What is Instagram and Algorithms?

Instagram is a social network platform that connects people through photos and video sharing. It was launched by two computer programmers Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, in 2010 and bought by Facebook in 2012 after CEO saw promising potential in the rising app. After several updates, the app icon is now a simple camera depicted by a circle inside a square and contains a dot on the outer circle’s upper right side. The purpose of Instagram is to obtain the consumer’s attention through engagement activities. To get enough data about the user to predict their behaviors through the use of algorithms. Will the person watch this video over the other? How much time will they spend on the social media platform? The main objective is to spend time on these social media platforms to monetarize more advisements. Algorithms are the mathematical set of rules that help maintain order in the social media world. Instagram’s algorithms are designed by data scientists and software engineers to maintains and increases engagement activity for digital marketing purposes.

The Benefits to Digital Marketing

Instagram became the ecology for economies, giving a place for digital marketing to cultivate. According to the American Marketing Association, digital marketing is defined as marketing activities through internet-based media. Instagram allows a thriving business to grow its consumer base. Instagram is one of the leading platforms to develop an online business. The lack of knowledge on how the app’s algorithm operates reduces the opportunity to increase sales or an influential following.

The Algorithm

As of 2018, Instagram Algorithm has been employed to record user data through several features such as Instagram stories, hashtags, edit captions, shares, comments, likes, and searches. What a user consumes on the app is stored, and the algorithm gives more related content to continue user consumption. The app is aimed to provide the user with what they want to see. The algorithm is designed to provide entrepreneurs or influencers the most exposure. A user’s feed is calculated in three core categories: interest, recency, and relationship. The algorithm is functioned to predict similar content that will maintain the user’s attention and interest. Also, the most recent post gets the most exposure. How new is the post? Lastly, relationships with another close follower will promote the chances of seeing their content more often. People who engage in another user’s past content through frequent likes, comments, shares, and tagged mentions will be more likely to see the other user’s future content.

How to Use Instagram’s Algorithms to Your Advantage

A person who is building a nail business (such as the one below) their feed and explore page would be based on the user’s interest. Allowing for other interest potential users to find the business page.

To get the most out of the social media app, know how the algorithms operate. A user is recommended to follow similar users that endorse the same content. A business that already has a more significant following has the audience that the rising Instagram business desires. By engaging in other Instagram accounts by commenting, sharing, or liking, you increase your chances of people coming across your content. Also, consistency in posting can boost influences or sales, but an essential component would know the time to post. What time do most users log on to the app.? The app has a feature called Insight that allows a business to monitor their audience.                 

Conclusion

Although Instagram was not intended for marketing purposes, throughout the year’s software engineers managed to enhance the apps purpose. Instagram has strengthened its algorithms for online marketers to reach people logically and systematically. The algorithms determine what is seen in a person’s newsfeed, as nothing is seen by accident. The use of these social media platforms is most useful to influencers and marketers to reach their target market more quickly and massively. Through the use of the Insight feature that contains the data that the algorithms collects, online markets can compose the best marketing strategy for their online business. As well as alter their business strategy when the report shows no growth.

                                                                        Citations

Opportunities and Challenges of Instagram Algorithm in Improving Competitive Advantage. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, Jan. 2019, https://ijisrt.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IJISRT19JA125.pdf

Leaver, Tama, et al. “Instagram.” Google Books, Google, 2020, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Instagram/_QHMDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=how+do+instagram+algorithms+work+scholarly+articles&printsec=frontcover

Jillwrren. “This Is How The Instagram Algorithm Works in 2020.” Later Blog, 4 Feb. 2020, https://later.com/blog/how-instagram-algorithm-works/