Why the Instagram Algorithm Prefers Educational Content

Instagram is inherently a selfish platform.

Most people don’t sign up to post pictures of other people. They sign up to post about themselves.

But oddly enough, the Instagram algorithm actually likes non-selfish, more educational posts better than purely selfish posts.

Why You Should Post Educational/Informative Content

When I say “likes,” I mean that the Instagram algorithm is more likely to show educational posts higher up in someone’s feed than a more selfish post.

This is due to the kind of response that someone is likely to have to educational content compared to a more selfish post.

Unlike a straightforward selfie or butt photo, not everyone is going to understand a piece of educational content the first time they hear/see it.

Therefore, a natural response to a piece of educational content is to ask for clarification.

Clarification in the eyes of Instagram translates to more comments, and comments are one of the two most important kinds of engagement on Instagram (along with shares).

Why Engagement Is So Important

Engagement is so important because it is an indicator to Instagram of the quality of your posts.

There are two major ways that engagement positively affects the number of people who see your posts.

The first has to do with hashtags.

If your post gets more engagement than any other posts using the same hashtag, then your post will appear as front-and-center when someone searches that hashtag on Instagram.

Depending on the popularity of the hashtag you’re targeting, this can potentially mean millions of new eyes on your posts.

More eyes on your posts mean more likes, comments, and general engagement on your posts, more followers for your Instagram page, and so on.

The second way that more engagement positively affects the number of people who see your posts has to do with one of the Instagram algorithm's top three most influential factors—relationship.

The more consistently that someone engages with your posts, the more likely that Instagram will prioritize showing your posts higher up in that person’s feed.

So, the more consistently you can get people to engage with your posts, the more likely that they will continue seeing and engaging your posts. It’s a wonderful cycle.

Examples of educational content on Instagram

One easy kind of educational post is the recipe.

This video above is a great example of an instructional recipe post.

It encourages more time on post and post engagement in three ways:

• The post is a video (it takes longer to watch a video than see a single photo)
• It explains the recipe instructions quickly (while the speed isn’t annoyingly fast, it is fast enough to require a rewatch)
• There is no running caption (encourages people to leave comments requesting written clarification)

All of these things encourage the viewer to stay longer on the post and engage, which tells the Instagram algorithm to prioritize showing your posts to the viewer in the future.

Example #2: Makeup Artists

Makeup tutorials are an easy way to post about yourself while teaching people at the same time.

The video above shows just enough so that viewers can learn just from watching the video, but leaves enough out so that people are encouraged to leave comments for more details (products in the video and where to get them, techniques, etc.)

Plus, while it’s not the focus of the video, she includes a song in her video but doesn’t say what the song is. This results in a number of comments from people asking for the name of the song.

While little details like this shouldn’t be the main focus of your posts, it’s worth saying that they can result in more engagement.

Conclusion

Educational and/or informative posts are a great way to get in Instagram’s good books, get your posts in front of more people, and generate more engagement for your posts.

Know of other examples of educational posts on Instagram?