The Advertisement industry witnessed an enormous boom in its growth over these past few years. The reason behind this is quite trivial considering the fact that this industry is very closely related to the e-commerce industry which itself had its uprisal in this past decade. Social media platforms became the new central pillar of media and television commercials evolved into Social media advertisements as the whole community dwells and roams much more often on this platform. Organic ads on social media like Facebook were a great opportunity for several commercial brands as they came free of cost and was having a good reach and conversion rate. However, realising this enormous potential of such ads Facebook itself reduced the reach of organic ads to promote their paid ads services which kind of forced several brands to actually settle for a paid ads setup.
But now the question was since we are already paying which platform would be the best to invest in? A study showed that there was a 0.1% increase in the paid ads services by facebook compared to Organic ads. Even though it’s kind of mim\nimal to an entrepreneur it still is a decent catch. However, the same study pointed out that Twitter paid ads to have double the conversion rates of organic tweets. Now, this is the real buzz of the business. The Twitter ads also provide a good range of services making them an exceptional option to invest in. Being in-stream unlike other platforms where the ads get pushed to the side, Twitter ads can guarantee you a much higher engagement rate and this is exactly what you want while getting in touch with your customer audience. Twitter also provides very simple ad formats including Promoted tweets, Promoted accounts and Promoted trends making it quite user-friendly for a brand.
With less than 140 characters here are the services you could use from Twitter ads to shoot up your conversion rate:
Lead Generation Cards
One of twitter’s most fantastic features and innovation-led generation cards are such a privilege for lead marketers. They assist you in collecting and understanding leads from within the tweet keeping the process hassle-free and neat for you and the consumer. A simple click on your call-to-action does the job and this simply makes the job extremely easy for you. With all the technical aspects of it covered and followed exactly as mentioned in a super simple step-by-step guide by Hubspot making these alluring cards will be a piece of cake for you.
This is one of the sole reasons we consider twitter ads to be such a blessing for a lead marketer. Being comparably cheaper and performing based on Twitter ads are going to aid you in growing a successful business.
Call-to-Actions
A study by Convertro pointed out that around 87% of the responses to social content were made in a split second or that the amount of time a consumer would actually devote is quite lower than what you might expect.
So the idea is to come up with keyword-oriented, SEO content that would be tempting enough for your consumer. It needs to be catchy, appealing and most of all simple. It’s also quite sensible to use it along with your leading cards option because then you will have the liberty to choose whether you should have text or display the CTA button.
Some of the important things to keep in mind while creating your call to action are to make it responsive by asking a question or demanding action. It could be asking for a download, retweet or a reply. The idea is to have more personal interaction with the user so that you can indulge them and their thought process in your ad.
Custom Targeting
Yet another incredible service provided by Twitter is the targeting options they provide. Even if you have the right content in place it doesn’t reach the right audience then all your work and effort will be in vain. By using the option of custom targeting you can make sure to direct your ads to the kind of customer base you want to approach.
Twitter allows you to do this targeting through keywords, interests, gender, location, language and specific mobile or desktop devices. However, none of these is the most appealing feature. Twitter also helps you to target users who are similar to your pre-existing customers hence increasing the chance of lead conversion, This tool can play a pivotal role in boosting your conversion rate and make your whole content strategy get applied more efficiently.
There is also the option of Tailored audiences. It significantly aids you to direct your content to the right group of people by letting you create groups of existing and potential customers from email addresses from your customer relationship management database. Existing customers who probably already like and trust you are the best group to be targeted as you can expect a fruitful response from them.
With the rapid decline in the reach of organic ads as time passes and the slow increase in the pricing of competitive platforms like Facebook and Adwords Twitter is indeed the right option for futurist entrepreneurs. Even though Twitter has fewer users compared to the other competitors it was found by a study that around 34% of twitter’s users are more active and log in more than once a day. Hence logically speaking the consumer crowd on Twitter is more to approach. By leveraging your Twitter lists you could really organize your followers and maximise your engagement. Twitter provides you with a beautiful opportunity to grow your business. The services provided are clearly oriented in a way so that the ad creator would reap the most benefits out of it.
