Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, has revealed how the platform’s algorithms work . Yes, you read that right, algorithms in plural! In fact, Stories, Feed, Reels and Explore each have their own algorithm. Let’s look at them one by one.
Feed
The most important signals that determine the content that gets published in your feed are:
– Your interaction: Instagram’s algorithm takes into account what you like, save and comment;
Interaction at the time of posting: This is a signal that shows how much the post was liked;
Information about who posted;
Interactions with the stories of those who have published.
Based on these signals and other weaker ones, posts are shown to the people who are most likely to interact with that content . If this happens, the post will be rewarded by moving up in the feed.
Stories
Instagram sees stories as a way to share your daily life with the community . The signals identified to show your story in the first position in the bar are:
Timeline: How often people view your stories:
Interaction: How many times people interact with your stories by clicking stickers, liking or replying to you in direct;
Proximity: Instagram’s algorithm tries to detect if you are related to someone like family or friends.
Here too, the algorithm will calculate the probability that a person will interact with your story and, if so, will reward its content.
Explore
This section is for discovering content from people you don’t follow . The algorithm looks at your interactions with past posts to determine what you might be interested in.
The most important actions in this section for the Instagram algorithm are liking, saving and sharing.
Strong signals for the explore section are:
Popularity: How quickly people interact with the post once it is published;
Activity in Explore: People’s interactions in this section;
Interaction with the posting account;
Information about the account that posts: If many people have interacted with that profile, its content will be engaging;
Reels
Also in this section most of the videos are from people you don’t follow . The reactions most considered by the algorithm are sharing, watching the reel until the end, liking and going to the “audio” page of that reel.
How to Use the Instagram Algorithm Strategically
Here are some tips to grow organically on Instagram:
Study an editorial plan that includes different contents that take into account the customer journey and the structure of the funnel ;
Take advantage of the collaboration mode with profiles that share your same values;
Use reels to reach more people who don’t follow you;
Use the “close friends” option on stories to increase curiosity and exclusivity of some content to increase views;
Make the most of Instagram hashtags: read on to find out which ones to choose and how to select the best ones.
Mastering the Best Instagram Hashtags
A strategic choice of the best hashtags allows you to grow faster and obtain a much better organic (i.e. non-paid) coverage .
When you use them on Instagram it’s like you’re talking to the algorithm to tell it to work for you. Basically you’re telling the platform which audience you want to show your posts to .
Instagram’s main goal is to keep people’s eyes glued to the platform for as long as possible. So, for that to happen, it needs to make sure that it provides users with the content they want to see .
How does he know?
Instagram knows what users want because it monitors everything they do on the platform. Who they follow and don’t follow, how long they look at each image, what they search for, etc.
All this data provides valuable information to the algorithm that decides which content should be placed and in what order in everyone’s feed.
So, hashtags are a way to categorize content effectively. Think of them as folders on your computer. They allow you to find exactly what you need quickly and efficiently (unless your desktop is a mess, and only you can do something about that!).
The Most Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Hashtags
There are mistakes that can limit the reach and engagement with your posts. Let’s look at them in detail so you don’t risk making them.
1. Instagram Hashtags Are Too Competitive
Did you know that the most popular hashtag on Instagram is #love? It has over 1.72 billion posts.
Imagine being in a crowd of 1.7 billion people and having to find a specific person named #love. It’s a serious case of needle in a haystack .
When you post with a hashtag along with 1.7 billion other posts, there is a high chance your target audience won’t find it, which completely defeats the purpose of using that hashtag.
2. Irrelevant hashtags
The type of hashtags you use tell Instagram what type of content you’re posting.
That’s why mastering the best ones means choosing the ones that are most relevant to your content.
For example, if you post about your vacation in Rome and use the hashtag #beauty, you won’t get much traction. And even if you do rank, you’ll be reaching the wrong audience.
Use specific hashtags that effectively describe your content so you can reach the audience you really want to reach.
3. Repetitive hashtags
A little known fact is that Instagram can penalize you for using the same hashtags over and over again . It’s important to create variations of the hashtags you use.
This has the added benefit of attracting a more diverse and possibly larger audience.
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4. Instagram Hashtags Ranking
Placement is key when it comes to understanding how hashtags can help you grow your Instagram account.
