Why There's No Such Thing as an Instagram Algorithm "Hack" and What to Do Instead
If you search, “Instagram Algorithm” on Pinterest, you’re gonna get hit with the pins that claim: “Here’s How to Trick the Algorithm” or “My Top Algorithm Hacks”.
Girl. BFFR.
It’s silly to me when business owners or creators want to portray the algorithm as some big bad wolf that you have to trick to get exposure. 🐺
Trust me, sometimes I blame the algorithm too if a Reel gets 100 views. However, this perception fundamentally misunderstands what the algorithm is and how it actually works.
The Instagram algorithm is just an AI system designed by engineers to optimize the experience for users. You can’t “hack” it, but you can use knowledge surrounding it to your advantage.
The algorithm has two main goals:
1. To show users the content most relevant to their interests
2. To provide the best experience for all parties on the platform
To achieve this, the algorithm uses “machine learning” to analyze a huge number of signals. This includes your activity, the content itself, your relationships, and sooo much more. It’s constantly updated and improved based on new data, which is why we see creators post content like, “this is what the algorithm likes this week”, etc 🫠
There are Four Key Elements to the Instagram Reels Algorithm:
(To better identify the key elements, I pulled from the Bible– Hootsuite. See their OG article here for key algorithm elements to different Instagram components, in this blog, I’m chatting about Reels specifically)
User Activity
User Interaction
Reel Information
Poster Information
User Activity
✨ QUICK ANSWER: The algorithm on Instagram looks at your past behavior, such as which reels you’ve liked, saved, re-shared, commented on, and engaged with recently.
The Instagram algorithm's top priority is showing you content that you are likely to engage with and spend time viewing. It closely analyzes your behavior on the platform to determine your interests and preferences.
The more content you like = more time scrolling = more time spent on the app 🫡
The posts, Reels, Stories, and other content that you genuinely interact with by liking, commenting, saving, and sharing sends a signal to Instagram to determine what you find valuable. The more you engage with certain types of content, the more likely you are to see similar content in your main feeds.
This is the reason that “the algorithm knows you better than you know yourself” 🤭. If you are scrolling and pay slightly more attention to a brand/product you hadn’t shown interest in before. IG is like “WRITE THAT DOWN. WRITE THAT DOWN” and will be pushing more content like it.
EXAMPLE: If you are a brand that makes iced coffee koozies, Instagram will try to sort your content out to users who recently spent time watching videos that involve coffee. (How to’s, trendy coffee cups, at-home Starbucks recipes, coffee runs, etc)
💡 PRO TIP: THIS IS WHERE HAVING QUALITY CONTENT MATTERS. Once you post, the algorithm will show your content to a handful of people that typically value content around your niche. If the first handful of people don’t interact with your content (like, comment, save, send, replay), the algorithm will assume it’s not valuable or relevant to a larger audience. (I could yap forever on this, but I’ll do it in another blog)
User Interaction
✨ QUICK ANSWER: If you’ve interacted with the person who posted the Reel before, that signals to the algorithm your level of interest in their content.
The Instagram algorithm looks at your past interactions with the “author” (creator) of the Reel to determine your interest level in their content. If you frequently view, like, comment on, and engage with a particular creator's posts, that signals to Instagram you want to see more of their content.
Having an existing relationship and history with the creator of a Reel will also cause their posts to rank higher for you. The algorithm understands that content from accounts you actively follow and regularly interact with is more relevant to you than random viral posts.
EXAMPLE: If I’ve been following a creator for a hot minute and I typically engage with their posts, they are very likely to show up on my feed. AND I’ve also noticed that even if I don’t follow a creator but I’ve engaged with their posts on my feed before, the algorithm is likely to push their content my way again!
Reel Information
✨ QUICK ANSWER: The algorithm then accounts for factors like audio track, video length, and caption text to determine how interesting the reel might be to you.
The Instagram algorithm takes various factors of a Reel into account when determining the ranking process. This is where specific tactics may be confused for a “hack” on the algorithm.
Key elements:
Audio:
Trending audios tend to rank better.
Popular audio = larger number of users may be interested in that content.
Length:
Instagram seems to prioritize shorter Reels.
Less than 30 seconds long for ideal performance.
Shorter high-quality videos allow viewers to quickly consume content and tend to retain viewer attention span.
Captions:
They provide important keywords that signal to the algorithm, “Hey, this video is about ‘baking’ and ‘quick baking recipes’”.
You are essentially able to assist the algorithm in understanding the topic to reach viewers interested in that topic.
Poster Information
✨ QUICK ANSWER: Similar to feed and Stories, the algorithm considers your relationship with the poster to determine how relevant their content is to you.
The Instagram algorithm considers your existing relationship and interactions with a “poster” (creator) to determine relevance. If you consistently engage with a creator's content, the algorithm sees that as a strong signal you want to see more of it.
Even if you follow an account, if you rarely interact with their posts, the algorithm will start ranking their content lower in your feed over time.
Meaning, you can’t just follow someone and see their content consistency from then on. You likely follow lots of people. Between your following list, ads, and suggested posts. The algorithm has to rank posts in your own feed based on what’s most important to you!
Training the algorithm through consistent interactions with certain accounts you value is crucial. Make sure to regularly engage with creators you want to see more content from. The algorithm is adaptive and learns based on your behavior patterns.
It's easy to get caught up in so-called "hacks" or tactics that seem to game the Instagram algorithm. Using a certain audio, a clickbait caption, or jumping on the latest trend may result in a temporary boost. However, these are merely isolated tactics, not comprehensive solutions.
Ask yourself– what is the purpose of each piece of content you create? How does it provide value to your audience? What do you want viewers to do after engaging with it? Align creative choices like audio, visuals, captions, and hashtags to serve those goals.
💡 PRO TIP: Track performance data to see what resonates best with your audience. Then double down on what works rather than blindly copying others. Proactively optimize for your audience rather than reactively chasing algorithm "hacks."
In case we haven’t met, how rude of me to yap for this long without introducing myself. Hi, I’m Kate!
I’m a social media marketer specializing in social strategy and content creation for founders who want to level up on TikTok and Instagram.
Be sure to SAVE this blog post if you are going to need a minute to study the playbook of the algorithm. Trust me, I’m right there with you!
If you’re feeling extra inspired, check out my Instagram where I share my tips to help business owners like you level up their socials! (Orrrr if you’re more of a hands-off kind of person, I offer full service social media management packages)!
Xoxo,
Kate
Hootsuite. "[SOLVED] Instagram Algorithm Tips for 2024." Hootsuite Blog, 17 Feb. 2024, blog.hootsuite.com/instagram-algorithm/#Top_Instagram_algorithm_ranking_factors_overall.