In 2022, when social media is as diverse as it has ever been, the contender that’s the world’s 4th most used social media platform is Instagram, with over 1.5 billion daily users and over 2 billion total active users.
It’s no secret that mobile technologies have evolved exponentially over the decade, with over 77% of the world’s population having a phone now. These numbers are never facing down and they indeed prove a point that m-Commerce is becoming a bigger chunk of e-Commerce.
Now that you know the number of people roaming the social world of Instagram and taking a huge part in the business world, let’s explore the opportunities that will help you’re your business break its personal records!
Who’s the target audience?
Before knowing how to get started, let’s first introduce you to the audience that you’re expecting to reach. Over 60% of users on Instagram are from the age group 18–34, while you might question the significance of that, this is the same age group that accounts for over 60% of total online shoppers.
While that raises a lot of eyebrows, another fact that might astonish you is that India accounts for the highest number of users on the platform. And if that isn’t enough to flabbergast you then the fact that the number of Indian users is increasing by 64% annually might as well do the job.
Apart from the incredible base of potential customers, Instagram is already on its way to becoming an indirect e-Commerce platform soon. Moving forward, let’s see how you can start with your own ad campaigns on Instagram and start to redirect the traffic to your online store.
How do Instagram ads work?
Instagram is primarily a platform to connect users to their friends, family, and influencers, but it also serves as a platform for creative artists and businesses. It uses the post and stories format, these posts are visible to people who follow you and to others as per your privacy settings.
If you’re a creator on Instagram, your content is more visible & discoverable to people who follow your niche. To advertise your post means to push your post into the more popular section and give it more reach. When you advertise or ‘promote’ as they call it, your post has higher visibility in the explore section of users.
Studies show that posts on Instagram have over 23% more engagement than on Facebook. Brands reportedly have over 4% of their followers engaging with their content, while these numbers are flat at zero on Facebook.
Moreover, you can link your page or catalog to your sponsored post for instant traffic or even conversion. You can also select what age group of audience located in what region views your posts more, giving you more control over your reach.
How to get started?
Now that you have a strong base of understanding of how ads work, let’s see how to get started with your own ads on Instagram. The platform is based on images and videos and almost all the content on the app is just another format of these two things. Talking about formats let’s take a look at them:
Photos: Photographs conveying an expression, emotion, message, art, or information are the things that would trend here. Be your photos complex or simplistic, there’s a set audience for everything.
Videos: Videos can be shared as posts, stories, or reels on Instagram and have a huge potential to reach users as video is the most popular form of content in the present generation. With the arrival of October 2021, Instagram ditched its original long video format app, IGTV, and merged it into Instagram videos. A while later, Instagram launched Reels in the late July of 2022, entailing the era of short video content which seems to be the most popular form of content right now.
Carrousel: This is the format where you can chain multiple photographs, videos, or even links to your own website or catalog. More CTA (Call To Action) buttons or comments can be added as per your choice.
Stories: Stories are one way of sneakily advertising your brand easier on Instagram. These are images or videos that have a short lifespan of 24 hours, after which they disappear. Instagram provided marketers with the option to place direct ads on stories, again having the liberty to insert a CTA button.
What’s trending?
Instagram has a lot of examples of advertisers using ads in genius ways to make them trend. Take, for example, the footwear-focused brand Nike, knowing that their primary audience is sport-loving, their posts are mostly of players caught in the moment, wearing their products, obviously.
Reels became the new trend as soon as it was launched. Carrying forward the lineage of short video apps like TikTok, reels featured short and long videos, which quickly took over the predecessor.
Using visual information at its best is the key to success on Instagram. Optimization of posts to integrate your products, catalogs and website is the first step toward driving traffic to your page.
With new features rolling out every few months, stay updated with the new ways to connect with your target audience. Let’s now see the budget you’ll need to start advertising on Instagram.
