Instagram has evolved beyond an entertainment-only social media platform – it is one of the best places to grow your business and reach out to potential customers all over the world.
The Instagram algorithm was designed in such a way that businesses can reach out to their targeted customer profile with content that they like and value. Now, when you are marketing your business on Instagram, you would want only genuinely interested people to view your posts, to maximize the conversion rates.
Instagram’s algorithm considers several factors before showing content on an individual user’s feed. Knowing about the platform’s ranking factors will increase the chances of getting your content listed on relevant people’s feeds.
If you can find out or see what someone likes on Instagram, and create content according to that, it will give your content the initial push it needs. The other essential factors to consider are –
- Interest- The order of posts and reels on your customer’s feed will depend on their interests, relationship with the account posting the content, and the post’s timeline. Instagram will remember the past activities, and it will also notice the engagement, for example, the types of posts the user spends more time on. More than the popularity of the content, the appearance of the posts on a feed depends on the relevance.
- Timeline- Instagram always tries to show content that is added recently and is relevant to the users’ interest. The algorithm basically re-orders only the new content added to the platform after your last visit.
- Relationship- Users will see those posts from those accounts first with whom they interact frequently. The Instagram algorithm uses past interactions and engagement to understand this factor.
- Frequency- The Instagram algorithm always tries to show the users the best posts since they have last opened the app. If someone opens Instagram many times during the day, they will see posts relevant to their interests on every instance.
- Following- Depending on the number of accounts the user follows on Instagram, the platform will try to sort relevant and new content for you since your last visit. When the users follow thousands of accounts, they will see less content from individual accounts. However, with less following, users are likely to see more content from each of the accounts they are following.
- Usage- The content, shown by the algorithm, also depends on the time spent by a user on a single visit to Instagram. For users who prefer shorter visits, the app will show relevant content first. But for those who stay for quite long in the app will get to see a deeper catalog of fresh content.
If you are a social media manager trying to leverage Instagram for target advertising, understanding how the algorithm works, is bound to be highly useful. Rather than trying short-term hacks on a trial-and-error basis, you can create content that fulfills long-term business goals for your company. Even if the algorithm changes after some time, you will be able to adjust your content accordingly.