Listen "Instagram Updates: January 2025"
Episode Synopsis
On this episode, I recommend paying attention to recent Instagram updates and/or announcements of whats to come:
A Vertical Grid - LINK (and our Sircle document here) - ALREADY LIVE ON IG
Posts on your grid are now vertical instead of square, and Instagram’s added an editing tool so people can adjust their thumbnails to the new grid size
2025 Algorithm Priorities - LINK
At a high level, there are two types of ranking on Instagram:
Connected reach (accounts that follow you)
Unconnected reach (accounts that don’t yet follow you)
For both, the top three signals that matter most for ranking are:
Watch time
Likes
Sends (shares)
So when looking at your insights, pay close attention to average watch time, likes per reach, and sends per reach
One nuance: likes are slightly more important for connected content, and sends are slightly more important for unconnected content
Edits App - LINK
Instagram is launching a new video creation app that includes editing, insights, project management capabilities, a better-quality camera, and the ability to share drafts with friends
It’s a full suite of creative tools
There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another for keeping track of early ideas
A much higher-quality camera
All the editing tools you’d expect
The ability to share drafts with friends and other creators
If you decide to share your videos on Instagram — powerful insights into how those videos perform
Highlights Tab - LINK
Looking to move highlights into the grid and add them as a tab
Grid Control - LINK
Building a tool so you can re-order your entire grid and make it whatever you want
Adding the ability to post directly to your grid, in case you want to bypass feed entirely
A Vertical Grid - LINK (and our Sircle document here) - ALREADY LIVE ON IG
Posts on your grid are now vertical instead of square, and Instagram’s added an editing tool so people can adjust their thumbnails to the new grid size
2025 Algorithm Priorities - LINK
At a high level, there are two types of ranking on Instagram:
Connected reach (accounts that follow you)
Unconnected reach (accounts that don’t yet follow you)
For both, the top three signals that matter most for ranking are:
Watch time
Likes
Sends (shares)
So when looking at your insights, pay close attention to average watch time, likes per reach, and sends per reach
One nuance: likes are slightly more important for connected content, and sends are slightly more important for unconnected content
Edits App - LINK
Instagram is launching a new video creation app that includes editing, insights, project management capabilities, a better-quality camera, and the ability to share drafts with friends
It’s a full suite of creative tools
There will be a dedicated tab for inspiration, another for keeping track of early ideas
A much higher-quality camera
All the editing tools you’d expect
The ability to share drafts with friends and other creators
If you decide to share your videos on Instagram — powerful insights into how those videos perform
Highlights Tab - LINK
Looking to move highlights into the grid and add them as a tab
Grid Control - LINK
Building a tool so you can re-order your entire grid and make it whatever you want
Adding the ability to post directly to your grid, in case you want to bypass feed entirely
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ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.