What’s the cost of advertising?
Costing on Instagram isn’t fixed for a particular deal, you can carefully tweak your reach and call to action by the user and pay for the same. Simply put, it’s similar to pay per click, you pay for the type of response you demand from the user.
Taking an average from the year 2021, Instagram’s cost per click clocks up to about $0.40 – $0.70 which includes every type of click, be it a like, comment, or share. Posts with URLs have a CPC of about $0.50 – $0.95 as of 2021.
Any tips?
While social media translates to Influencers these days, it’s not limited to that. If you know that your target audience is the young or adult age group, then Instagram is a world of possibilities for you.
You are the one who started your business and so if there’s anyone who knows your business the best, then it’s you. Take decisions on your own but seek advice from the experts or elites in the niche.
With that, we wrap up this short informative blog, subscribe to our newsletter to never miss premium content like this, and hush! You can find us on Instagram too 😉
The banning of Chinese app TikTok in India left a huge void in the digital advertising space for both brands and influencers. The micro-video sharing platform had 178 million monthly active users in India with an average time of 36 minutes per day spent on the app.
When asked if they want to make a full-time career out in influencer marketing, 68.8% of influencers surveyed responded with a yes.
Influencer.in’s top-up survey done post the ban of TikTok reveals that more and more content creators are now working to create or ramp up their presence on Instagram. Tiktokers were asked which platform they will move to in absence of TikTok. Influencer marketing statistics show that 55% of respondents will now be active on Instagram followed by 20% on YouTube.
“But this shift will increase the cost of building brands on social media as well as make creating content expensive,” points out Vikas Chawla, Co-Founder, Social Beat. He explains the cost of doing influencercampaigns on Instagram is higher than TikTok so brands will have to shell out more to promote their content. Also, content on Instagram pays more attention to the quality of audio and lights whereas TikTok was more about capturing the moment live.
Homegrown apps like Roposo and Trell have also joined the race and are offering content creators free organic reach and the promise of promotion of their content. These platforms claim to have grown manifolds in the last few months. Roposo claims to have grown in India from 4 million before the TikTok ban to 64 million users now. Trell too claims to have crossed 45-million downloads with 22 million monthly active users and six million daily active users. From these upcoming platforms, 18% influencers who did the social media influencer marketing survey said they have created a profile on Roposo, followed by 5% on Sharechat.
Picsart, Canva, Inshot, Filmora, Lightroom, Snapspeed are some of the most preferred tools used by influencers to create content
From new ad formats to Instagram Shop upgrades, and user-experience tweaks Keep up with the latest Instagram updates and more.
Stay ahead of Instagram trends and give your marketing that extra edge. Here are the new Instagram updates for April 2021.
April 2021 Instagram updates
These are the top Instagram updates marketers should know about this month.
Instagram introduces Remix Reels inspired by TikTok Duets
At the beginning of April, Instagram added a “remix” option to Reels that allows creators to react to an existing public Reel. Similar features — Duets and Stitch — have been popular on TikTok for some time, inspiring Snapchat to test a remix option as well.
#Snapchat is working on the possibility of remixing friends' Stories 👀
Remix is enabled by default on Reels published from public accounts, but users have access to a disable option. When someone remixes a Reel, the original creator receives a notification.
Story drafts may soon come to Instagram
You asked and we're delivering… story drafts coming soon 📣
In late March, Instagram’s top boss Adam Mosseri and the app’s official comms Twitter account teased the release of a story drafts feature. “You asked and we’re delivering… story drafts coming soon,” said Mosseri.
Most content, including Instagram Guides, can be saved o as a draft in the creation stage, except for Reels and Stories. According to screenshots leaked by mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi, before exiting story creation mode, people will be given the option to save an in-progress Story to a drafts folder. Right now, users can “save” Stories by downloading them.
A save option could make it easier for people to add posts or pictures to Stories as backgrounds, which is currently something creators use hacks to do.
