How to Beat the New Instagram Algorithm of 2020
Raise your hand if you’ve felt personally victimized by the new Instagram algorithm of 2020.
You probably raised your hand, right? We’ve all been there.
As a full-time travel influencer with over 90,000 Instagram followers, I’m always keeping tabs on the Instagram algorithm. This is important so that I can continue to land partnerships with brands like luxury hotels, tourism boards and beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands (including Herbal Essences, DSW and Sephora).
Another aspect of my business is teaching other women to grow their Instagram followings and get paid to promote their favorite brands. (Btw, if that’s your goal too, I offer a free influencer masterclass which I would love for you to join.) I always want to share the most up-to-date strategies with my students, which is why I’m always keeping up with how Instagram works.
It’s easy to get frustrated with the Instagram algorithm. That’s why I’m sharing how the Instagram algorithm works in 2020 and how you can beat the algorithm to get more followers and engagement on your posts.
Working With v. Beating the New Instagram Algorithm in 2020
I have a little confession to make. Although the title of this blog post is about how to “beat” the new Instagram algorithm, that’s not really what you want to or should try to do.
You can’t actually “beat” the algorithm (more on that in a second). But you CAN learn to work with the algorithm to gain followers and likes on your posts. So, that’s exactly what I’ll be covering.
Why can’t you actually “beat” the new Instagram algorithm in 2020
Because Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) employs some of the brightest people in the world. Even if you could “beat” the algorithm, Mark Zuckerberg and his gaggle of techies would patch that loophole before you could say “show me the followers”.
If you even did find a loophole so that you “beat the algorithm” it would only work for a very short period of time. And then you’d have try and find another loophole to exploit. Doing this over and over again would be a complete waste of your time when you could be working on creating your best content and building an engaged community of raving fans.
Why it’s better to work WITH the Instagram algorithm
Instead of trying to beat the new Instagram algorithm, your goal should be to work with it. When you understand how the algorithm works and follow the tips and strategies I share in this post, you absolutely can gain new followers and increase the number of likes on your posts.
Keep reading and I’ll walk you through exactly that – how to work WITH the new Instagram algorithm to gain a community of loyal followers.
The Purpose of the New Instagram Algorithm in 2020
First, let’s talk about the reason that Instagram has its algorithm. Because understanding this is key if you want to learn to gain Instagram followers in 2020.
Instagram’s Main Goal
Instagram has one main goal, and unfortunately it’s not to be your favorite content sharing platform.
Instagram is owned by Facebook, which is a publicly traded company. If you want to hit the snooze button the second you read “publicly traded company” bear with me for one second. I was a corporate lawyer for nearly 10 years before I became a full-time influencer and blogger so I can get a little bit nerdy. But I promise to keep this explanation short, simple and painless.
As a publicly traded company, Facebook is required by law to put the interests of its shareholders first. Facebook is legally required to maximize profits for the benefit of its shareholders.
How the Algorithm Factors In
Essentially this boils done to one thing – Facebook’s and Instagram’s goal is to make money. How do Facebook and Instagram make money? By letting people and brands pay to run ads on Instagram (i.e., have their posts boosted to a broader audience).
Instagram wants to keep its users on the app for as long as possible, so it can charge people and brands as much money as possible to advertise on Instagram. And that’s what the algorithm is designed to do – keep users on Instagram for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, Instagram doesn’t prioritize the feelings of its content creators. Instagram cares about user experience so that consumers will use Instagram as often as possible and stay on for as long as possible.
Now that you know WHY the new Instagram algorithm exists, let’s chat about HOW it works and what exactly you need to do as a content creator to make sure your content is seen on Instagram and your account grows.
How Instagram Used to Work
When Instagram first started, your photos were shown to your followers in chronological order. As an example, let’s say someone is following both me and you on Instragram. If I posted a photo at noon and you posted a photo at 1:00 pm, at 1:01 pm you’d be the first photo at the top of their feed. My photo would show up after yours.
Before the algorithm, your followers would see your content as long it was posted when or shortly after they were on Instagram. But that’s not how the Instagram algorithm works now.
How the New Instagram Algorithm Works in 2020
In 2020, Instagram posts don’t show up chronologically in your followers’ feeds. Instagram has an algorithm that decides the order that your followers see posts. The algorithm’s goal is to show each Instagram user the most engaging content possible for that particular user. Instagram wants its users to stay on the app for as long as possible so that Instagram can show them as many ads as possible.
