Understanding the Instagram Algorithm

If you are an internet marketer, an influencer, or any other sort of digital entrepreneur who relies on Instagram for sales, traffic, or just exposure, then you are surely aware of the new Instagram algorithm.

One of the biggest things you can do to ensure your success while you use Instagram is to promote your website, products, services, or whatever you may be offering to your followers is to understand their algorithm. Studying up and knowing how these algorithms works is one way to make Instagram work for you, instead of against you. We also published a guide to Instagram Analytics (click here).

You may think that finding success on Instagram is all a matter of chance, that maybe someone is sure to see your posts out of all the millions of folks who visit the social behemoth daily. The fact is, however, that you need to be proactive in learning how the platform works, so you can make it work in your favor.

Instagram’s Super-Secret Sauce: the Omnipresent Algorithm

You hear people talking about the algorithms all the time; whether they are referring to Instagram, Google, Facebook, or even Twitter. All of these platforms have specific ways that they function, and the algorithms are just the core part of how these systems work.

Instagram’s own algorithm went into place last year, which isn’t much of a surprise, given that the parent company of the photo-sharing giant is none other than Facebook, the other biggest social media platform on the planet.

Instagram has said that its new algorithm is in place to prioritize the type of content that each individual user might be most likely to enjoy. This means everything that is in your Instagram feed is tailored to your tastes, and the same goes for your fellow Instagrammers. Instagram and its algorithm learn how you use the platform, and customize your Instagram experience accordingly.

This means that no two Instagram users are going to have the exact same users' feeds. No two people are going to follow the exact same people and have the exact same interests. Because of this, no two people will have the exact same feed on Instagram. It really is that simple.

This is a huge leap forward from Instagram’s old system, which was pretty much just images posted by people you follow in chronological order. Sounds pretty similar to Facebook’s old setup, doesn’t it?

Now, the two are happily different, but just ever so slightly. While the Facebook news feed hasn’t changed that much lately, Instagram has radically overhauled how the system works, even going as far as to eliminate public-facing likes in the last few months. This is to ensure that posts are being judged for their content, and not their engagement rate numbers.

This is something that is actually looked very highly on by lesser-known content creators, as these folks aren’t getting likes or follows from the content they’re posting because they are not showing up in Instagram’s Discover feed.

The Discover feed is another huge part of the Instagram algorithm. Depending on your tastes and the type of stuff Instagram thinks you are likely to enjoy seeing or watching, your content on the Discover tab will vary. This is where you can find people who you may enjoy but who you don’t currently follow, and this is where all folks who want to make it big on Instagram should aim to land if they really want to explode on the social network.

How Does This Work For Online Businesses and Entrepreneurs? 

If you run an online business trying to sell some of your products, or if you are a webmaster looking to gain more traffic to your website, or any number of things, then Instagram can be a great place for you to start.

Using Instagram, you can basically take advantage of the fact that millions of people are searching for content every single day. Instagram has over a billion unique users and millions that are frequenting the site or application on a daily basis. This gives you millions of potential customers to market to.

How does the Instagram algorithm come into play here, you might be asking? Well, that’s rather simple.

You see, as a digital marketer, entrepreneur, site owner, or content creator, you already hold the keys to being successful on Instagram or any other social media platform. As someone who should be creating content, you should know your ideal target audience.

If you don’t know your ideal audience, think about it for just a second.

• What does your ideal customer look like? 

Visualize your ideal customer in your mind. What might they look like? What do you see in your mind’s eye?

• What might your ideal customer be interested in? 

This is one of the biggest questions you can ask yourself when it comes to thinking about your ideal customer. Getting into the minds of your customers is how you can market to them effectively.

Do they like video games? Certain types of movies or sports?

Whatever they may be interested in, this type of data can give you a gold mine when it comes to marketing and advertising to potential customers.

Why are these things important? You are surely wondering just what all of this has to do with anything. Well, the short answer is, this stuff has something to do with everything!

Just think about it. If you have really stepped into the shoes of your ideal customer and taken the time to understand their potential mindset, you will understand very quickly why it is so important to get into the minds of your potential customers.

It’s becoming pretty apparent, isn’t it?

In order to maximize your profits and make the most money you can online, you need to market to people who are already looking for what you’re selling. That sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Well, not really. You see, when you really start to think about it, you’ll be able to see how clear the science behind it is. Millions of people come to social media platforms like Instagram to enjoy themselves and connect with content creators that they identify with. Many people online also engage with their favorite brands, musicians, actors, inventors, and so many more folks.

