How to Organically Get More Likes on Instagram
I get asked a lot of questions about Instagram every single day, but it always comes back down to the age-old question of “how to get more likes on instagram”?! And fair enough.. who doesn’t want more engagement on their posts?The problem is, is that we often over think the simple things and try to complicate the process of getting more likes. So.. instead of doing that, I’ve saved you a ton of time by compiling 15 of my best tips and tricks for getting more likes on Instagram!Read ’em, implement ’em, get more likes!!
1. Share High-Quality Photos
This should be a no-brainer but people often over look how important having high-quality photos is. If your photo is blurry, pixilated, or too dark, you’re not going to get many likes! The same thing goes for graphics – if you use too many different fonts or you try and squeeze a ton of text and images into one small square, it’s not going to go over well with your followers.
You don’t have to be a professional photographer or graphic designer to do this. Just focus on increasing your post quality, wether through upgrading your camera, sitting by a window for better lighting, or considering your composition more. It all plays a role in how to get more likes on Instagram!
Interested in what tools I use to create great Instagram content? Check out my Instagram Tools & Resources page!
2. Write Engaging Captions
While posting high quality images is extremely important, it’s not entirely enough – your caption needs to be equally interesting, engaging or value-packed. Avoid one-word or single-sentence captions and instead try to inspire and evoke emotion by telling a story, sharing a vulnerable statement, providing actionable tips, or evoking a feeling through humor, nostalgia or inspiration. The key here is to be relatable – when your audience can relate to your post, they are more likely to leave a like or comment.
Don’t be afraid to be you and share everything with your audience as this is a big factor that will help you get more likes on Instagram!
Remember: the “perfect caption” will be different for everyone so test out a few options on your feed and see which ones your audience responds to. When you find what works, keep doing that!
3. Use a Call to Action
Your audience can’t give you what you want if you don’t tell them what it is! Simply add a call to action at the end of your caption asking for a like! Chances are you’ll drastically increase your engagement simply by asking politely. Aren’t manners nice?
Don’t over-think this (or any of the other tips in this blog) just include a line at the end of your caption that says “like this post if you agree!” or “leave a like if you’ve have experienced this before!”.. etc.
Tip: feel free to switch up your ask based on what you need at the moment. Maybe you tell them to click the link in your bio, leave a comment, or tag a friend instead.
4. Know Your Audience
You’ve heard me say this before and you’ll hear me say it again.. You need to get REALLY comfortable with who your target audience is. When you know exactly what they like (for example, travel photos, memes, or DIYs), uploading content that appeals to them becomes so easy and in turn, your likes will increase! Instagram is a simple platform. Pick a niche, attract an audience and give them what they want. From there you’ll easily get more likes and more followers!
I get asked a lot of questions about Instagram every single day, but it always comes back down to the age-old question of “how to get more likes on instagram”?! And fair enough.. who doesn’t want more engagement on their posts?
The problem is, is that we often over think the simple things and try to complicate the process of getting more likes. So.. instead of doing that, I’ve saved you a ton of time by compiling 15 of my best tips and tricks for getting more likes on Instagram!
Read ’em, implement ’em, get more likes!!
1. Share High-Quality Photos
This should be a no-brainer but people often over look how important having high-quality photos is. If your photo is blurry, pixilated, or too dark, you’re not going to get many likes! The same thing goes for graphics – if you use too many different fonts or you try and squeeze a ton of text and images into one small square, it’s not going to go over well with your followers.
You don’t have to be a professional photographer or graphic designer to do this. Just focus on increasing your post quality, wether through upgrading your camera, sitting by a window for better lighting, or considering your composition more. It all plays a role in how to get more likes on Instagram!
Interested in what tools I use to create great Instagram content? Check out my Instagram Tools & Resources page!
2. Write Engaging Captions
While posting high quality images is extremely important, it’s not entirely enough – your caption needs to be equally interesting, engaging or value-packed. Avoid one-word or single-sentence captions and instead try to inspire and evoke emotion by telling a story, sharing a vulnerable statement, providing actionable tips, or evoking a feeling through humor, nostalgia or inspiration. The key here is to be relatable – when your audience can relate to your post, they are more likely to leave a like or comment.
