The largest photographic social network in the world revealed some of its most intimate secrets: How do you decide to order the posts in the feed (Homepage).
Already in March 2016, he decided to stop showing posts in chronological order and began to rely on an algorithm that was changing over time, and that no one knew exactly what it was.
For this reason, in this article we are going to reveal how the Instagram algorithm works and how you can take advantage of it to improve the profile of your brand on this network. Look!
The success trilogy
To order the feed of updates from each user, Instagram is based on their machine learning: a learning machine that understands what each person likes according to their actions within the network.
Is machine learning analyzes three fundamental variables: interest, relationship and novelty. But what exactly is each one about? Let’s see them in detail. 🙂
1) Interest
This variable is calculated from the history of each userthat is, according to their “likes”, their comments or the words they have searched for on this social network.
In other words, it takes into account the content that the user liked in the past to determine what the user will be most interested in seeing now. From there, it analyzes the current content of your contacts and determines what to show you first.
In addition, Instagram is able to recognize the , which allows it to better identify people’s interest in certain topics.
All this means that:
- Interest goes hand in hand with behavior that the user has had within the network. This way, your preferred content will rank higher on your feed.
- If a user follows exactly the same people as another user but their level of interest is different (one comments and the other doesn’t, one likes, the other doesn’t), its feed it will be different too since Instagram personalizes it according to the interests of each one.
Type 1: As soon as you receive a comment or a private message, respond to it! In this way, you will add points to appear on the main page of your follower. 🙂
Type 2: Generate content that you think can add a lot of likes, so you make sure you are in the feed of your followers!
2) Relationship
Another of the variables that the Instagram algorithm uses to order the publications in the feed is the relationship that a user has with others, and this is measured from the interaction.
The more comments a user writes on certain people’s photos, or tags them in them, Instagram will assume that these people are part of your family group or friendsand that’s why it’s going to show you your posts first.
For Instagram to include you in this group, we recommend that you:
Type 1: Make posts that generate a interaction with your followersfor example, by asking questions, and in the copy of the publication invite them to respond in the comments.
Type 2: Create contests where your followers have to tag their contacts. All of these actions can get you featured on their feed from Instagram!
3) Novelty
The new is what has more weight: the most recent content is the one that, taking into account the other two variables, is going to position itself better in the ranking of the feedeven if it has not yet been consumed.
Type 1: Eye! It is not that you publish anything every 10 minutes in order to have fresh content. Pay attention to the so that they generate more interaction and measure better in the Instagram algorithm. Yes,the secret is to find the balance!
Type 2: Make a content calendar to organize what day and time you are going to publish according to the public of your brand. For example, if you analyze Instagram metrics and discover that your posts have more interaction in the afternoon, take advantage of that time of day to get the most out of it! loooong juice!
With this magic algorithm, different people in charge of Instagram (among them the Product Leader, Julián Gutman) ensure that the more than 1,000 million active users of the network in the world see 90% of the most relevant publications thus favoring your user experience.
What other factors define the order of Instagram posts?
In addition to the three variables that we just told you about, there are others (less relevant) that can also determine the ranking of a user’s posts.
Frequency
If the user opens the Instagram application many times a day, his feed perhaps it looks more chronological because Instagram tries to show the best content since your last visit.
On the other hand, if the user does not frequent Instagram much, his feed It will be ordered purely from the Instagram algorithm.
Followed accounts
Instagram curates content from all the accounts a user follows. This means that the more people or brands you follow, the less content you will see from each of them.
Use
This social network also contemplates the time that each user spends in the application: if it is sooooo much, the user is likely to see more posts as they dive into Instagram. If it is more moderate, you will see the highlights of the algorithm (and only that).
Debunking Instagram myths
Finally, and to clear up certain doubts that the public has had for some time, those responsible for Instagram assure that the application:
- It does not favor neither more nor less those accounts that use the .
- Does not benefit business accounts over personal accounts.
- It does not give more importance to photos than to videos, or vice versa.
Now that you know how the Instagram algorithm works, it’s time to apply it to your social media strategy.
You can also take the opportunity to apply the latest Instagram Shopping functionality to increase your online sales, right? Learn more about it in our complete super guide.
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