This means that if two people follow the exact same Instagram accounts, their feeds will look different. Because Instagram is going to make different decisions about what person A and person B each like, find engaging and want to see more of.
How Does Instagram Decide What to Show People?
There are 3 key factors that the 2020 Instagram algorithm considers when deciding the order that things show up in your followers’ feeds: interest, timeliness, and relationship.
Interest
Instagram makes a prediction about whether each of your followers is going to like your post. When Instagram thinks a particular follower is going to be more interested in your post, the post show up higher in their feed.
How does Instagram make this determination? It looks at the follower’s past behavior – what types of photos have they liked, commented on, saved and/or shared in the past?
Instagram hasn’t been completely transparent about the technology it uses to make this determination. But it probably includes some form of photo recognition technology, as well as analyzing the hashtags attached to that photo and possibly the keywords used in the caption.
Timeliness
Although Instagram feeds are no longer chronological, the timeliness of your post still matters. A more recent post is going to be more relevant to your followers than something you posted ages ago.
This means that Instagram is going to prioritize showing your posts from this week, or the last few days, to your followers over your posts from two months ago.
Your post from yesterday ago may show up higher in someone’s feed than your post from today, because Instagram thinks that slightly older post is more engaging and more relevant to that specific follower. But it’s highly unlikely that your post from two months ago is going to be at the top of anyone’s feed today.
Relationship
The Instagram algorithm also looks at your relationship with each follower. If Instagram thinks you and the follower have a close relationship, your posts will show up higher in that follower’s feed.
Instagram has told us before that we should always be able to see our BFF’s and family members’ most recent posts towards the tops of our feeds. (It’s a little bit scary how much these companies know about us!)
Additionally, if one of your followers frequently interacts with your content (views, likes, comments, saves, shares, tags, DM’s) or searches your name often on Instagram, Instagram will view your relationship with that follower as a close one. Instagram will then show your content higher up in that follower’s feed.
This is exactly why getting engagement from your followers is important. Not because getting a lot of likes on your post makes you look cool (which is debatable anyway). But because when your followers interact with your content, it tells Instagram to keep showing your content to each of those people and push it up higher in their feeds.
Responding to your followers’ comments and DMs also reinforces that relationship. It tells Instagram that you have a close relationship with that follower. And, it’s great for building a sense of community with your followers.
Other Factors Instagram’s New Algorithm Considers
How Often that Follower Uses Instagram
Every time a person opens the Instagram app, Instagram aims to show them new content at the top of their feed. If a user opens the app infrequently, Instagram will try to show them the most engaging things that have been posted since they last opened the app. So, they’ll likely only see A+ quality content (i.e., the absolute most engaging content from people they follow) each time. They won’t check the app enough to see the A, A-, B+ etc. content. They only get the highlight reel.
If someone opens up the Instagram app more often, Instagram will keep trying to show them new content at the top of their feed each time. This means they’ll see a much wider range of content, and not just the A+ highlight reel.
How Many Accounts the User Follows
If an Instagram user follows a ton of people, they’ll usually see less content from each of the people they follow.
This is why some creators don’t want “mass-followers” (aka someone who follows thousands and thousands of accounts). Because that person may follow you, but they may not actually see your content. Your content could get buried beneath content from all of the other people they’re following.
I personally don’t block “mass followers” because I don’t think it’s a good use of my time. I’d rather work on attracting new engaged followers. Plus, you never know – that mass follower may end up being your biggest fan who engages so much with your content that you show up at the top of their feed regularly.
Their Average Length of Usage
Instagram also considers the average length of usage by each account. This means that if someone only checks Instagram in short spurts, the algorithm is more likely to push only the A+ highlight reel type content to the top of their feed.
People who spend more time on Instagram are likely to be shown a wider range of content by the algorithm. The algorithm keeps having to look for more and more content to show them and keep them interested.
Instagram Favors Highly Engaging Content
Here’s the harsh truth about the new Instagram algorithm of 2020: your content is really really really important.
Like every other social media platform, Instagram favors highly engaging content. If a photo or video gets a lot of likes, views, comments and other interactions shortly after it’s posted, it signals to Instagram that the content is highly engaging.
