Instagram has become a key piece in the digital strategy and social presence of many brands, increasing their conversions, giving them visibility and building a loyal and engaged audience and network of followers.
It is important that our account grows in order to reach as many potential customers as possible. The greater our reach, the greater the opportunities we can generate.
If your presence on this social network is not good enough as you would like, it is time to start working on it. So if you are wondering how to grow and how to increase visibility on Instagram naturally, you are in the right place.
There are many methods for your account to gain strength and greater relevance over time. So, whether you are looking for a way to gain visibility on Instagram after a long time managing the account, or if you are wondering how to grow on Instagram from scratch , this is your article. Without further ado, here we go!
How does the Instagram algorithm work?
Before going on to review the different actions that we can apply to boost our account, I would like us to review how the new Instagram algorithm works, since it will influence the organic visibility that we achieve. To know how to have more reach on Instagram, we first need to understand what the platform is based on to prioritize one account or another.
Instagram shows your posts based on the supposed interest they generate. For that reason, commitment and consistency are more important than ever. Creating interesting and valuable content has become a basic and essential premise to increase visibility on Instagram.
So how does the new Instagram algorithm work? The academic definition tells us that an algorithm is software logic designed to solve problems. In the case of Instagram, its algorithm responds to the needs of users, showing them what they want to see.
Specifically, it uses the following three factors to carry out its function:
- Interest or engagement: is based on user interactions. Instagram predicts which posts they want to see, based on previous behavior on similar content (own or external). For example, involved users with profiles similar to yours will be able to see your account in the “Explore” section.
- Relationship or relevance: evaluate the users who interact the most with your posts and vice versa, prioritizing these profiles when displaying your content. That is, if you regularly interact with another user, there will be more chances that their posts will appear in the future.
- Post Time: Recent posts have higher priority than older ones. Therefore, the freshest content will always appear at the top, above.
In addition, there are other factors to take into account. Instagram also revealed the following considerations:
- Frequency of use: People who use the app regularly will see more content than those who use it occasionally. That is, if users spend little time on Instagram, the possibility of your posts being shown decreases.
- Number of followers: profiles that follow many accounts will see less content for each account. In other words, people who follow few accounts will be able to see more posts per profile.
- Time per session: Users who spend more time in the app will be able to see more content. They will see many more recent posts, since their feed will be updated more regularly.
How to grow on Instagram in 2022? 23 practical tips
As I told you at the beginning of the article, Instagram is a platform with a lot of potential to increase the reach of your brand and reach potential consumers .
Given this, I present the 23 tips to grow on Instagram and improve visibility , I hope they help you!
1. Take care of the quality of your images or videos
Instagram is a 100% visual social network; the video and, above all, the image have an important weight in it .
The reputation of your personal or business brand is at stake depending on the quality of the image you upload.
Today it is not necessary to buy a professional camera to upload a good image . Depending on the type of smartphone you have, you can get very good results.
In case you don’t have a good camera on your mobile, you can always go to image editing programs to correct those image imperfections.
A very important tip is to know the size and measurements of social networks, in this case, Instagram, so that the result is optimal.
2. Focus on a theme
If you want your brand on Instagram (whether personal or business) to be recognized, it is important that you do not diversify the publications. Focus on a specific market niche so that your brand is remembered for a particular specialization.
For example: if you dedicate yourself to the world of fashion at a professional or personal level, it is better that you focus on it to attract a quality audience that really follows you for what you do and teach .
If you diversify your publications in several themes, it will be more difficult for you to grow, since the user will not be clear about what you really do.
Finally, a factor to take into account, apart from your publications, is to let the user know what topics are going to be discussed in your account through the biography.
3. Advertise on Instagram
Let’s not forget that social networks live on advertising. Naturally you can grow little by little. But if your desire is to increase that growth rate, advertising is your ally.
If you are in a brand recognition process, strategically advertising on Instagram will help you give yourself that boost you so desire.
It is true that for this advice you need a professional, and it is already an expense in your pocket, but it is really being an investment, since it is in favor of your company.
Even so, if you currently cannot afford to hire an expert, you always have the opportunity to take free courses to advertise on Instagram.
4. Create quality stories that add value
More and more users are spending their time on Instagram Stories, instead of browsing the feed. This channel is very fresh and spontaneous, which is a great opportunity to get attention and be on top of the news.
So if your publications do not reach the desired audience and you want to gain visibility on Instagram , we recommend you reinforce your brand through Stories.
But it doesn’t work with uploading anything. I have to confess: before I only uploaded photos of plates of food to my stories, until one day I asked myself ” Do these photos really add value to my community? “.
It is true that stories, or stories (whatever you want to call them), only last 24 hours, but if you publish content of little value during that time, your brand may be harmed. It could be the case that some of your followers mute your stories if they don’t consider them relevant or even stop following you.
In my opinion, stories are another means of communication, apart from the Instagram feed , with a tremendous ability to interact with your community.
Another point in favor of stories is that you can save them to highlights, which makes them visible forever and they are not lost after 24 hours.