Instagram Lite now available on Android in more than 170 countries
As of March, a lite version of the Instagram app is now available for Android users in more than 170 countries, including the United States.
Designed to use minimal data and perform in areas with limited connectivity, the lite app does not include AR filters, Instagram shopping, ads, or the option to create Reels. It does still allow people to view Reels, which remain popular among lite users in India, where TikTok is banned.
IGTV ads land in Australia and UK
Instagram began testing IGTV ads last year in the United States and will now expand tests to select creators in Australia and the United Kingdom.
These mobile-first, 15-second video ads use a revenue share model much like on YouTube, with 55% of earnings given to creators. Instagram expects the format to be made available to more creators in new regions over the coming year.
Typically, Instagram Stories that appear at the start of your feed are from accounts that you engage with the most, whether that’s through likes, comments, story views, reactions, or DMs.
The Instagram Stories algorithm also puts a lot of focus on timeliness, as it wants to make sure it’s always showing you the latest stories from your favorite accounts.
If you regularly engage with an account, their new stories will be bumped to the front of your feed every time they post — even if you’ve watched all their stories from the previous day.
So with this in mind, it’s a good idea to consistently post to Instagram Stories.
By posting to Instagram Stories more often, you have a better chance of reaching viewers as they browse their daily stories — and the more views you gain, the better your ranking will be.
Fortunately, regularly posting to stories just got a whole lot easier.
How the Instagram Algorithm Works on the Explore Page
Overall, the Explore page and the feed algorithm are quite similar — they both deliver content that Instagram thinks you’ll be most interested in, based on your prior interactions.
However, your Instagram feed will be made up of content from accounts you already follow, whereas the Explore feed will consist almost entirely of content from new accounts.
The Explore page is constantly evolving, with new topic categories and advanced search functionalities being introduced all the time.
For example, you can now search by keywords,as well as hashtags, to discover feeds of relevant content:
This suggests that the Explore page algorithm takes into account way more than just the tags on your posts, such as the actual visual content and words in your caption.
Fortunately, getting your posts onto the Instagram Explore page isn’t as hard as you might think.
The Explore page algorithm is essentially trying to serve people the best, relevant content. So by continually sharing great content with strong captions and niche hashtags, you’re already contributing towards your Explore page ranking.
For hashtag search results, Instagram prioritizes top performing posts:
These posts are curated by the algorithm based on an individual’s historical interactions.
On the “Recent” tab, hashtag search results are the same for every user — it’s a chronological list of posts that contain your searched hashtag.
TIP: If you’re a brand looking to get on the Instagram Explore page, it’s more important than ever to focus on your niche topics and use hashtags to help categorize your posts.
The algorithm prioritises content from the accounts you interact with the most, as well as the type of posts you typically engage with For IGTV videos and Instagram Reels.
Instagram serves suggested IGTV videos and Reels in relevant Explore pages, beyond the home feed, including the new Reels tab.
Based on a machine learning model, this is based on what Instagram thinks you will like.
Give your IGTV videos and Reels the best chance of being seen by new (and existing) audiences –
For IGTV videos, you can share a 1-minute preview to your Instagram feed, increasing initial exposure and providing a positive signal to the algorithm.
For Reels, always share them to your main Instagram feed, and include several hashtags to boost their discoverability.
Whatever tactic you choose to focus on to improve your algorithm ranking in 2021, the most important thing is to keep engaging with your audience at the heart of your strategy.
Building a genuine relationship with your followers is the most powerful way to “hack” the algorithm and, most importantly, it will work wonders for your brand too.
Let’s take a look at some ideas to help you build a solid Facebook strategy to make the most of your Page.
1. Define your audience
To engage your audience effectively, you’ve got to understand who you’re talking to first. Get to know who your target audience is by asking yourself the following questions:
How old are your target followers?
Where do they live?
What kind of jobs do they have?
What are their challenges?
How and when do they use Facebook?