Highly engaging content keeps people on the Instagram app longer, which is *exactly* what Instagram wants. Because that helps Instagram make more money. So, when Instagram’s algorithm sees a photo or video performing well, it:
- pushes that content up higher in your followers’ feeds,
- makes that content more visible under hashtags and geotags as a “top post”, and
- sometimes even pushes that content out into users’ explore pages.
The Initial Test/Sample Period
When you post a photo or video to Instagram, shortly after you post, the algorithm makes a judgement call about whether or not your post is engaging and relevant to your followers. Instagram hasn’t told us exactly how long this time period is, but it seems that getting a lot of engagement within the 15 minutes or so after you post really helps improve the visibility of your post. Ideally, you will try to keep that high engagement up for at least an hour after you post.
Those initial likes, comments, saves and shares tell Instagram that your post is relevant and that it should be shown higher in your followers’ feeds and to more people under hashtags and geotags and possibly even the explore page.
This is why you want to post at a time when a lot of your followers are awake and likely on Instagram, instead of posting at 3:00 am on a Tuesday when no one is awake.
Some of your most engaged followers need to see your photo or video shortly after it gets posted because their likes, comments, shares and saves are very important in that initial period after you post. They tell Instagram’s algorithm to prioritize your content and make it more visible.
Duration of Viewing
The algorithm also takes into account how long people are looking at/viewing your content.
This is why videos, carousel posts and long captions (also called micro-blogs) are great for the Instagram algorithm. They are more likely to grab people’s attention for longer, which tells Instagram that your content is engaging and should be shown higher up in your followers’ feeds and to more new people under hashtags, geotags and the explore page.
Myths About the New Instagram Algorithm in 2020
Here are some common myths/misconceptions about the new Instagram algorithm.
False: Instagram Will Only Show Your Posts to 10% or 7% of Your Audience
A lot of click-bait type posts claim that Instagram only wants to show your posts to 10% (or even 7%) of your followers. That’s not true.
What IS true is that if your post isn’t highly engaging and relevant to your followers or if you haven’t built an engaged community, it’s likely that 10% or less of your followers will see it. When you have built and engaged audience and you post something extremely engaging? It will probably be seen by way more than 10% of your followers.
False: If a Follower Didn’t See Your Post, It’s Because Instagram Didn’t Show it to Them
It’s not that Instagram hides your post from your followers or doesn’t show it to them. If each of your followers scrolled through their entire feeds all the way to to the bottom, they would each see your recent post.
But we know that most people don’t do that. We hop on Instagram, scroll our feeds for a bit without getting to the bottom, maybe check the explore page, reply to DMs, and hop off.
When your content isn’t being seen by a large portion of your audience it’s because Instagram is pushing your content lower down on those followers’ feeds. It’s too low for most of them to see it, because they didn’t scroll down that far.
Instagram’s algorithm considered the 6 factors we discussed above (interest, timeliness, relationship, frequency of use, number of accounts followed and duration of usage) and decided to rank your post low. It was towards the bottom of your followers’ feeds and they didn’t scroll down that far to see it.
This is exactly why you need to create engaging content and implement the other tips I share in this blog post. So that your content ranks higher in your followers feeds so more of them see it. And when your content is engaging enough to rank high up in your followers feeds, you’ll be more likely to hit Instagram’s explore page and have increased visibility under hashtags.
False: The New Instagram Algorithm Favors Video Posts Over Photos
I’ve heard this so many times. People claim that Instagram favors video posts over photo posts and shows them to more people. Instagram has flat out told us this isn’t true.
It’s not true that Instagram prefers video content so it pumps it out to more viewers. Video content is just often more engaging and it keeps people watching for longer than they would a single photo. When people spend more time on one of your posts, it tells Instagram that the post is more engaging and should be shown higher up in your followers feeds and to more people under hashtags and maybe even the explore page.
Further, if a Instagram user engages with more video posts than photo posts, over time Instagram will learn that the user prefers video. Which means that person is likely to see more videos higher up in their feed.
If you aren’t too comfortable creating and editing videos, a great way to leverage videos is by using them in carousel posts. This is something I like to do because I’m not a professional videographer and am still learning to work with video. You can post a photo as the first slide in the carousel, and then share a less curated iPhone video later in the carousel.