Don’t be afraid to be you and share everything with your audience as this is a big factor that will help you get more likes on Instagram!
Remember: the “perfect caption” will be different for everyone so test out a few options on your feed and see which ones your audience responds to. When you find what works, keep doing that!
3. Use a Call to Action
Your audience can’t give you what you want if you don’t tell them what it is! Simply add a call to action at the end of your caption asking for a like! Chances are you’ll drastically increase your engagement simply by asking politely. Aren’t manners nice?
Don’t over-think this (or any of the other tips in this blog) just include a line at the end of your caption that says “like this post if you agree!” or “leave a like if you’ve have experienced this before!”.. etc.
Tip: feel free to switch up your ask based on what you need at the moment. Maybe you tell them to click the link in your bio, leave a comment, or tag a friend instead.
4. Know Your Audience
You’ve heard me say this before and you’ll hear me say it again.. You need to get REALLY comfortable with who your target audience is. When you know exactly what they like (for example, travel photos, memes, or DIYs), uploading content that appeals to them becomes so easy and in turn, your likes will increase! Instagram is a simple platform. Pick a niche, attract an audience and give them what they want. From there you’ll easily get more likes and more followers!
5. Add a Geo Location to Every Post
When people ask me how to get more likes on Instagram one of the first things I do is check if they’re using a geo location on their posts. This is the small ‘location’ text you see above an image. When you use them, your post appears under that location (similar to how your image shows up in a hashtag) and it can significantly increase your reach and your likes!
You can add the location you are currently at, where you were when the photo was taken, or any other location of your choice. Get strategic about this – what locations would your target audience be interested in? Use those to reach more of the right people!
Remember: much like hashtags, photos posted in a location tag are shown in chronological order, so make sure you’re adding them at the same time you make your post!
6. Like and Comment Everyday
Wondering how to get more likes on Instagram? You have to give them! Instagram is not a one-way street. If you want to increase your engagement then you need to spend time engaging with others. When you show genuine interest in someone’s content by liking and commenting on their posts, not only does it show that you support them, but it also encourages the person to check out your feed and give a few likes back! Engaging with others on a daily basis also improves your standing in the algorithm because Instagram wants to see that you’re a real person and you use the platform as intended. If we just post and run all the time, you’ll find it hard to increase your likes and reach.
For best results I suggest spending 15 – 30 minutes a day engaging with people in your target audience by liking photos, leaving genuine comments on posts, and replying to stories. You can find people to engage with through hashtags, locations and even the explore page!
7. Use The Right Hashtags
Want to know how to get more likes on Instagram?? Use the RIGHT hashtags! This is so vital to not only increasing your likes but to your entire Instagram strategy. If you use the wrong hashtags, you’ll miss out on a huge amount of engagement and what you do get will likely be from bots, competitors, or accounts that aren’t part of your target audience.
To get more likes on Instagram make sure you’re using 30 targeted hashtags that describe your account or target audience on every single post. Also be sure to avoid using hashtags that are way too popular (1million+ posts) because your image will likely get buried in a matter of minutes. When you’ve selected the right tags you can significantly increase the engagement on your posts and traffic to your feed!
8. Encourage People to “Tag a Friend”
To get more likes on Instagram your posts need to be seen by more people! To easily increase the amount of traffic to your feed, use a simple call to action that encourages your audience to tag a friend on your latest post. You will have to provide some sort of value (education, entertainment, or emotion) for someone to want to tag a friend, but if you can accomplish that, people can’t help but share! This surge of traffic to your posts will surely increase your likes.
Tip: tailor your request to a specific user. For example, I might say “tag a friend who has their own business!” to increase my chances of attracting my target market to my feed.
9. Use Instagram Stories Regularly
As of January of this year, Instagram stories had 500 million daily active users worldwide which means stories are too important to ignore! Using stories not only broadcasts your content to more of your audience, but can also increase traffic to your recent posts and easily boost your likes!
This can be accomplished by simply sharing your latest post to your stories and encouraging your audience to check it out! Make sure you include the actual post, a swipe up link, or @ mention yourself so they can get over to your feed as seamlessly as possible!