Of course, it’s also important to understand the general demographics of Facebook users. Then, once you’ve got a sense of who actually is using the platform and how that connects to your target customer, you can take a look at Facebook Audience Insights.
Facebook’s free, built-in Audience Insights tool will help you drill down into the nitty-gritty details about potential customers. You can use it to find information on things like:
Age
Gender
Education
Relationship status
Location
Language
Facebook usage
Past purchasing activity
After all, if you don’t have an idea of who you’re trying to reach, you’re unlikely to ever reach them.
2. Set goals
What does success look like for your brand? Sure, it can be tempting to look at Likes as the ultimate measure of achievement, but if they’re not part of a broader marketing plan, those likes aren’t much of anything. Sometimes they’re even called a vanity metric.
A strong goal that’s tied to your business objectives is essential for creating an effective Facebook marketing strategy. Every business will have different goals, but each should focus on actions that impact their bottom line.
This may include:
Generating leads
Increasing conversions on your website
Improving customer service
Once you’ve decided what you want to achieve, we recommend mapping out specific, measurable ways to get there. We recommend using a recognized goal-setting framework like SMART goals or the OKR goal framework. Check out our post on social media goal-setting for more details and some inspiring examples.
Every post, every comment, every ad you create on Facebook should ultimately be in service of your goals. To keep yourself on track, it’s a good idea to create a Facebook mission statement for your brand, as well as a Facebook style guide that can inform a consistent look, feel and voice for all of your content.
(Sorry to give you so much homework, but successful marketing takes a little sweat sometimes. Work it!)
3. Plan your content mix
You’ve got your target audience. You know your goals. Now it’s time to craft those posts.
Determining the right mix of content takes trial and error, but a good rule of thumb is to use the “80-20 Rule”: that means using 80% of your posts to inform, educate and entertain, and the other 20% to promote your brand.
That’s right: not every post should be about how great your company is. That gets old fast, like a friend’s new boyfriend talking about Bitcoin through your entire birthday dinner.
Instead, aim to provide value and build relationships with your followers. Give them content that they’ll enjoy regularly, and they’ll be more open-minded to hearing about your products and services when you do bring them up 20% of the time.
Another option to help guide your content mix is the social media rule of thirds. Under this school of thought, one-third of your content should share ideas and stories, one-third of your content should involve personal interactions with your followers and the rest of your content can promote your business.
Whatever specific numerical mix you wind up with, the goal is to balance promotional material with value.
Hot tip: Facebook punishes brands that push sales too hard. The algorithm is not a fan of self-promotion, as it turns out. The platform wants to prioritize meaningful, engaging content… not just coupons.
Once you’ve decided what to post, deciding when to post it is your next step.
You can glean some insight on engagement from Page Insights, but our research shows that the best time to post on Facebook is at 6:15 AM and 12:15 PM PST on weekdays.
Whatever your schedule, keep in mind that it’s important to post consistently.
Create a content calendar to help balance your mix of content types, and keep your frequency organized. This free content calendar template is one way to stay organized; the Hootsuite Planner is another great resource.
For more strategic planning ideas, check out our post on how to create a social media marketing plan.
4. Optimize your Page for engagement
Whatever your Facebook marketing goal may be, it’ll be tough to achieve it if no one knows your Facebook Page exists.
That’s why it’s important to a) get people to your Page in the first place and b) compel them to interact once they get there.
This video shares some great ways to fully optimize your Facebook Business Page for success:
Expert tip: give a little extra love to your Facebook Page cover image. This is the first thing people will see when they visit your Page, so it better look good!
One easy way to help people find your Facebook Business Page is through cross-promotion. Help people who are already interacting with you on other platforms find you on Facebook by linking to your Page in your email signature and newsletter, and incorporating Facebook Like and share buttons on your website or blog.
To get those views, Likes and Follows rolling in is a little less scientific: you’ve got to create highly shareable content. Posts that are valuable and entertaining will (hopefully!) inspire followers to share with their friends.
