Serious about building your brand on Instagram? Then you need to know (and capitalize) on one of the latest features on Instagram, the Explore page. Having your account featured on it hugely increases your reach, following, and engagement. Itâs the stuff of your wildest Instagram dreams.
The Instagram Explore page is all about discovery. It helps users to find content that is exciting, engaging, and relevant to their interests. It works on an algorithmic basis by looking at users’ interests, the content theyâve previously engaged with, and several other methods (see below). It then presents a scrollable content feed that they would usually not see without following.
There is no fixed Explore page. Every single version is unique and curated for each user. This is personalization at its best.
To access the Explore page hit the magnifying glass at the bottom of the app. From there, youâll be presented with a search bar. You can enter keywords to find posts, accounts, and hashtags using this search bar. The crowning element is the ability to filter down into niches based on your original search. Letâs say you search for âcooking,â youâll be presented with options such as âbbq cooking,â âoutdoor cooking,â âcooking techniques,â and more to choose from.
Thereâs also the topic explorer, including a variety of channels such as IGTV, Shop, Food, Art, Travel, and many, many more. The topic explorer and the search bar donât just include posts; they also have stories. That means that users can scroll through stories of accounts that they donât follow yet.
This is a brilliant feature for users and helps curate content of specific interest to them. Itâs even better for brand and business owners who want to try and get their content in front of users. Firstly, users may stumble upon you using the feature. Secondly, by using it yourself, you can easily find top-quality content that your audience is already engaging with and use as inspiration for your own.
Yes, there are benefits for the user, but for this section, we will focus on the benefits of the Instagram Explore page for businesses and brands.
If youâre able to get featured on it, three things will likely happen in succession. And theyâre all great.
First, youâll get more followers, then more engagement, leading to more sales. Itâs all good news, frankly.
Algorithms are fickle beasts, or rather the companies that own them are. What works one week wonât work another. Algorithms are changing all of the time. The best we can do is try and look into patterns of posts that regularly feature on the Explore page and judge what the criteria are from there.
There are rumors that elements such as how recently the post was posted and user vs. account location are part of the algorithm but without definitive proof. They certainly could be, and itâd match how the Facebook algorithm works, but itâs not concrete. There are, however, some features of posts that we know influence the algorithm:
This is arguably the strongest indicator of whether a post will get selected for the feed. Thereâs little that the business can do. Itâs not a matter of getting likes and follows on your account. Itâs more to do with the posts a user has liked and the accounts they follow already. If theyâve liked the content and followed accounts similar to yours, thereâs a strong likelihood that your content will be selected.
Video content is king, and the Explore page is no different. Include video in your post or story, and itâs more likely to rank. Instagram hasnât forgotten its roots, though, and a mediocre video wonât automatically outrank a high-quality static image. If youâre looking for engagement, video is the way forward, mainly because videos autoplay when scrolling the Explore page.
If youâre adding overlays to stories, be careful not to include too much text, this is seen as a negative impact and could reduce your chances of featuring. That said, using graphics, stickers, and other elements can increase the chances of featuring.
Itâs time to get technical. Every audience is different and has a different peak time to the next. Some topics will see maximum engagement first thing in the morning, others during the day, and many later in the evening. Thankfully this isnât a shot in the dark or a guessing game. Leverage the insights tool to see when your audience is online. Then make use of a post scheduler to post content right when theyâre on the app.
This shouldnât surprise anyone running a social media account, but you have to know your audience. Get into their heads, understand what they like and create content that matches. Keep asking yourself questions and return to the answers regularly. What content does your audience engage with more? Photos or videos? Are they into humorous content? Should you be creating carousels? Stories? Keep on top of this to keep your content relevant.
Create your brand, stick to it, and ensure itâs the same across the different media of Instagram content. Using a specific color or font? Make sure thatâs the same for stories for static and video posts. Youâve spent time creating the perfect aesthetic, donât do yourself a disservice by dropping it. If youâve got a specific style for your typical posts, mirror this in your stories. It can be jarring or confusing for followers if youâre a different brand or person in both.
These two simple additions to your post can get you some of the greatest reach and open up your account to thousands of potential followers who havenât found your account yet. Thereâs definitely a balance between using hashtags because you genuinely want to reach your audience and looking like youâre spamming them desperately, trying to reach anyone with their phone in their hand. Be relaxed about their use but analytical in selection. Test which ones get you the best engagement and make a note to use them again in the future.
There are some seriously big-time influencers on Instagram now. Those with millions and millions of followers are far more likely to be featured on the Explore page. Working with them allows you to harness their reach. Be aware that most of them will expect something in return (products or payment), but it can be a rocket booster to your account.
As weâve said above, video content outperforms all other media and will continue to do so for some time. IGTV is another way of leveraging that option. When it comes to the Explore page, itâs particularly effective because it has its own topic bar at the top and is always pinned for the user.
The same is said for shopping posts. Believe it or not, some people head to Instagram for their shopping needs. The topic is right there for them on the Explore page, and itâs another entry point for your posts to it.
An interesting nuance of the algorithm is that when you tag a brand account in a post (letâs say youâre tagging Nike in a picture of your shoes), it implies a partnership or relationship between the two accounts. This means that your post can turn up on the Explore page of people searching for the brand. It gives a massive potential reach and could hugely increase your follower count.
Donât sleep on the opportunities that the Instagram Explore page can offer you. Who would turn down the chance for more followers, engagement, and sales? Itâs there and waiting. Make sure that itâs part of your Instagram strategy going forward.
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