How the Instagram Algorithm Works (And How To Use It to Your Advantage)
When we’re scrolling through our social media feed, it may feel like we’re in control of what we’re seeing, but the truth is, algorithms are the real gatekeepers. Algorithms control over 90% of the digital content we consume. That includes Google Maps, Amazon, Tinder, Facebook, YouTube, and yes, Instagram.
Learning how the Instagram algorithm works is crucial for ensuring the visibility of your posts and reaching your target audience. Using it to your advantage could be the make-or-break difference between a viral marketing campaign and a collection of ads that hardly anyone sees.
If you’re a social media manager, content creator, influencer, brand marketer, or small business owner who has yet to understand Instagram’s inner workings, don’t worry. By the end of this post, you’ll have a better idea of how the photo-sharing app evaluates and ranks different kinds of content, enabling you to maximize reach and engagement.
What Is the Instagram Algorithm?
All user feeds, including Instagram, rely on algorithms, a set of predefined rules that determine the order in which content is shown to users across different parts of the app. It thus controls how content performs across the social media channel’s surfaces—the various places on Instagram where content and ads are displayed.
Instagram’s surfaces include the main feed, explore pages, reels, and Instagram stories. The tool has been programmed to handle them differently, which we’ll discuss later.
By understanding the Instagram algorithm, brands can optimize their content, boost reach and visibility, track performance, grow engagement and conversions, and tailor their strategies according to changes in ranking.
Key Ranking Signals Explained
How does Instagram prioritize which posts to display first? The Meta-owned app uses different criteria—more accurately referred to as signals—to rank content in its feed, stories, explore page, reels, and search results.
But before we dive into how the app evaluates these surfaces, it’s important to know what signals it uses:
– User Activity and Interaction History. Instagram pays attention to the accounts a person follows, profiles they frequently visit, and their engagement style. It also zeroes in on what a user has “liked,” saved, and shared in the past, including their direct messages (DMs).
– Duration and Session Behavior. The social media network considers how often people visit the app and the duration of their sessions.
– Information About the Post. It takes into account the post’s format, caption, keywords, music, geotags, and hashtags—allowing Instagram to display it to users who will most likely be interested and engaged by it. For example, a local business in West Covina, California with an appropriate geotag may become more visible to users in the area.
– Information About the Person Who Posted. The individual or entity behind the post is another factor. It quickly assesses a profile based on past behavior and user interactions.
– Timing. When was the content posted? Instagram knows and often temporarily prioritizes the newest stories and reels.
The social network employs thousands of signals, but these are the most important ones.
How the Instagram Algorithm Works Across Surfaces in 2025
Knowing how to tweak your content depending on where it will be published lets you maximize reach and engagement.
Feeds
The user feed, where people spend most of their time, contains reels and posts from the accounts a person follows, including suggested content. The platform analyzes content based on user activity, information about the post and poster, and user interactions.
The Instagram feed algorithm will display content from profiles and topics that people have interacted with in the past, as well as viral posts.
Stories
Featuring a limited 24-hour availability, Instagram stories appear at the top of people’s feeds. Aside from showing content based on user activity and interaction history, it will also highlight content from unfamiliar accounts that are similar to ones the user already engages with.
The primary ranking signals Instagram uses are viewing and engagement history. Users are also more likely to see stories from close friends and family members.
Explore Page
As the name suggests, the Instagram explore page lets users access new content based on past interactions, giving brands an opportunity to attract new leads.
Under explore, Instagram algorithm ranks popular content that users are interacting with and posts from creators who have generated significant engagement in the past. The platform also looks at the profile’s trustworthiness, including its compliance with community guidelines, and interactions with other posts.
Reels
Instagram’s short video clips, collectively known as reels, are prioritized according to user activity, information about the reel and poster, and the account’s interaction history.
The algorithm uses this data to “guess” the viewer’s level of engagement. It predicts how likely the user will watch the reel until it’s over, the probability that they’ll share it with a friend, their tendency to visit the page behind the reel, and possibly create a reel themselves.
If you’re posting a reel, watch times, replays, and saves put the odds in your favor. The algorithm also places a lot of importance on original content.
Search
Neatly tucked away at the top of the explore page, the search bar lets users tell Instagram exactly what they’re looking for. According to the developer, the search algorithm examines in order of importance: the text that’s been typed in, user activity, and the most popular and engaging results.
Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, shared that these signals were purposely developed to create a tailored experience for each user. “We believe in this idea of personalization,” he said on the social network. “What you’re interested in and what I’m interested in are different, so your Instagram and my Instagram should be different. And ranking is how we deliver on that promise.”
How To Work With the Algorithm (Not Against It)
Now that you know how Instagram’s algorithm works, it’s time to apply it to your social media strategy.
