Welcome to my first ever English blog about social media. I usually blog in Dutch since that’s where my focus group is from, but my goal is to go international so from now on I’m experimenting with writing blogs in English. And today we dive into the instagram-algorithm
In this blog I want to talk about what it is that you can do to make the instagram-algorithm like you.
And by liking you, I mean favoring you when it comes to reaching more people and creating better engagement.
Why is that important you might ask.
Good question.
As you may know, I blog about social media use for entrepreneurs and when it comes to using social media as a business there is little more important than how well you are able to converse your followers into customers.
That whole conversion process starts with reaching more people and building interactive engagement.
So that’s why it is important to get on Instagram’s good side.
Alright, now that we have the why settled let’s dive into the how.
First, it’s important to note that Instagram is an ever-changing platform. It’s algorithm with which Instagram controls the way your content is delivered to your followers and non-followers is no exception.
We will discuss the workings of the current instagram-algorithm in the next blog.
For now, it’s important to know that the instagram-algorithm favors users who are using different functionalities and are engaging themselves with other users over users who do not.
Simply said, if the only thing you do on Instagram is posting on your feed the Instagram algorithm will be less friendly towards you.
And for good reason. Instagram wants to boost engagement, it wants to keep people on the platform for as long as possible. If you’re not contributing to that, Instagram won’t reward you.
It’s still more of a why than a how, I know. But, it’s important to understand the why before you focus on the how.
So how do you get to that point that the Instagram algorithm favors you?
Start by using Instagram stories more often. Lately Instagram has put a lot of effort and focus into the development of Instagram stories because they boost engagement.
So, start using Instagram stories by uploading photos and videos with a minimum of 5 stories a day. You’ll notice that your own engagement will go up the day you start to crush to story lines.
The instagram-algorithm will pick it up and reward you for it.
So, you’ve started working with Instagram stories. That means you’ve now discovered the different features within stories.
Features such as polls, swipes, focus function, boomerang, live, sharing your location, using hashtags and mentioning others.
All great features that will help you boost engagement, so not using them is a big waste of resources that are already there.
Especially the poll and swipe features are great ways to engage with your followers/audience and start conversations or figure out what it is they like.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of you engaging with your followers/audience. If you do not engage, you will not converse.
This might not apply if your Nike or Apple, but it does if you’re a start up company trying to leave an impression on other people.
If people react on your post, make sure to react back asap. The same goes for messages in your DM. Instagram will pick it up and reward you for it.
Can you do more? Yes, you can. Find like minded people, people that are in the same niche as you are and start meaningful conversations.
Don’t go out there with superficial one emoji reactions. Ask questions, give tips, start a dialogue and get into the nitty gritty stuff with people.
You want more engagement on your posts because you know that more engagement will lead to a higher conversion rate.
Alright.
Then it’s probably good to know that the Instagram algorithm will show your content to people based on how well you post does in the first hour.
Yes, you’ve heard it right.
That first hour, or as I like to call it “golden hour” is the most important time for you to boost engagement.
How you ask?
Immediately after posting you want to start crushing your Instagram story line. If someone reacts to your post, react back within the hour. I’m saying within the hour, but to be honest I think you want to react asap since that will be picked up by the algorithm as a positive thing.
Start engaging on other people’s posts as well, meaningful reactions mind you. People will see right trough that one emoji shit ????.
So, in a nutshell it’s all about engaging, using Instagram stories and it’s features and being very active in that first hour of posting. That doesn’t mean that you don’t need to be active after that, but it’s just that the first hour is very important.
Let me know what you think. Are there some secret tips and tricks that I’ve missed? Let me know and I’ll be sure to add them the next time.
In my upcoming blogs we will talk about the new Instagram algorithm and Instagram marketing and advertisement.
See ya…