KAFFEINE / Arts & Culture, Digital & Social Media, Lifestyle, Placemaking, Travel & Tourism

Five Instagram algorithm to optimise this Spring

5 May 2023

With the arrival of the warmer months, attractions and destinations across the world are gearing up for the influx of visitors. With over a billion users, Instagram is a powerful platform that can help you reach your target audience, but with an ever-changing algorithm and so much competition, how can you ensure that your content stands out and captures the attention of potential visitors?

In this blog, we'll share five easy tips on how to improve your Instagram reach - from editing in-app to using keywords in your captions – so you can create content which is favoured by the algorithm.

• Edit your content in-app – Instagram's algorithm prefers content that is edited in the app itself. This means that if you want your posts to perform as well as possible, you should avoid using third-party video editing apps like CapCut and Splice and stick to using the built-in editing tools.
• Avoid TikTok watermarks – If you're repurposing content from TikTok, be sure to remove the watermark before posting it on Instagram. The algorithm will penalise content with a TikTok watermark and reduce its visibility.
• Use full vertical videos – Instagram favours full vertical videos over landscape or square ones. So, if you want your videos to perform well, make sure you shoot them in a vertical format, with no black boarders.
• Focus on captions – Instagram is now more concerned with captions than hashtags in terms of categorising content. This means that peppering your captions with as many keywords as possible is key to rank highly and end up on the explore page. When identifying the best keywords for you to use, think about what you have historically used as hashtags, and also what your target audience would be typing into Google to find you.
  • Bonus tip: Instagram now recommends using around three hashtags per post and no more than five so make sure your hashtag list is targeted and brief!
• Use Reels Topics – Adding topics to Reels is a great way to boost visibility, leading to higher reach and engagement. To do this, scroll down when you are just about to share a reel and click ‘add topics’. Here you can select the three most relevant tags for the video to help Instagram share it with the right people.

Instagram is a constantly evolving platform, and it's essential to keep up with the latest trends and updates to stay ahead of the competition. By following these tips, you can stay on the right side of the algorithm and be in a strong position to increase your reach and engagement this Spring.

If you would like to explore your social media strategy with us, please get in touch at hello@kallaway.com.