Best Practices
Use this checklist whenever you create content for Instagram:
Create High-Retention Reels
High retention means keeping viewers watching until the end of your clip. Short reels lasting seven to 15 seconds are thus ideal. It’s also important to keep your video concise, engaging, and relevant throughout. Encourage interactions and boost shareability by employing compelling captions, leveraging trends, and asking your audience questions. Original content with crisp visuals will further your cause.
Finally, avoid using footage with watermarks. As Mosseri shared, videos with TikTok logos or video editing app logos will make your content less valuable to its algorithm.
Use Niche-Relevant Hashtags
Adding niche-relevant hashtags is one of the easiest ways to elevate your engagement. It won’t make your post an overnight success, but it’s a smart step in the right direction. This is because Meta relies on hashtags to understand your post, so it can show it to the most appropriate audiences. Moreover, you can use them to monitor user-generated content (UGC).
To identify the best hashtags for your brand, look for hashtags that are relevant to your content and target market. (You can use Instagram’s search bar to do this.).
Encourage Saves and Shares
Did you know that the Instagram algorithm favors saves more than likes? It tells the system that your post is important enough for users to revisit.
So, how do you encourage saves?
– Include a compelling call to action (CTA).
– Make your posts informative and value-adding. Cite facts that people don’t know about.
– Inspirational content—like insightful original quotes—also works.
– Use eye-catching visuals.
Aside from these tips, you can create shareable content by remixing viral content, discussing topics that people want to debate, and creating collaborative content with another user.
Post When Your Audience Is Online
Newly posted content has a natural advantage as the algorithm initially sends it to more feeds to gauge its virality. Capitalize on this by posting when most of your audience is scrolling through the app. Though the exact timing may be different for your specific market, Buffer shared that the social media channel’s reach begins climbing at 11 am and peaks at about 3 pm on weekdays. Meanwhile, reach drops on Saturdays and plummets on Sundays.
Use Carousels To Increase Time Spent on Posts
Carousels may be the secret weapon you’ve been looking for. Statistics from 2020 and 2024 consistently established that this type of Instagram content boasted some of the highest engagement rates. As users scroll through up to 20 slides, they generate longer viewing times, signalling their engagement.
Here are some ways you can make carousels work for you:
– Start with the most compelling image or information.
– As your audiences swipe through the slides, keep them wanting more.
– Individual slides are shareable, so ensure that each slide can be understood on its own.
– Break down your subject matter, but keep everything cohesive.
You can use carousels to highlight before and after transformations, ask people to spot the difference, share tutorials, and create myth versus fact presentations.
What To Avoid
Certain habits will diminish your posts’ rankings. Never do the following:
– Baiting tactics refer to content that deceives people into engaging with it and/or offers no real value to the user. Don’t use them.
– Repetitive hashtags and too many hashtags flag your content, making it less targeted and therefore less relevant. The algorithm could mark your post as spam.
– Low-quality content doesn’t generate engagement. Avoid unoriginal content and low-resolution images, including videos that don’t add value.
– Instagram allows automation, but prohibits the use of bots to manipulate its rankings and lower the quality of interactions on the platform. Bots can quickly follow and unfollow lots of people, like several posts in a short time, share the same comment on different posts, unnecessarily tag people, and send unsolicited sales messages to random personal accounts. The platform penalizes these bot-like behaviors through the suspension of ad accounts and Instagram accounts.
Ultimately, Instagram supports authentic engagement. Efforts to deceive or exploit its algorithm could seriously compromise your social media presence.
Social Media Tools To Lighten the Load
Developing your strategy, mapping out specific tactics, creating social media posts, publishing content, and monitoring performance takes a lot of work. Fortunately, with new tools constantly emerging, you don’t have to go it alone. Here are popular functionalities to look for and examples to get you started.
Planning and Scheduling
Apps like Buffer, Later, and Planoly make planning and automation easier. Most of the tools in this category feature visual planners, giving you a solid overview of your social media calendar. If you’re brand is also on Facebook, you may prefer the free-to-use Meta Business Suite.
Performance Tracking
Find out how well you’re doing and how you can do better with analytics insights from Iconosquare, Sprout Social, and Metricool. Instagram also offers a built-in solution through Instagram Insights. Insights lets you track views, interactions, followers, the content you shared, accounts reached, ad insights, and more.
Content Creation
Help your graphic design team or be the design team with tools like Canva, Adobe Express, CapCut, and InShot. Most of these are beginner-friendly, allowing you to create content even without technical training.
Hashtag and Captioning
Nowadays, there are even tools for shortlisting trending hashtags and captivating captions. Popular options include Caption AI by Copy.ai, Flick, and Display Purposes.
Engagement and Community-Building
Interacting with your audience doesn’t stop after releasing content. ManyChat, NapoleonCat, and Kicksta let you automatically respond to inquiries and comments sent from personal accounts.
Influencer Collaborations
Find the best influencers to collaborate with through Upfluence, Heepsy, and Collabstr. These enable you to narrow down the most influential profiles based on key metrics.
