An Update on the Instagram Algorithm for Small Businesses
If you’re active on Instagram, you already know the algorithm is fickle and ever-evolving. For busy small business owners, keeping up with these changes can feel like a full-time job — and who’s got time for that?
Enter, Quiet Corner Communications, your friendly neighborhood content marketing agency. We specialize in staying on top of the latest social media curveballs and providing you with the intel you need to optimize your Instagram presence. So before you hit post, check out these updates to ensure you’re getting the hard-earned likes you deserve.
What you need to know about Instagram feed ranking
We’ve talked about this before, but ever since IG ditched the chronological feed, they’ve relied on a set of parameters to determine which posts you see — and who sees your posts.
Luckily, good people at Hootsuite created this handy infographic to explain the new Instagram ranking signals.
Top takeaways:
Build relationships with your followers by taking time to respond to their comments and messages, tagging them when appropriate, and encouraging them to save your posts
Diversify your content to figure out what your followers are most interested in
Use your Insights to determine when your followers are most active and share content during that window
Target followers who spend a lot of time in the app, or followers who only follow select accounts (meaning their feeds are more curated and your posts more likely to show up)
The importance of posting consistently on Instagram
Almost all of the aforementioned ranking signals can be accomplished with consistent posting. Think about it, if you’re posting daily — or at least posting regularly — you’re increasing the chances of user interaction and building stronger relationships, giving your followers more opportunities to engage, and your posts are more likely to be classified as “recent.”
So, how often should you be posting? Social Buddy recommends between 1-3 times per day and reports that most major brands average 1.5 posts per day. If this sounds like a lot, you’re not alone. Generating quality content every day is time-consuming at best, and utterly overwhelming at worst. We don’t even do it on our own account because we’re too busy generating content for clients! But if you’re a small business trying to promote your products and services on Instagram, post consistency really is important. Here are our quick tips to save you valuable time:
Create a bank of brand-aligned content to draw from
Use a post scheduling app
Hire a content marketing team to create and post content for you!
Use the new Instagram features (aka Reels)
At the end of the day, Instagram is a business. And like any business, they want to promote their latest offerings. The powers that be know you care about post performance, and leverage that concern to push their most recent features.
Creator Rainy Lune (Rachel Reichenbach) recently had a call with an Instagram rep to discuss the nefarious algorithm and wrote this wonderful blog post spilling ALL of the tea about it. You should definitely read the whole thing, but her top takeaway was: use the new features and the algorithm will look kindly on you. And by new features, she means Reels.
The Instagram algorithm is currently boosting Reels, which means if you post one, you should see better engagement across all your other posts. Instagram recommends posting 4-7 Reels a week, but Rainy Lune and I agree that is an absolutely insane amount of work. Instead, try starting with one Reel per week, closely monitoring your engagement, and then increase the frequency if you see results (and have the time). Other hot tips for Reels include:
Don’t repost TikToks — I know this is tempting if you’re active on TikTok, but Instagram wants you to use their product, not their competitors’. In fact, Instagram recently announced they would not be adding Reels to the Discover page if they feature the TikTok watermark!
Use the features — There are a ton of editing features you can use when creating a Reel, and the more you use, the better your Reel will perform.
Shoot vertical — Social Media Examiner recommends producing Reels that look “native” to the app by recording them in a portrait (vertical) frame.
Make those first seconds count — Grab attention with an engaging hook in the first few seconds of your Reel, otherwise people will most likely keep scrolling.
Mastering your #hashtag #strategy for Instagram
I’ll be honest, there’s a lot of conflicting information out there about hashtags. Some social media experts say you’re crazy not to use all 30 hashtags you’re permitted per feed post, while others suggest sticking to 11. My advice? Experiment with the number of hashtags you use to find your personal sweet spot.
I also recommend experimenting with the type of hashtags you use to find the ones that perform best in your niche. What do I mean by type of hashtag? Here’s a quick rundown:
Product, service, and industry — In order to attract customers to your posts, you need to make sure you’re hashtagging things that describe what you’re offering. Beyond obvious ones like #weddingphotography (if you’re a wedding photographer), look at your competitors’ posts to determine the best hashtags for your industry. Also keep an eye out for industry-specific community hashtags, like #podcastersofinstagram (if you’re in the podcasting game).
Branded — It’s always a good idea to include 1-2 unique hashtags to develop as searchable sense of brand. These can be as simple as your company name, or as complex as a specific social media slogan associated with your brand.
Seasonal — If you’re posting in honor of a specific day or event, make sure you include the associated hashtags (like the onslaught of recent #MayTheFourthBeWithYou posts).
Location — Geotagging is great, but if you’re a hyper-local business it always helps to include a hashtag or two about your location to attract customers who might be browsing for local businesses using a hashtag search.
Acronyms — You know #TBT, but have you heard of #QOTD (quote of the day), #FTW (for the win), and #ICYMI (in case you missed it)? Acronym hashtags are a popular and fun way to flag the type of content you’re sharing, so brush up on your IG slang and add a few to your next post.
#LinkInBio — Apparently there have been rumors swirling that using #linkinbio leads to post suppression. But according to a recent Hootsuite study, that’s #fakenews. Posts using #linkinbio actually perform better than posts that don’t! So get yourself a LinkTree to house your most referenced links and #linkinbio to your heart’s content.
Still intimidated by the IG algorithm?
Drop me a line! I’m happy to explain all of the above in greater detail, help you create like-worthy content, or manage your entire account so you get back to what you do best — running your small business!
