Instagram Guide: How to hack the algorithm and improve your reach and engagement today

Whether you use Instagram as a blogger, influencer, or brand, chances are you have suffered from low reach and close to zero engagement before. Getting no reaction to the content you put time and energy into creating can disappoint and curb the enthusiasm of even the most resilient of us. So what are some easy changes you can make today to drive more traffic to your account and get more likes, comments, and shares on your posts?

Connect with your followers

Spend time building a community and really engaging with your followers!

• Reply to every comment you receive, preferably in a way that sparks conversation.
• Reply promptly to every DM you get. This signals relationship, an important ranking criteria, to the Instagram algorithm, leading to your posts ranking at the top of your followers feeds.
• Visit the profiles of your followers, like their photos and leave some comments. Don't let bots do this for you, and neither should you just leave an emoji in the comments - instead, spend some minutes to really engage with the photos and say something meaningful.
• Do this not only with your followers, but the followers of other players in your niche or industry, or even your direct competitors. Those people are likely interested in your content, and a heartfelt comment and a few likes might just be what they need to check out your account and hit follow.

Write your captions well

Instagram may be a visual platform, but that does not mean photo captions are inconsequential. Put some extra effort into writing your captions and let them take your profile to the next level.

• A good photo does not speak for itself. Never leave your caption space blank, instead be yourself and let your personality shine through.
• Start your caption with something that will make your followers stop scrolling. This can be an attention grabbing statement or something that provokes an emotional reaction.
• If you are a risk-taker, write about something controversial that everybody has an opinion on. You need to be tactful with this strategy, but if done well, your comments will be blowing up!
• Don't be afraid to be vulnerable: share a personal story or ask for advice in your captions.
• Every once in a while, change things up: write your captions first, and create a photo or video for it afterwards.
• Don't forget to utilize CTAs, or Call to Actions in your caption. These are the statements or expressions that tell your reader exactly what to do - such as "click the link in bio to learn more", "tag a friend who would also enjoy this video", "save this pic for later", or "let me know what you think in the comments below".
• Feel free to use emojis and line breaks to emphasise your CTAs.

Increase interactions

The more time a follower spends interacting with your content, the better it is. Instagram wants to keep users inside the app, and therefore, will prioritise your posts if your followers tend to spend a lot of time looking at them. You want to create content they don't just scroll past, but stop to read and react to. Use the tips below:

• Post more "carousels" or galleries of up to 10 photos. Ideally you want people to look at all pics in the carousel, even swiping back and forth between them. