Instagram Part 1

While doing my own research, I came across many resources regarding growing on Instagram. This is a summarised version of all the tips that I have found helpful. All tips provided are relevant as of Q1 of 2022, and are subject to change depending on Instagram's algorithm.

Post Performance

Firstly, there isn't actually a single algorithm that governs whether or not your post will perform. Instagram actually uses a combination of different algorithms, and not all of them are public knowledge. I will go through the ones that have been more or less verified by the Instagram team themselves.

When you first post, Instagram does not actually show your content to everyone who follows you. It instead keeps a list of your top followers, and promotes it on their feed. If the post does well with them, Instagram will then promote it to the rest of your other followers. If it again does well with this group, it will then be more willing to show your post to non-followers.

The time period for Instagram to recognise whether your post is doing well is roughly around 3-4 hours after you post. Thus the timing of your post is extremely important.

Some tips to get Instagram to share your content:

• Increase description length, ask questions to encourage comments
• Using multiple photos in a carousel increases the time spent swiping on your post
• Look at analytics and post when your followers are the most active
• Use hashtags within your caption, not in the comments

Hashtags

The use of hashtags have evolved over the past few iterations of Instagram. In the past, it was mainly used as a form of discovery. Instagram used to recommend using 15-20 different hashtags per post. As of 2021, Instagram now uses them to categorise your type of content. They allows the algorithm to match your content with a more niche user base, ensuring that there will be a higher hit rate when promoting your content. This is why you should keep to using more relevant hashtags rather than spamming your post with many irrelevant tags like #instadaily.

Instagram now recommends using 3-5 hashtags per post. 1-2 should be generic but popular, and the other 2-3 should be more niche tags that are specific to your post.

One tip that can help your hashtag game is by going to the hashtags you use, sorting by recent, and interacting with the content there through likes and comments. This helps to increase your engagment, even if one or two people check out your content, which will push the algorithm to share your content even more. However, make sure not to overdo it with the commenting because it can make you seem disingenuous and insincere. Always try to provide value and be honest.

Analytics Terms

Some common terms used in Instagram Analytics and what they refer to. (Enable business account if you are unable to view analytics on your account)