Instagram Advertising Archives

How do newsfeed algorithms work on popular social platforms?

Posted on June 22, 2021September 21, 2021 by Alex Wilks

People everywhere rely on social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to keep them connected with their loved ones as well as admired connections like celebrities and organizations. However, each time you log onto these networks it isn’t impossible for you to see every single update from all your connections, which is why today’s social channels have gravitated towards an algorithm-based feed to better the experience for each user.

What is a social media algorithm?

A social media algorithm is a compilation of rules and data that work together to decide what a user will see on their chosen platform. Each social media website utilizes a unique, ever-changing algorithm for every person’s account, which means that no two people will possess the same updates, news, and posts on their feeds.

How does Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm work?

Facebook is the largest social media platform to date, studying user’s behaviours to ensure that the content shown is what that person is most interested in. But, how does Facebook know what its users like? Well, the Like button works as the epicentre of Facebook’s user experience, allowing each user to personalize it based on who and what they enjoy most. The Like button also works as a form of positive reinforcement, allowing users to click like on content that’s shared by friends and family. Over time, all of this data governs how each newsfeed operates.

How does Twitter’s Timeline algorithm work?

Below is a breakdown of the data that determines the social media algorithm:

Relevancy score: There are hundreds of variables that an algorithm takes into account when it picks each user’s posts. Things like the user’s history of likes, clicks, comments, shares, hides, or marked spam are all stored and used to predict future content. More specifically, the algorithm predicts outcomes by giving content a relevancy score, which sorts your social media content and places it on your feed for optimal engagement.
Prioritizes friends: Did you know that you can boost the posts that you want to see more of on your account? The people you interact with most often on Facebook are given priority over other Facebook users, which means that you won’t be concerned about missing important updates from the friends and family members that you care for the most. This is done by categorizing a person or page by clicking “see post” and unfollowing the people or pages that you don’t want to see as often.

Your Twitter Timeline consists of a stream of tweets from the users you follow. If you’re very active on Twitter and have a lot of celebrities and friends that you care about, then your algorithm can be organized based on two approaches: “Show Me The Best Tweets First”, “Best Tweets” or the “While You Were Away” feature.

Below is a breakdown of the data that determines the social media algorithm:

Show Me The Best Tweets First: This feature ranks your content based on relevancy rather than listing tweets chronologically. Based on what you’ve liked or engaged with recently, Twitter will put the tweets that it thinks you will find most interesting at the top of your timeline.
Best Tweets: This feature requires the user to opt-in and select content from specific users to indicate these will be the best tweets. Then, the user can refresh the timeline to have any of these tweets added to the top of their feeds.
While You Were Away: This feature has been added to allow users the flexibility to be away from checking their feeds without FOMO (fear of missing out). It’s completely determined by user engagement and can be turned off for users that don’t check with Twitter feeds often.

How does Instagram’s feed algorithm work?

This quickly evolving platform is becoming a hot spot for digital marketing, which means that it’s important for small businesses to understand how the social media algorithm works for this channel.

Using machine learning to aggregate six key factors, Instagram determines the content that’s the most relevant to the user.

Interest: This is based on prediction data that measures the type of content of posts you engage with most often.
Frequency: This is measured by how often you use the app to determine what posts you want to see when you open the app again.
Following: The more accounts you follow, the less likely you’ll be to see everyone appear in your news feed.
Recency: How recently was the post published? This impacts if it will appear in your newsfeed.
Relationship: Who shared the post and what connection do you have to them or their content? This can easily be influenced by tagged photos, engagements, or direct messages.
Usage: The time you spend on Instagram also has a great effect on the content that you see on your feed.

Do you need someone to help you to manage your company’s social media networks? Trek Marketing offers a social media marketing management service for businesses that want to outsource their social content and have a team member available to answer customer questions and comments.

Which of the above three social networks do you spend the most time on? Drop a comment below to share.

Alex Wilks

Alex Wilks has been working as a copywriter and digital marketing strategist since 2018, with added specialties in social media and email marketing. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Communication, she is a natural content writer with the ability to connect well with her target audience.

