{"id":18116,"date":"2020-10-14T08:58:50","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T11:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/servidor.reportei.com\/?p=18116"},"modified":"2025-09-29T11:13:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:13:56","slug":"how-to-use-instagrams-algorithm-to-your-advantage-and-why-it-is-excellent-for-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reportei.com\/en\/how-to-use-instagrams-algorithm-to-your-advantage-and-why-it-is-excellent-for-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Instagram’s Algorithm to your advantage: and why it is excellent for Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"

How does Instagram’s algorithm work? In this post, we will delve into details already disclosed and others that make sense. We’ll go through the factors that could influence the ranking of your content in your followers’ feed and explain why the algorithm is great for marketers.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does Instagram’s algorithm work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Despite not being openly published, from research on sources like Buffer and Social Media Examiner, we’ve come up with seven key factors that determine whether a post will have more organic reach on Instagram. It is important to remember that the account is valid for the current moment, and the situation may change.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have seven key points that we will present below and broaden the analysis right after (about each point):<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Engagement<\/b>: Popularity measured in metrics like likes and comments.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Context \/ Relevance<\/b>: The types of content you are interested in and interacted with.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Connections<\/b>: The profiles you interact with regularly.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Time Decline<\/b>: How recent the posts are.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Profile searches<\/b>: The accounts you usually search on Instagram.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Direct shares<\/b>: Which posts you share.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Time Spent<\/b>: The length of time watching a post.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let’s understand more about these factors.<\/span><\/p>\n

    1. Engagement = Popularity<\/span><\/h3>\n

    According to the Social Media Examiner, when a person or brand posts something on social networks, algorithms typically show the post to an example audience and analyze how the audience reacts to the content. If the reaction is positive to the post, the algorithm will show the post to more people.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This indicates that a more engaging post is more likely to appear in your Instagram feed. The most common types of engagement (which, by the way, are measured by Reportei) are likes, comments, video views, shares (via direct), saving, viewing stories, and watching live videos.<\/span><\/p>\n

    If someone you know interacted with the post, Instagram can also assume that you would be interested in the post and show it to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

    And we have some important information to complement: an Instagram representative told <\/span>Business Insider<\/span><\/a> that the ranking of posts would not be considered a popularity contest. Less engaging posts that are relevant to you may also appear at the top of your feed.<\/span><\/p>\n

    2. Instagram context = content relevance to you<\/span><\/h3>\n

    When the timeline change was announced, Instagram mentioned that it would first show the content that the user would most like.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The order of the photos and videos in your feed would be based on the likelihood of interest in the content, the engagement with the post, and the timing of the post.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But how does Instagram know what’s interesting to you? This information is worth millions (or billions!), But we can deduce some points.<\/span><\/p>\n

    One way could be to look at the types of content (for example, travel, food, fashion, sports, etc.) that you have interacted with in the past. That would depend on recognition and image technology (to categorize content) – something entirely possible today on Instagram.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The algorithm can also look at the hashtags used. If there is a specific type of content that you engage with most often (for example, food), Instagram could rate that content as higher in your feed.<\/span><\/p>\n

    3. Relationships: The accounts the user interacts with<\/span><\/h3>\n

    In its second announcement about the news feed, Instagram stated the following:<\/span><\/p>\n

    “And no matter how many accounts you follow, you should see your best friend’s last posts.”<\/span><\/p>\n

    This implies that the content of your “best friends” will likely appear at the top of the feed. Since Facebook, Whatsapp, and Instagram are one company, it would not be impossible for the 3 data to be related to determine a user’s relationships: family, friends, co-workers, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Another interesting point is what Thomas Dimson, a software engineer at Instagram said could be used to understand how close users are:<\/span><\/p>\n