The Instagram Apocalypse: You Will Survive

Instagram_Update-e1459469084419
April 1, 2016

As you may have seen, earlier this month Instagram announced they will be testing an algorithm that will organize users’ feeds based on the content they believe users will care about the most. We want to be sure you have the correct information about Instagram’s algorithmic feed change, as well as offer a few recommendations on being successful given this upcoming change.

Instagram stated they will be analyzing “likes, comments, timeliness, and the relationship between the poster and the viewer” to determine the order of photos within the feed for this update. This ultimately means that follower engagement will be more important than ever to increase your brands presence on Instagram. It will also be easier for users to follower more accounts, without losing sight of posts they value. We recommend the following tips to keep engagement with your followers:

  • Focus on creating more engaging content. Remember: your Instagram post is more than just a photo; the photo is the star, the hashtags offer context, and the caption helps tell a specific story. Consider posts that either presents a call to action to your users (i.e. “Tag a friend…”, “Comment with your favorite…”), or host giveaway and competitions (i.e. “First 25 to comment will get…”). The more your followers are liking or commenting on your posts, the more likely your posts will be placed at the top of their feed.
  • Explore working with high quality, relevant influencers to boost your exposure. Consider working with highly influential users on Instagram in order to maximize your outreach by leveraging your audience reach with theirs.

This Instagram update will not result in your content being removed from any of your follower’s feeds. In Instagram’s current reverse chronological state, users are missing an average 70% of their feed, due to following numerous accounts. This is the underlying issue the algorithm seeks to combat. With the new implementation, all posts will still be present, just in a different order.

The announcement from Instagram has garnered wide spread misconceptions about posts going unseen. As a result, a plethora of Instagram users have been requesting followers turn on notifications to ensure their images are seen. By turning on push notifications, users will receive phone alerts any time the selected Instagrammer posts a photo. Our recommendation is NOT to post a request for users to turn on notifications for your company account. Your post will still be available for followers to view. Given the current number of Instagram images requesting notifications be turned on, there is starting to be a follower backlash against these types of images.

Currently, Instagram has stated that they are testing the new features with only a “super small” number of users. No announcement of an official platform wide roll out has been made.

For more information, a number of articles have been written about Instagram’s upcoming changes.