Nailing the Instagram algorithm in 2023

There’s been a lot of talk going into 2023 about what kind of content Instagram will be pushing this year.

We all remember last year when Instagram was trying WAY too hard to be TikTok with the huge push for users to tailor their content towards more of a UGC video style and claiming their app would “no longer be a square photo-sharing app.’ Well in true Instagram fashion, they’re taking this back.

Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri has listened to our prayers and acknowledged that the app put too much focus on video in 2022 and that they intend to shift this back to photos in 2023.

As an old-school user, it makes me very happy to see Instagram go back to its roots, but as a social media manager, I’m not too impressed. Spending the majority of 2022 begging my clients to move away from images and put more emphasis on a ‘TikTok’ style of video, to now have to completely backtrack is definitely frustrating! However, how can we use this to our advantage?

Well, this change makes it a lot easier to develop a defined content strategy for each channel. With Instagram being too similar to TikTok, I found myself repeating a lot of my content across both channels. But now, we can once again use Instagram as a place to share high-quality images that tell a story without the fear that this won’t be promoted by the algorithm, and TikTok as a channel to share light-hearted, authentic video.

But fear not video lovers, Reels aren’t going anywhere! Mosseri stated that when it comes to Instagram, “things like how often someone likes photos versus videos and how often someone comments on photos versus videos are roughly equal, which is a good sign that things are balanced.”

Therefore, content evaluation is going to be more important than ever. Brands should continually assess what content style is engaging your brand’s audience best and push this, whether It’s images or video or both!

But don’t get too comfortable, as the Instagram algorithm doesn’t stay the same for too long, so be sure to follow us at @make_agency for regular updates.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash