At VerriBerri, we are a leading Instagram marketing company. We have been marketing on behalf of businesses for over 12 years, working hard to boost the effectiveness of their strategy. During this time, we have had the chance to work with some fantastic brands, spanning many an industry. If you’re looking for a team who can hit the ground running, we’re here to help!
What Is an Algorithm?
In short, an algorithm is a set of criteria used to determine an outcome. These are used to make complicated calculations more quickly, so that we don’t have to. When it comes to Instagram, their algorithm is used to determine the distribution of content. This is a vital clog in their operation and has allowed them to be as successful as they are today. Realistically, Instagram is a business, and they need to make money. The easiest way for them to do this is through keeping users on their platform for longer. And how do they do this? They show you more of what you like. And how do they determine this? Their algorithm.
How The Algorithm Works
Taking things step by step, lets break down what Instagram do when you post content to your feed…
Step 1
For those of you who don’t know, Instagram is a highly visual platform. Unlike other sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the entire purpose of this site is that you post photos (or videos.) In order to go far, you need to be sharing high quality content regularly.
When you post on Instagram, the algorithm begins pushing this out to a select number of your followers. It is then up to them how well your content performs.
Step 2
Like with all social media platforms, engagement is key. By this, we mean likes, comments, saves, and follows. Interaction from your audience shows Instagram the real value of your content.
Now that your post has been shared with a select few, it’s all riding on how active they are. The more engagement your content receives, the more Instagram push this out to your audience.
Step 3
As I mentioned earlier, Instagram want people to see more of what they enjoy. In May 2019, the platform had a huge update, introducing the explore page. It is here that people can see content from accounts they may not follow yet, but could well be interested in.
If lots of your followers are engaging well with your content, Instagram is more likely to feature you on the Explore page. This can be a huge opportunity to grow your audience and get people talking about your goods or service.
Why You Should Never Buy Followers
As an Instagram marketing company, we often see businesses buying followers. As experts, however, we can tell you this is a huge no, no. For more reasons than one. When a business buys followers, these additional supporters are usually either inactive or robot accounts. This means that they’re not going to engage with your content as and when you post. Imagine you have 10k followers but only 2,000 of these are genuine. When the algorithm pushes your content out initially, it’s highly likely that some of these bot accounts are going to be included.
As we established in step 2, dormant accounts are only going to hurt your progress and success. What’s more, you should also remove genuine followers if they don’t engage for much the same reason. In addition, if you have a huge following and only a few likes per post shared, this is only going to make you look disingenuous. Buying followers can really damage your image, something you’re going to want to avoid at all costs.
How The Algorithm Knows What You’re Interested In
By now, you should have a pretty good grasp of how the algorithm works from the authors point of view. To give you an even more in-depth understanding, let’s take a look at how Instagram determines what a user is actually interested in…
- Information About the Post: Firstly, Instagram look closely at what a certain piece of content is actually about. They also look at the number of likes and the type of media used (photos or videos.)
- Information About the Author: Secondly, they look at how often the account posts and whether the user and the author follow each other.
- Your Previous Activity: Next, the algorithm looks at what content the user tends to interact with. This starts to give them a brief understanding of what they enjoy consuming.
- Interaction History: Finally, Instagram then looks to see if you have any prior interaction history with this account. Is this someone you frequently engage with?
Why You Need an Agency
As you can see, there is actually far more to SMM on Instagram than you may at first have thought. Really, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
In addition to knowing how to manipulate the algorithm, you also need to understand hashtags and how to use them effectively. Further, you also need to know how consumers behave and what encourages them to make a purchase. This is just one of the many reason’s businesses look to bring onboard an Instagram marketing company. We know each social media platform like the backs of our hands. What’s more, we also know what your audience are going to want to see.
During our time, we have helped hundreds of businesses to flourish. In the vast majority of cases, clients typically find social media far more cost and time affective when outsourced to an Instagram marketing company. Building an online presence is no easy feat. It takes time, dedication, and persistence. If you run your own business, this isn’t a task you want to be adding to your plate. Trust us!
Want to Work with VerriBerri?
If you would like to enquire about our services further, we would love the opportunity to chat! To get in touch with our Instagram marketing company, just click here!