Once upon a time, Instagram was a humble photo-sharing app where people could mess around with fun filters and participate in weekly hashtag trends like #TBT (Throw Back Thursday) or #MCM (Man Crush Monday). Now, Instagram has over 1 billion active users, 83% of which use the app to discover new brands, products, and services. 

Instagram today is really more like Disneyland than the carnival that rolls into town once a year, and like The House of Mouse, it’s now governed by a strict set of policies — aka the algorithm. The algorithm is intended to show followers the stuff they want to see most but often results in posts being lost in the crowd of content. Lucky for you, we’ve got some quick tips to help you cut through the clamor and get your small business the attention it deserves. 

3 tips for beating the Instagram algorithm 

1. Build relationships — When it comes to beating the Instagram algorithm, it’s just as important to see as it is to be seen. In fact, one isn’t possible without the other. If you’re not interacting with your followers in a way that encourages further interaction, the algorithm won’t classify your posts as something your followers want to see or prioritize them in the feed. To combat this, make sure you’re liking your followers’ posts, leaving comments, and responding to their stories. When you post, encourage engagement by asking questions that will generate comments, or sharing content your followers will want to save. 

2. Use the new features — When Instagram debuts a new feature, they ensure its success by skewing the algorithm to favor that feature. Take Reels, for example — a recent Hootsuite experiment found follower count and engagement rate both increased after posting more Reels. We’ve also seen this ourselves. A photo posted to our main feed only ever nets us a handful of likes, but our first Reel racked up over 1,000 views within the first half-hour of posting. So if you’re looking for a quick boost in engagement, bank on Instagram’s latest features to get you there. 

3. Post more —  At the end of the day, Instagram is a business, and its primary objective is to increase usage. Not only is the algorithm designed to reward users who spend time in the app, but if you’re posting regularly, you’re also increasing the opportunities your followers have to interact with your content. At a minimum, we recommend posting twice a week, but most major brands post 1-3 times a day to ensure they’re staying at the top of their followers’ feeds. 

*Bonus Tip: People use Instagram differently. Some stick to feed scrolling or tap through Stories. Others hang out on the Discover page, swiping through random Reels. To give your content the best chance of success, make sure you’re sharing it to as many Instagram features as possible. For example, if you post a Reel, it automatically lives in the Reels tab of your feed — but you can also share that Reel to your main feed, and repost it to your Stories. By repopulating your Reel to other places on Instagram, you’re increasing its visibility and reaching more followers.