So, if you have all of these potential customers already on this one platform, then it would make the most sense to utilize that platform and go where the customers are, right? This is why social media marketing, and Instagram marketing, in particular, is so effective. It is because all of these potential customers are already on the platform looking for what you have to sell!

Your next question maybe something along the lines of Well, how do I take advantage of this algorithm and market directly to these potential customers on Instagram?

That is a good question, and we’ve got the answers just for you!

Hacking the Algorithm: Finding Your Tribe

As an internet marketer, in your marketing strategy, you may be trying all kinds of different things to get your products in front of people, just hoping someone makes a sale. While this can sometimes work, it is not a very proactive approach.

Instagram already has a set of tools built right in for internet marketers and entrepreneurs to take advantage of. It is called the Instagram Ads section, and it is loaded with tools to help you get your content in front of people who would be most interested in seeing it.

These are paid ads and might be the easy way out when it comes to getting people to check out your page, visit your website, or make a sale of your product.

You need to find your tribe, your group of people who are most likely to be on board with what you’re trying to do. Your tribe is your ideal audience, your ideal customers, the people who will be most likely to pull out their wallet when they see something new from you. If you can connect with your tribe, then you will achieve one of the biggest steps to solidifying the online footprint for your business.

Finding your tribe, and turning them into followers on Instagram is one of the best ways to make sure they can see what you’re up to and engage with you when you post new content. If you need new followers in a hurry to make your page look more legitimate, you can net them in a few different ways. You could go with paid ads, you could try organic methods, or you could even buy Instagram followers. Many companies on the internet provide Instagram follower services if that is the way you choose to go.

The main issue with buying followers in this situation is that those followers would be for looks only, and wouldn’t reflect any actual engagement that you’re going to try to get. This is where some tried and true methods come in.

If you are looking to get a ton of legit results quickly, then your best bet is going to be to go with Instagram Ads. This way, you can specify your ideal audience, choose to boost a post or create a new one that you’d like to turn into an advertisement and select how long you’d like to run your ad. You’ll be able to set a budget and more here, too.

Paid ads don’t really count as hacking the algorithms, but it does count as being a great way to get people seeing your stuff quickly, so it counts, right? Anything to help you get more followers and get your brand in front of more people!

The thing with paid ads is, well, they cost money. If you don’t have a lot of extra money to throw around for advertising, you’re going to have to get a little creative to make sure your stuff is seen by the people who need to see it.

This is where all of that hacking the algorithms talk comes in, and don’t worry...there are simple and free ways to find your tribe if you’re not able to do paid advertising. When you do it this way, you are building something from the ground up and being proactive. By playing the Instagram algorithm in your favor, you are going to see all of the ins and outs of building your tribe from nothing.

Getting Top Placement on Instagram 

One of your biggest goals as an internet marketer or digital entrepreneur should be to get your stuff in front of as many pairs of eyeballs as possible. This can sound like quite a daunting task, and you may find yourself glancing at the Discover tab or Explore page on Instagram in envy, wondering how all of these other people were able to make it with relative ease.

It’s not always easy, though. There are all kinds of ways you can approach this problem, and the number of ways it can be approached is what makes it a little more difficult. There is no one size fits all approach to making a splash on Instagram. One of the biggest things you can do for yourself here (besides the obvious “have great content” step) is to try anything you can and see what sticks.

Here are some of the best things you can do to try to get yourself placed in the top on Instagram:

• Find the top content for your niche

One of the first things you should be doing is finding the top-performing content for your niche. Are you a bakery owner? You should be looking and seeing what other bakery owners are doing to net themselves engagement on the platform. Are they posting video content? User-generated content? What do their Instagram posts look like?

Find the competition, identify the biggest and most popular Instagram hashtags for your niche, and look for trends (things like tutorial posts, content posts, etc.). You can do these things manually or you can use third-party analytics tools for Instagram reporting.

• Find peak times for engagement

You will want to identify the time that the fanbase for your niche is most active on Instagram. Check out when they post the most, when the hashtags you identified are used, and more. You can also use third party analytics reporting tools to find the most active peak times for your niche.

When you have identified the times of the day or week when your potential customers are most active, schedule posts. This will help you be noticed by more folks, and frequent posts at peak times may help increase the engagement on your page.

