This post was updated on January 9, 2023.
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, published a video in which he shared the 5 most important “interactions” IG measures to calculate whether or not a Post, Video, Reel, or Story is worth prioritizing in the feeds. I’ve outlined (and strategized) all five.
End of day, the performance of your next post on Instagram is tied to is ability to generate interactions. Interaction = Visibility. In other words, a post that fails to generate any sort of response/feedback, like views, hearts/likes, swipes, comments, and so forth, simply isn’t going to be circulated widely through the feeds. And, frankly, if your your post isn’t getting shown, it’s as if it was never even posted.
Additionally, Instagram is testing/releasing a couple new filters that’ll enable its users to rearrange what they see in their feeds. The first filter has been dubbed, “Following” which will simply sort the posts of whomever a user follows into a chronological feed. The second is called, “Favorites,” which will enable users to manually select their favorite accounts and prioritize only those accounts’ posts in their feed.
That said, these are additions, not replacements. By default, your Main Feed will continue rank and personalize what you see as it does presently.
So, going forward, there’s gonna be a Main Feed with sorting options (i.e., “Following” and “Favorites”), a Story Feed, an Explore Page, and a Reels Feed. That’s A LOT of feeds!
My thinking is… it’s all the more important to understand the ranking signals IG prioritizes no matter the feed in question. Hence, the top 5 interactions to get your posts to rank:
Top 5 Instagram Interactions
Time-Spent: Just like money is the currency of economies, attention is the currency of algorithms. Literally every algorithm out there—Google, Facebook, etc.—prioritizes content that holds viewers attention. Attention signifies relevance. So, obviously, make content that captivates. But beyond that, utilize post formats that innately hold attention: e.g. subtitled videos, swipe-through carousels, “meatier” captions, and/or talkative comment threads.
Hearts/Likes: Attention speaks volumes, but action, arguably, speaks louder. For example, a user watching a video start-to-finish is definitely a HUGE algorithmic consideration... but a user willing to go, quote-unquote, “on the record” with a "Like"—now that’s next-level. Here’s a simple (or not so simple) question: are you publish-ing content that’s “Likeable?” If you don't know for certain, visit your IG Insights to calculate your Reach-to-Likes ratio.
Comments: Comments put the “social” in social media.” So if a post doesn’t spark much of any dialogue in the comments thread, then chances are, its reach will be comparatively underwhelming. For that reason, when a user comments on your post, always reply! In fact, reply with a question or tag other Instagram users in an effort to stir up a bigger discussion. Conversation cultivates Community.
Saves: People Save (i.e., “bookmark”) posts they want/plan to revisit. Instagram is continuously observing and inferring the presumed interests of its users so that it can prioritize what they see in their feeds respectively—and the Save button is a dead giveaway. People save posts that are useful or offer a lasting value, worth coming back to over-and-again. My advice: if the post warrants it, write-in a recommendation to Save it in your post caption.
Profile-Taps: If a user taps to visit your profile, odds are, it’s someone who doesn’t follow you. Of course, it could be somebody who does, looking to peruse your posts. But regardless, does your profile deliver? As a non-follower scans your page, for instance, do they opt to follow you? That's why it’s critical to dial-in Profile Name, Bio, Link, and Highlights to help convey your story! And, arguably more important than that... it’s ALL about your content—does it compel or repel?