With increasing competition in cross-border e-commerce, Instagram has become an important platform for brands to increase visibility, attract fans, and improve user experience. For cross-border e-commerce sellers, properly understanding Instagram's algorithm and using effective operating practices can help brands stand out on this social platform and gain a larger target audience. In this article, we will break down the mechanics of Instagram's algorithms in detail and provide 7 comprehensive and practical work skills that will help you attract fans quickly.
Instagram's algorithm is the main mechanism used by the platform to determine what content users see in the feed. To ensure that users receive the most relevant and interesting content for them, Instagram sorts and displays it using six main factors. Below is a detailed description of these six factors and how they can be used to optimize content and increase its popularity.
Instagram's algorithm relies heavily on users' interest preferences, which are based on their history of interaction with the platform, including behaviors such as liking, commenting, sharing, and saving. By analyzing this historical data, Instagram can understand the user's interests and prioritize the display of content related to those interests. For example, if a user frequently interacts with content in a particular category (e.g., fashion, sports, food, etc.), the algorithm will promote more of that type of content to their feed.
For brands and companies, this means creating content that is based on the interests and needs of their target audience. By publishing high-quality content that resonates with their audience, sellers can increase the exposure of their content and increase their affection with fans.
Engagement is a key factor in Instagram's ranking algorithm. The platform determines the level of intimacy between users based on how often they interact with other accounts. For example, content from a user's friends, family, or frequently interacting accounts will appear more frequently in the feed. Therefore, if a brand manages to interact with its followers frequently, the algorithm will assume that the brand has a closer relationship with the user, thereby increasing the display of its content.
Sellers can engage with their followers by regularly replying to comments, engaging in private messages, or using interactive stickers in Instagram Stories (e.g., polls, questions, emoji sliders, etc.). Frequent interaction not only increases fan loyalty, but also increases the frequency of content appearing in their feed.
While Instagram's algorithm no longer ranks posts in strict chronological order, content freshness is still an important ranking factor. The platform displays posts with the most recent content posted during that time based on the time period that has passed since the user's last visit. This means that if a user has not opened Instagram for a certain period of time, Instagram will give preference to content posted since their last visit.
It's critical for brands and merchants to track when users are active. Sellers should choose the best time to post by analyzing when their followers are active. For example, if a brand's primary audience is active between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., sellers should post content at that time so that it appears in the feed of target users in a timely manner and gets more engagement.
The frequency of Instagram visits also affects the content that users see. If a user opens Instagram multiple times a day, the algorithm will display relevant content based on their recent interaction history, avoiding content hoarding and keeping the feed up to date. If a user visits Instagram only occasionally, the platform will show more important or premium content from the past.
Sellers can analyze their audience's habits (e.g., how many times a day, the duration of each view, etc.) to adjust the timing and frequency of content posting. By posting engaging content, sellers can encourage users to engage on a daily basis so that brand content appears frequently in users' feeds.
The number of accounts that users follow has a direct impact on how often their content is displayed in the feed. If a user follows a large number of accounts, Instagram will reduce the frequency of displaying the content of each of them so that the user can view the updates of all the accounts they follow. This means that for users who follow a large number of accounts, sellers may be limited in the amount of content they can display.
However, if users follow fewer accounts, the platform will show updates from those accounts more frequently. For sellers, this means that they will have more opportunities for their content to appear in the feed if they can convince users to follow fewer other, unrelated accounts. Sellers can increase the frequency with which their content is displayed by optimizing its quality and improving engagement with their followers to encourage them to follow their account more often.
The habits of Instagram users are also an important factor in displaying content. The longer a user interacts with the platform, the more rich content they will see. If a user frequently browses Instagram and takes a deep dive into the content (e.g., watching full reels, commenting, or otherwise interacting with the content), they will see more diverse and in-depth content. In contrast, users who browse quickly or simply browse images are likely to see more concise content.