• Make exciting posts that will create engagement

***At the end of the day, no matter how much tracking and analyzing you do, no matter how many charts and reporting tools you have, if your page doesn’t put out good, original content, no one is going to like it.***

Instagram is a platform that is driven by photos and content that catches eyeballs. You don’t want your stuff to be something that people just gloss over. Make sure your content is something that will catch eyeballs so that people will remember the name of your brand, share your posts with their friends, become followers, and hopefully, later down the line, be converted into customers.

There is no better feeling than seeing a follower become a customer.

These are just a few of the ways you can game Instagram's algorithm to make sure people are seeing (and hopefully interacting with) your posts. If you can understand your niche and your market, identify the most popular hashtags and trending events that your niche is known for, and then create memorable content, it shouldn’t take long before you start seeing results on Instagram.

The Importance of Engagement on Instagram

Let’s face it, we all trust something a little more when we see that thousands, if not millions, of other humans trust it too, right?

Engagement on all social media, not just Instagram, is a big way that people judge posts, pages, or promoted products. If someone tried to sell you a brand new product right now, would you be interested in it if no one on the planet had paid for it before? What if it was something that millions of people all around the planet were raving about and purchasing? Would you be a little more inclined to trust it then?

This is how it works with social media, especially on Instagram. If you are a brand new page with barely any posts and no followers, then people are going to trust your page a little bit less than they would if you had thousands (or millions) of likes and followers. It is the same concept. We trust that which other people trust. This is simply human nature.

Are you posting pictures of your new product and you just don’t have any engagement on your posts? Well, you could try running paid ads to solve this problem, but that won’t solve the problem for every post you try to make.

The trick to having every post you make get seen by people all over the world, in your niche, is to make sure what you’re posting is something unique. If you are just now setting up your Instagram page (whether business or personal), don’t try and sell something right off the bat. Instead of coming at people swinging with products in hand as a new Instagram profile, just start posting unique content!

If you post a lot of unique content with the right hashtags, people will start sitting up and taking notice. Start early, posting things that people will enjoy (find memes for your niche, everyone loves memes!), and eventually, you will organically grow your list of followers. When you have a ton of followers that you have nabbed organically, that get excited when you post something new, these are the people that are going to be more likely to buy something you promote.

If people trust your page, they may trust the products you believe in. These people that are following you now, and taking out their wallets when they see you promoting something you like, these people are your tribe!

In order to build and grow your tribe, you need to engage with them. It will never matter what social network you’re marketing on. Whether you’re on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or any of the other social media platforms, if you don’t engage with your followers, you are ultimately steering a sinking ship.

When it comes to the algorithm, Instagram is going to put content that it thinks a user will like most at the top of the news feed. It gathers this data from all of the other actions users take on the platform. If a post has a ton of likes and comments from an Instagram account that has a lot of followers, then the algorithm is going to determine that this is an account that is posting high-quality stuff. It is going to determine that this is an account that is posting content that people want to see (you can buy Instagram likes from Bestsocialmediaboost).

Because of that, those accounts and those posts are going to show up higher on the feeds of people who might be interested in it. This is how things go viral, and this is how things get popular. This is also how posts and accounts get their big moments of fame in the Discover tab, so work hard, and maybe you’ll see your own posts there someday!

When you see the organic likes and follower counts climbing up on their own, you know that it is a result of great content generation and brilliant organic marketing. Now, this is how you make the Instagram algorithm work for you.

Unlike personal accounts, business accounts on Instagram can view important Instagram insights such as the total reach of their Instagram stories, Instagram live stats, engagement activity on recent posts, and so on.

Consistent Posting Could Be the Key to Success for You

By now you already know that posting great, original content to Instagram is one of the best ways to get yourself noticed by users on the platform. If you are racking up engagement and showing Instagram that you’re a quality account, the algorithm is going to sit up and take notice.

You should also keep in mind that along with posting quality content, you should also be posting pretty consistently. This is to keep your content fresh on the minds and on the eyes of users. The more often you post, the more often people will see and engage with your content. That’s what that pesky old algorithm likes to see.

You want to carve out a little bit of time a week to post some content to your social media accounts. This is so you can stay consistent, so make sure you have a dedicated social media person taking care of things for you, or you can take care of it yourself if you have the time.

There are even third-party tools you can use that can help you streamline your posting times and frequency. You can create and schedule posts, making them go out on whatever date and time you choose. This can be a great way to set it and forget it at the beginning of the week.

If you do it this way, though, make sure you come back and reply to some comments if you have gotten any. Replying to comments, following back new followers, and returning engagement with your followers is one way to make sure they stay connected to your brand. Everyone likes a brand that they feel is personal, so try to be that brand. That will resonate with people more than almost anything else.

