Have you ever wondered why Instagram puts certain people or business’s posts on your feed? It is all based on your behaviors. Sounds sorta creepy, but in reality, Instagram figures out what you want to see based on what posts you have liked or interacted with in the past.
So the big question is…how does Instagram make these decisions? Their algorithm is relatively simple. It is based on three factors: interests, recency and relationships.
Interest
Interest is Instagram’s way of predicting how much you will actually care about a post by giving higher rankings to things that matter to you. This is determined by past behaviors such as liking posts, commenting on posts or visiting someone’s profile page and scrolling.
Think of it this way. You go into your personal Instagram feed, search for a few photos of Golden Retriever puppies and close out of the app. Later in the day, you glance at your explorer feed and it is full of photos and videos of dogs. Instagram determined that you were interested in dogs based on your recent search and deemed it worthy of being on your explorer feed.
If you want your business to show up organically in someone’s newsfeed, you need to think of ways that will make people want to see or search your posts and business profile.
Recency
Timeliness is a huge priority with the current algorithm. Instagram prioritizes recent posts over posts from a few hours ago. So remember, time is better than content when it comes to your post strategy.
Relationships
Instagram places more priority on making sure you see the posts of people you interact a lot with. For example, if you comment or are tagged in a lot of posts with someone, their post will show up more in your feed. It sends a signal to Instagram that they are in your “friends or family” category.
Encourage people to comment on your posts by asking questions or hosting social media giveaways so your posts can be seen more in their feed. You should also make people want to tag your company in their posts and then, share those fan posts on your page.
Want to step up your social media game, but don’t know where to start? Call Fly Pages for your free 30-minute consultation so we can help you discover your social media game plan.
