Instagram is the fastest-growing social platform today. With the majority of users ranging between the ages 18-24 years. In 2018, Instagram had 1 billion active accounts. And yes, you read that right, 1 billion.
Brands have caught on the social media buzz and are heavily invested with the social platform to reach a bigger audience and engage directly with clients and potential customers. Instagram is the perfect platform for positioning your brand and marketing your business compared to Facebook and Twitter, who take less than 1% of the social media marketing platforms. That’s low. But we’re not going to dwell on that today.
So, what exactly are all these people going on about on Instagram every waking minute?
With the vast traffic jamming Instagram, 200 million visitors view at least one business profile each day. More than 95 million stories, videos, and photos are shared every day, with the content garnering more than 4 billion “likes.”
Before you look at these numbers critically, you need to understand the Instagram algorithm for your media strategy.
How do you get Instagram users attracted to your brand, how do you gain organic reach, be seen, be heard, and ultimately convert the engagement to sales?
In this article, we’re going to look at the Instagram algorithm for 2020 for your owned media strategy.
Here’s a summary of critical highlights we’ll discuss:
- How the Instagram marketing Algorithm works
- How to create an Instagram profile for your brand
- Using Instagram’s Algorithm to build a powerful media strategy
- How to grow your following and make money on Instagram
- performance tracking with Instagram Insights
- apps to use on Instagram
Here we go.
Instagram Algorithm
Instagram Algorithm is a widely misunderstood term, and you don’t need to be a tech nerd to understand how it works. For brands, this is a friend you want to hang on to if you need 90% success for your marketing strategy on this social platform. The Instagram algorithm helps your brand deliver relevant, engaging content to attract users to your Instagram page.
How does the Instagram algorithm work?
In a nutshell, Algorithms observe users’ actions and then use this information to come up with accurate guesses on what these individuals would like to see on their pages in the future. If you, the brand owner, post relevant and engaging content that’s catchy to those users, then your posts will regularly appear on the news feeds of thousands of Instagram users.
So what should you do to promote your media strategy?
The goal here is to create quality content that wows your audience consistently. Always.
Post deliberate and thoughtful content that focuses on grabbing your audience’s attention. Engage with your followers regularly to understand what they would like to see on your branded page.
Instagram Marketing Algorithm
Instagram marketing is social media marketing where businesses or individuals use this social platform to promote their business using creative and catchy media owned strategies to attract users to their brands.
There are several ways to promote content on Instagram, so the Instagram algorithm change is unpredictable and inevitable since users are always looking for something new, something catchy. So you should use different strategies to accomplish your marketing campaign to attract new users every day.
Let’s look at the available alternatives various to use the Instagram marketing algorithm.
There are two categories you can use to beat the Instagram algorithm 2020 advertising techniques:
1.Influencer marketing
2.Paid ad campaigns
- Unpaid campaigns include creating engaging posts, Instagram Stories, and interacting with your followers with comments and other users’ posts.
Now the goal here is to attract more users and sell your products or services.
So you need to put in extra effort to acquire new followers every day, build relationships with other brands, and boost your Instagram brand recognition to increase your customer base and ultimately grow your sales organically.
Let’s get into the specifics of the Instagram algorithm and how it will get you more followers and potential clients.
Instagram algorithm 2020 for Your Media Owned Strategy
- The Instagram Newsfeed Algorithm
Instagram monitors what you like and engage with every time you log in. This means that it keeps tabs of users’ activities and creates an algorithm to predict what you may want to see based on your past likes and clicks. So next time you log in, Instagram predicts what you like and have these images/stories or videos on your newsfeed. So how does this work for brands?
The Instagram algorithm 2020 determines users’ future content based on their past experiences. With this knowledge, you need a steady supply of content to attract users to your newsfeed and encourage more clicks and views for the algorithm to select your content for your followers automatically.
The secret here is to post daily content for the algorithm to pick it up for your regular customers.
- The Instagram Engagement Algorithm
Instagram watches user engagement on all newsfeeds with activities like comments, tags, shares, and likes. If you have regular followers and often like your content, share, or comment on it, the social platform picks these activities and places them in the “important” category. Each time your top followers log in, they will always see your content and engage with it.
Other Instagram resources include regular engagement with your followers; acknowledge them by replying to comments, DMs, and inquiries if you want more sales on Instagram.
So hacking the Instagram algorithm 2020 for your brand should be a priority. Reply to comments on time, and have meaningful chats with your followers. Show them you’re available and that you care.
- The Instagram Time Algorithm
Instagram works on real-time engagement because the platform has millions of visitors every waking minute, so timing is everything.
How do you know the best time to post content on your newsfeed?
If you have a business profile, it’s easy to monitor the analytics to factor the timing algorithm that works best for you.
By studying the Instagram analytics, you will get to know your followers’ geographical locations and the sequential number of likes, views, and engagement with your posted content. Once you understand these logistics, you will strategically post your products or services when most of your followers are online.
- The Instagram Frequency Algorithm to Sort Content
Regular Instagram app users see fresh content every few minutes, meaning you need to post new content at least three times to keep your followers engaged. You never know when your post may go viral and gets shared or viewed a thousand times, heck, even receive a million views if it’s beautiful and gets people talking about it.