To build engagement, it’s important to remember that you get out of Facebook what you put into it. You need to be engaged, too, if you expect your followers to be.
Responsiveness is a highly valued attribute of brands, so get chatty. Reply to every message and comment, answer questions, and keep content up-to-date. (In fact, you should be scheduling a regular audit of your Facebook Page to check for and remove any outdated content. Your About section should always be accurate, up-to-date, and on-brand.)
5. Consider using other Facebook tools
Once you’ve gotten comfortable with running a Facebook Business Page, there are plenty of additional ways that brands can find opportunities for engagement beyond posts and comments.
Facebook Business Manager
To take your Facebook Page to the next level, it’s helpful to set up Facebook Business Manager, too. Facebook calls it “a one-stop-shop to manage business tools, business assets and employee access to these assets.” How can you resist?!
In simpler terms, Business Manager is a tool that allows you to manage your organic and paid Facebook posts. It also allows you to work effectively with team members and outside contractors and agencies.
We’ll walk you step by step through the set-up process in our guide to using Facebook Business Manager.
Facebook Groups
Groups are another great “extra credit” tool you can use to drive engagement. In a way, Groups are like the online equivalent of your favorite coffee shop or community center. They are digital spaces for people to share information and ideas… and hopefully, a passion for your brand. With more than 1.4 billion people using Facebook Groups every month, it’s an audience too large to ignore.
You can also use Facebook Groups to showcase your expertise and provide added value to your fans, with bonus content or special deals that are just for “members.” This is a great way to build trust and ongoing loyalty.
We’ve got instructions for how to set up your own Facebook Group right here if you’re ready to add this tool to your Facebook Business Page toolkit.
But if people are passionate about your brand, you may not even need to create a special space for them to gather: sometimes fans will create their own Facebook Group with a focus on your brand. If you do discover such Groups out there in the world, it’s a good idea to join so you can keep an eye on the conversation, and make sure any misconceptions or negativity are nipped in the bud.
In general, though, fan-made Facebook Groups are an amazing sign that you’re doing something right. Lucky you!
Facebook chatbot (a.k.a. Facebook Messenger bot)
Facebook users exchange 20 billion messages with businesses every month. Twenty billion! If you’re not available for conversation with your customers through this platform, you may be missing out on an opportunity to connect.
It’s not just about simply having Facebook Messenger set up, however. It’s about being supremely responsive to customer messages. Facebook’s research shows users expect a business to respond almost immediately. One surveyed Facebook user said he would only wait 10 minutes for a response before moving on to another brand.
The solution to these expectations? Chatbots: automated response tools that are always on to help an interested customer, like this one from Booking.com.
6. Incorporate Facebook ads and the Facebook pixel
So you crafted the perfect post: the wording is just right, the imagery is outstanding and the question is super engaging. Here’s hoping your followers actually see it.
That’s right: not everything you post on your Facebook Page will reach your followers on their news feeds. You might be surprised by the percentage of followers your organic posts will likely reach:
For Pages with fewer than 10,000 followers: 8.18% organic reach
For Pages with more than 10,000 followers: 2.59% organic reach
For better or for worse, the Facebook algorithm prioritizes posts from users’ friends and family. This means that businesses and brands sometimes just can’t stand out from the crowd.
Sometimes, your great content just needs a little boost. Fortunately, you can extend your reach without breaking the bank using Facebook Ads.
Like traditional advertising, a Facebook ad is content you pay to share with a specific, targeted audience. The goal is to get your brand in front of the right eyeballs, whether your goal is to build brand awareness, engagement or traffic.
A Facebook pixel is a simple piece of code that you place on your website to:
track conversions from Facebook
remarket to people who have already visited your website
build targeted custom audiences for future ads
As soon as you place it on your website, the pixel will start collecting data. That way, whenever you are ready to advertise, you’ll have powerful information at your fingertips for retargeting campaigns.
How to measure the success of your strategy with Facebook analytics
Successful Facebook marketing requires maintenance: this is not a set-it-and-forget-it situation.