Your Brand is Your Key

Your brand is what personifies your product or service. It’s what connects people with you. You want your brand to be memorable, something that will stick out to people. Make sure you have a catchy name that really matches with your niche. You can also ensure you have an eye-catching logo that is sure to remain in someone’s head long after looking at it for the first time.

Making your brand stick out is one of the most important things you can do for it. Keep it consistent across all your social media platforms, as well. If you have a logo on your website or on your Facebook page, make sure it is the same on all of your other platforms. You want people to be able to find your brand on any platform, all over the internet.

This is doubly true on Instagram. Making your brand consistent and memorable is something that is going to keep your followers engaging with your posts and content. If you are noticing that your posts are being liked, commented on, and just engaged with in general, then that is a good sign that your posts are going to continue to show for people.

Instagram likes to see profiles with a lot of engagement, so make sure you do everything you can to stay engaged with your followers so that they can be informed of every new post! After all, your tribe is going to want to stay up to date with you.

Make the Algorithm Play in Your Favor

Now, you know a little about the Instagram algorithm, how it works, and how you can use it to boost your online business. It doesn’t matter if you’re a marketer, an influencer, or just a content creator trying to make cool stuff.

You’re going to need engagement to keep your Instagram presence up, and there is no better way to do this than to understand the Instagram algorithm and how you can make it work for you, and not the other way around. With all of this in mind, you’re ready to go hack the algorithm for yourself!

How long has it been since you really delved into your numbers on your Instagram account?

You might be keeping up with your amounts of followers and likes, and trying to post quality content on a regular basis, but are you being as proactive as possible in making sure your Instagram content is actually seen by its target audience and reaching its full potential?

Are you delving into the data and exploring your own analytics? 

If you’re like most people who post content on Instagram, the answer to that last question is probably a resounding no, but why?

It doesn’t matter if you’re an entrepreneur, an influencer, an artist, or a content creator, really knowing your data can be the key you need to truly unlock the potential your Instagram account holds.

Knowing your data and your Instagram analytics can help you know more in-depth about how Instagram operates, and it can play a huge part in you refining your Instagram marketing strategy. After all, if you’re truly in tune with your data and you know your audience, you can adjust your marketing strategies on the fly as you find new ways to monetize your Instagram account.

You’re surely aching to learn more about all the details behind being in tune with your Instagram analytics, and that is exactly why this article exists. You’ll learn why your analytics on Instagram are so important, some of the different analytics options that are available to Instagram account owners everywhere, and which data you should really focus on to make your Instagram marketing effective.

Why Do Instagram Analytics Matter To You? 

Instagram is the second most popular social media platform in the whole world, with over 25 million Instagram business accounts along with over 200 million regular Instagram users checking in daily. With these kinds of numbers, it is quite obvious that there is plenty of value to be found in knowing the data behind your Instagram account.

The simple truth is if you don’t understand the audience you are promoting content to, or you don’t know who is seeing and interacting with your Instagram profile and advertisements, or how your Instagram follower and like counts translate into value, then you’re simply wasting your time on the platform.

The key to monetizing your Instagram and squeezing all the value possible out of it is to truly know your data and understand your analytics. 

Here are just a few examples of the things that could happen if you are not setting a schedule to check up on your Instagram analytics.

• *Your posts could be targeted to the completely wrong audiences.
• *You could be posting too much, or not enough.
• *You could be attracting irrelevant traffic to your site.
• *You could be ignoring potential mentions that could lead to valuable partnerships later down the line.
• *You could be posting during the wrong times of the day, or during the wrong days of the week for your audience.
• *You could be missing chances for engagement in your post’s comments or in your Instagram Stories.

These are just a few of the things you would be able to understand and do better with if you really delve into your data. The information you find by really understanding your Instagram metrics could be one of the only things you really need to step up your game in your Instagram marketing strategy. This can, in turn, offer you more value for your business, along with truly understanding your audience, and helping you get relevant content in front of the people who are already searching for it.

How Do Instagram Profile Analytics Work? 

All of the analytics data you can access quite easily through the My Profile page, which is where you find all of your Instagram posts. On this page, you can see insights from the last seven days. You may have seen this screen before, but you may not have thought of really jumping into checking out your metrics.

Here are just a few of the things you can check out and review from this screen.

