Instagram’s suggestion algorithm is powered by a large number of factors, but many people don’t know that you can influence who shows up!
In fact, there are things you can do not only to have new people show up on your own Instagram suggestions, but even force yourself to show up on other people’s as well.
So, if you want to show up on another person’s page as a suggested person to follow, there are several things you can do.
In this article, we’ll be covering everything that you need to know!
1. Interact With Them On Instagram
Instagram knows that people are more likely to follow the people they suggest, if it’s somebody they actually know or interact with.
Therefore, they have a vested interest in suggesting people that the person knows and recognizes. This doesn’t necessarily mean they need to know each other in real life, but simply that Instagram has a reason to suggest you, specifically.
So, if you want to increase the likelihood that you’ll show up on someone’s suggestions, you should interact with their page as much as possible – and hope that they reciprocate by interacting with you as well.
Obviously, the deeper the interaction, the better. While direct messages are one of the strongest signals by Instagram’s algorithm, commenting on and even simply liking their posts also helps connect the two of you together.
And of course, you should follow them if you haven’t already. Instagram often suggests people’s own followers, as someone they should follow back. So although it’s not a requirement, you are more likely to show up if you’re following them.
2. Visit Their Page
Even if you don’t want to interact with someone on Instagram, it’s still possible to show up on their suggested list without doing so.
For example, you could want to wait to see if you can get someone to follow you, without giving them any nudges or following them first. Perhaps you simply want your picture to show up to remind them that you exist.
Thankfully, even doing something as simple as visiting someone’s Instagram profile can help the algorithm sway in your favor.
Just like Facebook suggests people who have looked at your profile in their ‘People You May Know’ algorithm, Instagram does the same thing for follow suggestions.
Instagram assumes that if you visit someone’s page, there’s at least a chance you two may know each other, or that you’re interested in this person or their content.
The likelihood for both of you to show up in each other’s suggestions increases if both of you visit each other’s pages without following.
Therefore, it also helps if they reciprocate and visit your page as well. While you won’t stay on their suggested list forever, it will hopefully be long enough for them to make up their mind on whether they want to follow you or not.
3. Add Them On Facebook
Facebook and Instagram are both owned by the same company, and the two services share a lot of data with each other.
One of the most important pieces of data is your friends list. Instagram will pull your friends list from your Facebook account, and look for all of your friends that also have accounts on Instagram. The algorithm will then push these people quite heavily as suggested people you should follow – after all, if you’re already connected on Facebook, why not follow each other on Instagram also?
If you have someone added on Facebook and you both have Instagram accounts, it’s practically guaranteed that the two of you will both show up on each other’s suggested list at one point.
This is true even if you don’t follow many of your other Facebook friends on Instagram.
So, you should definitely try this one out!
4. Add Them To Your Phone Contacts, And Allow Syncing
Just like Facebook friends, Instagram assumes two people are connected if at least one of them has a person’s phone number saved in their phone contacts.
Because you don’t give out your phone number to just anybody and Instagram often makes use of phone numbers, they can connect people’s accounts together as long as you allow Instagram to sync your contacts.
Funnily enough, Instagram uses data like this to profile people even if they don’t have accounts! They know who is connected to each other, even if you don’t use Instagram at all.
Anyhow, you can allow contact syncing in your phone’s settings. You can also enable it by visiting your Instagram settings, tapping on ‘Account’, and then ‘Contacts Syncing.’
This will upload your phone’s contacts to Instagram’s servers, and allow them to more easily find the Instagram accounts of your contacts.
5. Post Similar Content To Accounts That They Follow
Instagram does not only suggest people that they think you may know in real life. They also suggest accounts that they believe may be interesting to you – even if they are ran by random people from across the world.
This is because ultimately, Instagram’s goal is to get you to follow accounts that are interesting to you, and will keep you on the app longer. The longer you use Instagram, the more money they will make.
Therefore, Instagram goes to great lengths to learn about you and what interests you have. One of the things they use to profile you is the accounts you follow, and the type of content that those accounts post.
Since you’ve already expressed an interest in it, Facebook may suggest you more similar pages they believe you’ll like.
In this instance, this means that if you post content similar that the other person has shown to like, Instagram may be more likely to suggest you to them.
Instagram looks at the content of photos and video uploaded to their platform, as well as the caption, hashtags, and engagement of the posts. Their AI can then infer a lot of data regarding the post’s topic, and who is likely to engage with it.
The closer you can match the accounts (without copying), the more likely you are to show up on their followers suggested pages.
Conclusion
Ultimately, Instagram’s suggestion algorithm is designed to showcase people that you may be interested in following.
However, you can influence the exact suggestions of other people by trying out one of these strategies.
I hope that you’ve found this article helpful. If you have any other questions about Instagram, please ask them using the comment form below.
Wishing you the best,
– James McAllister