Tracking and measuring are essential, so you can understand what worked and what didn’t. That way, you can learn, and tweak, and try again so your strategy is constantly improving.
You can track audience engagement directly through Facebook Insights, which measures metrics such as…
likes
reach (how many people saw your posts)
engagement (how many people liked, clicked, shared, or commented on your content)
which of your posts result in people unliking your Page
Additionally, Facebook Insights will help you determine which types of posts work best for your Page, so you’ll know if your current content mix is working.
Outside of Facebook — actions like purchases or other website conversions — need to be tracked with external tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite Impact, UTM parameters, and Hootsuite Insights.
All that being said… don’t be overwhelmed! We’ve created a detailed guide that walks you through the process of tracking the return on investment of your Facebook marketing.
Tracking your progress isn’t just about counting your wins and celebrating successes. It’s about clocking what’s not working, too, so that you can make adjustments when necessary. Data will show you what you should keep doing, and which tactics you need to tweak. And through a continuous loop of goal-setting, measuring results and tweaking your strategy, you can improve your performance over time.
Whew!
We know, we know: there’s a lot to learn when it comes to Facebook marketing. But the good news is you can get started without investing a dime.
So get in there, get your hands dirty and learn as you go. More complex strategies and campaigns will be there whenever you’re ready to take things to the next level… and our dozens and dozens of resources and guides will be here waiting to help you, every step of the way.
The best thing you can do is drive as many interactions (likes, comments, DMs, saves, and shares) as possible if you want to improve your ranking with the Instagram algorithm.
You will soon find that your content is being surfaced to new audiences by simply building momentum with your existing community.
Here are 7 ways to improve your algorithmic ranking and reach new audiences:
#1: Embrace Instagram’s Latest Features
Embrace Instagram’s latest features if you are looking for a fast-track way to gain favour with the Instagram algorithm.
Instagram will always give their latest features (such as Instagram Reels) a helping hand to help drive adoption, so it’s always a good idea to be in sync with the latest trends and take advantage of this extra boost.
Poll and emoji slider stickers are a quick and easy engagement win, and can work for almost any business or brand.
Question stickers may not be as quick to take part in, but they can be just as good at driving genuine engagement with your audience, which is highly valuable for the Instagram algorithm.
#3: Drive Conversations with Engaging Captions and Comments
It’s truly a great idea to encourage as many as possible engagements with your posts. Instagram has confirmed comments are super important when it comes to feed ranking, and one of the better ways to do this is, is by writing good captions that drive engagement.
Something as simple as asking your followers to share their thoughts or feelings, double-tap if they agree, or tag a friend in the comments.
your Instagram caption can go a long way when it comes to driving more interactions.
#4: Optimize Your Hashtag Strategy
on Instagram reaching more people, means more “views” for the Instagram algorithm to take into account. Adding hashtags to your posts is one of the most effective ways to do this.
A good hashtag strategy is of the essence to reach more people , especially the ones most likely to engage with your content and are relevant for your business.
Hashtag Suggestions works by automatically finding relevant hashtags for your posts based on other hashtags you use, this is a good way to discover new hashtags for your brand.
#5: Cross-Promote Your Instagram Content
Cross-promoting your Instagram content is a great place to start If you’re looking for a quick and easy engagement win to help boost your algorithm ranking.
By simply as sharing an enticing preview of an IGTV video to your feed, or even adding a feed post to stories with a “Tap Here” GIF, you can strategically drive different audiences to your most recent content thanks to different publishing options like feed, stories, IGTV and Reels.
#6: Keep On Top of Your DMs
Direct Messages (DMs) are a strong engagement indicator for the Instagram algorithm Much like comments and likes.
The Instagram algorithm is doing its best to serve you content it thinks you want to see, the accounts you DM most often are bumped to the front of your Instagram Stories feed.
Regularly invite your audience to DM you with their questions or feedback — or by simply encourage “quick emoji reactions.”