Sellers can engage these deeply engaged users by creating longer, deeper, and more interactive content (such as long videos, detailed product descriptions, or posts with interactive features). By analyzing their fans' interactive habits, sellers can customize the form and style of their content to increase user engagement and reach.
Instagram's algorithm offers brands the opportunity to optimize exposure and increase engagement. To stand out on a competitive platform, sellers need to flexibly use the algorithmic ranking mechanism. Here are seven practical tips to help brands quickly gain followers and improve their social media performance.
Instagram Reels have become an important form of content to promote the platform, especially on the Instagram Explore page. Not only do videos offer a better chance of exposure, but they also attract a large number of potential fans, especially those who don't follow your account.
Creating creative and relevant videos that reflect current trends, issues, or popular music will help your brand quickly build awareness, and the content of the videos often has the potential to go viral, attracting a large amount of attention through shares and comments. If you skillfully show your brand's features or benefits in your videos, you can attract a large number of new fans. For example, adding complex hashtags or engaging in trending topics at the right time can secure a place for content among the platform's popular content and quickly increase its popularity.
Instagram Stories provides brands with a variety of interactive tools, including polls, emoji sliders, question stickers, and more. These tools are effective in increasing audience engagement and interactions. Instagram's algorithm promotes more relevant content based on the frequency of these interactions, so by using these interactive features regularly, you can help your account maintain a high level of engagement, resulting in better exposure.
For example, adding question stickers or polls to Instagram Stories promotes interaction between followers, which not only increases brand awareness, but also maintains your account's weight in the algorithm and increases the chances of your content being shown. Increase the chances of content being displayed. At the same time, regularly adjusting your strategy based on your audience's feedback will help increase fan engagement and improve the quality and interactivity of your content.
To increase the level of engagement with Instagram posts, brands need to optimize the caption for each dynamic post so that it can spark discussion and engage users. By asking interesting questions, sharing a unique perspective, or starting interesting talking points, you can encourage fans to actively engage in the comments section.
The quality and quantity of interactions is crucial for Instagram's algorithm. Studies have shown that posts with a high level of engagement are more likely to reach other users, which not only increases the post's position in the feed, but also helps brands increase overall awareness. For example, you can include leading questions in your posts inviting fans to share their opinions or experiences, which will stimulate comments and discussions and increase fan engagement. In addition, actively responding to comments and participating in discussions will also help increase the level of engagement and encourage further content distribution.
Hashtags are an important way for Instagram users to discover content. By using relevant hashtags, brands can make their content discoverable by a large number of interested users, which in turn will increase its popularity. Choosing hashtags that are accurate and closely related to your content is key to increasing content exposure.
According to research, posts with 20 hashtags on a topic usually get a higher level of engagement. In order not to go overboard with the number of hashtags and not to become superfluous, it is recommended to use 10-20 hashtags to increase the reach of the audience without piling it up. Additionally, using hashtags related to current hot trends, seasonal events, or industry topics will allow the brand to attract more engagement in relevant discussions, allowing it to capture the attention of a wider audience.
For example, use hashtags related to specific events for promotions or product launches, or use trending hashtags in your industry to increase post visibility.
Asking followers to add your account to their "favorites" list is an effective strategy for increasing content awareness. When fans add you to their "favorites," the new content you post will be prioritized in their feed. Not only does this increase the visibility of your content, but it also improves its distribution through the Instagram algorithm.
To incentivize followers to add their brand to their "favorites," sellers can build relationships with their followers by interacting with them, such as regularly responding to comments, engaging in direct messages, or initiating interactions through Stories. Adding accounts to your "favorites" list can effectively increase fan loyalty and brand loyalty, so building and maintaining long-term fan relationships is key to a brand's success.
Cross-promotion is a very effective strategy to help brands expand the reach of their content and gain more followers. For example, when collaborating with other brands or influencers, you can post collaborative content to attract each other's audience to your account. This type of collaboration not only increases engagement, but also increases your brand awareness and reach by sharing resources and fan bases.
With cross-promotion, you can invite other accounts to become collaborators, share ownership of content, and share engagement data such as likes, shares, and comments. In this way, brands can leverage the influence of their collaborators to grow their audience at no additional cost. At the same time, brands can encourage users to share and generate brand-related content, increasing the social validity and authority of the brand through user-generated content (UGC).
Instagram offers powerful data analytics tools that help brands understand what content is popular and what forms of interaction are most effective. By regularly analyzing the data, sellers can adjust their content strategy and optimize future placement plans. For example, with Instagram Insights, brands can track which types of reels or stories are getting the most views and which hashtags are driving more traffic, which in turn streamlines the content creation and sharing process.
A data-driven operational strategy not only saves time, but also helps salespeople pinpoint the needs and interests of their audiences, improving the accuracy and interactivity of content. By in-depth analysis of fan engagement patterns, browsing habits, and other data, brands can continuously improve their marketing strategies, thereby increasing fan loyalty and long-term content effectiveness.
While gaining followers and increasing brand awareness through natural growth is a long-term and ongoing process, Instagram's advertising feature offers a quick and accurate solution to help brands reach a wider audience in a short amount of time. With advertising, sellers can not only increase their brand awareness but also generate more leads to drive sales and business growth. Here are some key tips to help increase brand awareness with Instagram ads:
The power of Instagram ads is that they offer precise audience targeting options. Brands can choose the audience for their ads based on their geographic location, interests, age, gender, profession, and even device usage habits. For example, if you're a cross-border e-commerce business and want to reach users from a specific country or region, you can set the geographic reach of your ads to ensure that you reach potential customers accurately.
In addition, Instagram's audience targeting feature supports detailed behavioral and interest tags that can help brands identify the hobbies, buying behavior, and lifestyle of the target audience. With this in-depth data, brands can be more confident in the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and avoid wasting advertising budgets.
Instagram is a platform that relies heavily on visual content, so it's essential that ads are visually appealing. Whether it's image ads, video ads, or carousel ads (multi-image ads), brands need to make sure that the content is eye-catching and creative enough. High-quality images, beautiful designs, and visual elements that clearly convey brand values will make ads more appealing to users.
In addition to basic visual elements, brands can use the "stories" feature in Instagram ads, which is a more immersive format to encourage users to stay and interact with ads. Stories ads deliver a strong message in a short period of time and encourage further action through interactive features such as swiping and clicking. By using dynamic images, animation effects, or creative videos, brands can increase the appeal and conversion of ads.
A/B testing (also known as split testing) is a key step in optimizing the performance of ads, and Instagram's advertising platform allows brands to test different versions of ads for the same advertising objective to see which elements are most interesting to audiences. By testing different ad copies, images, headlines, CTAs (call-to-action buttons), or ad time intervals, brands can pinpoint which combination of elements maximizes engagement and clicks.
The results of A/B testing can provide brands with valuable data to help optimize their advertising content and strategy. For example, if you find that one version of an ad has a higher click-through rate than the others, you can invest more in the ads with better metrics, thereby increasing your overall return on investment (ROI).
The budget for advertising on Instagram is relatively flexible and can be distributed according to different advertising goals and audience positioning. Brands can adjust their advertising budget in real-time based on the actual performance of their ads and maximize the impact of their ads.
For example, you can increase the budget for ad campaigns that perform well to reach a wider audience, while you can pause or adjust the strategy for ads that don't perform well. Instagram Ads provides detailed reporting and analytics to help you track the performance of your ads in real-time and ensure that every cent invested yields the most return. By allocating your budget wisely and dynamically adjusting it, you can accurately control your ad spend, increase brand awareness, and grow your subscriber base in the shortest possible time.
For cross-border e-commerce sellers, Instagram also provides a shopping ads feature that can directly direct users to a brand's e-commerce platform or product page. Once you've set up Instagram Shopping, you can add product tags directly to your ads, making it easy for potential customers to click on ads, view product details and make a purchase. Not only does this approach increase brand awareness, but it also directly contributes to sales conversions, especially during seasonal promotions or limited-time discounts, shopping ads can effectively appeal to price-sensitive consumer groups.
Remarketing in Instagram ads allows brands to increase sales conversions by targeting users who have previously interacted with the brand (e.g., users who visited the website, added an item to their cart, but didn't make a purchase). These users are already aware of the brand and are more likely to make a purchase when they see relevant promotional content again. With accurate remarketing, brands can not only increase ad conversions, but they can also reduce the cost per conversion (CPC) and increase the ROI of their ads.
Instagram ads are not only a purely advertising tool, they can be combined with creative activities and interactive elements to make ads more interesting and engaging. For example, brands can organize interactive marketing promotions, such as limited-time giveaways, coupon giveaways, or giveaways, inviting users to participate and repost promotional content. Such activity can not only effectively increase the engagement and distribution of advertising, but also expand the brand's exposure by sharing users' opinions, attracting more potential fans.
1. What is Instagram's algorithm?
How does it affect the display of my content? Instagram's algorithm determines which content will be prioritized to appear in a user's feed by analyzing a number of factors, such as their interests, engagement, posting time, and frequency of viewing. By understanding these factors, sellers can optimize their content strategy and increase the number of impressions and interactions with their content.
2. How does the "interest" factor on Instagram affect the display of content?
Instagram evaluates users' interests based on their historical behavior (e.g., likes, comments, shared content, etc.). If your content matches the interests of your target audience, the algorithm will be more likely to promote your posts to their feed. Therefore, understanding your audience's interests and creating content that matches their preferences is key to increasing your reach.
3. How can I increase the popularity of my content through engagement?
Instagram prioritizes showing content from users with their friends, family, or frequently interacting accounts. If you interact with your followers frequently, such as replying to comments and direct messages, the algorithm will find your content more appealing to subscribers, making it more likely to be displayed.
4. What role does posting time play in the Instagram algorithm?
While Instagram no longer ranks posts in strict chronological order, the freshness of content is still an important ranking factor. When posting content, consider the time of user activity, and then your content will appear at the top of your audience's feed, which will increase your chances of attracting attention.
5. How to increase the level of engagement with content on Instagram?
An effective way to increase engagement is to use engaging captions, ask questions, host topical discussions, or use Instagram's interactive features like polls, question stickers, emoji sliders, and more. These interactive methods not only encourage followers to participate, but also increase the ranking of the post and increase its visibility.
6. How can topical hashtags (Instagram hashtags) help increase the popularity of content?
Topical hashtags are an important tool that Instagram users can use to find content. Using relevant hashtags can significantly increase the exposure of your content, especially if it's trending or trending. Make sure the hashtags are closely related to the content, and use 10-20 hashtags to optimize your content's exposure rather than overloading it with hashtags.
7. How can I increase my brand awareness with Instagram ads?
Instagram ads help brands effectively generate leads through precise audience targeting (e.g., geography, interests, age, etc.). Combined with visually appealing ad content and A/B testing, you can optimize the performance of your ads to quickly build brand awareness and attract new followers.
8. How does cross-promotion help working on Instagram?
Cross-promotion helps you collaborate with other brands or accounts to grow your audience by sharing content. This approach not only increases engagement but also increases brand awareness through mutual promotion. Collaborating with other accounts is an effective strategy to increase followers and engagement.
9. How can I use Instagram analytics tools to optimize my content strategy?
Instagram offers powerful data analytics tools to help you track the performance of your content and understand which types of posts are the most popular. By analyzing this data, sellers can adjust their content strategy and choose the most effective content formats and hashtags to optimize marketing results.
10. How to attract more foreign buyers through Instagram?
Through precise content targeting, the use of international hashtags, and collaboration with popular local Instagram accounts, cross-border e-commerce sellers can effectively attract more international customers. In addition, with the geo-targeting feature in Instagram ads, sellers can promote their brands to potential overseas markets and further expand their international customer base.
