7 Ideas for Increasing Instagram Reach

Instagram’s algorithm, or the set of rules, classifiers, and processes that determine which posts show in each user’s feed, has a significant impact on your reach. This technology is complicated, but we do know that it attempts to personalize the user experience by displaying the most relevant and interesting messages depending on each user’s behavior.

What does it imply for businesses looking to grow their Instagram following? Delivering engaging content and understanding your audience is more important than ever. Try using these 11 strategies for increased reach.

1. Post at the appropriate time

While Instagram feeds are no longer organized in chronological order, time is still an important aspect of getting seen.

Instagram’s algorithm favors fresh posts since they are seen as more relevant. Posting fresh material when your audience is most active enhances the likelihood that they will notice and interact with it. This creates a snowball effect in which content with high interaction fast becomes popular and is displayed to more users via the platform.

The optimum times to post may vary depending on your audience and business. Fortunately, Instagram Insights makes it simple to determine the days and hours when your followers are most active.

2. Experiment with various sorts of postings.

Since its start, Instagram has gone a long way. Previously confined to static single photos, users now have a far broader range of post kinds to choose from, including carousel posts, videos, Reels, Stories, and more.

Experiment with these different sorts of posts to see what connects the best with your audience. What type of material attracts the most attention to your account? Which form of post receives the most attention? What makes you think that?

Perhaps you’ll discover that your followers like interacting with and sharing the amusing Reels you publish. Perhaps they appreciate your items’ visually appealing carousel posts. Determine what works best for you and make changes accordingly.

3. Use hashtags wisely.

Hashtags are an excellent technique to get your posts noticed by individuals who aren’t in your follower list but are interested in the type of material you’re sharing.

Prioritize quality above number when it comes to hashtag strategy. Though Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags per post and up to 10 hashtags for each story, spamming your posts with hashtags is rarely a successful strategy. Instead, concentrate on selecting hashtags that are relevant to your business and will result in high levels of interaction from your audience.

Fortunately, there are several useful tools that make hashtag research much easier. The hashtag analytics from Rival IQ provides you with the information you need to determine the most engaging phrases and track their success as you use them.

Such practices are also beneficial if you wish to know how to increase views on Facebook, 

4. Instagram collaborations allow you to reach out to numerous groups.

Instagram Collabs is a feature that allows you to widen your reach by having your posts seen by the followers of another account. Collaborations have long been a popular method to reach a new audience, but this tool simplifies the process by minimizing the clutter of duplicating articles.

A single joint post is shared with each collaborator’s group of followers and appears on each collaborator’s profile page, with both accounts prominently displayed. The Collabs post garnered a lot of views, likes, and comments as well.

5. Encourage participation by holding contests and giving out prizes.

Hosting competitions and giveaways is another option for your company to grow its exposure on Instagram. Engagement-focused competitions can indicate to the algorithm that your content is valuable enough to serve others, while also increasing your reach through good old-fashioned word of mouth.

The most effective Instagram competitions or giveaways create an incentive for users to connect with the post by tying entries to specific activities, particularly those that will increase the number of eyeballs on your business. Some common methods include asking your audience to follow your page, tag a friend in the comments, or post the contest on their Story.

The joint giveaway between Owala and EF Ultimate Break is a great illustration of how these kinds of posts may affect your Instagram performance. With almost 25K comments from tagged friends and 8K likes, this article had a follower engagement rate 36 times greater than the average engagement rate of Owata’s previous posts this year (as of this writing).

6. Use interactive stickers on your Reels and Stories.

Instagram’s algorithm is meant to encourage interaction. So, what better method to encourage your followers to participate with your posts than to use the platform’s interactive stickers?

These stickers, which are available on both Stories and Reels, are intended to elicit viewer involvement and, as a consequence, signal to the algorithm that your postings are engaging and should be presented more prominently in users’ feeds.

Here are a few examples of interactive stickers:

• Poll Sticker: With a poll, they won’t be able to resist answering, ask your followers to choose between two possibilities.

• Quiz Sticker: Take it up a level by including multiple-choice questions that will either test their knowledge or stimulate their attention.

• Emoji Slider Sticker: Perhaps things aren’t as straightforward as A or B (or C or D…). Allow your followers to express themselves on a sliding scale.

• Sticker submits Yours: This sticker allows viewers to submit their own photographs or videos to their narrative in response to your challenge.

• Question Sticker: Allow your followers to ask questions or respond to your prompt using a text field. You can then reply to their question in another Story. (This title is not currently available on Reels.)

• Hashtag & Location Stickers: Use these tappable stickers to help interested users find additional posts connected to intriguing hashtags or locations. Using them also improves your post’s visibility in Search results and the Explore feed.

Responding to most of these stickers is often as simple as a short tap for your audience, making it a relatively low-effort yet engaging engagement that they are likely to engage in.

7. Interact with your target audience as an active Instagram user.

It would be counterproductive for a brand to continually solicit involvement just to leave its consumers waiting. Communication must be two-way. Don’t forget to engage with individuals who like, comment on, respond to, and share your content.

Like or comment on their posts. Engage those who reference your brand. Reshare relevant content that will enrich your audience’s experience. To put it another way, be an active user! By becoming a significant and visible presence in your audience’s Instagram experience, you will automatically grow your reach over time.