This is a guest post by Ray Sherlock — social media expert, engagement driver and owner of Engage Hub.

Engage Hub are one of the UK’s leading Social Media Agencies based in Manchester. They have a passion for video, engaging content and disruptive campaigns.

In this post, Ray tells us how to get better results from our Instagram marketing efforts.

 

10 Ways to Overcome the Instagram Algorithm

Instagram is within the top five social media platforms on the internet. So it can be considered as one of the best platforms available for digital marketers to try out. But if you’re engaged with Instagram marketing, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of how to hack the Instagram algorithm, then you’ll be able to get the best possible results out of the time you spend on Instagram marketing.

Below are 10 effective methods you can follow to successfully overcome the Instagram algorithm:

 

Invest in a professional videographer or a photographer

If you’re interested in Instagram marketing, you need to pay special attention to the quality of your posts. Without quality, you’ll find it a difficult task to sustain your marketing campaigns.

You’ll need to make your posts as eye-catching as possible. You should also bear in mind that video uploads on Instagram play automatically. So investing in a quality photographer or a videographer is a good idea.

 

Publish Instagram stories frequently

When you’re on Instagram, you’ll need to publish your posts on a regular basis. To keep your customers engaged with your business, you’ll need to keep uploading.

To enhance engagement with your Instagram posts, you can take a look at the newly released features. For example, the new poll feature or the live video feature.

 

Get the most out of living videos

Live videos are one of the most impressive features introduced by Instagram recently. It is an excellent method available for you to engage your followers. When you do a live video, it will definitely get bumped up in the stories. Your followers will also be provided with a push notification as soon as you start a live video. So never ignore the importance of live videos.

 

Organise a contest

On the Instagram platform, it is possible for you to go ahead and organise contests. To get the maximum results, you can keep on organising contests on a regular basis. Your customers love to receive products for free and it helps to create goodwill around your business too.

The rewards and frequency of giving contests vary based on one business to another. You should figure out the optimum frequency to increase brand awareness and engagement.

 

Publish your posts during active hours

As an Instagram marketer, you’ll need to work out what the active hours of your followers are. When you’ve worked out the active hours of your followers, publish your posts during these times. If there are any practical difficulties that make it impossible for you to publish during the active hours, you’ll have to think about scheduling your posts. If not, you’ll fail to achieve maximum engagement out of the posts you upload on the social media platform.

 

Take a look at the trends

Instagram trends are changing at a rapid pace, so you must keep a close eye on these. If you do, you’ll be able to get the most out of posts you upload on Instagram. But this doesn’t mean that you’ll need to go ahead and take part in every meme that runs on Instagram. You need to figure out what trends can benefit your business and what cannot. Get involved with appropriate trends to help you get impressive results.

 

Offer free information

Consumer education is one of the most effective ways to build up your brand. To do this, you must provide information to your consumers whenever possible. But before you publish anything, you need to double check and see whether the information is useful to your customers or not.

If you have a large volume of information to share, think about uploading them on chunk wise. This way, you’ll never run out of ideas.

 

Take part in an Instagram pod

If you can take part in an Instagram pod, you’ll be able to get assistance with organising and searching. When you take part in an Instagram pod, you’ll be able to let all people in your group know that you have published something. This will grab the attention of your customers. If you want to get efficient results, you’ll have to think about getting in touch with some like-minded individuals.

 

Consider Influencer Marketing 

As an Instagram marketer, you should also take influencer marketing into consideration. This is a well-known secret followed by a large number of Instagram marketers out there. If you can get in touch with the best influencers, you’ll get the chance to collaborate along with other brands. And get the opportunity to take your Instagram marketing efforts to the next level.

 

Try Instagram ads

Finally, you can think about trying out Instagram advertisements. It’s true that you’ll have to spend money for Instagram ads, but you’re likely to receive great results from the amount you spend.