Your goal should be to post as often as you can sustain consistently.
I would suggest a MINIMUM of 1 post and 1-2 reels weekly, and 2-3 stories daily. If you can sustain more than that – do it! Don’t create subpar content just for the sake of posting, because you’ll have a low engagement rate, which the algorithm doesn’t like.
Engagement is KING
If your audience is seeing your content, but scrolling by without interacting with it – that’s a problem. Why? Because Instagram will assume they are no longer interested in your account and stop prioritizing it in their feed. Here’s some of the ways engagement is measured on Instagram: Likes, comments, shares, saves, profile visits, and video views. Anyone who engages with a post in one or more of these ways “tells” the algorithm to show it more content from this account. This means you not only want your followers to leave likes and comments but that you need to respond and engage too.
We can encourage engagement on our posts by creating and posting quality content. This one section could be an entire course, so I’m not going to get too in-depth here, but instead just give you some tips and general guidelines:
Give actionable value.
What can your audience do with the information you are giving them?
Ask a thoughtful question.
You’ve probably heard that you should end posts with a question – and that’s definitely true! Questions encourage comments and post interactions. But the quality of the question definitely matters. Focus on asking quality questions that people feel compelled to weigh in on. Questions like “what do you think?” are too generic and don’t generally produce a great response.
Long-form posts.
Time spent on a post does matter. This doesn’t mean you need to write an entire novel in the caption, but it doesn mean it should be more than a catchy phrase or quote. Give your audience something to think about, something to engage with – and do it in a way that keeps them on your post for longer than 30 seconds. Carousel posts with multiple slides are another great way to do this!
Always respond to comments.
This one is self-explanatory, but really can’t be emphasized enough. When someone leaves you a comment or responds to a story – always, always respond! This helps increase your engagement rating and Instagram will show your post to more people.
Utilize stories.
Recent surveys have shown that users are spending more time scrolling through stories vs. posts on Instagram. Keep that red ring around your face and use every IG feature at your disposal to keep your audience engaged. Polls, question boxes, sliders, music – keep them all in the regular rotation. Here’s a recent blog post about how to build a brand using Instagram stories.
Utilize New Features
Some parts of the algorithm may be wrapped in secrecy, but here’s one thing we know for sure: Instagram will always prioritize content that uses new platform features. When Reels were launched in 2020, accounts that utilized them early and often saw massive growth. In fact, Reels is still the best way to increase your reach and impressions from NEW accounts. This means that Instagram will show relevant Reels to users via the Explore Page.
If you want to maximize your reach using Reels – try to use trending audio. While there is not always a correlation (IG likes to keep us guessing!) you will usually see much higher reach using popular sounds and audios.
Hashtags Still Matter
Yup, you still gotta use those hashtags on every post! Because Instagram shows new posts to users based on similar interests, it’s super important to utilize relevant hashtags for every post. Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags per post, but most experts agree that anywhere from 15-30 doesn’t seem to dramatically increase results.
Just Show Up
Here’s my #1 tip for beating the Instagram algorithm: Just show up. Deliver quality content that speaks to your ideal client – you will see growth and bring new leads into your universe. It’s absolutely a good idea to keep all of these algorithms factors in the back of your mind as you create content and engage on the app, but none of that really matters if you’re not showing up with consistency. I’m pretty sure I’ve said that about four times now, but that’s because it really is the most important factor!
While we’re on the topic of Instagram, are you following me? I’d love to connect with you! Find me here: http://www.instagram.com/peggyrejames.com – and then shoot me a DM and let me know you found me via my blog, it’ll make my day!
