How to Beat the Instagram Algorithm in the Year

How to Beat the Instagram Algorithm in 2022

Like many of you, I too have personally become a victim of Instagram, or rather the Instagram algorithm.

Over the past few years, I have noticed a significant decline in the number of views, engagement, and new followers. Reason: the Instagram 2022 algorithm. Thanks to the latest updates, your post will only be shown to 10% of your followers.

<< Here you can buy Instagram followers and likes >>

Whenever the algorithm updated and engagement dropped, my first thought was: “Why is Instagram hurting itself by ruining the experience for so many users?” or “This is the end of Instagram. It’s time to find another app”. However, I decided to explore and understand the reasons behind the changes. Here’s what I found:

Instagram’s goal is to make money!

You might be thinking right now that this is obvious, or you’re wondering how the algorithm change does that, so I’ll explain it to you. Instagram is a company and it needs to make money, so how does it make money? By remaining one of the most important forms of social media. And how do they do that? By keeping users in their app for as long as possible. How do they keep their users on Instagram? They don’t! We do! For this reason, Instagram favors accounts that are able to keep their followers as active and engaged as possible!

How to beat the Instagram algorithm?

Below are the simplest ways to keep your audience engaged:

• Reels
• Post photos
• Post stories
• Respond to DM messages
• Respond to comments
• Instagram Lives
• IGTV
• Share guides

You are likely already doing most of them, which is really great! The real question is: how often are you doing them?

Fact: The more time you spend in the app engaging your followers, the more Instagram will favor you. This means that you should be doing most of these items listed above every day. Post your photos, reels, and stories daily, go live a few times a week, respond to DM messages as soon as possible, and respond to comments on your latest posts immediately.

If you don’t do these things daily, you won’t see growth and you will continue to feel the oppression of the 2022 algorithm.

Now that you understand Instagram’s logic and what it expects from you as a user, let’s dive into the specific tactics you can use to grow Instagram according to the new algorithm.

• Reels are the #1 way to grow quickly! In an effort to compete with the video app TikTok, Instagram now prioritizes video content. And Reels stand out because instead of users only seeing Reels from accounts they follow, they see Reels from all Instagram accounts on the Reels tab. This way you can reach more people and potentially gain new followers. Instagram has also introduced Reels bonuses, where users with interesting/original Reels have a chance to earn up to $10,000. You might be thinking now: “Yeah, sure. There’s no way anyone can get that.” That’s obviously true. But I want to tell you that it’s 100% the truth, because on my book account @thebiglittlelibrary I earned a surprise bonus Reel worth $10,000. So if you want to grow, you MUST start posting interesting Reels.

• When you post, engage/reply to it within the first 60 minutes to boost engagement. Not only will your followers appreciate it, but Instagram will boost your post and show it to more of your followers!

• Do not edit the post caption or location tag for 24 hours! I’m not entirely sure why, but when you do, it significantly reduces your chances of the post being seen.

• Do not delete your post and repost it. For the same reason as above. I’ve done this once before and my reposted photo flopped.

• Use all 30 hashtags in your post, but only put 7-10 in the caption and add the rest in a comment. If you use all 30 hashtags in the caption, Instagram will think you’re spamming and your reach will be low. Make sure the hashtags you use in the caption are unique and specific either to your brand or to what you’re featuring in the post.

• Share your new post in your stories. It’s an easy way to let your followers know you have a new post. Also, shares and saves are more valuable than likes and comments, so encourage your followers to do that.

• Post more posts to gain more followers. I know this may seem like a risky move. If Instagram is only showing your content to 10% of your followers, then you risk lower engagement on posts you worked hard to create. But here’s why you should post more. When you post more, you reach a larger percentage of people daily. For example, if I share posts twice a day, I’ll reach approximately 20% of my Instagram followers instead of 10%. When more people see your posts, the more your followers will engage. When your followers engage and use the app, Instagram will notice and share your account with other accounts, so you’ll increase your chances of gaining new followers on Instagram.

• For better engagement, post fewer posts. I know I just told you to post more. But from my experience, I know that when I post fewer posts, my post reach is overall higher. The reason is that your post has time to circulate. Because of the algorithm, our feeds are no longer ranked chronologically, but adapt to what Instagram thinks we want to see. When people follow you, Instagram knows they want to see your content displayed. So even if Instagram doesn’t initially show your posts to most of your followers, the algorithm may pick them up and they may later appear in your followers’ feeds. So try waiting a day or two before reposting.

• Tag popular destinations with location tags. The sad truth is that Instagram will show your post to more followers if you geotag a popular destination. These include, for example, Santorini, Venice, Barcelona, or Paris; basically any place that attracts a lot of tourists or is trending. So if you’re reading this blog post because you want to gain more followers and better engagement, one simple solution would be to visit and create content in super-popular destinations. Some Instagrammers have done this with great success. Personally, I travel to places for reasons other than growing my IG.

Side note: I wouldn’t recommend tagging photos on Santorini that aren’t actually Santorini. Instagram has recognition software, so I doubt you can fool it.

Other ways to get on Instagram’s good side include using new features like highlighted stories, polls, music, quizzes, chat, and hashtag following.

Every time you use a new feature, Instagram sees your interest in the app and rewards you by showing your content to more followers. So start following your favorite hashtags, create Reels, create story polls to encourage your audience to engage, and carefully curate your highlighted stories so your old and new followers can keep track of what’s happening in your life. If your highlights look nice, are well-titled, and the stories flow together, people will be more likely to continue following you.

To read more about how to gain followers on Instagram using stories, click here!

And now, why the algorithm is actually a good thing:

• Since your post only reaches a fraction of your followers, it’s more important than ever to give your audience a reason to follow you. Now influencers will have to create and share only their best content and also become more accessible to their audience.

• It’s time to become personal and focus more on creating a sense of community! Say goodbye to the silent influencer and welcome the new, interactive friend. If you want to have engaged followers and grow a community, you need to work on building real relationships. For example, when someone leaves a thoughtful comment on your post, try responding with a question. This way you can learn more about them and increase overall engagement. If someone sends you a DM, be kind and send them a sincere reply. Just be real people!

Instagram’s new algorithm essentially encourages (and forces others) to be more authentic and personal. So don’t worry so much about the numbers and start focusing on building relationships with your followers.

Hold on everyone! Don’t lose hope. Just remember that “where there is great willingness, there can be no great difficulties.” – Machiavelli

How to beat the Instagram algorithm?