You see so many videos on YouTube with titles and thumbnails screaming the new Instagram algorithm or the Instagram algorithm has changed but is it new has it really changed? Not really at least most of the time that's why you don't often see me making videos with that exact claim. There are always new features, maybe new data that Instagram is pulling from but really the purpose the mission behind the Instagram algorithm has remained the same ever since they switch the platform over from a chronological feed to a recommendations algorithm based feed and it works the same way that most other social media platforms recommendation algorithms work. Basically, they show your content to a group of people if people like it they will show it to more people simple as that. But okay if we're honest, maybe it's not so simple. So let's dive in to the Exact Journey that a piece of your content takes once you send it off into the mysterious world that is the Instagram algorithm.

Okay, so when it comes to the journey of content through the algorithm, it is pretty essential that when you're first creating your piece of content you're thinking about how the algorithm is going to respond to it before you ever hit publish. There are some key factors that Instagram watches out for on the content itself when it comes to determining post performance according to Instagram. There are six main factors that could impact the performance of your post the image or video quality originality whether the post has already been posted on Instagram or not watermarks, like for example, Ray sharing a tiktok violations of Instagram's Community guidelines reported content and timeliness. So, of course you want to keep all those different factors in mind when you are first starting to create your content also in addition to Thinking about pleasing the algorithm when it comes to crafting your content.

I also want to encourage you to think about pleasing your audience because ultimately the algorithm really has your audience's best interest in mind. I think a lot of creators get caught up in trying to hack the algorithm or beat the algorithm and sort of end up playing Instagram. Like it's a video game where you're likes are your score and that's not really how it works. The truth is you need to create content that your audience is going to enjoy and engage with because ultimately it's the job of the algorithm to see what your audience responds well to and what they're not as interested in and then show them content accordingly. So I think as creators a lot of us need to spend less time thinking about how we can hack the algorithm and more time thinking about how we can create content that is just genuinely interesting and valuable to our ideal audience.

Okay. So now we've established what you can do before you ever hit published to ensure that your content has the best chance with your audience and the algorithm. Now, let's talk about what actually happens. Once you hit publish once you hit publish on your content Instagram is gonna test out your post with just a few users. They determine who they're gonna test this content on based on two factors one is the topic of your content which is why it's so important to make sure that your caption and hashtags and the content itself like the media itself all include keywords and phrases that can indicate to the Instagram algorithm what your post is all about. You want to make sure that Instagram has all the information it needs to take your content and place it in the feeds of people who have already shown the Instagram algorithm that they're interested in the kind of stuff you're talking about.

The second determining factor is a user's common interactions on the app, basically the Instagram algorithm monitors. Interaction you have on the app and it's doing the same thing for all of your followers too from the posts you like to who you're dming with to whose stories you're interacting with in order to serve you content that the Instagram algorithm has determined you are most likely to engage with. So for example, if you spend the majority of your time on Instagram tapping through stories and scrolling through reels, then it's likely that the Instagram algorithm has determined that you like video content and they're probably gonna serve you more reals and more video content in your home feed as well.

So therefore depending on your followers interactions with the app. They may also be shown specific format based on what they've sort of proven that they like the most for example, if most of your followers spend a ton of time scrolling through reels then when you do post a still image to your feed, they might not see it if the Instagram algorithm has determined they're not so interested in photos. So based on these two determinants Instagram is going to select A test group of people to see your content as soon as you post it during this test Instagram is going to gauge the user's interactions with your content. There are five main interactions that Instagram is going to look at to determine the success of a post likes comments shares saves and Taps on profile. And of course if it's a real they're also going to look at the view completion rate and rewatches finally based on the results of the test IE if Instagram sees that a lot of people are liking or sharing or saving or re-watching your content, then the algorithm will show it to more people and even larger test group and then the cycle continues so you can see from this explanation that reach is directly tied to engagement. So if you can make your content very engaging it will be shown to more people. So when you are creating your content, you also want to keep these factors in mind so that you can craft the most engaging content possible.

Don't worry if this all sounds overwhelming so far in this module, we're going to be talking about exactly how you can create content that uses the Instagram algorithm to your advantage in order to reach more of your audience and also reach new potential audience members and ultimately grow. So meet me on over in the next lesson and I'm gonna talk to you about my philosophy about Instagram growth