5. Use relevant hashtags
Using relevant hashtags increases the chances of visibility of your publication, since they will be impacting users of a larger audience that you would not reach directly, which will contribute to being discovered by potential followers.
The key to using hashtags optimally is to be very selective about which hashtags to use, and how many of them to use in each post. On the one hand, limit the number of hashtags you use, and do not reach the 30 hashtags that Instagram allows, an average of 5 and 11 hashtags is fine to gain visibility . On the other hand, to make correct and effective use of this technique, avoid hashtags that are very popular. For example, if you put the hashtag #Nike, you will be wasting time, since it is a highly demanded hashtag and your post will be eaten by other accounts that are stronger and use the same hashtag.
To avoid this, I recommend using other alternatives that describe your publication and that are of interest to your audience (you should do a little research on the hashtags related to your niche or sector), in this way you increase the chances that your image appears in featured.
6. Get closer to your followers, they want to meet you!
Instagram is a social network, not a commercial one; For this reason, it is essential to publish valuable content with an intention that goes beyond generating sales.
Show your followers who you are and who is behind your profile! This is a fact that helps to generate a link between the brand and the end user. Interact with them and discover their likes, preferences, suggestions, feelings. Get to know them and make them know you. When we give rise to an interaction, our engagement increases considerably.
Humanizing your brand will help build the loyalty of your followers, giving rise to a later relationship of greater value.
Also, don’t just lock yourself in your account and look at the posts of the people you follow, comment on them, interact with them. This method ensures that they see you 100%, but also, if you do it constantly, you will manage to leave an impression on their mind. By using this method, when you post an image or video you increase the chances that the people you have interacted with will return the favor by interacting with your posts.
7. Upload specific and quality content
It seems obvious, but rushing can often play tricks and lead you to post recycled content from your other social networks. Don’t fall for that mistake. It is important to generate creatives specific to Instagram.
On the other hand, we also advise you to identify your publications with the most likes and/or comments to recognize the ones that work best. This way you will discover the taste and interest of your audience, focusing on similar content to achieve greater performance.
And finally, always ask yourself the same question before posting: is what I’m going to upload to Instagram valuable content? If the answer is no, think twice if it is really worth uploading that publication.
8. Create a good description
Although we are in a visual social network, the text or caption of the image plays a great role, do not miss it.
It is the ideal place to be able to captivate and tell a story that reinforces the image or video that you publish.
Here you can tell your followers the sensations that the image conveys to you or be able to reinforce the message of the publication so that the user can delve even deeper into your story.
Also, if you are a business account, a good description can help you humanize your posts, as well as make your posts more likely to be shared among your followers, which will help you get more reach on Instagram.
9. Post daily and at the right times, but don’t saturate your audience!
If you post at times and times with a low percentage of online users, your content will not receive enough interaction and Instagram will understand that you are not generating enough engagement. This will penalize your future posts and a vicious circle will be generated.
On the other hand, if you post when there are a higher number of users logged in, then you will have a better chance of generating engagement. And how can you tell if your followers are online? Very easy. Analyze your Instagram statistics.
As you already know, when an Instagram user interacts with content, this activity is visible to their followers.
As for the publication rhythm, it is good to have a rhythm and a calendar of publications in your social networks, and doing it for Instagram is no less important. But overusing posts can bore or burn out your community, which could lead to unfollows. Publishing daily is not synonymous with uploading content every hour. Publish frequently but to the right extent, and always attractive and quality content.
So you know, neither too much nor too little! You will find the ideal frequency after analyzing the number of posts and the interest they have generated. And, over time, you’ll hit the sweet spot that’s right for your audience.
There are multiple tools, including Facebook’s own Meta Business Suite, that allow you to schedule your posts so that the task of uploading content on the right days and times is much easier and more optimal.
10. Change your account from private to public
If you want to grow on Instagram from scratch, one step you have to take is to move your account from private to public. How do you want people to start following you if they don’t know what you offer?
In this article I am talking about how to grow on Instagram fast, and if you have a private account, these tips will be of little use if you want to continue maintaining that privacy.
11. Collaborate with influencers
A good way to gain visibility on Instagram is to collaborate with influencers who work on the same or similar theme as yours, otherwise this tip will fail.
Influencers have a community that is very committed to them, and many of their followers will take into account what they are told.
Therefore, if you create a good strategy with the influencer and carry it out, it can be very beneficial for both parties.
12. Accompany your text with emoticons
Like it or not, emojis have become a mode of digital language. You can reinforce the message with an emoticon that represents the text you are writing.
They also add a visual touch to the text, but try not to abuse them or, if not, you will cause the opposite effect.
13. Respond to comments on your posts
The first hour is important for the Instagram algorithm . Depending on the interactions your post has, the algorithm will determine if it is an interesting post for your community or not.
For this reason, it is important that you be as attentive as possible to the comments that your followers leave you in order to respond to them.
It is an important detail to take into account, but do not obsess either and do not stay glued to the mobile.
14. Create a company account and start using Analytics Insights to see what works (and what doesn’t)
Whether you are a personal or business brand, I recommend creating and optimizing your company profile in both cases for the following reasons:
- You can know what type of posts have been most successful and which ones your audience likes the most.