• Instagram Impressions. Your impressions on Instagram are the number of times people have seen your posts in the specified time frame.
• Instagram Interactions. This is the number of interactions and engagements people have had with your account.
• Reach. Your “reach” on Instagram is the total number of accounts that have seen any single one of your posts.
• Profile visits. This is the total number of people that have checked out your Instagram account in the specified time frame.
• Website clicks. This is the number of times people have clicked through to the link you have put on your Instagram profile. Ideally, this link should be your personal or business website or your storefront.
• Contact clicks. This is the number of times that people have clicked on the Contact button on your Instagram profile, which can be found either in the form of a Call or Email button.
• Instagram Mentions. This is the total amount of times your account’s username has been mentioned by other Instagram users in the specified time frame.

Audience Analytics on Instagram

In online marketing, the key to making sales and driving business is understanding your target audience. Your target audience, which is also known as your customer avatar, is the demographic that you feel is ideal for your product or service.

How does your target audience currently match up with the audience checking out your Instagram content?

You can answer that question very easily, using the handy section of your analytics section on Instagram that is dedicated purely to keeping you up to date with your audience. There are a few important factors you should look for and pay attention to when checking out your audience insights.

• The top locations of people seeing your posts. The top locations information will display the top five cities, as well as the top five countries that your followers are located in.
• The age range of your followers. Knowing the age range of your followers is another easy way to cater your content directly to them. Instagram breaks down your audience metrics into easy to understand ranges. These go from 13 to 17, 18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 to 64, and 65 and up.
• Gender of your followers. This shows you the distribution of your followers, separated between men and women.
• Hours your followers are active. This statistic is very helpful in seeing the average time of day that your followers are using Instagram. Knowing this information can help you plan posts on times that you know your followers are most likely to see them.
• Days your followers are active. Like the “hours” section, this one comes in handy to show you which days of the week your audience is most active on Instagram. Armed with this information, you will know the best days of the week to schedule posts on your Instagram account.

Analytics of Individual Instagram Posts

Aside from helping you understand audience demographics and when they are online the most, you can also find handy information diving into data behind each of your individual Instagram posts. This can be a great way to see which type of posts resonate with your audience, and what content works the best with them.

These are just a few of the types of stats you can find for your individual Instagram posts.

• Interactions. Interactions are actions that were taken directly from your Instagram post. It could be something like checking out a profile, clicking a link, clicking on the contact button on a profile, and more. All of these actions are kept up to date for you in this section.
• Discovery. This allows people looking for new content on Instagram to discover things they will most likely enjoy. Here, folks will see fresh new content from accounts they are not currently following, tailored specifically to them. Business accounts on Instagram are more than eligible for appearance in the Discovery section, enabling people around the world to find your page.
• Follows. This section shows you how many new followers a single post netted you (if you need help growing your account, you can always buy Instagram followers from Bestsocialmediaboost).
• Reach. This is the number of unique people that saw your post on Instagram.
• Impressions. This is the number of times your post was viewed on Instagram. The app also breaks down the information a little more for you, letting you see if these impressions came from hashtags, the home section, from a profile, or from another section on the platform.
• Comments. This is the number of comments on a given post.
• Saves. This is the number of accounts that saved your content to their saved folder.

The Analytics Behind Your Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are another huge way you can connect with your audience on the platform. Overtaking Snapchat with this feature, this is a huge opportunity that every page on Instagram should be taking advantage of. Instagram users love Stories, and they are a great way to interact with your audience.

Like other sections of your profile on Instagram, the platform also lets you check out the metrics behind your Stories on Instagram. Let’s check out how it gets broken down.

• Reach. This is the number of total accounts on Instagram that checked out your Story.
• Impressions. This is the total number of times your Story was watched.
• Story exits. This is the number of times someone quit watching your Story halfway through.
• Replies. This is the total number of replies to content on your Stories, such as a photograph or a video.
• People insight. People insights will list the accounts that have checked out a certain part of your Story.

What Do You Focus On Going Forward? 

You just got a lot of information about how you can dig deeper into your analytics on Instagram. With all of that fresh new information rattling around in your brain, you’re sure to be thinking of ways to apply it to your Instagram account so you can better understand your audience and make your marketing strategy that much more effective.

The team over at BSMB identified a few common goals for people who use Instagram for business, and a few main metrics you could track for each of them.

Building Buzz Around Your Brand

If you are looking to build brand awareness for your venture, Instagram can be a valuable tool, helping you put your content in front of the people who will like it the most. These metrics may help you if this is your goal.

