How to Beat the Instagram Algorithm in 2022
Like many of you, I myself 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: Instagram algorithm 2022. Thanks to several recent 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 for 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 wondering how the algorithm change does that, so let me explain. 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 interested as possible!
How to beat the Instagram algorithm?
Below are the simplest ways to keep your audience engaged:
- Reels
- Post photos
- Post stories
- Reply to DM messages
- Reply to comments
- Instagram Lives
- IGTV
- Share guides
You are probably 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 with your followers, the more favorable Instagram will be to you. This means you should be doing most of the above items every day. Post your photos, reels and stories daily, go live a few times a week, reply to DM messages as soon as possible, and reply 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 fast! In an effort to compete with the TikTok video app, 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. No one could actually get that.” That’s obvious. And I want to tell you that it’s 100% true, because I earned a surprise Reel bonus of $10,000 on my book account @thebiglittlelibrary. So if you want to grow, you MUST start posting engaging Reels.
- When you post, engage/respond 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!
- Don’t 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.
- Don’t delete your post and repost it. For the same reason as above. I did it once and my reposted photo flopped.
- Use all 30 hashtags in your post, but put only 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 presenting 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 might 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’ve 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 reach approximately 20% of my Instagram followers instead of 10%. When more people see your posts, your followers engage more. When your followers engage and use the app, Instagram notices and will share your account with other accounts, so your chances of gaining new followers on Instagram increase.
- For better engagement, post fewer posts. I know I just told you to post more posts. 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 they adapt to what Instagram thinks we want to see. When people follow you, Instagram knows they want 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 later they’ll get into 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 many tourists or is trending. So if you’re reading this blog post because you want to gain more followers and have 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 of Santorini that aren’t Santorini. Instagram has recognition software, so I doubt you can fool it.
Other ways to get on Instagram’s good side include taking advantage of new features such as highlighted stories, polls, music, quizzes, chats, and hashtag following.
Every time you use a new feature, Instagram sees your interest in the app and rewards you by showing more followers your content. So start following your favorite hashtags, create Reels, create story polls to encourage your audience to engage, and carefully curate your highlighted stories so that both your old and new followers have an overview of what’s happening in your life. If your highlights look nice, are well-titled, and the stories connect with each other, the more likely people will continue to follow them.
If you want to read more about how to gain followers on Instagram using stories, click here!
And now for why the algorithm is actually a good thing:
- Since your post will only reach 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 the 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 a new, interactive friend. If you want to have engaged followers and build a community, you need to work on developing a real relationship. For example, if someone leaves a thoughtful comment on your post, try answering them 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!
The new Instagram 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?
If you want results right away, you can get the Instagram followers and likes package right now.
Michal Záruba je specialista na digitální marketing a konzultant v oblasti sociálních médií a SEO. Více než 8 let pomáhá značkám růst online prostřednictvím strategického obsahu, optimalizace pro vyhledávače a efektivní komunikace na platformách jako LinkedIn, Instagram a YouTube.
Na svém blogu sdílí praktické tipy o tom, jak propojit SEO, sociální sítě a brand building do jedné funkční strategie. Zaměřuje se na to, jak firmy mohou využít moderní nástroje a algoritmy k tomu, aby jejich značka nezískala jen dosah, ale i důvěru.
Když zrovna netvoří obsah, přednáší o digitálním marketingu, školí týmy a sleduje nové trendy v AI a vyhledávání.