4 Tips To Increase Instagram Reach

Reaching large audiences as a business can be difficult. On the bright side, once you utilize the right tips, Instagram can essentially be a free platform to promote your business. And if you are a seasoned professional in the social media space, there is always an opportunity to reach even more people on Instagram, by way of trending posts.

Increase Instagram Reach

The 2021 Instagram algorithm acts as another obstacle in reaching a large number of people, inhibiting you from reaching as many of your own followers, which then affects exposure to new audiences.

While the existing algorithm prioritized likes as the factor that determined the number of users’  feeds and explore pages you would appear on, the algorithm now prioritizes saves. This is then followed by shares, comments with four or more words and finally, likes. 

Due to posts receiving fewer saves, shares and comments than likes,  exposure is significantly affected. So how do you increase your reach despite these obstacles? Here are small implementations you can have that have a dramatic impact with consistency...

1. Produce valuable, shareable content 

Given the new Instagram algorithm, it’s never been more important to create content that users instinctively save and share. Generating this user feeling is done so by ensuring each post provides value to the user -  such as teaching them something, showing a new product or travel location, or providing fashion inspiration.

When creating your content, ensure there is a consistent flow in your theme. This is important so followers know what to expect and essentially resonate with each post. It is also beneficial for when new audiences see your post under hashtag pages or the explore feed, like it and click into your profile to see you consistently post similar content. This encourages users to follow along to see the content of value to them, and in turn, this boosts your reach.

2. Only post during peak time

When you don’t post during the peak time when your followers are online, you lose out on a significant number of eyes.  These eyes equal engagement and reach. In order for your posts to reach new people, you need your current followers to engage, which then drives your post to trend.

You can avoid this by analyzing your insights on Instagram which shows when your followers are online the most,  along with additional insights such as the percentage of followers at each age bracket, locations and gender. Once you learn the peak time, only post at this time and make sure to check back in monthly to see if this time changes.

You can also capture your target audience outside of your followers by posting in this manner. Your current followers tend to be within your target demographic and therefore, additional accounts in your target audience will tend to have the same activity behaviour.

3. Consistently post and engage

The Instagram algorithm expects you to post at least once a week but preferably three times a week. If you respond to these expectations, your post will appear on the feed of more of your followers. Just because you have a set number of followers, it doesn’t mean you will appear on their feeds. This is crucial to then be able to reach more people outside of your followers.

Bear in mind, audience members still expect high-quality content. Exceptional photos, videos and reels will directly drive engagement. They are more likely to then follow you and push reach consistently. 

As a business, you need to respond to every message and comment (unless it’s spam), or consumers will become frustrated and switch off from your content instantaneously. This is the bare minimum but it additionally helps the algorithm when you respond with four or more words.

4. Use popular, relevant hashtags

Hashtags are a game-changer when it comes to reaching. Posts that trend under hashtag pages can eventually reach tens of thousands of people if you use them correctly.

You can post 30 maximum hashtags on every post on Instagram and it’s recommended that you take advantage of this amount. Hashtags clutter up captions and for this reason, you should comment them instantly underneath the post once you’ve posted.

It is crucial that you do this straight after the post has loaded as even 2 minutes can affect results. This is because your post will appear at the bottom of the “recent posts” under each hashtag page where the additional posts from 2 minutes ago are. You can enable quick comment posting by creating hashtag lists in your notes and copying the list you need before you click post.

Utilize high-ranking hashtags relevant to your post by searching general hashtags on Instagram and picking those that have the most posts. You can also Google the best hashtags to use for your area, for instance - the best skincare hashtags. Once you use those hashtags millions of people search and engage with, your posts will eventually start being placed on the trending page for the individual hashtags.

Boosting Instagram reach for your business will introduce you to people who can eventually transform into long-standing consumers. The influence Instagram holds is worth tapping into, and with these tips on hand, you are sure to see results.

Olivia Fairhurst is a business owner of Loving Local NZ and a freelance Content Manager for a range of clients, including Doc Smart Solutions. Olivia also has experience as a journalist at the New Zealand Herald and at multiple PR agencies. With this experience, Olivia has more than 5 years managing social media and building followings for clients so they can use social media as a tool to promote their business. Social media is a low-cost effective technique to generate more leads and build relationships with audiences. For this reason, Olivia can’t rave enough about the benefits of social media for businesses. You can find Olivia on her Instagram here.

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