Instagram reach is the number of unique users that see your posts or stories. The more views, the higher the reach. So, if you want to increase your reach, you need your content to be consistently viewed by as many people as possible. Below, we’ll look at 30 of the most effective ways to increase your reach.
What affects reach and why it’s worth increasing
Instagram coverage depends on the following: the more subscribers interact with your content, the more often you will appear in people’s feeds, and vice versa. Instagram statistics let you see and analyse 3 types of coverage – post coverage, story coverage, and account coverage.
Specifically, coverage is affected by the following (in descending order of importance):
What matters is not only the number of comments, likes, and saves, but also the speed at which this happens. As a rule of thumb, if these interactions happen within half an hour of the content being published, the algorithm is more likely to favour the content.
Other factors that affect reach include:
In case you’re wondering why it’s so important to increase coverage, the answer is simple: the aim is to attract your target audience, which may then grow into customers.
30 Ways to Increase your Instagram Reach
There are several ways to increase reach – organically and fairly, fraudulently, and somewhere in between. Please make sure to know that the less honest approaches can lead to significant consequences, like your account being banned entirely.
Organic and fair methods to increase your reach
These are ways that you can increase your reach without using third-party services and without violating Instagram’s Ts&C’s. In other words, these methods 100% safe to use.
Leave a call to action
Interact with your followers by asking them to like or comment on a post. Another option is to make a survey. For example, ask your followers to pick a photo (1,2,3, or 4). You can also invite your followers to ask their questions in the comments, and then choose the best ones, posting answers to each question in separate posts or stories. This method will hopefully help you score some free content ideas, too.
If someone sees a Carousel publication in their feed and doesn’t click like, you can post it again in stories to better the chances of engagement. The more photos you post in the gallery, the more it’ll attention it’ll gain from your followers. When people scroll through your gallery to the very end, it works wonders to help increase your coverage. You can post everything from comics, life hacks to tutorials and recipes.
Interactive content is very engaging. Puzzles and tests, sliders and invitations for your followers to DM you, etc. are all very helpful, especially when they come with a call to action.
Ideally, you should post at a time when the majority of your subscribers are online and ready to engage with your content. However, you have to keep in mind that if you post in so-called Primetime, the competition will be higher due to everyone wanting to post around that time. You can find out what time your audience is most active by looking it up in your business profile statistics.
Respond to comments in your stories and ask your followers to contact you via DM. If you have enough followers, make use of the “Swipe up” feature. Live broadcasts are another great way to elevate your reach since they let you maintain the popularity of your account and enable your followers to be highly engaged with the content you put out there.
As an example, you can offer a giveaway and ask for your followers to follow your account and tag someone in the comments. Once tagged, their friends will be alerted to the competition, will (hopefully) follow you, and tag their friends, too. These types of posts are, on average, 10 times more likely to have higher reach than regular posts. As a general rule, posts like this also have a positive impact on your account as a whole. You can get creative with the types of competitions you have — look at other accounts for inspiration.
Videos are much more likely to be shared and saved than photos. Also, when someone opens a recommended video, the next video opens up automatically – which includes your video, too. Not sure what to film? Focus on being authentic and showing the ‘real’ you behind the brand. For example, “behind the scenes” moments of your work processes, what you do in your free time, how you prep for a product launch, etc.
The easiest way to get a new audience is to pay for a wider reach. You still need to focus quality of content, however, even if you order paid ads. This is because your potential audience will go to your page and if they don’t like what they see, they simply won’t follow you.
If you have comments under your posts, try to respond to them as fast as you can. It’s best you truly engage with the comments beyond the usual ‘thank you’, too. A dialogue is always best!
A couple of bloggers came up with a clever trick to help increase story comments – they asked their followers to publish a word, one letter at a time, and each had to be left in a separate comment. The essence of the game is such that you need to quickly and correctly type a word so that none of the other followers have time to do theirs. You can also offer to play a word game related to your industry’s business. For example, if you work in flower delivery, you can suggest your followers play flower names under a given post. You can create different games for your Instagram followers — your imagination is the limit!
Posting tonnes of hashtags no longer works. Plus, too many hashtags and their duplications under several posts can lead to your account being shadow because the algorithm could treat it as spam. It’s a good idea to mix up popular hashtags (500k+) with more niche ones (10-20k).
