Instagram Updates: January 2025

29/01/2025 3 min

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