Instagram’s algorithm affects all the platform’s users, and especially brands and creators. And if you are reading this, you are probably wondering if Instagram updated its algorithm. Here is a breakdown of the latest ranking factors in 2021.
What’s new in the algorithm works in 2021
Instagram’s algorithm is the tentacular system that positions content you get to see on your screen every time you open the app. It decides which posts appear on top of your newsfeed and in which order. It also chooses which publications get featured on the Explore tab, Stories, Live videos, Reels, and IGTV videos. The algorithm basically sets the rules that control the organic content get to see. And because of that, many users have screamed for the “reverse-chronological feed” to be back. Nevertheless, Instagram maintains its position, stating that its users used to miss 70% of the posts and 50% of their friends’ posts before the algorithm was launched in 2016.
Source: @creators
Now, how does this algorithm actually work? Well, put simply, it scans the user’s behavior data, and crawls all the available content, then evaluates each one to predict how interesting the publication could be to that user. The most exciting content gets to go to the top of each tab.
To do this, the algorithm has to consider thousands of individual data points, also known as ranking signals. These signals were made public in 2018 when Instagram invited selected tech journalists to its offices to explain how the algorithm works.
Instagram Algorithm Ranking Signals
The Instagram algorithm’s ranking signals are organized under three core categories:
Interest
If you are a long-time Instagram user, you probably got it now. The algorithm’s objective is to give Instagram users a mix of what they want and diversified recommendations based on preferences. The algorithm knows how to get food photography highlights to foodies or display baby memes to future moms by tracking users’ affinity and understanding what’s in a given photo or video.
For businesses, a system that serves people’s preferences means that your organic content has to be really appealing to your target audience for the algorithm to feature it on their feed. Knowing your audience is the best you can do to define your niche and develop a consistent voice while telling stories that matter to people.
Recency
Instagram’s algorithm also supposes that the latest posts are most important to the users. While Instagram officially says that all publications appear, at some point, in the user’s feed, it is statistically proven that newer publications are often ranked higher in the feed than older ones.
And for businesses, one of the easiest ways to improve your Instagram reach is sharing content when your followers are online, scrolling through their own feed.
Relationship
The algorithm assumes that users who have interacted with your account or your past content will be interested in your new publications. So when it decides whether to show a post to one of your followers, it evaluates your relationship. In other words, what ties you to a given user:
- Do you follow each other?
- Did they search for you by name?
- Do you message each other or leave comments?
- Do you tag each other in your posts?
- Do they save your posts?
If you are running a business account, you are probably not friends with your thousands of followers. But the algorithm will recognize it if you have followers who are consistently engaged with your posts. In other words, engaging with your followers does help grow your organic reach.
Other ranking signals
Instagram has also revealed three other factors that will influence your organic reach. These ones are more related to your audience’s behavior than yours:
- Frequency of use: Followers who review their feeds 20 times a day will more likely see your post than those who open Instagram once a day. Users who don’t open the app frequently enough will simply end up with content piled unseen, making them rely more heavily on the algorithm to select their feed content.
- Following: People who follow 1,000 accounts miss more content than those who follow 100 accounts.
- Session time: If your followers spend a lot of interaction time on their feed, they’re more likely to see every post available.
For businesses, it only means that your ideal Instagram follower is the one that loyally reads their entire feed several times per day and doesn’t follow too many accounts. That said, instead of encouraging your audience to unfollow everyone but you. More valuable tips coming up.
8 Tips to Master the 2021 Instagram Algorithm
Use Carousels in Your Posts
Although Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t explicitly prioritize carousels, posts that get more interactions are rewarded with more reach. And carousel posts make up approximately 17% of the feeds posts, and according to Hootsuite, they attract 3 times the engagement and 1.4 times the reach of other post types.
I love to use carousels to show more details of a product or tell a story displayed on several pages. And the fact that we need to interact (slide) the content to see the rest of the content probably helps make the algorithm happy. For instance, I have seen many designers and marketers display their content in carousels that I really love to go through. It feels a bit like reading through a magazine to me.
Consistency is Key
Being consistent at posting is essential whether you’re looking to reach, engage, or grow your follower base.
