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Instagram is the most popular social media platform, and for a good reason. It’s a simple way to share your life with others in an interesting way. But what you may not know about Instagram is that your posts are only visible to a fraction of your followers. Sometimes, the algorithm can be frustrating if you’re trying to grow your business or promote a new product on this platform. Many people don’t find out about it unless they follow you already or search for hashtags related to the topic.
The algorithm has been causing frustration among small businesses who are looking at ways of getting their content seen by more people while still making sure that posts from family members and friends get through without being filtered out as spammy content.
In this blog post, we will share information on how the Instagram algorithm affects your business and some tips on how to handle it to get a better reach on the platform.
Effects of the Instagram algorithm on online business:
The Instagram algorithm keeps on changing, which makes it quite difficult for users to follow a specific posting pattern. It has also been known to show different content based on your location and demographics, which can make it difficult for businesses who are trying to reach the same people around the world with their products or services. For example, if you live in a country where there is a meager percentage of Instagram users compared to other countries, then chances are you will see fewer ads related to what you’re looking up online.
The algorithm change means that those small companies who were used to being able to grow their following organically have now found themselves unable to do so due to how many followers they had before the update hit them. This makes it challenging for them to find new clients and grow their business.
Big companies are not an exception in this case:
It’s not just small companies who are feeling the effects of this update, though; larger businesses have been struggling as well since they rely on getting likes and followers to grow their following. It’s hard for them to get engagement with current users if these new changes make people more likely to watch videos than post photos or scroll through content quickly in feed timelines.
For instance, some accounts used sponsored posts that relied heavily on social media marketing techniques such as “engagement pods,” which would prompt users to like many pages at one time to earn free products from sponsors. Instagram disabled those types of ads last year, so now it is even harder for brands and influencers alike because there aren’t many other ways left to get visibility on the platform aside from posting high-quality content.
The best way to combat this algorithm is by using hashtags and stickers that can help your posts be seen in feeds, like “bestoftheday,” “tbt,” or a sticker with a link to your website. It’s still important to post interesting photos every day too!
Tips to help you grow on Instagram despite its tough algorithm:
- Follow accounts within your industry:
Make sure you are following relevant accounts, so you don’t miss any of their updates. You’ll want to know who they’re interacting with as well as what else is going on in their lives for more inspiration. You will also get to know what type of content is getting more engagement on their account so that you can focus on creating similar content.
- Use an analytics tool:
The next important thing to do is find out how many of your followers are able to see your posts. You can accomplish this with Instagram insights or any other free analytics tool. These tools will help you find how much reach your content is generating, how many followers you are getting through it, how many people engage with the content, and many other things. Having a clear view of all these metrics will help you effectively plan your future content and tackle the Instagram algorithm.
- Be consistent with your posts:
The next step will be looking at what’s going on in between your posts. The chances are high that people aren’t seeing older content because they have unfollowed or muted their notifications from you since it has been so long since they’ve heard from you last time. Make sure to post more consistently and stay active on Instagram as well as other social media platforms where your brand is present such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.
- Focus on marketing your business:
Instagram marketing is the key to grow your business. You need to show off what makes your company different from other companies as well as where you are headed in order to create a following of people who will want to read about it or share their thoughts about it (positively).
- Build connections:
Another point on this list is building meaningful and trustworthy client relationships. The only way people are going to notice your posts now is if they know who you are and like what you have been posting up until this new algorithm change happened. This means giving some followers shout-outs, tagging them into pictures when appropriate, commenting back every so often, and eventually asking them to follow you.
Conclusion
The Instagram algorithm may keep on changing, but that doesn’t mean that it will be impossible for your business to keep up with the times. The key is in showing people who you are and how you stand out from other companies and everyone else on Instagram.
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