The more time users spend on the Insta app; the more likely the App will display fresh content. This system chronologically sorts out content on your newsfeed, and the algorithm churns out different views for frequent Instagram users.
For less frequent visitors, the App shows them accessible content and skips all the other posts, probably the days’ highlights or the most viewed videos, and liked images of favorite brands or businesses.
The secret to cracking the new Instagram Algorithm for brand strategy is timing and regular engagement.
Let’s talk dig more into the crucial aspects when it comes to mastering the Instagram algorithm.
How to Strategize Content Engagement with Instagram Algorithm Change
Engagement is the crucial ingredient for cracking the Instagram Algorithm 2020. It works by displaying the content your followers are likely to engage with.
Let’s say one of your followers decides to scroll aimlessly through their newsfeed chooses to go all the way down – not to look for anything specific. But let’s say they keep bumping into your old content, and still go further down, which is a bottomless feed because they probably follow thousands of other users. Instagram notices such browsing habits and sends a, “You’re all caught up now!” message.
Not all users do this because it’s tedious. The point here is, your followers will only scroll, say, up to 20-30 or even 50 stories before moving on to other apps on their phones.
Now let’s assume you have an established account with 3,000 followers, of which only 300 are active users.
How do you beat the algorithm to gain maximum reach for the 10% of your followers every day?
With these numbers, timing is everything with the new Instagram algorithm.
Instagram algorithm change – Timing with your posts
We talked about Instagram marketing, using paid ads to drive sales for your brand. Understandably, this is how Instagram makes money. From paid ads and the easiest way to gain new followers is to sign up for the Instagram paid ads.
So how does a brand benefit from paid ads on Instagram?
By advertising with the social platform and having them post your brand at strategic intervals, keep your followers engaged with your content throughout the day.
The longer your followers stay on the App, the more they’ll keep bumping into your content, no matter how further down they scroll. Now imagine 100 new followers seeing your content every two hours?
That’s how the algorithm picks followers to engage with your content. So if you have placed an ad to run for the next 30 days, the algorithm will change for every new user, multiplying the number of your followers exponentially during the advertising period. All you have to do is keep them engaged to realize sales from the sea of followers on your newsfeed.
Instagram algorithm change – Daily Posting
Once you have grown your following organically, it’s time to keep your followers happy with daily posts to experience the positive Instagram algorithm change.
- Turn On Post Notifications
- Post daily Images
- Post daily Videos
- Post on IGTV
- Reply to your direct messages
- Respond to Comments
- Engage with your followers; like their posts as well
- Color Grade your newsfeed
Turn On your Post Notifications
This feature is optional if you don’t want too many alerts buzzing on your phone every 2 minutes. Bit it helps keep tabs with your posts and see who likes your content and check if there are any potential orders. The latter should receive real-time feedback just if they feel ignored and move on to another brand displayed on their newsfeed. Now you don’t want that happening too often, so keep this option open.
Post Daily Photos
If you want to beat the Instagram algorithm change on the daily, you’ll have to post fresh pics every day. Not just any picture but quality attractive pics with a consistent color scheme and excellent picture resolution. Give your followers something to look forward to every day.
If you’re in the beauty industry, there are hundreds of makeup pictures to post. You can pick a few attractive models to advertise your products every day.
This way, your Instagram algorithm 2020 receives fresh content, earning you new followers every day.
You can organize your daily posts with a schedule to keep your followers engaged all day long if you don’t have the time to do it yourself daily.
This is a great way to connect with your followers and establish a relationship if they enjoy your content.
Consistency is key to achieving the Instagram algorithm change.
Post Videos
Instagram videos help to connect with your audience. They’re a great way to tell success stories with your customers and keep your followers engaged.
You can introduce a new product with a brand new video and show it for the next couple of weeks to attract new followers.
Surprise your audience with random selfie videos to say thank you to your loyal fans and show them that you appreciate their time and money.
If your followers like your videos, they’ll get shared on the social media platform, so make sure your brand features stand out so that you can get direct feedback as soon as a potential customer dm’s you – or your video goes viral. Instagram algorithms favor viral videos by displaying them on the explore page.
Post to IGTV
IGTV videos are a great way to showcase your products. Instagram displays your videos on the Explore page to attract more followers to your newsfeed.
IGTV can take up to hour-long videos, but the length varies with the size of accounts, i.e., the number of followers. If your account followers are in the range of hundreds, you can post 10-15 second-videos to post engaging content. You can introduce a product, do a quick demo, or display your array of products for your followers to have a glimpse of your new stock. The Instagram algorithm picks out the most shared videos and shows them on your explore page. The more engaging IGTV videos you post, the more you gain new followers from the multiple views.
Reply to Direct Messages
In most cases, direct messages are inquiries to something Instagram users saw, and liked, or would love to know more about your products or services. If you have your notifications turned on, it’s easy to see real-time direct messages, and you can respond instantly.
Instagram algorithms show engaging pages, so you don’t want to be ignored just because you equally ignored your dm’s.
