Increase Your Instagram Reach
Has your Instagram reach plummeted? Loads of people are reporting this.
Instagram has tweaked its algorithm recently, so I’ve put together details of some of the changes and my top tips on how to deal with them.
Most importantly, Instagram is increasing its recommendations to small creators. Great for small creators, rubbish for people who've been building large accounts successfully for years.
It’s important to figure out whether reach is critical for you. To do that go back to why you’re bothering with social media. Over time reach gives a good idea of your brand awareness on the platform, but not much more. If your reach is high though, people are seeing your brand and thinking about it more = a good thing.
Consider experimenting with what you publish to find a new sweet spot. Lots of creators believe that low reach is about getting more people to advertise… it may be, and ads are one strategy which would work to correct declining reach.
But you can also think about your content. Read on for my top tips below, and download my Five Ways To Increase Your Instagram Reach guide.
Photos are still 1/2 of the content consumed on Instagram. Image carousels offer more chances to show up in peoples’ feeds.
Video is more engaged with than images, so if video suits your goals and content types, reels are the best way to go *if* you have resource to do them. Reels with word marks on are less likely to perform as well apparently.
I often find stories get a fraction of the reach of posts. BUT they can take a fraction of the time to make, so they're a toss up on the ROI front! Will a story take 5mins? Will it be interesting to your followers? Does it achieve your goals? If yes, go for it!
Because the algorithms do change, I advise a mix of content types. You might also find that posting more, or a different mix of content helps.
Instagram wants to show original content rather than stuff re-posted by aggregators. If you’re an aggregator you need to be reading up on that now!
Instagram’s use of hashtags is changing. It used to be a Good Thing to use loads & show up in more searches. Instagram are now aligning search and hashtags. Thinking is that it now wants clearer indications on what content's about. I advise a mix of broad and niche terms. Instagram recommend 3-5 but research by Later hints that 20 is best. Some people report only being able to add 5 these days though.
Collaborations are great at driving reach and cross-pollinating audiences. Approach accounts which aren’t competitors, but who are talking to similar people about their thing. Work together and boost both of your accounts. Use some of Instagram’s brand collab tools too.
Has your audience changed how they’re using Instagram? I follow far more how-to, practical accounts now. If you’re not sure whether your audience’s interests have changed, do some basic user research and ask them, or go looking at peoples’ accounts! Try some new things and see if they fly.