• Growing follower counts: If your follower count is going up, that must mean your posts must be resonating with people. You can even run ads on Instagram with growing your follower count as an objective for the campaign.
• Impressions and reach: The more people that see your content, the better, right? These numbers will help you keep track of the number of accounts that have seen your content, as well as the total number of times that content was viewed all over the platform. Also, keep an eye on the number of likes your posts receive as this is usually a good indicator for measuring the growth of your account (if you need a helping hand, you can always buy Instagram likes from us).

Drive Sales and Generate Leads

A huge goal among most internet marketers, leads and sales are the lifeblood of any business. After all, these are the two things that translate straight into cash!

You can run ads on Instagram, as well as promote posts. Here are some metrics the BSMB team suggests checking out when you are looking into driving sales and generating more leads for your business.

• Website clicks: You will want people to go to your website from your profile on Instagram or from when they see your ads. This option shows you how many people have clicked through to your site on Instagram, and from which source that click originated, whether from your profile or from an ad.

• Follower hours and days: This comes in handy for knowing when your audience is online. A great way to ensure your posts go out at the same time they are most likely to be online.

• Contact form clicks. Whether you utilize a Call or Email button on your profile, this insight will show you how many people clicked on your contact button.

Are You Ready to Become a Data Ninja? 

Armed with all of the information relevant to your audience on Instagram, you are ready to better understand your audience and the metrics behind your Instagram account. With this information and this data, you will be better equipped when making and scheduling posts.

Knowing your audience is a huge part of achieving sales, and Instagram provides plenty of tools built right in to make sure you are up to date with your metrics on the platform.

Post at the Right Time to Reach Your Instagram Followers 

To build a relevant Instagram audience, you have to do more than create amazing content that captivates your audience. You also have to make sure they see it.

Instagram switched to an algorithm-based feed in 2016 that favors more recent posts and updated the algorithm again in 2018 to ensure users were being served fresh content they were more likely to engage with. The latest updates in 2019 and early 2020 improved on the security with artificial intelligence and tweaked the algorithm even more.

This means that no matter how many times a user refreshes their feed, newer posts are most likely going to be seen first.

If you aren’t posting at the right time, most of your audience will never get a chance to engage with the content you’ve worked so hard on. Everyone loses in this situation.

How can your brand beat Instagram's algorithm and make sure your content is at the top of your followers’ feeds?

Simple, post when the majority of your followers are using the app.

So what is the best time to post on Instagram? The Bestsocialmediaboost team has some insights to help you structure your Instagram marketing blueprint.

When is the best time to publish Instagram posts?

After analyzing thousands of Instagram accounts and millions of posts, the Bestsocialmediaboost (BSMB) team found that it’s not so clear cut.

The best time to post your content is between 1 pm and 2 pm EST, but depending on the day of the week, your engagement rates can dramatically change. For instance, BSMB found that the best time to post on Friday is not just 1 pm, but also at 5 am and 3 pm as well.

Why is this true?

Well, think about the way your routines and moods change from day to day, whether consciously or unconsciously. Your mood and routine will affect your behavior. The same is true of everyone else.

Here are some insights to think about:

• Some of the highest engagement can be generated by posting from 5 am to 7 am EST on Tuesday through Friday; the first thing many people do when they wake up is to check their phones.


• Posting from 11 am to 2 pm EST during the weekdays generates a high amount of engagement as this is the time people are at lunch and going through the midday slump. They’re losing focus and attention at work and need a diversion. Avoid peak hours.


• Posting on Saturday at 11 am EST is the ideal time because many people are hanging out or eating brunch.

The BSMB team has found that when posting to Instagram, going by a single time range alone is enough. By considering the day, week, and industry you’re in, you’ll be able to optimize the number of engagement users has with your content.

Find the Best Time for You to Post on Instagram

Figuring out the best time to post for your specific audience can be done in a few different ways:

1. Use a social media management platform to identify your best posting times


2. Use Instagram Insights


3. Test the timing of your posts to see which generate high engagement


4. Look at the posting times of other brands in your industry

Since using a social media management platform is pretty straightforward because you are paying for their services, the BSMB team will focus on the other three methods.

Instagram Insights 

Instagram Insights is the in-app Instagram analytics tool that can help you figure out the optimal posting time for your audience.

As a starting point, it has  all the analytics you could dream of, including your followers’:

• Location


• Gender


• Age


• Time of highest activity (Keep in mind the time zones when looking at this metric)

By looking up your most popular locations, you can determine your top time zones and see when the most Instagram activity occurs.

