Dec 10, 2024 5 min read

How Instagram Works: A 5 Min Guide [2024]

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INSTAGRAM ("Insta", "IG") uses different ranking systems for each part of the app—Feed, Stories, Explore, and Reels. Knowing what these systems look for can help you tailor your content, stand out, and reach more potential customers.

Let's break it down so your team can calibrate their approach.

Feed

Purpose: A user’s personalized “home base,” mixing posts from followed accounts with recommended content and ads.

How Feed Ranking Works

Personal Relevance: The Feed prioritizes content based on how a user has previously interacted with similar posts. If they frequently like, comment, save, or spend time viewing certain topics or formats, those tend to appear higher.
Post & Poster Signals: Beyond personal habits, Instagram considers how popular a post is (likes, comments, shares) and how often others engage with the account that posted it. Freshness (recently posted content) and relevance (format or subject matter the user prefers) also play a role.
Diverse Mix: Limits repetitive posts from the same account or too many suggested posts in a row. Ensures everything follows Community Guidelines.

Your Moves - Feed

Engaging Originals: Consistently post content that encourages interaction—eye-catching visuals, intriguing captions, and clear calls-to-action prompt likes, comments, and saves.
Get Favorited: Encourage people to add you to their Favorites list.
Vary Formats: Try photos, videos, and carousels—see what resonates.
Stay Compliant: Use Insights and Account Status to track performance and follow rules.
Note: some features may only be available to business accounts.

Stories

Purpose: Short-lived, authentic updates from accounts users already follow.

How Stories Ranking Works

Frequent Engagement: If a user often watches, replies to, or reacts to a particular account’s Stories, that account’s Stories move closer to the front of their Stories tray.
Closeness & Relevance: The platform prioritizes Stories from people and brands that the user regularly interacts with, reflecting their closer “relationship” and ensuring that meaningful content is easy to find.

Your Moves - Stories

These are Your People: Stories are only shown to people who follow you (unless you run an ad), so these content pieces are for your biggest fans.
Behind-the-Scenes Content: Offer glimpses of winery life, tastings, team moments, production, product teasers etc.
Interactive Elements: Use polls, stickers, and Q&As to drive direct engagement.
Favorites & Close Friends: Suggest people add you to these lists for top placement.

Explore

Purpose: Explore helps users discover fresh content from accounts they don’t follow yet. Landing in someone’s Explore tab means Instagram believes your content aligns with their interests—even if they’ve never heard of you.

How Explore Ranking Works

Initial Pool of Content: Instagram identifies a set of posts likely relevant to a user based on their past activity—what they’ve liked, saved, shared, or commented on before.
Popularity & Engagement Speed: Explore heavily values how quickly and how much other users engage with a post. Rapid, widespread likes, saves, and shares are strong signals that help surface your post in new users’ Explore feeds.
Personalized Predictions: The platform predicts how likely a user is to engage with each recommended post. The more likely they are to interact, the higher the post appears.
Creator Consistency & Quality: If a user has interacted with that creator (even indirectly) before, or if the creator consistently posts engaging content that people respond to, it boosts discovery potential.
Safety & Relevance Filters: Because Explore shows mostly unfamiliar content, Instagram applies stricter standards. Content that might be offensive or violate Community Guidelines is filtered out to maintain a positive discovery environment.

Your Moves - Explore

Stop the Scroll: While posts (image, carousel, video) AND reels can show up in Explore, you'll have a much smaller portion of the screen to hook attention. You essentially have a silent, caption-less, split second to stand out in a grid.
Original & On-Brand: Minimize generic reposts or rule-breaking content. Focus on adding value.
Check Insights & Evolve: Identify which posts attract non-followers and refine your approach to consistently appear on more Explore pages.

Reels

Purpose: Reels are short-form videos designed primarily for entertainment and discovery. They’re shown prominently to users who don’t follow your brand—similar to Explore but video-first.

This makes Reels a powerhouse for brand growth if your content entertains and engages.

How Reels Ranking Works

Viewer Engagement History: Instagram looks at what Reels a user has watched, liked, shared, or commented on to predict which future Reels they’ll enjoy.
Entertainment & Completion: Videos that hold attention until the end and inspire shares and/or rewatches perform best.
Originality & Trends: Using popular sounds, timely trends, and adding your unique spin (e.g., via Remix) can boost discoverability. Low-quality, reposted, or watermarked content is deprioritized.

Your Moves - Reels

Short, Entertaining Clips: Keep it tight and fun. Nail the first 3 seconds and aim to hold attention for 90 seconds or less.
Trend Participation: Jump on culturally relevant trends but add your unique spin.
Performance Tracking: Double down on what drives views and shares.
Note: data + 'Insights' available vary by account type (personal, Creator, Business)

General Tips for Greater Reach

Consistent: Post regularly (like, daily - seriously). Stay original. Aim for genuine engagement every time.
Quality: A good rule of thumb: make me laugh, make me feel, or make me smarter. Your goal with each content piece should be to add value. Add value 4x for every 1x you 'sell'.
Track & Adjust: Check Insights, ensure Account Status is clean, and pivot quickly when something works.
Collaborate: Use Collabs and Enhanced Tags with creators.

For a deeper dive on how to get started with content, check out this post on "why I'm all in on content".

By aligning your strategies with how Instagram ranks different content types, you can sustainably grow visibility, connect with more wine-lovers, and strengthen your brand’s reach.

Hope these help!

Cheers,

Stephen