How Changes in the Algorithm Impact Strategy
Change is constant even in the world of algorithms. Here are the most notable modifications to Instagram’s algorithm from recent years:
Using AI for Content Moderation
The company announced that it has begun using AI for content moderation. AI scans and may directly remove content that violates its community standards, or it could send it to a human who will make the decision.
How to adapt: Make it a point to know Instagram’s community guidelines and regularly check for updates. Steer clear of posts that could be interpreted as harmful or misleading. Always use clear, contextually appropriate captions.
Videos, Not Just Photos
Though the platform began making 13-second videos available in 2013, it only gave UGC footage greater focus in 2021. With reels generating 22% higher engagement, it turned out to be a wise decision.
How to adapt: Incorporate videos into your content calendar. Keep in mind the best sizes and formats.
Monitoring “Sends” Through Direct Messaging
After noticing that more users were sharing content through direct messages (DMs), a task completed through the “send” button, Instagram started using it as a sign of engagement.
How to adapt: Creating engaging content that’s shareable. Use quality visuals and clear CTAs.
Prioritizing Interests Over Following
The photo-sharing app previously prioritized content from users with a significant number of followers. That’s no longer the case in 2025. Today, Instagram values users’ interests more than their follower counts, leveling the playing field between less popular and more widely recognized profiles.
How to adapt: Focus on creating content that resonates with your target audience. Stay on top of trends and find out which of your posts produced the highest engagement rates.
Greater Focus on Original Content
The curation of Instagram posts from different sources into one feed, aggregate content, will no longer be recommended by the platform. The social media app says the change rewards original content. “It takes a lot of time and effort to create original content, so those who create it should get credit and distribution even when it is reposted by other accounts,” reads an official update from last year.
Instagram added that it would insert labels on reposted content with a link to the original creator.
How to adapt: You can still leverage trending topics and posts, but put your own spin on them.
How Real Brands Are Acing Their Instagram Game
These successful brands have shown that mastering Instagram’s algorithms can be done.
Recess: Making Relaxation Drinks a Thing
Founded by Benjamin Witte, Recess has been recognized as one of the top brands on Instagram. The six-year-old company sells drinks and drink powders that help consumers “feel cool, calm, and collected. While it uses a variety of Instagram formats, its most engaging social media assets are videos shared in reels and its regular feed.
Recess doesn’t take itself too seriously, often creating humorous, tongue-in-cheek content that promotes its beverages while reinforcing its playful brand identity. Its Instagram account drives leads to sign up for a weekly newsletter that surpasses the average industry open rate by over 10%.
Bala: Engaging Women With Live Workouts
Online retailer Bala proved that you can make a living selling colorful and well-designed ankle and wrist weights. Since 2018, the company has expanded its product line by adding other functional fitness equipment. On Instagram, Bala has over 270,000 followers and nearly 2,000 posts.
Bala is known for sharing colorful, artistic, and thoughtfully composed images.
When lockdowns swept the world, Bala released a series of live workout videos that people could do at home with or without its products. The timely content helped establish trust while boosting the brand’s reputation.
Though Bala and Recess are vastly different brands, identifying the formats and themes that worked for them was key to winning on Instagram.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s time to tackle some Instagram algorithm FAQs:
How Often Does the Algorithm Change?
The Instagram algorithm is continuously changing. Though major updates don’t happen that often, smaller tweaks are regularly implemented to enhance content delivery, improve the user experience, and respond to industry trends.
One of the most notable changes was rolled out in 2016 when the app shifted from chronological to ranked feeds. Another example is the introduction of reels in 2020. Accommodating videos allowed Instagram to compete with TikTok’s growing popularity.
Does Using All Features (Reels, Stories, Live) Improve Visibility?
Social media experts generally recommend using Instagram’s different formats. Single images, carousels, stories, reels, and live broadcasts expand your reach. You can repurpose content and brand messages, turning them into different formats while making the platform’s algorithm work in your favor.
Can You Reset Your Algorithm?
Yes, you can. As of November 2024, an algorithm reset was made possible by Meta. Users who want to erase their content recommendations and start fresh can reset their accounts and recalibrate what they see on their feeds, explore pages, and reels.
What’s More Important: Hashtags or Shares?
It’s difficult to claim that hashtags are superior to shares and vice versa because they serve different purposes. Hashtags enhance visibility and discoverability while shares enable your content to be seen by more people. The best approach is to employ both: use the right hashtags and encourage shares in your posts.
Wrapping Up and Next Steps
Instagram’s algorithm uses different signals to rank various content. The most important factors any marketer must remember are user activity and behavior, information about the post and poster, session durations, and timing. The platform also considers post engagement, originality, relevance, and the strength of the relationship between the poster and viewer.Make the most of your newfound knowledge by auditing your recent content, building a content calendar that takes the algorithm into account, and using Insights to monitor your performance. Use our free checklist, the Instagram Algorithm Playbook for 2025, as you craft your Instagram game plan.