Instagram 2020: Algorithm hacks and tips

Published On January 21, 2020

We assessed all facets of the 2020 Instagram algorithm to bring you the best tips and tricks to get noticed. With more than 1 billion monthly active users, it’s no surprise that Instagram is the second most engaged social network. Of the 1 billion active users, over 80% of accounts on Instagram follow a business.

Are you struggling to gain followers? Do you feel as though your growth and engagement is stagnant? We’ve put together 6 tips on how to optimize your profile and beat the Instagram algorithm in 2020.

Here are 6 tips to stay on top of Instagram’s algorithm:

1. Change Your Account to a Business Account

Instagram has two different types of profiles: a personal account and business account. Switching to the latter will give you a multitude of options to optimize your account while increasing your reach and engagement.

There are many perks to having a business account, such as having a call-to-action button, making it easier for customers to contact your business.

Instagram offers analytics, promotions, and ads that only business accounts have access to. Through Instagram Insights, content, activity, and audience metrics are broken down to help users better understand what is working for them. Instagram has literally given users the holy grail on how to better optimize

2. Optimize All Aspects of Your Profile

It all begins with a public profile. Seems silly, but if your account is private, you might as well hide in a bush. A public profile is a viable profile. With a public profile comes the ease of recognition through hashtags, locations, tags, and more.

A recognizable and easily searchable @Username (or handle) is next. Make it easy for people to find your business and brand. With this comes an on brand image for the profile picture. It is the first thing people will see and needs to be recognizable.

The last important aspect to optimize your profile is your bio- it has to be informative, inviting, and engaging. Your bio should give insight to what your brand and business is about, and how it can benefit users who come across your page. With your bio, use a call to action or hashtag to drive engagement. Use emojis that cater to your community and niche. And don’t forget to include a link, preferably a traceable link that will track insights as users move to your website or blog.

3. Post at The Right Time

If you’re randomly posting content you could be digging yourself into a Instagram black hole. It’s a little tricky at first because you have to find what works best with you and your followers, but once you find the perfect time to post content, engagement with followers will increase like never before.

Depending on the day of the week, your audience, and industry, your posting time will vary. With Instagram Insights, you can see when your audience is online and schedule your posts around their activity.

In the recent months, Instagram has been testing hiding post likes in other countries, with the possibility of making this update worldwide. By hiding post likes, Instagram hopes to “reduce the pressure” behind not having enough likes. If this goes into effect, it forces users to focus merely on creating and engaging with high level content. In order to hit the nail on the head, posting at the right time is key.

Best Time to Post on Instagram for Each Day of the Week

On average, here are the best times to Instagram during the week:

Sunday: 10 AM – 2 PM CDT
Monday: 11 AM – 5 PM CDT
Tuesday: 5 AM, 9 AM – 6 PM CDT
Wednesday: 5 AM, 11 AM, *3 PM CDT
Thursday: *5 AM, *11 AM, *3 – 4 PM CDT
Friday: *5 AM, 9 AM – 4 PM CDT
Saturday: 11 AM CDT

* = particularly high levels of engagement

4. Take Advantage of Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories launched in August 2016, and since then, has become the number one form of engagement and communication on the app. 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day! Of the 500 million active users, 62% say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories.

Instagram Stories has a multitude of tools such as polls, questions, countdowns, and quizzes to elicit engagement. These tools in return offer insights on what your followers really care about and what they want to see more of. The more active your account is on Instagram Stories, the more relevant your page will be on the Stories header.

A great algorithm hack with Instagram Stories to use in 2020 is the use of hashtags and geotags. Use a hashtag in your story that is specific to your niche, or tag a brand or business that you’d like to collaborate with. The more engagement your stories receive, the more exposure for your profile.

5. Use Relevant Hashtags

Using hashtags that are relevant to your brand and business help increase your online presence and interaction with followers. Research and use hashtags that your competition is using, or your followers are actively following.

Create your own hashtag that has to do with your brand and business specifically, creating a hashtag niche of your own. For example, we have a hashtag on instagram #newparkcreative where all of our content and work is featured under one page. With our own hashtag, we can also see how fellow users, clients, and followers interact with us.

Remember, posts with at least one hashtag receive 12.6% more engagement, so don’t skip this step! Our hashtag is #newparkcreative,

6. Make use of Influencer Marketing

Once a small community with a few key players, influencers are now taking over Instagram. Influencer marketing is well on its way to become an $8 billion dollar industry in 2020.

Influencer marketing is pretty much a double whammy, it benefits both the brand and influencer. The brand is able to tap into new markets with promotions that are a fraction of the cost of traditional ads, and the influencer is able to expand their reach and engagement through brand exposure and collaboration.

Ready to take your marketing strategy to the next step? We work with individuals who do more than entertain – they inform and educate their audiences. When you’re ready, we’ve got the perfect match.

Final Thoughts

There’s no telling what the future of Instagram will look like a few years from now, but what we do know is that the social media giant will continue to evolve and change the way we interact online. Use these tips and tricks to stay ahead of the game and “beat” the Instagram algorithm in 2020.

As Instagram continues to test new features and roll out new updates, we’ll continue to do our research and homework.

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