A Scientific Look at Instagram's Ranking Algorithms: The Importance of Content Delivery

Recently, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri revealed one of the key signals the platform uses to rank content in his Instagram Reel video: sends per reach. This metric measures the number of people who share a post with friends via Direct Messages (DMs), relative to the total number of views. Mosseri advises creating content that people want to share directly with close friends and family, saying it can improve your visibility over time.

"Some advice: One of the most important signals we use in ranking is sends per reach. So out of all the people who saw your video or photo, how many of them sent it to a friend in a DM? At Instagram we're trying to be a place where people can be creative, but in a way that brings people together. We want to not only be a place where you passively consume content, but where you discover things you want to tell your friends about. A reel that made you laugh so hard you want to send it to your brother or sister. Or a soccer highlight that blew your mind. That kind of thing. But if you can, think about making content that people would want to send to a friend."

Mosseri describes the sends per reach signal and its rationale. He emphasizes the importance of feeds as a ranking factor, which aligns with Instagram's desire to be a platform where users discover and share content that interests them personally. 🚀

• 📌 On Instagram, great importance is attached to the content that users want to share.
• 📌 "Sends per reach" is a key indicator for ranking content on Instagram.
• 📌 Creating content that users would like to share with friends or loved ones can increase the visibility of your content.