- You know the hours and days of the week in which your community is most active on the social network to be able to make your publications and reach a greater number of people.
This allows you to analyze your actions to find turning points and improvement. To figure out the formula for success, you’ll have to measure and optimize!
Knowing the habits of your audience and analyzing your content can help you create posts with greater engagement and interest. You can carry out these analyzes both in the feed and in your stories. The options are countless!
15. Take care of your profile and biography
Your Instagram account profile is your home. If you have it well cared for, people will want to enter it. That is why it is very important to customize the Instagram profile, so that it has an attractive appearance. Conveying a good image is something that the possible follower appreciates from the first moment.
The first thing is to choose a good profile photo, aligned with the rest of your social networks. If you are a business Instagram account, using your logo is an ideal option.
Second, add a worked Instagram bio, where you offer relevant information that shows your potential followers what they will find on your account, who you are, what you do or why they should follow you.
Finally, you can also add a link to your website, blog, or another of your social networks, facilitating access to your followers.
16. No uses bots
If you’re thinking of using bots to auto-message you on other people’s posts, put it out of your head.
It is perfectly noticeable that they are bots, and, instead of looking good and making the other person believe that you are interested in their publication, the most likely thing is that you will get them to block you so that you do not bother them anymore.
17. Sigue a hashtags
On Instagram, apart from being able to follow users, you can also follow hashtags. This way you can interact with people where you both have something in common.
It is one more way to make yourself visible with people or brands with whom you share the same tastes: you increase the chances that they will visit your profile and, perhaps, decide to follow your page.
18. Collaborate with other brands
By collaborating with other brands you can reach a community that might also be interested in your content, achieving an increase in our brand awareness and visibility.
A very common form of collaboration is contests, but not all collaborations should involve a large cost or involve taking actions on your Instagram account. You can collaborate in different ways!
The “mention by mention” practice is a clear example of this. It consists of reaching an agreement with an account that has a theme similar to yours and, through a publication or a story, recommending each other to each other.
19. Do sweepstakes and contests
One contest a year doesn’t hurt… not two, not three, not four! On the contrary, you will help create interaction and increase your engagement. In the same way, with this action you can get new followers and reach a new audience.
It is important that what you raffle is related to the theme that you are promoting in your account.
An example of a very simple and extended raffle is:
- In order for a person to participate, they must leave a like on the post, they have to name a number of people and they have to follow your account.
- Those people have to share it in their stories for your brand to reach their community.
- You set a giveaway end date.
- And you use some tool to pick the winner randomly.
You don’t have to always offer physical products in your giveaways. In cases of offering services, you can offer a free class of a certain time, a free audit, etc.
20. Optimize your username
If you enter a keyword in the username of your account, you will have a better chance of Instagram recommending you in its search results.
21. Geolocate your photos
A simple method to gain visibility and help you grow on Instagram in 2022 is to indicate the place where you took the photo.
In this way, for people looking for information about that place, there is the possibility that your image appears in the search results, increasing the visibility of your brand.
22. Add an “Alt Text” to your Instagram posts
Alt text on Instagram photos is a new feature with multiple functionalities. These attributes are on every website on the internet, and now on Instagram too!
On the one hand, it acts as an “alternative” description for those with visual problems . You will be able to provide a context for them to understand your content, being able to make your creatives (and even yourself) more accessible to many more people in this community.
And it will also help you boost your SEO strategy so that your photos appear in search engines. Then you will ask yourself: does Instagram SEO exist? Yes that’s how it is. In the alternative text of your images you should add good keywords. The ones that people would type into Google to find your photos.
And most importantly: you will reinforce the understanding of your photos by the Instagram algorithm. This image recognition technology helps it “see” what’s in your content, so it can show your post to more like-minded people.
And what a bomb! With this small action you will help the Instagram algorithm to grow your account naturally.
23. Attract traffic from other channels
We all know that there are countless social networks available. Why not take advantage of its potential? Delve into the world of Pinterest, YouTube, Flickr and Facebook (among many others), and link your Instagram content to these platforms.
In this way, you will reach and attract a much greater volume of potential traffic. For example, you can advertise your Instagram profile on Facebook through a post with a redirected link.
Finally, we also recommend linking your account to other platforms or websites. For example, to your business or personal website, to your email, in press releases, blog articles, etc.
Instagram is a very easy and intuitive network to use, but, at the same time, it has its degree of complexity if we really want to get the most out of it.
In summary, the ideal is to generate and publish valuable content generating interest among your audience. But… what if this doesn’t work for you? Before starting new actions to improve, it is essential to review if you use Instagram in the most appropriate way.
How? Reviewing your rules and ensuring compliance. This social network provides us with a set of Terms and Conditions of Use to take into account to avoid algorithmic penalties. After checking that your performances satisfy what Instagram indicates and/or requests, it’s time to act!
I want to make it clear that growing naturally on Instagram takes time , you don’t get results in the short term and often not in the medium term either, and there is no secret formula to grow quickly on Instagram without spending time and effort. But if you want to do things right and establish strong and solid pillars around your brand on this social network, I’m sure these tips will help you achieve your goal.
