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NOW ONYou do not need to be the algorithm. The algorithm is not something to be beaten; it's something to be leveraged, right? I feel bad for the algorithm; like, it needs a better PR team.
Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. My name is Jade. In today's video, I'm gonna be teaching you all about Instagram's algorithm. But not just Instagram's algorithm and how it works, but I'm going to be teaching you how you can utilize the algorithm to actually help you grow. If you're new here, then welcome! Hit subscribe if you like this video. I'm not going to dwell on this intro too much, let's get straight to it.
They changed the algorithm and as a result, people were spending a lot more time on their platform because people were now seeing content that they wanted to see. And how Instagram actually does that and manages to achieve that is by tracking everything you're doing on their site. Like they are watching you all the time. They're watching every single thing you like, they're paying attention to any video or IGTV that you watch the whole way through or you click on. They're paying attention to which stories you look at, they're paying attention to who you're DMing, they're paying attention to who you're saving, which posts you're sharing. They're paying attention to all of that good stuff, right? Because it's telling them what you like, what kind of accounts you interact with, what kind of content you respond well to. And they've used all that data and information that they've collected to curate your news feed, your explore page, and also your home feed. So when you go on Instagram and you scroll down, all of that content you are seeing because Instagram has been watching what you've been doing on their platform, and they've decided that you want to see this content.
Is it a flawless system? No. Is it ever? No. But it does work for the most part, which is why as I said, it's not going anywhere. So let's talk about what actually happens after you post. This is something that I don't think a lot of people include in their videos, so I really wanted to make sure I included it because I think it's really fascinating. Okay, so let's imagine that you have just taken like the best photo ever. You're absolutely gassed on it, and you're like, "I can't!" So that was such English slang, but I know that like half my viewers are so gas. Just means like, is that American slang as well, though? Just like hyped on it? I don't know. And you've taken this photo and you're like, "I look great!" or "I've just taken this photo of this scenery and it looks so good, I can't wait to post it! It's gonna blow up! I'm gonna be all over the explore page! I'm gonna be Instagram famous, and I can quit my job tomorrow!" So you do all of that and you post it, and then you wait, and you're like, "Oh, just like tumbleweed", you know, or that sound that sound plays in your head because it just didn't take off like you thought it would.
So what I'm going to do now is just tell you exactly what happened within the first few hours of you posting, which may have led to your post not doing as well as it should have. So you've posted, it's fresh out the back, it's literally just gone out, it's all live. And within the first hour of you posting, Instagram is keeping a keen eye on that post. It's always watching your post, but especially in that first hour. And what Instagram is going to do the second you post is it's going to show your post to what I like to call your advocates. So if you've watched any of my other videos, then you'll know that I like to throw this term around because I think it's the most effective way to describe your followers who are really engaged with your content. So Instagram is gonna already know who your advocates are, right? Because they would have used their algorithm to figure out who likes your content the most, who shares your content the most, who should you comment, who comments on your content the most, who do you exchange DMs with. And they're going to group them and classify them as their advocates. Well, they're not going to use that term because that's my term. They're going to use their own term, but they're going to group them under that umbrella, right? So when you first post, that's who's going to see your post. If your advocates react well to that content, Instagram is going to be like, "Okay, alright, this is a good one. I'm going to extend the reach a bit. I'm going to push it out to your wider circle." So now you've got a couple of hours. I mean, the timings, I don't know the exact timings, but you've got a few more hours after that where Instagram's thinking, "Alright, you know your advocates love this photo, but what about everyone else? Does everyone else love it?" And if everyone else starts to love it and you're...
So now you're thinking, "Okay, cool. That makes sense. But what does that mean for me? And how can I use that to my advantage?" Don't worry, because I'm about to tell you. But before I do, if you're enjoying this video, please can you like and subscribe and do all the YouTube stuff. It really helps me out.
Okay, so if we go back to the first thing, what happens within your first hour of posting on Instagram? If you remember what I said was your advocates are going to see your posts first, and that's who you need to react well to your post in order for it to get pushed out to more people. So what do you do to help this, right? You get more advocates. There are so many different ways that you can do this. I'm going to give you a few now, but I'd recommend checking out some of my other videos in my description because they provide even more detail. But for example, a way that you can increase your number of advocates is by building relationships with more of your followers. So the next time someone comments on your photo, respond to it. I think we all know by now that you should respond to your comments, but why not send them a DM if you've got a good reason to send them a DM and start a conversation then do it. Go on their profile, look at their recent stories. If they've posted a story which is interesting to you, then respond to it and build a relationship that way. These different engagement things that you're doing with these channels is telling Instagram, "Hey, I've got a relationship with this person. You should add them to my group of advocates." It's also down to things like you commenting on other people's content. It doesn't just have to be your followers. It can be you following a hashtag that's relevant to your niche, which I always recommend, finding cool accounts, big accounts who are posting within that niche, and commenting on their content too. You always want to make sure that everything you're doing is authentic and you're not doing it just for the sake of it because otherwise it's going to be really obvious and it will just leave a bad taste in people's mouths. You don't want to do that. Okay, but you do want to make sure that you're being as social as possible. It is a social platform. With others, because it helps you build...
