Instagram’s Algorithm Explained

Read Time: 3.5 mins ⚡

Hello, Marketers.

In today’s edition:

  • Instagram’s Algorithm Explained

  • Last week’s top headlines

This is how Instagram decides what content to show

CEO, Adam Mosseri, posted a video breaking down what Instagram is looking for when they distribute content.

In a nutshell: Instagram makes predictions about each piece of content based on signals.

The predictions and signals that Instagram uses are different for each content format: Reels, Stories, Feeds & Explore…

🤳 Stories: Instagram predicts how interested the user will be in each story posted in the last 24 hours. Will the user open the story? Reply to the author? React with an emoji?

Signals IG uses to make their prediction (in order): The user’s viewing history, engagement history, and ‘closeness’ to the person who posted.

📰 The Feed: Again Instagram is going to predict how much interest the user will have in the post. Specifically, are they likely to comment, like, share, tap into the profile of the author or spend time on the post?

Signals IG uses: The user’s general interests based on the content the user has engaged with before on IG. The post itself (how popular is it), the account that posted, and the user’s engagement history with the account.

Stories and the Feed will mostly show content from accounts the user has chosen to follow.

🎞️ Reels: Instagram will calculate the likelihood of a user sharing the Reel, watching the whole video, and going to the audio page for the Reel.

Signals IG uses: Previous reels the user has engaged with, history with the account that posted, information about the reel & the account that posted it.

🔍 Explore Page: Instagram predicts how likely the user is to like, save or share the post.

Signals IG uses: Information about the post (how popular it is), the user’s general interests based on content the user has engaged with before, history with the account that posted, and other information about the account that posted too.

Reels and the Explore Page will mostly show the best content from accounts users are not following yet.

Why we care

For brands looking to grow their community on social, this has some gems of information. For Reels, the main things Instagram is looking for are shares, watch time and people visiting the audio page. The last one is not-so-obvious.

This tells us that brands could be rewarded for getting in early on trending audio. The more people that open the audio page from the Reel, the more positive signals will be passed back to IG. And the more organic reach the video will get.

ICYMI: Last Week’s Must-Knows

Apple clamps down on advertising tracking (impacting UTM parameters on Safari!). Apple said: “Some websites add extra information to their URLs in order to track users across other websites. Now this information will be removed” for people using Safari’s Private Browsing. And also when anyone shares links in Apple Mail and Messages. (Apple ↗️)

Microsoft creates a Google Analytics alternative. Microsoft has created a new (free) dashboard providing insights into website performance. Businesses need to install the Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag to enable Microsoft to collect the data. The new UET Insights dashboard shows metrics such as sessions, session origins, popular pages, device breakdowns, and more. (Search Engine Land ↗️)

New York Subway ads can now be bought programmatically. Advertisers can bid for the MTA’s available ad inventory, including digital screens above subway entrances and exits. Screens in subway stations and Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North platforms are also being added. (Ad Week ↗️)

Google Business Profiles are showing longer-form videos for the first time. 30+ second videos have been found in the image section of mobile search results for brands. Google hasn’t announced any changes but some SEOs are seeing the opportunity to include video. Google has been telling us for a while about plans to make the search results more visual. (SE Roundtable ↗️)

More Headlines

  • Shopify has launched a new rewards program called Shop Cash for purchases made using Shop Pay, where shoppers get 1% cashback.

  • WordPress challenges Substack with the launch of paid newsletters.

  • Texas has become the 10th U.S. state to pass a consumer privacy bill, allowing 30M residents to opt out of targeted ads.

  • Snapchat has released a feature called My AI Snaps, which allows users to send photos and receive AI-generated images.

Thanks for reading!

Kole