How Does the Instagram Algorithm Work in 2022?

6 Ways to “Beat” the Instagram Algorithm in 2022

If you want to improve your ranking with the Instagram algorithm, the best thing you can do is drive as many interactions (likes, comments, saves, and clicks) as possible.

And by building momentum with your existing community, you’ll soon find your content surfaced to new audiences.

Here are six ways to improve your algorithmic ranking and reach new audiences:

#1: Consistently Share Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels are still being heavily promoted by Instagram across the entire app experience.

Plus, Reels get twice as much real-estate in the Instagram Explore page – making them a major tactic for discovery and growth.

#2: Encourage More Interactions with Instagram Stories Stickers

Instagram Stories stickers are a great way to encourage audience engagement — and the more engagement your posts get, the higher they’ll be boosted by the Instagram algorithm.

There are lots of Instagram stickers, but the best ones for driving engagement are the poll, emoji slider, and question stickers.

Poll and emoji slider stickers are a quick and easy engagement win, and can work for almost any business or brand.

Question stickers may not be as quick to take part in, but they can be just as good at driving genuine engagement with your audience, which is highly valuable for the Instagram algorithm.

TIP: Include a sticker on your first story for an added boost!

#3: Drive Conversations with Engaging Captions and Comments

Instagram has confirmed comments and likes are important when it comes to feed ranking — so it’s a great idea to encourage as many as possible for your posts.

One of the best ways to do this? Write good captions that drive engagement.

This could be as simple as asking your followers to share their thoughts, double-tap if they agree, tag a friend in the comments, or click the link in your bio.

Want to write more conversational captions? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Writing Good Instagram Captions.

#4: Add Hashtags and Keywords to Your Posts

Adding hashtags and keywords to your posts is an effective way to reach more people on Instagram, which means more “views” for the Instagram algorithm to take into account.

And with a good hashtag and keyword strategy, you won’t just reach more people — you’ll reach people who are relevant to your business, and most likely to engage with your content.

In a recent Later study, we discovered that feed posts with 30 hashtags get the highest level of engagement on average.

30 hashtags may feel like a lot, but one way to discover new hashtags for your brand is by using Later’s Hashtag Suggestions feature.

Hashtag Suggestions works by automatically finding relevant hashtags for your posts based on other hashtags you use.

All you have to do is know one relevant hashtag, put it into Hashtag Suggestions, hit “Suggest,” and the feature will immediately generate 30 other hashtags, sorted by relevance.

Once you’ve found the best hashtags for your brand, you can use Later’s Saved Captions feature to curate ready-made lists of hashtags that you can add to your post captions in seconds.

When it’s time to schedule, simply select one of your Saved Captions to add it to your post.

#5: Cross-promote Your Instagram Content

If you’re looking for a quick and easy engagement win to help boost your algorithm ranking, cross-promoting your Instagram content is a great place to start.

As Instagram has grown, so too has the number of channels that you can share content: feed, stories, Guides, and Instagram Reels.

Instagram Collabs feed posts (with co-shared authorship) are also an incredible new way to reach new audiences.

Thanks to these different publishing channels, you can strategically use them to drive different audiences to your most recent content.

This could be as simple as sharing an enticing preview of a Reel to your feed, or even adding a feed post to Instagram Stories with a “Tap Here” GIF.

#6: Use Instagram Analytics to See What’s Working

Tracking and monitoring how your content is performing on Instagram is one of the most reliable ways to take on the Instagram algorithm.

Having a better understanding of what’s working (and what isn’t) will help you come up with a finely tuned marketing plan, saving you time and effort in the long run.

But diving into your Instagram Analytics means more than just finding out which photo, video, or stories performed best.

Truly understanding how your content performs – by tracking key metrics over time – is vital to knowing what helps improve your ranking.

The easiest way to do this? Later’s Analytics feature.

With Later’s Instagram Analytics you get a visual overview of how your posts and stories are performing – all in an easy-to-use dashboard.

You’ll find all of the must-have analytics from Instagram in a digestible format, as well as several extra data points — including your Best Time To Post (available on all paid plans).