Here’s an example (in the screenshot):
People love new products, so as soon as there is a new feature on Instagram, go ahead and use it. For example, in 2021, we anticipate new features for sales.
Mention a topic in a post, tell your story, and then invite your followers to share their thoughts and stories in the comments. Or, simply ask any topical question.
Ask your followers to post a review of your company. They can use a branded hashtag, mention you in the post description, or tag you in an image. This doesn’t have to be a full-blown review, but rather just a photo with a mention of your username in the caption. These types of posts can be motivated by discounts and gifts. You can also create your very own post with a review from the conversation. This type of content is called user-generated content and is abbreviated as UGC (user-generated content).
By the way, such posts can be posted in your account using the Repost for Instagram app. In fact, it is not prohibited by the rules of the social network, as you specify the authorship. In the lower-left part of the post, there will be an icon indicating that this is a repost. You can also make a repost of the post in a story, you don’t need any third-party apps for that. All you have to do is to click on the paper aeroplane under the post, then select “Add a post to your story”.
Some brands manage to build an entire account on user content, such as the manufacturer of action cameras GoPro.
Using geotags allows you to increase your reach and attract new subscribers. It is especially recommended to use geotags if you’re a local offline business, eg. a cafe or small retail outlet. You might have noticed that influencers regularly use this feature, and for good reason!
Tackle a controversial topic and watch your comment section explode with a flurry of comments. Be careful, though — you don’t want to be overtly rude or off-brand.
Everyone likes a good before and after pic. Or, if you’re not up for it, you can simply ask your followers to choose their favourite photo from a series.
This helps you get to know your followers better and increases the number of comments. You can ask your followers what city they’re from and how they can be useful to other people. For example, someone could be a talented portrait photographer, while someone else could be a language teacher. When your followers engage with one another, you not only earn Instagram reach points but also scored community points.
Augmented reality filters are enjoying a moment in the spotlight right now, so use them! You can also create your own filter and to help increase the coverage of your account. Some brands even come up with filters for specific contests using branded hashtags.
With this tactic, you start telling a story and end it on a cliffhanger. Then, you promise to post the next sequel if the post gets, for example, 5,000 likes or 100 comments. You then promise to post the rest within several days to help keep the intrigue.
We mentioned previously that the longer users spend on your post, the higher the reach. So when you write longer and more engaging captions, people will stay much longer on your post.
The number of direct messages you receive and how actively you respond to them affects your reach. Prompt your subscribers to ask you questions via stories – which is the easiest way to send a personal message. You can also remind them about Direct Messages in regular posts.
Post a striking photo of a dress, a beautiful island, or a product, and caption it: “Like this photo if you would like to have this too! Tag someone you’d like to share this with below.” You can also ask them to share their impressions and wishes.
Saving a post is a great way to boost your reach. When you post something practical and useful, detailing tips or instructions, your subscribers are more likely to save it.
Using relevant emojis adds a bit of playfulness and eye-catchiness to your content. Emojis help give the impression to customers that you are approachable.
In-between methods
The in-between ones are those that are not prohibited, but not very fair. Stay vigilant if using them.
This method blocks inactive and commercial accounts. You can block these accounts manually, which makes that this method is not on the black part of the selection. On the other hand, doing it manually is long and tedious, so you will definitely need the right software. Alternatively, you can ban all commercial profiles as soon as they sign up to follow your profile.
Visit competitors’ profiles, see who is active and establish contact with these people – subscribe to them, like and comment on their posts.
Frankly, this is an artificial set of likes, which is why we feature it under the not so organic way of scoring followers. While Instagram rules do not prohibit using a like for likes hashtag, all it does is give you followers that may not necessarily be neengaged. The overall idea is to make a post thanks to which you will exchange likes with people who use the same hashtag.
Fraudulent methods
These methods are banned by Instagram. We don’t advise you to use these in any way and the only reason we mention them is for you to be aware of them and try to avoid them.
Mass-following, mass-liking, mass-publishing stories, mass marks in stories, and other mass-activities are all banned by Instagram.
Auto responses are not a legitimate way of scoring subscribers. In fact, they can get you banned, so please avoid using any third party services.
We hope this article gave you useful knowledge on how to increase reach on Instagram and on how to spot (and avoid) fraudulent methods of getting more followers!
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