#7: Use Instagram Analytics to See What’s Working
One of the most reliable ways to take on the Instagram algorithm is to track and monitor how your content is performing on Instagram.
Save out on time and effort in the long run, having a better understanding of what’s working (and what isn’t) certainly helps you come up with an Instagram marketing plan that actually works for you in the long run
Truly understanding how your content performs – by tracking key metrics over time – is vital to knowing what helps improve your ranking, this means a lot more than just finding out which photo, video, or stories performed best.
The most important thing is to keep engaging with your audience at the heart of your strategy. Whatever tactic you choose to focus on to improve your algorithm ranking in 2021,Building a genuine relationship with your followers is the most powerful way to “hack” the algorithm and, most importantly, it will work wonders for your brand too.
By now you’ll know that the algorithm can behave in a way you would not always expect it to, that is if you’ve spent any time on Instagram since the time it came into existence.
But you can tailor your content strategy to work alongside it, once you understand how the elusive algorithm actually works.
Here’s everything you need to know:
There are 6 key factors that influence the Instagram algorithm for feed posts according to the folks at Instagram:
Factor #1: Interest
Your Instagram feed is not only based on who you follow, but is also based on the accounts and types of posts you have liked over a period of time.
The more that the Instagram algorithm thinks you will “like” a certain type of post, the higher it will appear in your feed.
What that means is that, what you see on your feed is a combination of all of your Instagram behaviors.
The type of posts that you like and comment on, the accounts you interact with the most, and of course the people you are tagged in photos with.
This is why it is imperative for you to be consistently showing up on Instagram. It sends positive signals to the Instagram algorithm — and gives your audience more opportunities to interact with your content.
So What Engagements do you think Are the Most Important to the Instagram Algorithm?
When it comes to feed performance, the Instagram algorithm prioritizes content which most engaged with. The most important metrics of engagements according to Instagram for feed ranking are comments, likes, reshares, and views for videos, keep this in mind as you plan your content and captions.
Factor #2: Relationship
The Instagram algorithm wants to prioritize posts from accounts that you care about the most, so obviously that would mean, your friends, & family. The algorithm uses your interactions to piece together who is closest to you in order for Instagram to show you what you want, by that we mean, what you really, really want 🙂
A software engineer at Instagram, shared how Instagram could theoretically figure out who you care about the most, based on how you use the app:
People whose content you like (possibly including stories and live videos)
People you direct message
People you search for
People you know in real life
Instagram will try to calculate this relationship (and your interest level) as soon as you follow someone by serving you their content and monitoring how you engage with it.
Factor #3: Timeliness
The algorithm not only pays attention to how many people engage with your Instagram posts, but it also looks at how recently the photo was posted.
because it always wants to serve you the latest, most interesting posts Instagram’s algorithm cares about when you posted.
If you post at a time when your followers are online and most active, you give yourself a better chance of getting more likes.
There are ways to find out your personalised best time to post on Instagram, this way you can hack the algorithm to increase your reach and get more likes and followers.
Factor #4: Frequency
Are you addicted to Instagram ?
You will notice that your feed tends to look more chronological if you’re a frequent scroller, this is because Instagram always tries to show you the best posts since your last visit.
On the other hand your feed will be sorted into what Instagram thinks you’ll like, instead of chronologically, if you check the Instagram app less often.
Factor #5: Following
Chances are that you probably won’t see all of the posts from every account If you follow a lot of people because Instagram has more options to choose from..
If a large percentage of your following is inactive a good idea would be to keep systematically removing inactive or “ghost” followers, they could be doing more harm than good for your account’s algorithmic ranking.
Factor #6: Usage
you are going to see more posts as Instagram digs deeper into its catalogue If you spend a lot of time on Instagram.
you may even run out of new content to see if you spend enough time on Instagram. Once this happens the algorithm will serve you suggested content from new accounts based on your previous interactions.
You are mostly going to get only the day’s highlights from the algorithm if you only spend a few minutes in the app each day, then.
