If you are an active Instagram user you may have noticed that your Instagram feed is always changing. Originally organized in reverse chronological order, Instagram now prioritizes the moments their users care about most. Since this change they have restructured their algorithm countless times to optimize user experience. So where does that leave us now?

The 2021 Instagram algorithm is primarily based off of 5 influencing factors:

  1. Interest
  2. Timeliness
  3. Relationship
  4. Usage
  5. Following

#1 Interest

Instagram can predict how much interest you will have in a post based on pervious user activity such as like, comments, shares, etc. By analyzing content and putting them into categories, Instagram is able to serve users posts that are likely most enjoyable based on previous engagement.

#2 Timeliness

Though Instagram’s new feeds are no longer organized chronologically, how recently you share a post does still have an impact on whether or not your post will be seen. A post shared on the same day will most likely be prioritized over a post shared a week ago.

#3 Relationship

Instagram will measure how close one user is to another. They do this by tracking how frequently they like each others post, how often they message each other, if they’ve been tagged in each others posts, etc. Instagram does this to make sure users are seeing content that matters most to them.

#4 Usage

Usage is influenced by how often you open instagram and how much time you spend on the app. If you spend a short amount of time on the app Instagram ensures you are able make the most of those short periods of time. With a longer session Instagram has to dig a bit deep to fill your browsing time.

#5 Following

Since we are only discussing someones news feed and not the discover section, it is important to recognize someone must be following your account in order for it to show up on their news feed. Also, if someone follows a greater number of people you need to consider that Instagram will have a wider variety of content to choose from so it can be less likely that your posts will be featured on your audience’s news feed.

Knowing this information you are able to create an action plan that best fits your existing audience interests. Once you are able to determine how frequently you should be posting and what kind of content your audience engages with most, then you can begin creating a successful social media plan. If your head is still spinning don’t worry, we are here to help. At BRING we are happy to analyze your social media account and create a path to better manage your business’s presence online. Contact us for more information.