Let’s say your account has 10,000 followers.
You post quality content and job function email data choose the hashtag #instagood (which has 1.1 million posts).
At the same time, a well-known bx leads influencer, who has 192,000,000 followers, posts a selfie and also adds the hashtag #instagood.
Her post is guaranteed to appear in the hashtag group #instagood because she has a huge following and will, as a result, get more engagement .
These engagement metrics , not the relative quality of the content, are why her post will rank high in that hashtag group, while yours will go relatively unnoticed.
Hashtags are Instagram SEO
My advice is to think of hashtags as SEO , because that is essentially what they are. In fact, when you need to optimize a post on your blog, don’t you use the keywords that perform best and are aligned with your content ?
Here, you have to do the same thing on Instagram by choosing the right hashtags to optimize your posts. Only in this way will you get good performance.
Also, as with SEO keywords, some will work better for you than others. So, it’s a good idea to do your research and figure out which hashtags work best for your content.
Are there different types of Instagram hashtags?
There are so many hashtags, but they can recognize 6 main types. Let’s see what they are.
1. Banned Hashtags
These are hashtags considered inappropriate by Instagram and posts using them will be penalized. Using them could lead to your account being shadowbanned , so it’s best to avoid them.
As of this writing, there are approximately 114,000 banned hashtags. A quick Google search will give you a list of common hashtags to avoid.
2. Brand Hashtags
I recommend creating one or more branded hashtags specific to your account .
Place this branded hashtag in your bio so that when people click on it, they can see your branded content.
Now all you have to do is use it in all your posts.
Tip: When sending products to customers, include a note or send an email asking them to post a photo with the products, tag you, and use your brand hashtag.
This is the easiest way to get great user-generated content (UGC).
3. Topic/Niche Specific Instagram Hashtags
These are hashtags that target specific topics that are usually related to your niche market.
If you are in the vacation blogging niche, you can use tags like #winterholiday or #summergetaway.
Never underestimate the power of niche hashtags. If used well, they can give you significant engagement.
4. Audience-Specific Hashtags
These are hashtags used to describe or target a specific audience .
Just like topic-based or niche hashtags, they are super specific.
If you want to reach out to people who work in graphic design, you could use hashtags like #designlife or #graphicdesignagency.
5. Location Hashtags
Location hashtags can be really useful when you want to reach people in a specific place.
They are usually very specific hashtags and can be seen by people who live in the location or are traveling there.
Location hashtags are usually something like #newyorkcitylife.
6. Product-specific hashtags
It could be the name of your product , or if you want to be really specific, the ingredients or elements of a product .
How to Grow on Instagram Using the Best # Hashtags
If you are reading this article, you are probably interested in growing your account with hashtags . So, here is the best formula: mix everything I have told you so far, as long as all the hashtags are related to what you are posting.
Using the right hashtags can increase engagement with your posts and attract the right followers and potential customers.
If you aren’t using hashtags correctly or at all, no new users will see your posts and you’ll make yourself less accessible.
Let’s move on to the practical part
To put into practice everything I have said so far it is necessary to do research:
Spend a lot of time researching hashtags to make sure you’re using the best possible hashtags for your posts and your brand.
Start mastering Instagram hashtags by looking at the ones your competitors, audiences, and influencers in your industry are currently using.
Go to Instagram and go to the “ Explore ” section and type a hashtag that is relevant to your niche in the search bar. Instagram will give you suggestions for related hashtags. And it will tell you how many people are using each hashtag.
Again, avoid very popular hashtags because the competition is too fierce.
Hashtag Analytics
Understanding hashtag analytics is key. Look at your Instagram data to see how your posts are performing. There are three metrics you should pay attention to when selecting your hashtags:
Average Likes
The average amount of likes received by posts that rank in the “Top Posts” section of the hashtag. This helps you see if your post would dominate your niche.
Competition Score
The number of people you will be competing with within the hashtag helps you see how many posts yours will be competing with for that hashtag.
Potential Reach
The number of people you are likely to reach if you rank within that hashtag.
Now that we understand what data to look at, let’s move on to the Strategy.
How to use hashtags on Instagram
Once your research is complete and you have created a hashtag for your brand, the next step is to develop an effective hashtag strategy for your content.