An Instagram How-To if You Own a Pet Business

Posted on November 19, 2019January 27, 2020 by Alex Wilks

If you’re wanting to learn about Instagram marketing through the lens of a confident and balanced digital marketing agency, take some notes while you read through our professional industry suggestions. Everything you post about creates a way to engage with your audience and otherwise seek a connection within your community. So, as a business owner who’s consistently wanting to build meaningful relationships that allow your following to grow, you’ll want your company to bring life to the evolving pet industry, by successfully reaching consumers through the use of your Instagram platform.

How do you effectively use hashtags?

The best way that you can utilize your 30-hashtag limit is by conducting a simple search to see what’s already trending. There are some general pet-related hashtags, such as #dogsofinstagram/#catsofinstagram and #dogoftheday/#catoftheday, however, we recommend routinely looking up what niche hashtags are growing in your community and following them to see what your competitors are posting about. This will ensure that you’re tagging all the right hashtag combinations, while also keeping relevant to your business.

Keep in mind that when it comes to digital marketing for the pet industry, you want your efforts to be noticed, which is why hashtags connected to millions of posts are not the most ideal. Instead, suggest aiming for smaller, more specific ones that target local pet businesses, dog walkers, groomers, pet stores, trainers, and even veterinarians. This will help your posts to be noticed and will also give you some insight into the people who’re also following these smaller, niche hashtags. Because who knows, maybe you can give them a follow and they may become enticed to follow you back?

Follow the right hashtags

While you could crazy following all the popular pet hashtags, this will not necessarily bring your business more traction, not to mention it would be an incredibly time-consuming task. That’s why you need to take a minute to think about who your audience is, what they do, and what they may enjoy. Try searching up some local community events that may interest them, become familiar with the area’s popular dog park, and really discover the vibe of your audience. Knowing what your potential customers are passionate about will help you to formulate content that can build long-lasting relationships with them through your Instagram channel.

What is hashtag engagement?

When a user comments on your Facebook post, you respond promptly or “like” their comment, so, when an Instagram user begins interacting with your account, it’s courteous if you to do the same with theirs. Begin by liking and commenting on their photos and even asking them a genuine question. Don’t force the relationship by pitching your service in a salesy way but instead use this as an opportunity to engage with their content and focus on community building rather than gaining a single follower.

Where should you place your hashtags?

The placement of your industry-related hashtags comes down to preference, intuition and whatever works best for your business. While some people like to jam their hashtags into their post captions, others prefer to comment it down below. The fact remains that it really is your space to find out what style is pleasing to you. Although we do recommend that you tastefully layout your hashtags so that your audience can read and understand your message rather than struggle to see the text through a sea of hashtagged words. After all, when conducting successful digital marketing for the pet industry, the more compelling the written caption, the better.

Did the above information spark some Instagram inspiration? Drop a comment below if you have further questions about Instagram marketing for your business.

Alex Wilks

How do Instagram Influencers Market Brands?

Posted on June 26, 2018September 21, 2021 by Alex Wilks

In a world that revolves around social media, Instagram is one of the newest and most influential platforms that brands are using to engage with consumers. With over 800 million users, Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms, focusing primarily on image-based content.

People are spending more time on social media every day, with an average engagement rate of 3% (compared to 0.5% to 1% for most other social media networks), making Instagram the perfect platform to market your product.

From the unique content available, it’s easy to see that Instagram users like to tell stories. Well, brands like telling stories too.

What are Instagram influencers?

Instagram influencers are Instagram users that have established a high credibility with their audiences. Usually, these influencers showcase some sort of authenticity that attracts followers to their page. People who are Instagram famous are paid by companies to flaunt a brand hashtag as a way to promote their business or service.

Brand hashtags allow you to market your company by building brand awareness and recognition. With hashtags everywhere you look, it becomes very important to find one that works for you if you hope to promote or sell yourself in the social media world.

How does this all tie together?

Brands need to work hard to get noticed, but with the average person being exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 advertisements each day, that can be a challenge.

Yet visual content remains the crucial part of any business’ marketing strategy. Instagram marketing presents an edgy, unique opportunity to represent your brand using creative imagery. Users scroll through their feeds multiple times a day, so it also extends your exposure.

With around 80% of users following a business and the top 50 global brands marketing on Instagram, it is a bandwagon that your company shouldn’t mind jumping on.

If you don’t have the time to manage your own social media, Trek Marketing has trained professionals that can engage with your audience for you.

Do you follow any business Instagram accounts? If so, tell us in the comment section below.

Alex Wilks

5 types of Instagram ads to consider for your business

Posted on May 8, 2018September 21, 2021 by Alex Wilks

Although you may think that Facebook and Twitter combined are enough to attract and maintain customers, Instagram is another heavy player that helps with social media marketing. Follow these Instagram business tips for advertising to create posts that expand your audience, increase exposure and enhance branding.

Why use Instagram?

Developing your SEO, keywords and text are still effective marketing tools, however, there are certainly times when sharp imagery is better than stamping a post as TL; DR. In September 2017, Instagram reported that they had approximately 800 million active users a month, which means seemingly endless opportunities for your business to reach followers. We live in a vastly visual age, so you need to grab your audience’s attention quickly and keep those target groups coming back as much as possible.

Which ad best relays your message?

Facebook owns Instagram, so once you’ve created your Facebook Business Page, why not also set up an Instagram account so your ad manager can sync both apps? Then you can choose the type of imagery that best reflects your brand.

Photo: Everything is a photo opp these days, so show off products in ways that entice customers. Create snapshots of services that speak to your audience and tap into their desires and wishes. Of additional benefit, caption the images with strong CTAs.
Video: Consider this an expansion of the power of photos. You get 60 seconds to tell a story, but place the product or service within a few seconds, for maximum effect.
Carousel: A series of 5 photos or videos for customers to view, ideal for advertising that requires more than 60 seconds for effective messages. It can also illustrate multiple ways to use a product or service.
Story: These are ads that are only available for 24 hours and are shown between stories by followers. It’s a great tool to use for a limited time or special promotions. It is also based on viewing habits, so users can go right to your website or contact information while watching their favourite content.
Canvas story: Ideal for mobile use, you can create this ad from a Facebook or a custom template.

Why settings matter

It’s important to put thought into the settings for each post or campaign in order to monitor what works and what may need an adjustment. Ask yourself (or your team) which of the following objectives meet your goals:

Video views
Website traffic and conversions
Alluring posts
Mobile app installations and usage
More leads and event attendees

Remember to name each campaign uniquely and just as you increase engagement on Twitter, use branded hashtags and short captions to entice your audience. Although you get 300 characters to say something, the recommended number is between 125-150.

Other settings to note as you build your own analysis for Instagram ads tips include:

Audience and placement: Are you targeting a specific, “custom” audience (based upon interests and sales), or a “lookalike” audience (potential leads that already follow and are similar to other companies)? Filters include age range, region and connections, along with deciding any placement factors, such as categories and devices to include/exclude.
Budget: Instagram ad costs can vary. Depending upon dynamics and typically ranging from less than 50 cents to about $1-$2 per click (approximately $5-$7 per 1,000 visitors). You can choose a daily budget or a lifetime (length of campaign) option, with the ability to change the figure, but not the type of campaign you have just set up.
Bids: Related to budgets, this setting represents maximum monies spent for customer responses. It’s either manual, set by you, or automatic, determined by Facebook analytics.
Start and finish times: Continuously, or for a specific duration.
Delivery optimization: Choose how your campaign reaches viewers, either through impressions (as often as possible), link clicks (to followers most likely to respond), or daily unique reach (once a day).
Delivery speed: Do you prefer your campaign to run at a standard pace, or rapidly at a more accelerated rate?

Are you concerned about correctly getting your message across Instagram? Learn how our social media marketing services can help make it happen!

Alex Wilks

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