Instagram Algorithm 2025: Key Ranking Factors by Mosseri

Instagram constantly updates its algorithms to reflect user behaviour, respond to market trends, and meet business objectives. In his new video series, Adam Mosseri explains the key algorithmic factors that can help increase your reach. We’ve summarised insights from the first video in our article “Instagram Reveals Strategic Priorities for 2025“.

1. Watch Time: Primary Factor

The time users spend watching your video content is the most significant factor affecting reach. Instagram favours content that maintains user attention, signalling to the algorithm that it deserves greater promotion.

How to leverage this in e-commerce:

• Invest in quality videos that capture and retain viewer attention until the end
• Focus on storytelling or providing valuable information in short formats
• Monitor average watch time in Instagram analytics and adjust your strategy accordingly

2. Likes: Community Engagement

The Like reaction is the second most important factor, particularly for content shown to your current followers. Instagram sees likes as a strong indicator of user satisfaction, increasing the likelihood of your content reaching more people in your network.

How to leverage this in e-commerce:

• Prioritise content that resonates with existing followers, such as behind-the-scenes glimpses, product highlights, or relatable posts
• Track likes-to-reach ratio to gauge how well your content resonates with your audience
• Use calls-to-action in captions to encourage users to like your posts

3. Shares: Reaching New Users

The third key factor is how often users share your content with others, whether through direct messages or stories. This metric is crucial for expanding your reach beyond your current follower base.

How to leverage this in e-commerce:

• Create easily shareable content, such as promotions, useful tips, or visually compelling posts that encourage sharing
• Monitor shares-to-reach ratio to understand what content appeals to non-followers
• Include competitions or referral programmes to boost sharing

Content Strategies for Instagram Growth

Mosseri emphasises that these factors’ importance varies by context:

• Likes matter more when reaching your followers
• Shares are more important for reaching new audiences and expanding reach through Explore or Recommendations features

Instagram increasingly favours user behaviour linked to time spent with content, such as video watch time or carousel engagement.

Create posts that maintain attention. Even static images can benefit from carousel formats that naturally extend engagement time.