Instagram Updates its Algorithm - What Does This Mean?

What is an Algorithm?

“The algorithms have changed again!” If you’re a social media manager or just like to promote your business on social media channels, you’ll know that algorithms change a lot! But what are they? And why are they important when using social media for business?

A social media algorithm is a set of rules that a social media platform creates behind the scenes, shaping the user’s experience and deciding which social media posts make it to the top of your feed and which don’t. Most factors in algorithms are linked to engagement. So in simple terms, it means that those people, businesses, and posts that you engage with regularly are more likely to be shown to you in the future. Which is why it is always important to consider how engaging your social media posts are. Ask questions, create polls, inform and educate and include other people in the conversation to encourage participation.

Why are they important?

 Algorithms help users to receive the content that they are most interested in on their news feed. The reason for this is because the platforms themselves want you to stay on there for as long as possible, so this is a way of filtering what is considered the best content for each user. Understanding algorithms is very important for social media management teams to make sure posts are visible to a large audience. It doesn’t really matter if you post ten times a day; if your posts aren’t engaging, and the algorithms don’t push your posts in front of the right people, your social media efforts may go to waste.

What has Instagram changed?

 Social media algorithms change constantly. By 2016, Instagram users were missing 70% of all their posts in feed, including almost half of posts from their close connections. That’s how influential the algorithms are in deciding which content you see
(and your target audience, too). For its latest update, Instagram (owned by Facebook) has now developed and introduced a feed that ranks posts based on what you care about most. There are thousands of signals that its systems can draw from, but the main indicators across feed and stories are:

·       Information about the post

o   how popular a post is (think how many people have liked it)

o   how long it is if it’s a video. Too long and you’ll lose interest.

o   in which location. You’re most likely to be interested in local goings-on, right?

·       Information about the person who posted

o   how interesting the person might be to you. This includes signals like how many times you have interacted with that person in the past few weeks. So if you’re constantly watching that one person’s story, Instagram will put it top of your list!

·    Your activity

o   Always liking content about a certain topic? Instagram will show you more of the same

o   Type of content - If you engage with videos more often, you’ll see more videos

How does this affect your business?

 The simple answer is visibility. You want your business to be seen on social media by as many people as possible. If algorithms affect that (which they certainly do) then having an understanding of how they work, and how they are constantly changing will give you a good platform on which to build your social media strategy.

If this sounds too technical for you, or you want more information then get in touch by emailing us at info@yellowspidermedia.com. You can see all of our digital marketing services here, too.