Hey Bosses! Today I am doing a highly requested video, so I am doing it for ya! This is the Top 4 Ways to Break the Instagram Algorithm! So to get around the face that, yes the algorithm has changed on Instagram and you are now seeing more of your friends and family’s posts, as opposed to seeing brand and business posts. So if you’re finding that your engagement has dropped, then this is definitely a video that you should be watching! BUT, I can’t take all of the credit for these tips, I actually turned to one of my friends, she’s a brilliant Instagram marketer and she goes by the handle of @mindythelion. She has a ton of accounts that she absolutely crushes it and knows how to grow accounts extremely fast in a real, organic way! Plus she’s just rad and her photos are incredible and you’ll love her – so go follow her!
So let’s get started, here are the Top 4 Ways to Break the Instagram Algorithm:
Tip #1: Cross Promotion:
You’ve probably heard me say this before, so I’m going to breeze through it. Here on my page you will find a link to my Instagram page below this video. I also share my Instagram videos on Snapchat and I tell my audience there to go like and comment those photos on Instagram. The more Likes & Comments that you can get in the first hour that your photo is on Instagram, the higher your going to rank in the algorithm and the more likely that your going to make in onto the popular page.
Also, as a business or a brand, you want to make sure that your driving your traffic and your community on Instagram to your conversion site or website. You want to make sure your doing this off the Instagram platform to get around the algorithm. Make sure that you are not just posting the photo without any call to action. You can say, “For the full details on this photo, go to our website and click the link in our bio”.
Tip #2: Exclusive Content:
So you want to get more likes and comments on your photos? Post exclusive content on Instagram! Again, you want to cross-promote on other channels and tell people that a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT or contest is coming soon, and you’re announcing all information on your instagram page. Make sure you add a certain date and time, and post to that time. This will lead to your audience actually waiting for you there and you will get a ton of Likes and Comments within the first couple of minutes, opposed to randomly posting at an arbitrary time. Another thing you can do on Instagram, which a lot of beauty bloggers do, is Q&A’s! Like I said earlier, the more comments you get, the higher your photos will rank in the Instagram algorithm. So do an Instagram video and let your followers know that you will be answering questions live on your Instagram page and get them to leave comments and questions below and that you will be answering them in real-time.
Tip #3: Think Like a Tween:
They rule the world on social media, so mad respect for the teens and the tweens out there! If you’ve ever noticed on a big celebrity account, like the Kardashians of the world, if they post a photo you’ll notice some of the fist comments say “LB”. LB means, “Like-Back”, and it’s basically a secret code in amongst teens/tweens on Instagram. If you post LB on a celebrity account you’re going to get a flood of people that will go and like your photo. This is an easy little hack to get more comments on engagement on your photos. I don’t recommend things like this usually because it is quite spammy, but here’s how you can adapt this on your own brand or business; Make sure that you turn on the notifications for the biggest influencers IN YOUR SPACE! Who are the big names on Instagram that are in your space? For me it’s people like Marie Forleo, Gary Vee, and Lewis Howes. Turn on the notifications for people who have a big following on Instagram in your space, and the moment that they post a photo, open up the app, go to that photo and be one of the first people to Like it. This will allow others to see your name and your handle. You also want to leave a meaningful comment, because then you will get more eyeballs on that comment and gain more traction from others who might be interested in your content.
Tip #4: Hashtags & Tags:
Yes you’ve heard it before, but this might be a little bit different. What you want to do is, in your phone in a note pad, you want to store relevant hashtags. In my niche it’s things like #SocialMediaMarketing & #SocialMediaTips – and from here, I do research on other big accounts in my space to see what hashtags are working for them. I store these in my phone and I copy & paste them into the 2nd comment in my photo. I don’t put it into the original caption because it can be a little overwhelming, I put it in the second comment. The other thing you want to do is pay attention to trending hashtags. When you post the photo, add that trending hashtag (yes this seems little spammy, but you can delete it after a couple of minutes) – you just want to do this so it spurs engagement in that first hour that your photo has been posted. Another tip is make sure to ask your followers to comment and tag a friend who the photo or graphic might be relevant to! This will expose you to a new audience to increase your following, and it will increase your comments within that first hour of posting.
BONUS TIPS:
- Instagram Stories: This is a new feature on Instagram that allows you to get past the algorithm a little bit because it keeps you top of mind! When you post a story, you will come up at the very top of the feed before any of the static posts or videos. Use Instagram stories to post the behind the scene story of your static photo to engage your audience even further!
- Post Good Content: The way to figure out what your audience wants to see and what’s driving the most engagement on your profile, is by paying attention to what’s getting the most likes and comments on your feed. Is it text based photos, sunsets, animals, videos, selfies? Use more of whatever type of content is working!
- Analytics: Pay attention to your Instagram analytics! Instagram does have analytics now, but if you want to use a different platform I recommend InconoSquare – it will tell you things like, what type of content is seeing the most engagement and when you should be posting you content!
So that is how you break the algorithm on Instagram! Again, some of these tips are mine, but a lot of them came from my friend, the genius, @MindyTheLion! Make sure you follow her on Instagram! And you can follow me @SunnyLenarduzzi – handle is the same across all platforms!
Positive vibes,
-S
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