The Instagram Algorithm Is Not Against You
Recently, we’ve been seeing complaints that their reach had hit an all-time low. Like any normal person would do, some marketers/users, including me, took to Instagram stories to throw a fit blaming the algorithm. I guess it’s just human nature to complain about things that are out of our control but have you ever considered that maybe it’s not the algorithm but you?
What Are People Complaining About
These are the top 3 complaints I’ve been seeing for quite some time now:
- Their content is not being pushed out more by Instagram. As a result, the reach isn’t as high as the usual ones.
- Their content not performing well. By this, it meant not getting enough likes and comments as compared to the previous posts.
- Their follower count is not really increasing as before. Since “their content is not being pushed out and performing well,” their follower growth is being slowed down.
To be honest, I was part of the “their” and “they” and #noshame. But really, does the algorithm hate us or it’s just our content?
What People Are Actually Doing
Let’s see what Instagram users are doing before blaming the algorithm.
- Not posting on optimal times.
- Content not being engagement-building.
- Content that doesn’t interest their current and potential audience.
- Titles or hooks are not enticing to read.
- Not knowing how many times they should be posting a week.
These are just some of the common mistakes several Instagram users are committing before blaming the algorithm. But have they considered changing their content strategies instead of thinking that the algorithm hates them? Probably not. If you’re pulling any of these off, it’s time to change your ways.
How To Make The Algorithm Love You Again
Here are the techniques I’ve personally used to regain my followers and revive the dead engagement rates.
- Post when your audience is active. It doesn’t matter whether you’re following the optimal times tailored to your country because you need to post when your audience is mostly online. You can find these details on your insights page as well as which country you have the most number of followers, then you can base your posting strategy there moving forward.
- Create valuable content both for your current and target audience. One mistake of mine was I posted whatever I wanted without thinking if my potential and current followers would like them. I posted productivity tips when my Instagram is heavily focused on marketing as well as the latest news in the Youtube industry. Since then, my posts and followers became a flop. Should you have second thoughts if your content is useful enough for them to take action, ask yourself if you’d engage in that post if you were your audience.
- Know who your target audience per post. Let’s say your current followers are other marketing pages or freelancers, then you can create content that is useful to them. If your target audience is people who aren’t following you yet, create content so useful that will make them convert into followers solely because of a specific post.
- Show them actual results. When you’re posting about your products and services, instead of merely blabbering about why they should do this or that and whatnot, including results is a must to show them that what you’re posting is effective and that they should come to you. If you post content that highlights your uniqueness partnered with outcomes, odds are they’re going to save, like, comment on, and share your post, which will increase your visibility.
- Create content that sparks conversation. Make it interactive for your audience or even controversial should you happen to be a risk-taker. Make sure that your posts are engaging and not just “like-able” because no matter how wonderful your visual, if the caption, content, and the purpose of the post are not something that excites and urges your audience to take action, nothing will happen.
Key Takeaway
It’s natural to blame the algorithm first before yourself because we always think that we are doing our best and putting our hearts on everything we do. However, we need to realize that everything around us is changing, and that includes your audience's needs and the post/content they consume.
