In today’s Tech News Tuesday episode we’re talking about how to increase your reach on Instagram. Like all social media platforms, Instagram uses a complex algorithm to decide which posts to show each person. If your audience is on Instagram and you want more organic reach, you may want to try the different formats within Instagram, and maximize your impact. As a business, it’s important to experiment and see what is working for you.
Links in this episode: How to Improve Instagram Reach: 9 Ways
Transcript
Welcome to the Get Digital Marketing Results podcast where we give you information and actionable tips to grow your organization.
Bob: Hi, I’m Bob Clark.
Donna: And I’m Donna Botti. We’re with Delos Inc and we make the web work for you. In today’s Tech News Tuesday episode we’re talking about how to increase your reach on Instagram. Like all social media platforms, Instagram uses a complex algorithm to decide which posts to show each person. As a business, it’s important to refine and test what works best for you.
Bob: That’s right Donna. When it comes to social media, businesses are typically advised to pick one or two channels to focus on. But within that social network, you should use all of the different formats available to maximize your impact. Instagram has a full range of formats to choose from, Posts, Stories, Story Highlights, IGTV, Reels, Live, and Topic Guides and Products.
Donna: That’s a lot of different formats and you might not decide to do all of them, but you should know that the algorithm tends to favor newer features. If your audience is on Instagram and you want more organic reach, you should experiment and see what is working for you.
But, let’s go over some general tips.
Instagram now has several automatic features that make your posts accessible to all, so use the features for captions on your videos, and use alt text on your images.
And to get more engagement, turn on the “sharing” feature for Instagram Stories. Let people share your story with their followers!
Bob: Another way to share, and this is in the “Reels” format, is to allow people to remix and record a response to your Reels.
Another important tip is to add location tags to both feed Posts and Stories. This is important if you have a business where customers visit your location.
Donna: One of the easiest ways to increase your organic reach on Instagram is to piggyback on the reach of other accounts. In other words, get them to post about you or share your posts. This can be easy to do, first mention people in your posts. You can also run an Instagram giveaway that encourages people to tag you in a post, for example, a photo of themselves using your product.
Another way to encourage your followers to share your Instagram posts is to create highly shareable content. Now, this is going to look different for different businesses. For some, it might be an inspirational quote or an image. For others, it could be a questionnaire, a puzzle, or more informational content. You know your audience best. Think about the types of content they post, like, and share most often.
Bob: Changing the time you post content can make a big difference to your organic reach. Remember, the Instagram algorithm rewards content for being recent. So your goal is to post when your followers are online so your posts go to the top of the pile. Try to aim for no more than one post per day. It’s worth experimenting with different times of day to see what works for you and your audience.
Donna: The bottom line here is that your followers are your best route to organic reach on Instagram. They have the potential to interact and share your social media content with a far wider audience than you could achieve on your own. Be responsive to your followers, they’ll be encouraged to interact with you more over time.
In social media, let’s not forget the 80/20 rule. 80% interesting, informative, useful, entertaining content and 20% promotion. Remember, it’s called “social” for a reason.
You’re trying to build a positive image of your brand so your audience will ultimately be more likely to do business with you.
Bob: That’s it for today’s episode. You can find a link to the Social Media Examiner article and a transcript of today’s podcast, at DelosInc.com/195.
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