Is the Instagram algorithm not showing your posts? Making you a little mad? Don't worry, me too.
Instagram has been constantly changing in recent years and is one of the biggest marketing mediums to date. They have changed the way which posts are shown and this can determine how much of your content actually reaches your followers. Many people have seen their engagement and traffic go down as a result of this and trust me, no one is happy about it. But, contrary to popular belief, there are ways to break the algorithm and continue having your content on top.
Tip 1: Create a specific niche
When you have a specific audience, it is easier for more people to find you. People who follow a specific niche of content will be more likely to find you if you also specifically identify with a specific niche. For example, maybe your Instagram is all about GirlBoss motivation, you should have a handle with "girlboss" in it, describe your niche in your bio, and have a strict theme that represents that niche (quotes, pictures of powerful women, etc.). This way, your posts are more likely to come up in the recommendations of people who follow similar accounts, AKA your niche.
Tip 2: Have posts with multiple pictures
More content = more reach so if you have multiple content in one post, it tracks well with the algorithm and will be more likely to be picked up by your followers. Ever noticed how influencers post multi-picture posts even if the pictures are all very similar? There's your answer.
Tip 3: Utilize Instagram story and IGTV features
This is a medium that you can use to interact with your followers. People like to look at new things and these two features on Instagram have become very popular. Especially for Instagram stories, it is easier to engage with your audience by using the Q&A or polls feature. People love interacting with those and the more interacting your audience does with you, the more likely your posts will come up at the top of their feed.
Tip 4: Interact with your audience more
Having more comments on your posts will lead to a wider reach as Instagram sees it as being a popular post, similar to how YouTube works. Ask questions or strike a conversation by choosing your caption carefully in order to gain more comments and attraction to your post.
Tip 5: Do not use overused follower gaining techniques
Even though it is 2019, some people still try to buy followers or do "f4f" (follow for a follow) techniques to gain more followers; however, those are just not going to work anymore. You might, just might, get some more followers but these followers will not be engaged and not like any of your pictures. Therefore, you will not get any attraction to your feed thus having less attention. Trust me, people care about content, NOT the number of followers you have.
Tip 6: Analyze analytics
You do not want to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Look at who is looking at your posts and who is liking them to see who to target your content at. Then, look at what your best and worst posts are and use that to create better content in the future.
Tip 7: Post consistently
The more you post, the more you will get picked up by the algorithm. That is the Golden Rule here. You will naturally get more engagement and audiences will have consistently more opportunities to find your feed.
Tip 8: Choose the right hashtags
If you use too popular of hashtags or too unpopular of hashtags, they are basically meaningless. You need to find decently popular hashtags within your niche! People will not look through a million pictures under a hashtag. They will follow the ones that are very specific and have 20K-200K posts since they do not want a bunch of random pictures. Be cautious with what hashtags you use and do some research to see which ones work best with your brand image.
Tip 9: Use videos
Like I've mentioned many times before, people love interactive content. That's why audiences love stories so much because they can take a poll or leave a question which makes them feel like they are always included. Videos are something new and exciting for audiences and people enjoy videos more than a static picture. Videos are also more likely to be picked up by the explore page and you can get more information to your audiences! Big play here so use it right!
Tip 10: Use Instagram Ads
Sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet and buy Instagram ads in order to put your company out there. They will be shown to audiences in your niche and it is the oldest advertising trick in social media, works like a charm!
Now you have it: your new toolkit to thriving on Instagram. Let's break that algorithm together!
Make sure to follow @kellijaggerbranding on Instagram for more tips like these!