When you interact with your followers, it shows that you care and that you’re available, which makes you approachable and loveable.
All these actions translate to a positive algorithm change and eventual sales for your brand. So keep responding to your clients’ queries.
Reply to Comments
Engagement is all about direct interaction with your followers. Take some time off your busy schedule and reply to comments on your news feed. This is a great way to crack the Instagram algorithm by keeping your posts up there, all the time.
To engage with your followers regularly, support their businesses, and go through their newsfeeds and leave a thoughtful comment. Who knows, you may awaken a dormant follower to come back to your newsfeed and check out your latest merchandise. And guess what? The new Instagram algorithm will notice this activity and place more of your content on their newsfeed.
Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories appear at the top of users’ newsfeed, and the algorithm picks out accounts that regularly engage with your newsfeed to make sure they don’t miss out on a post.
Stories are so popular that nearly 500 million Instagram users engage more with Instagram Stories than on any other social platform. Stories are an exciting way to share content with your followers. Instagram allows a maximum length of 15 seconds long, displayed for only 24 hours, at the top of your newsfeed.
For businesses that post stories daily, the stories will continually display on your top followers’ newsfeed to encourage engagement.
You can add extras to your Instagram Stories with cool features like GIFS, quizzes, and stickers. Make the add-ons relate with your brand as an advertising form to encourage a call to action.
Instagram Hashtags
Hashtags are practically everywhere on social media platforms, and Instagram is no exception to the popularity of #hashtags. First of all, understand that hashtags encourage engagements and content relevance. They guide users to skim through popular or viral posts
So how do you beat the Instagram algorithm with #hashtags?
You can promote your content through trending Instagram hashtags to help your followers get to your posts quickly.
Seasoned Instagram users look for content using #hashtags to save on time. So if you want to create relevant posts in your industry, go to your Instagram app and search for the trending topic of the day.
If it falls within your industry, you can now create a popular post – either in the video, picture, or story and include a brief caption with the relevant #hashtag to attract your followers to your content. The Instagram algorithm will pick the most viewed stories from that hashtag and display it on your followers’ newsfeed.
Alternatively, you can generate fresh #hashtags using the Keyword Tool for your content based on your preferred branded keywords. You can opt for the free keyword results or opt for the paid version for an extensive list.
Consequently, once you identify an ideal branded #hashtag, you can always use it to scout for your posts and use it for your ad campaigns.
Instagram Carousel Posts
Carousel ads feature several images, videos, or Panos. You may upload up to ten images per post and display it on your newsfeed with a direct link to your website.
For every click on your carousel pictures or videos, the Instagram algorithm picks these activities to rank your post at the top of your followers’ newsfeed.
Remember, the secret here is to post daily, for engagement and exposure to as many followers as possible to beat the Instagram Algorithm for your branded business account.
You can also recycle old images with carousel ads if your following has grown, for those new likes and shares to keep going. Carousels save you time since you can schedule weekly posts and turn on the notification button for feedback and direct engagement with your fans.
Shoppable Posts
Back in 2018, Instagram developed “Shopping,” an app that allows people to buy items within the App.
The App allows businesses and brands to post images and stories where potential customers get to buy products on the company’s’ website once they click on the brand’s newsfeed on Instagram. However, you need a linked Facebook account to access Shoppable on Instagram.
This fantastic feature works well for brands that sell multiple items online. The Instagram Algorithm collects user activities from your newsfeed and displays your ads to loyal followers who’ve made multiple purchases on the App. The next time they log in, your ad content will be displayed at the top of their news feed for another potential sale.
Isn’t that great?
Microblog Captions
Microblogs involve creative captions that go along with your posts. They help tell a story, give step-by-step instructions on how to apply makeup, for example. Captions boost posts with engagement where your followers can try out your products and provide immediate feedback. They’re a great way to push sales with direct client feedback if users provide real-time positive results.
The more you include microblogs with your stories, the more followers you gain r by popularity, which in turn drives sales up the roof. Instagram algorithms pick these activities and notify your followers each your post.
The Instagram Explore Page
The explore Page summarises relevant posts from popular accounts, which they think you’ll enjoy. The Instagram Algorithm picks your favorite users – where Instagram believes you wouldn’t want to miss posts from your favorite users based on clicks or regular engagement. In a nutshell, Instagram picks what your followers will enjoy, that’s why they have the explore page at the top of every Instagram user accounts’ newsfeed.
Conclusion/Final word
Instagram is the place to be if you’re looking to grow your businesses online. You can open up multiple brand accounts to monitor your product lines and grow your followers organically with daily posts comprising pictures, videos, and stories. If you haven’t tried Instagram before, don’t worry, the website has fantastic ideas for individuals and businesses where you have guidelines on how to go about it. Best of all, you will also discover with time that you don’t have to worry about content creation, do tedious edits, and follow up on posts. You can hire a social media expert to handle all your accounts while you figure out the business’s sales with Instagram analytics. Meanwhile, we hope these Instagram algorithms will help build your brands by following our tips and ideas on how to monetize your businesses on this leading social media platform for established companies with Instagram accounts.