You can easily use this data to form your new Instagram posting strategy that is based on the best days and times to post.

Experiment with Your Posting Times 

Whether you’re not a fan of graphs and charts or just prefer to do the math on your own, you can figure out your posting times using a bit of trial and error. A spreadsheet is all you need to track the levels of engagement you get when posting on different days of the week and at different times.

Start by looking at the posting times of your top five posts. If you don’t have any posts, you can choose five random times you want to try throughout the week.

Let’s say you choose at 10 am, 11 am 12 pm, 1 pm, and 2 pm. This gives you some morning and afternoon data.

You’ll post on Monday at 10 am, Tuesday at 11 am, Wednesday at 12 pm, and so on. Then record the number of comments and likes each post receives.

For the next week, switch the specific times for each day. For example, post on Monday at 11 am, Tuesday at 12 pm, Wednesday at 1 pm, Thursday at 2 pm, and Friday at 10 am. Then record the number of comments and likes.

This method will take some time, but it is going to help you identify the optimal times and days to share based on your discreet audience. You may even be able to figure out new insights and see patterns you otherwise wouldn’t if you continue to experiment.

Use Similar Brands as Benchmarks

This strategy is especially useful for business accounts starting from scratch.

The amount of engagement you receive is also based partly on the industry you’re in. If you want to know the approaches the best of the best in your industry take toward posting, looking at their accounts, and noting their posting times can offer you more granular timing information.

Start slowly by choosing the top 1-3 companies in your industry and looking at their accounts. Look at the times they’ve posted and the kind of engagement each post received.

If you are serving the same kind of information to the same audience, this will help you form a strategy not only around posting but also the type of content your audience may be interested in.

4 General rules to keep in mind when posting

• Post your most important content on a weekday

Though the differences may be small, Instagram engagement does change depending on the day. For example, B2B companies enjoy more engagement while their audience is at work, but a blogger may get higher engagement on the weekend when their audience has more downtime to read posts. Be sure to also use hashtags as these have proven to work well in social media marketing campaigns.

• Use your most active time zone(s) when posting

You may live in Chicago, but if the majority of your followers are in LA, you should be posting for the PST time zone. If you have a huge audience in the UK, schedule Instagram posts for their optimal time as well (have a look for scheduling tools online). Remember it may be close to midnight for you, but it will be early morning across the pond.

• The best timing in the world can’t make up for bad content

The optimal posting time is a metric that only works if you are creating content that you have optimized to perform well. If people don’t like the content in their faces, they are not going to engage with it.

• Be flexible

Having a “best time to post” doesn’t mean that you can’t post at other times. Any successful Instagram strategy you employ should have lots of room for testing. Don’t let the obsession to optimize make you or your business practices become too rigid. You may realize that posting at peak times or work hours on certain days of the week produces better results, so it's all about experimenting to see the post time that works best for you.

In order to build a large, engaged Instagram audience for your brand, you need to have a thorough understanding of who your followers/target audience is and how the Instagram algorithm works in showing your content on user's feeds.

One of the best ways to learn about them and hold their attention is to find out when they are surfing their Instagram feed. This allows you to deliver the content you know they want at the best time for them to see it.

What are the keys to getting verified on Instagram?

If you have been seeing little blue checks popping up next to some of your favorite Instagrammers’ names on the picture-sharing social giant, you may be wondering what they are. The answer is rather simple: These are accounts that have gone through Instagram’s new Verified Badges program, where account holders can show that their Instagram profile is the legitimate representation of themselves.

Similar to Twitter’s Verified blue checkmarks on verified Twitter accounts, this blue checkmark gives users the confidence to know that they are interacting with the real, authentic account, and not a fake account.

While verified accounts used to be the domain of celebrities, public figures, influencers, and big businesses, almost anyone who holds an account on Instagram can now apply to have their accounts verified (including personal accounts).

What is so important about making sure to verify your account, and how do you do it?

Is there a simple guide on how to verify your Instagram?

We’ve got you covered!

Whether you’re an Instagram newbie or a seasoned pro, a consumer or a content creator, or even an internet marketer, verifying your account and getting your own verified badge can be a great thing for the trustworthiness of your account. Today, you’re going to learn all about the process of how to get your account verified on Instagram and getting your own checkmark so that you can reap some of the rewards that come with being verified.

What is so important about getting verified on Instagram? 

Think about it. When you’re scrolling through Twitter and looking at some of the new tweets from some of your favorite brands, actors, politicians, musicians, or businesses, there is something refreshing about seeing that blue checkmark next to their name. When you do, you know that is the authentic account, and not someone trying to pass themselves off as someone else.