So now by doing all that stuff, especially when you do it half an hour to an hour before you post, Instagram's now potentially got 100 or like, I don't know, maybe 25 more people that are gonna add to your pool of advocates. And these additional people are now going to see your content when you post, right? The good thing is that if you've just done all this interaction half an hour to an hour before posting, not only are there more advocates in that pool of people, but they're also more likely to engage with your content because you're fresh on their minds. You've also just engaged with theirs, so there's always a bit of, you know, a "Alright, well they've checked my post out, maybe I'll check out theirs" type of...
Another tip that will help you really leverage Instagram's algorithm and this whole process to help you grow is by posting at the right time. So a lot of these steps you'll notice, they're quite time-bound. I've said like the first hour, the first few hours, that's an important clue here that you need to think about. And there's a few different ways that you can figure out how many people are online or when your followers are online. You can look at your Instagram analytics, and you can also go on Instagram Live, and as if you're about to film a live, it will tell you how many people are actually online. If you're interested in those kind of tips and like growth hacks, check out the video up here because I share a lot more detail, and I share just like loads more growth hacks.
But anyway, and if you post at the right time, then you're massively increasing your chances of your advocates seeing your post and therefore being able to engage with it. It's all well and good having a pool of a thousand advocates, but if none of them are online when you've posted, then you've missed your window. And it's not impossible to claw back engagement and still rank in Instagram's algorithm, but it's a lot harder.
Another tip and my last tip of the video, unfortunately, and that I'm going to give you is to aim for engagement. There's always different rules going around, you know, or theories going around that, you know, now saves are the most important, like, metric or engagement element on your post, apparently. But you know, these change all the time. So what I would recommend you doing is making sure that you've got a strategy in place which aims for all of these different forms of engagement. I'm going to give you a few really quick tips now so you can see what I mean. So let's start with saves. So if you're going to try and produce content that you want people to save, which is what you should be doing, then you need to make sure your content has value. So whether that's including a carousel that's got loads of tips in it, which is what I basically do on We Side Hustle, that's a really easy way to provide value to your followers. Or if you're not within that niche and you're more in a fashion niche, then maybe what you do is provide really detailed reviews of the different items that you're using. Or if you're in the travel niche, in your captions, you include different tips, tricks, or restaurants that people should visit when they're visiting the country that you're photographed in. There's so many different ways that you can add value, whether it's for your actual content, like your post, or whether it's in your captions. I would always aim to do so because then it's going to encourage people to save your post, and that's going to help you rank on the algorithm.
There's also things like likes and comments. So when it comes to trying to get people to comment on your page, don't try and do something fancy and some kind of psychological technique, literally ask people. Just be like, "Comment below what you think," or "Comment your favorite this," or "What's your favorite thing?" Like, just ask questions and provoke conversation. People will respond, and that's going to help you get more authentic comments. And lastly, there's sharing. So producing content which is shareable is super, super important, and it's quite a growing trend in this year, right? So shareable content is often something which isn't necessarily specific to you. It's something which could be applicable to a lot of different people, and it's usually in the form of like a quote, for example. And the reason why quote channels do so well is because all of their content is shareable. You see a quote, you think, "Oh, yeah, that relates to me. I can really relate with this. I want to share with others," and you post it on your story. The great thing about shareable content, such as quotes, is that, in my opinion, I don't think it's niche-specific. I think any different account can include shareable quotes on their page. It's just about using the right ones and making sure that they've been well-branded and they kind of go with your whole overall...
Okay, so before you go, I've actually got one bonus tip for you, and that is to share any posts that you put on your grid onto your stories immediately after posting. You probably see people do this all the time, and you might wonder why they do it. It's because it increases the amount of people who are going to see their post within the first hour or two of them posting, and therefore it's going to increase the amount of people who are going to like and engage with their post. Which, if you've been listening to this video, you'll know it's going to help you rank on Instagram's algorithm because Instagram's gonna notice that there's loads of engagement on your post within the first hour or so of you posting. I really hope this video was useful to you. If you're interested in growing on Instagram organically, then I recommend checking out this video. I share my top growth hacks for Instagram. They work, they are tried and tested, so I definitely recommend watching that video if you're interested in growing this year. Thank you so much for watching.
Q: What is the key to leveraging Instagram's Algorithm?
A: The key is not to beat the algorithm but to leverage it to your advantage.
Q: How does Instagram utilize data for its algorithms?
A: Instagram tracks user interactions and preferences to curate the content shown on news feeds, explore pages, and home feeds.
Q: What happens immediately after posting on Instagram?
A: Instagram closely monitors post engagement, particularly in the first hour, to gauge its reach and impact.
Q: How can one increase advocates for their Instagram posts?
A: By building relationships with followers, engaging authentically with content, and interacting within relevant niches.
Q: What are effective strategies for Instagram growth?
A: Strategies include optimizing post timing, enhancing advocates and engagement, and focusing on strategic engagement.
Q: How can one encourage diverse engagement on Instagram?
A: By aiming for various forms of engagement, such as saves, likes, comments, and shares, through providing valuable content and prompting interactions.
Q: What are some optimization techniques for Instagram?
A: One technique is to share grid posts on stories immediately to increase initial engagement and visibility.