I feel like every time I log on to Facebook or Instagram lately,  I see a bunch of different influencers talking about the Instagram algorithm, how it’s changed, how no one is seeing their content and how their engagement has declined.

Truth is, people are seeing the content. Maybe not as many people as you’d like, but if the content is there, chances are it’s being seen by someone somewhere.

Whether it’s by your followers, lurkers, companies or others just browsing on by, trust me, the content is being seen, just not being engaged with, which is essentially an entirely different problem.

Here’s the thing, the algorithm hasn’t changed much since its last major update in June. Instead, Instagram has done a bunch of updates on its app to help improve the user experience.

The recent (August 2018) updates include

• • Online status of your friends

• • Time management tools
  • Ad solutions for gaming brands

None of the above seem to directly affect influencers in particular.

However, I’m still hearing “the algorithm this, the algorithm that” I even got that response from an influencer when I asked her about her rate-to-engagement ratio (her rate was too high for her engagement, I offered her the highest for her engagement and she declined the collab).

Sorry to be so blunt but, once again, the algorithm has nothing to do who engages with your content.

So why is nobody “seeing” (engaging with) your content? With the magical power of Google, I have made a short list with a few reasons why you may not be seeing the best growth in recent months.

The new explorer page

Instagram updated its explorer page algorithm back in May.

This update allows influencers to rank on their specific niche rather than across all niches like before. So while yes, you aren’t being showcased to everyone on the explorer page, your content is being shown to a more specific targeted audience.

Followers aren’t on their phones 24/7

When it comes to engagement you have to be mindful.

People have lives to live, children to take care of, jobs to go to etc. This makes it difficult for influencers in particular because essentially you are creating the content for your followers to like and engage with NOT  necessarily for other influencers or brands.

Which doesn’t hurt when brands and influencers engage, but the job is to influence and sway the masses.  

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when it comes to engagement loss

Are you:

• • Engaging with your audience daily, not just other influencers

• • Giving a clear call to action (asking to like, follow, turn notifications on, etc.)

• • Actively asking questions to see what type of content they want to see  

• • Consistent with your posts

• • Posting at a prime time
  • Using hashtags and tagging relevant accounts/ locations

Or are you putting the same content out there that you were three months ago?

The same preset, same grid pattern, etc. People like to see growth. Shake things up! Make a new preset, post intriguing and inspiring images that move your audience to act (not just ads, or product shots). Remember content is king!

You stopped participating in engagement groups/pods  

Though this isn’t for everyone, It is worth a mention.

I follow about four different Instagram engagement pods to find influencers for to work with. On almost all of them there is a thread to like and/or comment and a follow thread.

As an experiment, I started participating in the follow thread without submitting images to be liked or commented on. After a week of that, I submitted a few images to the like/comment thread.

To see how my growth and engagement were truly affected, I did a week of posts on my own without the groups.

Here’s what happened:

Week 1 (follow thread)

Pro: I gained followers like crazy

Con: I ended up following a lot of accounts I wouldn’t normally follow (some that I liked and some not so much but that’s part of the engagement group rules) and it took a lot of time from my day to follow everyone on the thread since IG only allows up to 20 follows per hour.

A lot of the accounts ended up unfollowing me a few weeks later and no one really engaged with my content unless I was on a thread.

Week 2 (comment/like thread)

Pro: Comments on images, images got on the explorer page

Con: Comments were irrelevant. People would post the most random things not having to do anything with the caption and/or image I posted. Also, some people deleted their comments and/or unliked the image after the thread closed.

Needless to say, this didn’t help me grow much.

Week 3 (no engagement groups)

Pro: Organic engagement, even if it means only 100 likes and 10 comments

Con: The follower count went down as well as the likes and comments

The lesson in all this is that manipulating engagement isn’t really sustainable.

It doesn’t help in the long run, you end up following a bunch of random accounts you may not even like and get a bunch of random comments on your images that to be honest, are totally obvious to brands.

Now for the fun part, breaking down the Instagram algorithm.

The actual algorithm

The actual Instagram algorithm is based on three key factors

• • Interests – how you interact with similar posts

• • Relationship – Mutual follows? How often are you engaging? Tags?
  • Recency of Post – when the content was posted

Along with these three primary factors, there are three additional components that play a smaller part, but a part nonetheless,  in the way your posts show up on feeds

• • Frequency – how often the IG app gets opened, if you check IG once a day it might sort your feed into what you might like rather than chronologically.  

• • Following – the amounts of people you follow determines how many images you might see. If you follow a lot, chances are you might miss some posts.
  • Usage – how much time you spend on the app

Instagram may control who sees your content and when however, in order to “beat” the algorithm you need to  encourage followers to engage with you rather than just expecting engagement. There’s nothing wrong with reminding your followers to like or comment on a post.

Notable mention: Paid services  

Instagram has fought the use of paid services like fake followers (bots) and power likes for a long time, aiming for a more natural and organic way to socialize online.

One of the main reasons influencers are facing a decline in engagement is that Instagram is cracking down (has been) on paid services. Which even though no one wants to admit it, sometimes get used to increase engagement and/or follower count.

While there are ways to circumvent the algorithm’s penalties and use of paid services, you should be using Instagram as a tool to build relationships with your audience.

What does all this mean?

Now, let’s be real, the decline in engagement doesn’t necessarily mean your content isn’t good. Some of you guys create some of the best content I have ever seen!

Instead of blaming the algorithm for the decline in engagement and becoming discouraged (which I’ve seen a lot of lately), you, as an influencer, should see this as an opportunity to mix things up and step out of the box to rise above the challenge.

It’s your time to shine babes! There’s no need to solely obsess in engagement and numbers. Create the best content you can and your hard work WILL pay off in the long run.

After all, brands LOVE authentic, genuine content!

What are some challenges you’ve faced with the recent changes? Has your engagement dropped too or is it doing better? Let me know in the comments below!