Is certain content more successful?
The Short Version:
Holding all things equal, yes - video on average gets the most organic reach.
The longer the video, the better (for reach)
Of course, quality comes first and trumps everything.
Whenever a new feature comes out - use it! The algorithm pushes posts of new features, rewarding them with more free organic reach. Why? It’ll encourage you to use these features more, and educate other users on their existence so that they try them too. See the Boomerang example below.
When uploading to Instagram, you have a few options: a standard picture post, multi-picture post, boomerang, and video.
Is there any benefit to uploading one over the other?
Yes and no. We’ve run multiple tests and found that if you hold all things equal and discount the effect of engagement, videos on average will get higher organic reach than all other types of media. However, the effect of this is marginal vs other media types - so don’t simply post videos because of this.
The Algorithm Favors New Features
The Short Version:
If there are new features, (like when Stories or Boomerangs were first released), use them ASAP.
The algorithm favors posts using their new features. This is because they want to encourage IG users to see and use these new features more often.
As soon as Instagram releases a new feature you should use it!
The reason is simple - Imagine you were Instagram and you came out with something new. You want people to use it, to play with it, to test it.
To do that you need to first make them aware it's available, and secondly somehow encourage them to use these features. It achieves both of these by rewarding posts and profiles that use new features with more reach.
Increased Feature Awareness - By giving posts and profiles that use new features first more reach, they can actually increase awareness about it. For example, if you were to post a Boomerang when they first came out you would get more 'reach' than posting a picture at the same time. This is because they want to show your posts to more people given you're using a new feature - as this helps increase awareness of this new feature.
Encouraging Use - The second reason is simple, Instagram incentivizes and encourages you to use these new features by rewarding you with more 'reach' for doing so. This helps increase general feature awareness and adoption.
What Filters Should You Use & Post? (For Models)
The Short Version:
Our studies of models specifically show that natural lighting with minimal photo editing works best. Don’t over-complicate things. People like authenticity. Each profile and audience is different, though. Make sure you test different content for yourself to see what works for you and your audience.
Generally speaking, as a model on Instagram, you’ll get more engaged followers if you post media with natural lighting in relatable scenarios.
Why? This type of content makes you seem more authentic, real and approachable. The result of this is higher engagement, as people like and comment your content more. Having said this, you can be insanely successful just posting modeling shots. We've found it’s easier to grow an engaged following if you apply our authentic formula.
Avoid making your media seem too curated and ‘put together’. Your posts should come off as effortless, not as though you have specific posting schedules and upload carefully edited pictures. By doing this, people see you as more authentic and it’s easier to engage with them. This is how you can also stand out and seem like a ‘real’ person' that followers can connect with, as opposed to being seen as an untouchable ‘influencer’ who uses their audience to make money.
Having said all of this, each profile is different and this is simply a summary of our studies. Use this advice as guidance, but be sure to test for yourself! Post different types of content and see what works for you. We found that media that performs best includes that in which our models are outdoors doing activities with friends + witty relatable captions + ask their audience engaging questions.
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