How Can I Increase My Organic Post Reach on Instagram?

Recently, Laurie Lee Brom, an artist I admire, posted about struggling to increase her reach on Instagram. Because I know that creatives often are working on a shoestring budget, I wanted to see if I could make some recommendations for ways for anyone to increase their Instagram post ORGANIC reach - rather than dumping money into paid promotions. Why do I favor organic growth? In a nutshell, organic growth is sustainable. Paid growth rises and falls based on the ad spend. Dump a bunch of money into your promotions and you’ll see growth. Once the budget stops, the growth tends to stop. If you put time and energy into organic growth, you can see continued growth over time. For one client, I grew their Instagram following from 2000 to over 640,000 followers without any paid promotion! How did I do it, keep reading…

How Can I Improve My Organic Instagram Post Reach?

To improve the organic reach of your Instagram account, you can utilize various techniques. I have used all of these techniques through the years to grow the reach of my client’s Instagram posts. I suggest, starting with 2 or 3 and mastering that technique, and then adding in a few more. Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to do everything all at once.

• Tell Your Brand's Story: Use your posts to narrate your brand's story, engaging your audience with authentic and inspiring content.

• Be Unique: Develop a unique aesthetic that sets your account apart, defining your brand's identity through color schemes, photo styles, and creative direction.

• Optimize Your Profile: Ensure your username and bio contain relevant keywords to enhance searchability and attract the right audience.

• Post High-Quality Content Consistently: Focus on creating engaging and valuable content that resonates with your audience, aiming for quality over quantity.

• Utilize Instagram Reels: Leverage Instagram Reels as they are prioritized by the algorithm, potentially increasing your post's reach.

• Post at the Right Time: Share content when your audience is most active to increase visibility and engagement.

• Experiment with Different Post Types: Try various formats like images, videos, carousels, and Instagram Reels to diversify your content and attract different audiences.

• Smart Hashtag Usage: Use relevant and trending hashtags to expand the reach of your posts and make them discoverable to a wider audience.

• Engage Multiple Communities: Collaborate with other creatives, influencers, brands, or customers to reach diverse audiences and expand your brand's visibility.

• Encourage Engagement: Host contests, giveaways, or interactive posts to boost engagement levels and signal to the algorithm that your content is worth sharing.

• Develop a Consistent Content Plan: Plan your content strategically to maintain a consistent posting schedule that resonates with your audience.

• Prompt Engagement: Prompt your followers to engage with your posts by asking questions or encouraging comments, which can signal to the algorithm that your content is engaging.

• Create Content for Your Target Audience: Tailor your content not only for your existing followers but also for potential new audiences by considering what would interest them.

• Don’t be a Billboard account: These are the accounts where every single post revolves around a “buy me” message. This is one of the quickest ways to exhaust your audience.

• Provide Value: Offer valuable content to your followers, such as entertainment, knowledge, motivation, or community connection, to keep them engaged and interested in your posts[2].

What Are Some Examples of Engaging Posts?

Some examples of engaging Instagram posts that can help increase organic reach include:

• Post Memes: Share relatable and fun memes to increase engagement as they are highly shareable and resonate with audiences.

• Trending Content: Stay updated on trends and incorporate them into your posts to keep your content relevant and engaging. NOTE: Understanding trends is important, but tailoring and personalizing those trends is vital. Don’t imitate a trend, innovate on it.

• Fill in the Blank: Invite your followers to participate by filling in the blank in your posts, encouraging interaction and comments.

• Ask Questions: Pose questions to your audience in your posts or stories to prompt responses and boost engagement.

• Host Challenges: Engage your audience by hosting challenges that encourage participation and sharing using specific hashtags.

• Product Sneak Peeks: Create excitement and anticipation by sharing sneak peeks of upcoming products or launches.

• User-Generated Content: Share content created by your followers (with permission) to increase engagement and showcase real user experiences.

• Behind-the-Scenes: Offer a glimpse behind the scenes of your business to add a human touch and connect with your audience.

• Press Coverage: Share any media features or press coverage to showcase credibility and achievements.

• Success Stories: Highlight positive feedback or success stories from customers to build trust and credibility.

By incorporating these diverse post ideas into your Instagram strategy, you can create engaging content that resonates with your audience, boosts interaction, and ultimately increases organic reach on the platform.

Lagniappe…

Let’s dive deep into one technique…hashtags.

To increase organic reach on Instagram using hashtags effectively, consider the following tips:

• Choose Relevant Hashtags: Avoid using overly popular and broad hashtags like #love or #instagood. Instead, opt for medium-sized hashtags with at least 20,000 posts tagged with them to increase visibility.

• Use Hashtag Generators: Utilize free hashtag generator tools to discover new and relevant hashtags for your posts. Here are some popular free hashtag generators.

  • Inflact Hashtag Generator: This tool helps you find the best hashtags to grow engagement rates organically, boosting your following and account authority on Instagram.

  • SISTRIX Instagram Hashtag Generator: Suggests successful hashtags for your posts to achieve higher visibility and attract more followers. It is based on a vast database of over 15 billion hashtag combinations.

  • Hootsuite Instagram Hashtag Generator: Offers a free tool to generate hashtags quickly based on your post content, helping you increase reach and engagement on Instagram. It uses artificial intelligence to suggest relevant hashtags

  • Predis.ai Free Hashtag Generator: Provides a tool to generate hashtags based on keywords, sentences, or images, helping you attract more impressions, strengthen brand reputation, and boost organic engagement on Instagram.

• Be Specific: Focus on hashtags that accurately describe your content and target audience. Create unique combinations or niche-specific hashtags to stand out.

• Limit the Number of Hashtags: While Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post, it's recommended to use around 20-28 hashtags to avoid appearing spammy and potentially triggering Instagram's radar. g.

• Place Hashtags Strategically: Consider placing hashtags in the comments section rather than the caption for a cleaner look while maintaining their functionality.

• Research Hashtags: Ensure you research each hashtag for relevance and popularity on the platform you are posting on. Use hashtag research tools to gain insights and optimize your strategy.

• Monitor Performance: Track the performance of your hashtags and refine your strategy based on data analysis to maximize reach and engagement.

By implementing these strategies, you can effectively leverage hashtags to increase the organic reach of your Instagram posts and attract a wider audience to your content.

Your Next Steps: Engage, Share, Connect

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