10. Shoutout Your Favorite Brand or Arrange a SFS
Loving a certain account lately? Let them know by shouting them out in your posts or stories (make sure you tag them in the caption and photo as well!) Anyone tagged in your content will receive a notification and at the very least they’ll likely come over to your feed and give you a few likes. Best case scenario they actually re-share your content to their account! I’ve personally gotten the attention of many bigger brands this way, they’ve shared my content and I’ve gotten a surge of new likes and followers as a result!
Another way to get more likes on Instagram is by reaching out to accounts that have a similar target audience to yours and ask to arrange a SFS (shoutout for shoutout). That means that you’ll mention their account on your story/feed and they’ll do the same. This is an excellent opportunity for you to build a relationship with a brand you love while receiving valuable exposure to your account!
Tip: approach accounts that are of similar size to yours. Asking for a SFS from an account with 1 million followers while you only have 5,000 is not an equal exchange of value so they’re more likely to say no.
11. Tag Relevant Accounts in Your Posts
Want to know how to get more likes on Instagram without much effort? Tag relevant people and brands in every single post you upload! Similar to giving a shoutout, by tagging them in your posts they receive a notification of the mention and it effectively grabs the attention of the brand and their audience! The owner of the account will often give a few likes in return for the mention but you’ll also show up in the ‘tagged posts’ section of their feed which is viewable by anyone. That means visitors to their feed may check out the tagged section and see your content!
Remember: only tag accounts that are directly relevant to your posts (their product appears in the image, the owner of the account is in it, etc). Tagging account that aren’t connected to your post in some way is considered spam and can have the opposite effect of what we’re going for!
12. Host a Giveaway
Hosting an Instagram giveaway is not only fun for your audience, it can also significantly increase your likes and followers! By telling entrants that they must like your post to be qualified for the giveaway can significantly increase your likes. By adding a few extra qualifications such as following you and tagging a friend, you’ll increase your overall account engagement and follower count as well! Plus, someone will win the giveaway which makes it a success for both you and your audience!
13. Cross Promote on Other Platforms
Cross promoting your content is a great example of how to get more likes on Instagram. Everyone in your audience won’t always see your Instagram posts, so you want to make sure your Instagram content is accessible to audience members on every social platform you use!
You can promote your Instagram page in your Facebook stories, a Facebook post, Snapchat story, YouTube video, Pinterest page – wherever you are on social media! Be sure to make the cross promotion enticing to the audience to encourage them to follow you in more than one place. For example, if you are a fitness and nutrition coach, you could say “want more amazing recipes and tips? Follow me on Instagram!” and include your handle or a link to a specific, relevant post.
Tip: creating Instagram-specific offers (such as a giveaway where they have to like your post to enter!) is a great way to drive traffic and likes from one social platform to your Instagram account.
14. Post Consistently
You can’t get more likes if your audience isn’t seeing your posts! Having a consistent posting schedule keeps your brand top of mind, puts you in good standing with the Instagram algorithm and can drastically increase your likes from picture to picture. Now this doesn’t mean that you have to post multiple times a day but you do need to have a consistent schedule (I suggest posting once every other day for best results!) You’ll also want to check your account insights (if you have a business account) to see exactly when your audience is online. Posting at this time will greatly increase your ability to get more likes.
To stay consistent I recommend using a tool like Later to schedule your posts. This ensures you have a consistent posting regime, week to week! (click here to get 10 free post!)
15. Paid Advertising
The last thing you can do to get more likes on Instagram is to invest in Instagram’s paid advertising options. Generally I only suggest using paid advertising as a way to increase traffic to a free opt-in or to a sales page, however ads often also help you get more likes. To do this, simply navigate to the post you want more likes on, hit the “promote” button underneath the image and follow the steps. Remember that this does cost money and is better used to lead your audience to something profit-generating, however if you’re serious about getting more likes on Instagram, this could be an option.
So there you have it, 15 different ways to answer the question “how to get more likes on instagram!” Most of these can be implemented daily so remember to include them in your recurring Instagram strategy. Remember that to get more likes on Instagram you need to be consistent. Implementing these tips once and hoping for a drastic change is not likely, so read them over, get comfortable with them and keep implementing!
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