Instagram is a wildly popular social media network with more than one billion monthly active users – making it bigger than Twitter and LinkedIn, combined.
If you want to make sure you’re getting as many likes as possible, try these 12 techniques.
1. Post
at the Right Times
To be more successful with Instagram, you should aim to post your content when your audience of followers is online to see and like it.
That means experimenting with posting times until your Instagram Insights gets enough information about your audience to provide personalized insights into the days of the week and times of the day that they are most active.
When your posts get a lot of likes and
engagement shortly after they go live on the platform, that also increases the
chance that they will land on the Instagram Explore tab and go viral.
2. Make
Use of Hashtags
Hashtags
categorize content on Instagram and make it easy for new followers to find you.
You’re allowed to use up to 30 hashtags per post – either in the caption of the
post or in a comment. Just remember, photos go live in the hashtag feed at the
time they’re posted, not at the time the hashtags are added.
This means if you use hashtags that are too
popular, or wait too long to add them to a comment, you could miss out on the
potential traffic. Do some research ahead of time to make sure you have a
balance of generic, branded, and niche specific hashtags that have traction,
but aren’t so popular your post will get lost in the shuffle in a matter of
seconds.
3. Buy Instagram Likes for Social Proof
It is possible to buy automatic Instagram likes monthly, to help boost your engagement numbers. The likes come from real accounts, and drip in to prevent Instagram from thinking that you are using a bot to game the system.
When people see that others have already liked something, they are more likely to like it themselves. It’s the social proof they need to give it a like.
4. Join
an Instagram Pod
Instagram Pods are small groups of 10 to 15 people in the same niche who agree to help each other out with engagement. Every time one of the pod members posts something on Instagram, they DM the rest of the pod, so they go like and/or comment on it.
It creates genuine engagement Instagram likes, and boosts everyone. These pods aren’t always easy to find – though, so you may want to consider starting your own. Figure out the way to build a pod of 50 and more groupmates of your niche then find a few other similar groups and you will never need to buy Instagram likes on your posts.
5.
Partner with Influencers
Instagram influencers come in all shapes and sizes. These are the people with a large audience similar to the one you’re trying to attract. Because their followers already trust them, partnering with an influencer who recommends your products or services can increase your follower count.
And as your follower count increases, you can reasonably expect to get more likes on each of your posts.
There are several ways to partner with
influencers – and several ways to find them. And remember, micro influencers,
or those with a slightly smaller following, can still work wonders for
partnerships, especially if you’re a smaller brand or just getting started.
6. Host
a Giveaway
Who doesn’t love free stuff? You could run a
like-to-enter contest because it’s a simple way to get attention and grow your
followers. You could also run a tag-to-enter variation to grow your brand
exposure. All you have to do is say, “Like this photo to enter for a chance to
win [prize].”
7. Be
Consistent with Your Colors
Instagram photos that are blue tend to get more Instagram likes than those featuring any other color. Ultimately, you want to create an aesthetically pleasing photo, but you also want to consider how that fits into your overall feed. By keeping the colors consistent, you’re doing both.
8. Be
Consistent With Your Filters
Continuing with the idea that your photos and your overall feed should be consistent and aesthetically pleasing, you should also avoid choosing random filters.
Yes, it’s fine to post photos without filters (though the #nofilter hashtag is wildly popular and likely useless for generating new targeted followers), but randomly assigning filters can take away from the consistency of the overall feed. Certain filters are more popular than others.
9.
Cross-Post Your Content
To get a business Instagram account, you have to link it to your Facebook Page. Why not share your Instagram content there, too? You can, and should use it on your other social media profiles, too.
You never know how many people are following you on one platform, but could also be following you on Instagram, but they don’t already because they didn’t know you were there.
10.
Host a Takeover
This is another way you can work with influencers. If you have multiple influencers you want to work with, setup a schedule where one of them takes over your account for a day every week.
When the influencer takes over your account, you have them inform their followers they’re taking over your account for the day.
It ultimately will make those followers aware of your account, increase your follower count, and get your more likes. It’ll also help you generate more credibility and traction with your target audience. You should also check out Instagram Creator Studio.
11.
Partner with Other Brands
Similar to partnering with an influencer, you can partner with other brands to promote each other. Cross promoting will expose you to other audiences, so it’s clear that you don’t want to partner with brands in direct competition.
Instead, partner with related brands, where you can promote working together to solve a problem for your audience.
12. Use
Video
Instagram is full of photos and after a while, it can be hard to make your content stand out from the rest. That’s why it’s a good idea to use video. The visual medium is different enough from a still photo to capture attention.
The key is to make sure your video doesn’t rely on its audio because many people browse their feeds in places where it isn’t easy or possible to listen to the audio.
Using any combination of these tactics is sure
to increase your engagement. Try a few out and see what happens. Take notes and
adjust your strategy accordingly. You may be surprised at just how fast you can
grow.
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