This isn’t something that is just in the realm of celebrities and billion-dollar conglomerates, either. The simple fact is, nowadays just about any account can get verified with a simple verification process through Instagram. If you are an internet marketer trying to use Instagram to grow traffic to your website or sales funnel, or just simply promoting content or your own products on Instagram, having your own Verified Badge will show everyone who visits your page or posts that you’re the real deal.

The Instagram experts over at Bestsocialmediaboost did some research and confirmed the notion that the majority of social media users feel better knowing they are interacting with a real person/account, and not an impostor trying to pass themselves off as a celebrity or business. Knowing that someone is interacting with the real brand or person is also a great way for them to engage with them in real-time, knowing that the account is verified to actually belong to that specific company or individual.

If you want to reap some of the benefits of having your own Verified Badge, but you don’t know how to get verified on Instagram, don’t worry. We’re going to walk you through the whole process to make it simple for you to get your account verified today.

How do I get verified on Instagram?

Let’s face it, having a blue checkmark by your account name is a bit of a popularity or status thing, as well. That little icon has sat next to the names of celebrities and major organizations for a while now, and now you can join this verified club by undergoing a quick and simple process.

With your own identity verified on Instagram, you will be the authentic source for all things related to your brand. People will know they are interacting with the real deal, and that will make them engage with your profile even more. This can be great for converting followers into potential customers if you are in the online sales game.

Instagram opened up the verification process for anyone who owns an Instagram account for personal use, or for people who run an Instagram Business account. It won’t be the easiest thing to do, however, as there are still some standards that Instagram maintains. You need to be an account that is in the public interest, as Instagram states.

You should also always make sure are consistently abiding by Instagram’s Terms of Service, as well as the Instagram Community Guidelines. Your account must also meet the following prerequisites to be considered for verification:

• Your account must be completely genuine and authentic

You have to be who you claim to be for consideration for verification. This means you will have to prove your identity (you may need to submit a photo ID/driver's license as a form of identification), show that you are a registered business or other such public entity. Before you request verification, double-check to make sure your full name on your ID is the same as your Instagram bio. If you're attempting to verify a business account, you may be asked to submit the relevant business documents in the application process.

• Your account should be completely unique

Instagram is very strict about their one account per user verification. Fan accounts for celebrities or musicians won’t be qualified, and neither would content pages that don’t curate original content. Meme accounts are also generally not considered for Instagram verification. Be sure to be posting consistently at the times your followers are active.

• Your account must be able to be viewed by the public

In order to get your Instagram account verified, you must be sure to open up your profile to the public. Some companies have even played around with the concept of private accounts, but it rarely works out, and Instagram will not qualify any closed page for a Verified badge.

• Make sure your account details are completed

You should ensure that you have a completed biography on your page, as well as a good looking profile picture, and a few original posts. Try to keep everything original, because you don’t want to overshare things that you didn’t create. Show Instagram that you're an active user of the platform, by regularly uploading Instagram stories and having the most up-to-date profile photo.

• Make sure your page is something notable and to the public’s interest

Instagram has made it quite plain that accounts wishing to get verified must be representative of a notable person, brand or company, organization, or public entity. Build up the engagement and exposure on your account. Try and get yourself featured in notable news sources, use effective hashtags, and avoid excessive promotional content, to begin with. It would also help to have an engaged audience who continue to support your posts with likes.

Getting Instagram verified: step-by-step instructions

1. On your profile, click on the Menu button in the top right corner

2. Click on 'Settings' at the top of the list

3. Scroll down and click on 'Account'

4. Now click 'Request verification' to begin the process

5. Fill out your full name, business name, and category

6. Upload a high-quality photo of your ID and business documents

7. Click 'Send' and wait 24-72 hours for the verdict

If your account meets the above prerequisites mentioned in this post, you should be able to satisfy Instagram’s requirements and get your own verified blue badge. When you do, you will be able to reap all the benefits that a coveted blue checkmark brings with it, and will be representing yourself and your brand as the one authentic source for anything related to your life or your business. Being verified will also make your Instagram marketing efforts a lot easier, as you'll be able to gain trust from new followers more comfortably (if you need a headstart with increasing your follower count, consider buying Instagram followers from Bestsocialmediaboost).

What’s better than letting people know they’re communicating with the real deal? You can do it! If you think your page is up to par with Instagram’s verification requirements, then you should look into getting your account verified today.