On average, businesses publish 1.56 posts on Instagram per day. If that may sound too much for micro-businesses, be sure that just posting consistently, once a week, for example), is enough to keep the ball rolling.
Again, Instagram has never stated that their algorithm ranks your posts based on your account’s posting frequency. But, a consistent presence is still the best way to build a real connection with your followers. It’s just like in real life: having a constant conversation with someone or a group of people helps build and strengthen relationships.
On your way to consistency, having a social media content calendar will become super important to help you plan everything ahead without getting stuck on the day you need to publish something.
Don’t Try to Trick the Algorithm
Believe me (and every social media specialist out there), you need to avoid Instagram pods, buying followers, and Instagram automation because they don’t work at all.
According to Instagram, the algorithm can tell when you have shady account activities and adjust content displays based on your account’s authenticity. So instead of looking for a free Instagram likes service, you should spend more time focusing on what you can actually control: develop relationships, storytelling, authenticity, consistency, etc.
Forget About the Myths
Remember this:
- Shadowbanning accounts or deleting posts is not a real thing. According to Instagram, but if you violate Instagram’s community guidelines or Terms of Use, your account can actually be disabled
- The reach cap was fake as well
- Creator profiles, business accounts, and verifies accounts don’t get a boost from the algorithm, though they do have their own benefits (like analytics)
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Check Out Instagram’s New Features
According to artist Rachel Reichenbach, the algorithm currently boosts Reels’ ranking so that more people see and use this new feature. Though the platform hasn’t officially confirmed that information, but it does make sense when you think of it. Instagram wants Reels to be as successful as TikTok’s videos, like Stories from Snapchat and IGTV from Youtube.
If you post one reel to Instagram, it’s definitely not a guaranteed method for raising your organic reach. But, posting a really engaging Reel will likely expose your account to new users and get your content better engagement. In some cases, like the NFL team, reels are pulling in 67% more interaction than regular videos. Another case would be Hootsuite’s social team, who tested this theory and figured that posting Reels helped boost their engagement and community growth.
Instagram’s @creators account mentions that Reels actually have live humans going through them to feature the best ones… it also shared official tips for Instagram Reels posts:
- Do not reuse watermarked TikToks
- Shoot vertically
- Use the tools included offered in the reel tab: filters, music, camera effects, etc.
For your business, including reels in your Instagram marketing strategy isn’t going to save everything. Still, if it fits your brand’s guidelines, there could be a significant upside to it.
Use Hashtags Better
Hashtags are probably the oldest form of “algorithm” feed. Today, machine learning systems can sort a huge amount of content in much more complex and efficient ways. Nevertheless, using the right hashtags on your posts can help you to appear in trending topics’ feeds so people can follow you beyond your followers.
Accurate and thoughtful hashtags will indicate users and the algorithm about your content’s nature and who might be interested in it. Hashtags stand as an interesting alternative to Instagram paid ads.
That said, a good hashtag isn’t just #loveandlight and #instagood on everything. You need to look at keywords around your niche, do hashtag research, and use those related to your content. For your keywords research, I personally use Hashtag Expert or Later.
Post When Your Audience is Online
This point is probably the most straightforward tip to follow on this list. In 2020, users spent an average of 30 minutes per day on Instagram. And we also know that Instagram wants to serve recent, relevant content to them. So, figuring out the best time to post to Instagram means looking at your analytics, checking your audience’s behavior, industry benchmarks, and knowing when your objective audience is typically on Instagram.
Know that you can also schedule your posts through social media software such as Hootsuite, Later, or Facebook’s Creator Studio.
Bond With Your Audience
Winning likes and saves are probably the best way to win at the algorithm’s ranking. Whatever KPI objectives you have for your Instagram account, success will come when you seduced people’s hearts and touched people’s souls.
The primary benchmark for “good” engagement on Instagram is somewhere between 1 to 5%. But in 2020, the average engagement rate of a business account was about 0.85%. If you are in that case, you can look at the following list as options:
- Define your audience, so you know what they want from you. I like to create buyer personas when I search for my target market
- Answer comments and DMs
- Create an ongoing Story where you can share posts you’ve been tagged in, aka UGC or User Generated Content
Sources: Hootsuite Blog, Techcrunch, Instagram, Instagram Blog
