7 Ways To Outsmart and Win Over Instagram Algorithm
Hey guys,
Hope you are doing great and I hope you had a great holiday with your families and friends. If you are just getting back to lectures or work today, stay strong. We are all in this boat together and I totally understand your struggle cos we are all going through it together. So today, I want to talk about some little tricks I’ve been trying out lately concerning Instagram algorithm. Like many others, I feel frustrated but a few weeks ago I decided to create kinda like a routine and see if there will be any changes. I would say my experiment was 90% successful. I mean, I can clearly notice a huge difference but not to forget some things failed as well.
Just to clear things out quickly in case you are wondering what I am all about. Well, Instagram has a new system of ranking the posts on your follower’s timeline based on how they are engaged with you. In summary, based on your follower’s interest which is having a great impact on brands or creatives such as bloggers. So, let’s get straight into it: How do you outsmart this new Instagram Algorithm system? For me, I personally think Instagram is trying to establish an ORGANIC platform which is great but kinda like a bad news for us bloggers but if you try to master this routine, you might just see a huge difference. This isn’t at all a “Speedy routine”, you need to be highly patient.
- Get personal and relatable: Yes, bloggers get lots of collaboration job and ads but I noticed the least basic of caption or picture that truly express a personal side of me works better than when I take minutes to think of how to structure the perfect and deep caption. We all get bombarded by ads every-time and everywhere showing a personal side of you is highly appreciated by followers. It’s like a connection on another level than social media. So, I would advise, ditch the deep caption and literally spill out the first things that come into your head when you about to click post on that picture.This will surely get your followers talking and engaging with you more in the comment section below.
- Post consistently: I actually think this should be the first one because consistency is almost 80% of everything on social media or digital platforms. This is not a reason to spam your followers but creatively always remind them that you are there. Also, don’t be afraid to dilute your posts by mixing it up with relevant lifestyle post. Posting 3 – 4 selfies a day can be boring, why not mix it up with posts related to your personal brand or aspirations.
- Instagram stories: Using Instagram stories is a great way to still be active and posting contents but not on your page. I will usually post on my page between 2-3 pictures per day but my Instagram story has no limit especially if you are in a different location. Do you also know apart from the views number we can see to measure how many people viewed our story, Instagram also takes account of how many people shared or replied to your story which is registered as an engagement with you? Well, now you know. So, jump on your story and start engaging with your followers.
- Great quality picture/video: So cliche and discouraging for some of us that can’t afford all these expensive gadgets but not to worry, smartphones have a great quality camera you can use and manipulate with some editing apps. Great quality of pictures or video is a MUST on Instagram. It’s all about visual aesthetics which means your feed/post needs to be eye-catching and tell a story about you or your brand.
- Live Video: This is such a great one to use regularly if you are a big “talker” or video content creator. Instagram Live is so great because it automatically sends a notification to ALL your followers. As soon as anyone opts in, Instagram starts counting this as an engagement with you then registering it down that this person is interested in your post which will help you pop-up more on their timeline. I would say Instagram Live was a bit of a fail for me cos I am a bit too reserved for sharing lots of personal stuff and also “video camera-shy” but I am learning. If you are a beauty blogger or YouTuber, this should be one of your most used features on Instagram.
- Instagram poll: Here is another new feature with great opportunity to engage your followers. I really enjoy using this especially when I need to decide on something quickly. It’s fun and human beings really like the feel of contributing to a decision-making situation. I enjoy taking polls too. I posted a poll twice one day during my “test/observation” and I actually noticed new people liked my pictures than usual.
- Get social: I personally think this was the most effective for me. So, I dedicated 30 minutes every evening for 4 days to just like and comment. Wait, I wasn’t liking randomly. I had a list of 10 hashtags related to blogging and modest style (These are the areas I wanted to grow more engagement in – choose 10 hashtags in your niche), then I liked the first 10 pictures that show up under each hashtag. So, basically every night, I like 100 pictures and comment on average 10 to 15 pictures (Genuine comments not robotic). This permit you to get social with unique people in your niche outside your area or country which most times come back as Instagram will register you in that area and people in the area can notice your “path” [Don’t know if that is clear enough…sigh]. If you ever noticed high engagement from a very random country, you might have liked or commented on someone’s picture in that location. I heard about this trick from serial entrepreneur Garyvee and also a huge fan of Instagram operation…I think he called it the 10/10 formula in one of his podcast.
- Instagram Ads: This one was a total fail for me, I promoted a post and tbh, I didn’t see any changes or return. I might be doing something wrong or maybe the picture wasn’t engaging enough but I flopped. If you’ve tried Instagram Ads before and you were really satisfied with the return, please leave some tips for me below, I will really appreciate it. Until I am sure of how to full go about it, I don’t think I will be investing in that anytime soon.
That was a long post, I know! These are the things I patiently tried out myself.
Thank you for reading and hopefully, this can really reduce the frustration for all of us.
Let me know if you’ve tried any of this and also, share other tricks you know with us. Help a sis/bro here.
Don’t forget to stay connected with me on all social platforms: @itsmaryamsalam / @thebloggerpoint
Maryam Salam is the founder and chief-editor of Thebloggerpoint.com. She studied BA Fashion Marketing and Branding Degree (Business Dev) at Nottingham Trent University, the UK in 2016 and currently completing her MSc degree in Entrepreneurship & International Business while working as a part-time stylist at Karen Millen. She has collaborated and worked with several brands both in Nigeria and abroad such as ASOS, Next, Accessorize, Maju, Grass-field etc.
If she isn’t busy running around for meetings/shopping her next style content pieces. Maryam can be found creating fashion contents or working on developing business strategies for small and upcoming businesses. You can catch up with her personal fashion style and lifestyle in general here.You can also get in touch with her through mail: maryam.daisy@yahoo.com or on social media @itsmaryamsalam (Instagram)
These are some really helpful tips. Thank you!
Thank you for reading. Glad you found it helpful
Thanks for sharing this!
I quite agree with the liking 100 pictures and commenting on average 10 to 15 pictures bit.
I tried this usually at night before going to bed & gained a lot of followers but I guess the comments were robotic as I had same/ similar comments for different posts.
I lost over 250+ followers afterwards.
Now I am more personal with my comments
Thank you for reading. Oh, that’s really sad to hear. I’ve been only trying it for few weeks, hopefully, it won’t be that drastic. But also, you can comment on people you actually know posts. So, atleast you are sure they aren’t random and will probably return the likes or comments too
Will try that. Thanks!
This is fabulous advice! I’ve been performing my own testing to see what works… this is extremely helpful!
Thank you….Don’t forget to come share your test with us.
Thank you, really nice tips! would definitively be trying some out, especially being social. Can you recommend any app for measuring your I.g analytics? Fairly new to this Ig world but I hear it helps,
Hello,
Thank you for reading. There is an analytic button on top of your Instagram that shows basic stats of your Instagram performance…Check it out
Thanks for this. Going off to try them out already.
Thank you for reading….GO SHINE BOSSLADY
This is awesome, Maryam and am so trying it out asap. Thanks
Thats great to hear…..Goodluck and let me know how it goes
Definitely doing the 10/10 thing. Thanks for sharing.
Author
Thanks for reading