How to grow your business on Instagram? How does the algorithm work? When to post?

Are hashtags still needed? And is organic growth still possible?

I’ve created a new account from scratch just to prove my answers to these questions work and shown the results in my newest video.

But if you’re the reading type, here’s the article about my findings and actionable strategies for how to reach organically non-followers every time you post.

My name’s Mark Valasik and this is the #010 edition of Marketing Right Side Up (or MKTRSU) newsletter (and also Youtube channel, and daily marketing memes on TikTok and Instagram). 

This is the place where I offer you the fruits of my rabbit-hole digging into the (mostly) marketing topic of the week. And this one marks the beginning of How-To-Strategy series.

If you prefer video and forgot to click on the previous two opportunities to lead you to the video, here’s a clickable one for ya :D 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2KMDYpANls

And here are the top 5 news from last week:
- Brazil suspends Meta's AI privacy policy over AI training.
- Meta's Threads status one year after launch.
- Are ads planned for the future of Threads? Adam Mosseri interview.
- TikTok ad spend growth slowing; some usage stalls.
- YouTube updates its audio eraser tool to erase only copyrighted music.

If you want MORE NEWS, here’s the weekly AirTable of Social Media One Liners for the 1st week of July, where you can nicely filter pivot-table-style what social network news interest you:

How to grow your business on Instagram in 2024?

Think you can’t grow your business on Instagram anymore? Think again! Today, I’ll show you why this common belief is a myth and how you can beat the algorithm to skyrocket your growth!

Using my 2-month-old business account with just 63 followers, I’ve managed to reach thousands of non-followers every time I post. Want to know the secret? This is my recipe on How to grow business on Instagram in 2024

Instagram Algorithm Insight 

First, let’s understand the current algorithm.

Instagram Reels are your go-to format for reach. Carousels do work too but pack way lesser of a punch compared to Reels. And Reels are initially shown to your followers. This is the early 2024 Algorithm by the way. The 2024 Algorithm change announced by Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, is still not rolled out, and will be rolled out later in the year.

Right so, Reels distribution - If your followers engage with the Reel, it’s then shown to more people, including non-followers. That’s how you grow organically. Here’s the catch: it’s done in batches, with each batch serving as a benchmark for the next. Once a batch stops engaging with your content and underperforms the previous batch in watchtime and engagement rate, Instagram stops featuring your content.

Every time a new competition. To attract non-followers and therefore the organic reach, you need to entertain your followers first

Challenges for Large Accounts 

Large accounts might seem to have it easier, but most of them actually struggle to reach non-followers because only a fraction of their followers are active and loyal, therefore might be more strict towards their new content. OR they followed for different kind of content and not for the creator themselves.

If you have 20 followers consisting of your friends, family or loyal first employees, you can reach non-followers easily. Just ask 10 of those 20 followers to view the Reel and save/share it with each other. The Reel will immediately get featured to non-followers in larger batch (compared to your follower base) because the Algorithm sees this as “50% of your followers loved this content”.

Compare this with a 20,000 followers account where only 1,000 followers engage with the content - that’s 5% engaged followers by the Reel. For the Instagram Algorithm, this is “not good enough” to attract new non-followers.

However, the universal law says that the larger the account, the lower the engagement rate and, therefore, the lower chance to attract non-followers. Sure, once they hit the jackpot with a piece of content that resonates with their followers the most, it can be skyrocketed to even larger numbers compared to smaller accounts. But more on that later.

Small Account Success Story 

Let’s dive into my own account. Despite starting from scratch, my Reels consistently reach a 90 to 10 ratio of non-followers to followers. With 63 followers, I can actually attract thousands of non-followers. My best videos usually have around a 99 to 1% ratio. This is usually what new creators strive for. 

Yes, while having a small account is an advantage in this scenario, it also limits fairly how big of a reach I might get, because my 63 followers will only get me a proportional reach. This is a highly speculative number for the sake of this argument, but imagine my 20 followers engaging with my content, so Instagram will feature it to 200 non-followers. If 60 of my followers engaged with the Reel, Instagram will display it to around 600 more non-followers.

Now take the 20,000 followers-strong account. If suddenly instead of 1,000 followers (5% engaged followers) around 6,000 followers engaged with the Reel, Instagram will take this 30% engaged followers outlier post and feature it to around 60,000 more non-followers.

NOT ALWAYS. The batches Instagram Algorithm serves the content to are from my experience in lower thousands. However if the content gets the “viral push” by being sent to friends of non-followers, Instagram keeps fueling the fire with it while it lasts. This snow-ball effect is what causes the true Virality of a content piece. 

If you want, we can talk about what constitutes a “viral” hit and what it actually means to go viral in the next article!

However, as you can see, algorithm or not, viral or not, the content still needs to be great, because content is king, and with subpar content and easy-to-make memes you can reach only so far.

Get it, reach, because organic rea-…ah never mind

Key Strategies for Instagram Growth 

So how can you achieve this? 

First, use descriptive, keyword-rich captions and up to 5 relevant hashtags. Keep in mind, hashtags help with categorization of your content for search, not necessarily with distribution. Try to keep your Reels between 15-45 seconds. 

Yes, there's the current tactic of having the shortest Reel possible with the longest caption; however, that might soon be over, so don't build your strategy solely on this one tactic. While we don't have data for the precise length because it varies from niche to niche, we do have confirmation from the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, that 90-second Reels actually hurt your distribution. So, keep it short and make sure your content is engaging from the very first second. 

And don't forget closed captions or subtitles because most people watch Reels without sound.

Always benchmark your older Reels, obsess with the average watchtime and if your Reels get lower than 100% average watch time, focus on making shorter Reels.

What Are the Most Important Instagram Metrics?

When it comes to metrics, watch time and shares are the most crucial. 

Forget about likes and comments. 

Create content that people will want to share with their friends and want to stand behind as if it's their own. Mosseri even mentioned in his Reel in early July that saves per reach are the most important signal when it comes to the Instagram algorithm. So, stop making salesy videos. Make videos people can relate to.

The social media business vertical changes drastically from mainly informative to mostly entertaining. Entertain your viewers first, and they will gravitate towards you. Listen to your specific audience and find out what type of content they resonate with and when the best time to post is because it varies from niche to niche. Once you have that, scale it up. 

How to Get More Sales on Instagram

Make sure you're heard, seen, and known.
Selling might come later. It actually comes in the form of carousels, live streams, and stories, not in the form of Reels. We can talk about this in a later post, so make sure you hit that subscribe button so you won't miss that one too.

There are way more tactics that you can use and utilize to make sure that your content grows as much as possible. I mentioned some of them in my previous post explaining how social media algorithms work, if you're interested. 

This article has been really just the basics or the surface level of how you can grow your business on Instagram in 2024.

If you found this post helpful, please consider liking, subscribing, so you don't miss out on future Instagram growth content. Or share it with your friends, colleagues and clients - this helps a lot to grow this newsletter and I would really appreciate it :)

If you're interested in specific data for my two-and-a-half-month-old Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok accounts, make sure to read last week’s article about what the real growth looks like if you post for 60 days straight.

And remember, the key for your Instagram business growth is consistent, relatable content that people want to share. 

I hope to see you in the next post, cheers!

Mark.

P.S.: If you got this far, the next article will be a continuation in the How-To-Strategies series on Instagram Growth, stay tuned!

If you have any questions or additions or topic requests, please do reach out!