Introduction
Instagram is constantly changing its algorithms to try and keep users happy. While the updates are sometimes frustrating, they can also be helpful for marketers who want to engage with their followers on a deeper level. Here's what you need to know about Instagram's algorithm changes in 2019:
Instagram is constantly updating its algorithms to keep users and the platform itself happy.
Instagram is constantly updating its algorithms to keep users and the platform itself happy. Instagram has more than 1 billion users, making it one of the most popular platforms on the internet today.
It's also owned by Facebook, which means that when you post something on Instagram and it gets a lot of likes and comments, Facebook will see that as a good thing because it means people are interacting with content, you're posting on their platform too!
These updates have been known to change the way users, especially marketers, are able to engage with others on the platform.
What are the updates?
In 2012, Instagram made changes to its algorithm. These changes were implemented to improve user experience and engagement with photos on the platform. The update was designed to show users more of what they care about and prevent them from missing content that was important to them. Instagram has continued to make updates since then, each time improving their algorithms for a better user experience.
How do these changes work?
These updates have been known to change the way users, especially marketers, are able to engage with others on the platform. Marketers often use hashtags as a way of engaging potential customers by tagging their posts with relevant tags in hopes of reaching new audiences who may be interested in their business or product line
Here's what you need to know about Instagram's algorithm changes in 2019.
If you've been keeping up with Instagram's algorithm changes, you'll know that they're constantly evolving. This is because the platform is constantly being updated to keep users happy and advertisers happy. The way in which these algorithms work can be very confusing for marketers, but there are some basic things we can do if we want to get ahead of the game.
When it comes to Instagram's algorithm changes in 2019, here are a few important things that marketers need to know:
It's designed to keep users happy. The most important thing about any social media platform is making sure that their users are having a good experience using their site or app; otherwise, there won't be much use for them at all! So, when deciding how best to optimize your account for an audience, it's vital that you look into what makes people tick before jumping straight into promoting products or services without knowing where these customers might find value within your brand identity overall."
Organic engagement is valued over sponsored content.
Instagram is moving away from the focus on ads and sponsored content. You can no longer pay for your content to be seen by users, so your job is to create great organic content that people want to engage with. The more engagement you get (likes, comments, and shares), the higher your posts will rank in followers' feeds and the more exposure you'll get. So how do you get more organic engagement on Instagram?
This post will cover:
How often should you post?
What kind of content should I share?
How can I make sure my posts don't get buried in a feed full of other posts?
Your feed is no longer in chronological order.
The Instagram algorithm has changed significantly, and not just because your feed is no longer in chronological order. The way Instagram prioritizes stories has also been updated.
Instagram says that it's now using your relationship with a content creator as one of the factors to determine what shows up in your feed so if you follow someone who posts lots of videos, for example, you'll start seeing more videos from that person than before. This change makes sense given how much time people spend watching videos on their phones.
Instagram's algorithm is still centered around who you follow though, so if all those influencers were only posting photos or written content, their posts may not appear as frequently anymore too!
Instagram has changed the way it prioritizes stories.
You've probably noticed that your Instagram feed isn't what it used to be.
In fact, the algorithm has changed quite a bit over the years, and there is now a new way to prioritize posts in your main feed: likelihood of relevance.
This means that Instagram will rank stories based on how likely they are to be relevant for you as an individual user. This means that if you follow an influencer who posts about fashion and beauty, then those types of posts will get priority in your feed since they are more likely to be relevant for you than a post from someone who only posts about sports or comedy.
Videos from people you interact with the most will auto-play.
If you've ever been scrolling through your feed, and then suddenly a video starts playing without you pressing play, this is what happened. Instagram will start to auto-play videos from people you interact with the most. This way, when you're scrolling past their content in the feed, it will begin playing automatically so that there's less of a chance for user drop off if they don't want to engage with it (or maybe because they are on Wi-Fi and don't want to use up their data).
This is similar to how Facebook prioritizes posts from your friends and family in Messenger over those from businesses or brands.
Brands who prioritize community and engagement will see their efforts rewarded, as Instagram moves away from ads and toward organic content.
In 2022, Instagram will be rewarding organic engagement and community over ads. With the introduction of its new algorithm, Instagram is prioritizing organic content and brands who prioritize community and engagement in their marketing strategies are set to reap the benefits.
For example, when you post a story on Facebook or Twitter and someone comments on it, that comment then appears at the top of your followers' news feeds. But with Instagram's recent update, these comments will no longer be featured at all; instead, they'll appear at the end of your followers' news feeds under "Related Posts."
If you have a large following (or if you're willing to pay for followers), this can be frustrating because it means less people will see your posts; but if you have an engaged community who actually read through your posts and interact with them in some way (either by liking or commenting), then this change may not affect you as much because those interactions will still get seen by most of your audience.
Conclusion
The Instagram algorithm is always changing. That's how it stays relevant and helps users discover what they want to see on the app, but it can also be frustrating for marketers who are trying to reach their audiences. In 2022, we'll see more focus on organic engagement and less on ads so think about your strategy accordingly!
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