False: Instagram Rewards Creators for Using Every App Feature
Some people claim that you’ll be rewarded when you use all of Instagram’s features, like photo posts, video posts, Instagram stories, Instagram live stories and IGTV. They claim that Instagram will show your content to more people to say thank you for using all the app’s features.
Instagram has told us that isn’t true.
What IS true is that if you use more of Instagram’s features, your content is more likely to be engaging. Because your followers will love to see your more curated posts, your more personal and informal Instagram stories, and engage with you in polls, Instagram lives and more. You’ll be showing up for them more and in a variety of ways which gives you more chances to create engaging content and build an engaged following.
What Does All This Mean for You as a Creator?
Putting it all together, here are some actionable tips to help you beat the new Instagram algorithm of 2020. (JK I really mean tips to help you work with it, not beat it.)
1. Your goal should always be to create and share engaging content.
When you create and share highly engaging content, you’ll keep your followers looking at your content for longer. which Instagram likes. Your followers will also like, comment, save and share your content. All of this tells Instagram that your content is highly engaging and worth showing to more people.
That basically creates a feedback loop, because Instagram’s algorithm will learn to keep showing your content to your followers and ranking it high in their feeds. Your followers will keep viewing it and engaging with it, which continues to tell Instagram to rank your content high in their feeds.
Plus, when Instagram’s algorithm deems your content to be engaging, it will also show your content to new people who don’t follow you via hashtags, geotags and possibly the explore page.
2. Use a lot of Instagram’s Features
When you use a lot of Instagram’s features, such as posts, stories (including polls, question stickers and the other interactive features), IG lives, and IGTV, you’re giving yourself more chances to create and share engaging content and keep your audience on Instagram longer.
3. Post Carousels and Videos
Use carousel posts (a slideshow of photos and/or videos) and/or standalone video posts as part of your content strategy. Both are great ways to engage your followers and keep them on your content for longer. When people stay on your content for longer, it signals to the new Instagram algorithm that your content is engaging and should be seen by a wider group of people.
4. Write Longer Captions aka Micro-Blogs
Longer captions are more engaging than short captions or a string of emojis. When you write a long caption that is either informative/educational, inspirational or entertaining, you’re encouraging your followers to stay on your content longer.
You’ll also likely get more likes and saves on a post with a longer educational or inspirational caption, both of which are important for signaling to Instagram that your content is engaging and should be seen by more people.
Longer captions are also great for helping your followers get to know you and feel more connected to you.
5. Don’t Post and Ghost under the New Instagram Algorithm
Don’t come to Instagram, drop a post and then close out of the app immediately. You should aim to stay on instagram for at least 30 mins after you post to engage with others, including replying to other people’s comments on your post.
You need to drive engagement to your post especially during that critical 15 minute period after posting, but ideally even longer. Additionally, taking the time to respond to your followers and like and comment on their posts shows them how much they mean to you.
6. The Time You Post Still Matters
You can’t drop an Instagram post in the middle of the night and then wonder why it bombs. Even though Instagram feeds are no longer chronological, you need to post when your audience is awake so that they can see and engage with your content shortly after you post.
Wrap Up: How to Beat the New Instagram Algorithm in 2020
If you want to succeed on Instagram, it’s better to work with the algorithm instead of trying to beat it. Having high quality content and an engaged community of followers who like, comment on, save and share your content is the key to succeeding on Instagram.
In some respects, the algorithm is actually a good thing. It pushes us to create and share our best content and to engage with and build community with our followers. And that’s exactly what Instagram should be about – creativity and community – rather than trying to find loopholes to beat the new Instagram algorithm.
What are your thoughts on the new Instagram algorithm of 2020? Do you love it? Does it drive you crazy? Or are you not too worked up over it? Let me know in the comments.
Looking for More Resources About Instagram?
- Check out my post on learning to pose for Instagram photos
- Learn how to become an Instagram influencer
- Spice up your Instagram stories with cute stickers/GIFS
Want to Keep in Touch?
- Come say hi on Instagram!
- Or why not join my free Facebook group for female influencers/Instagrammers?
- And sign up for my free influencer masterclass and learn to get paid to promote your favorite brands even if you don’t have a huge following
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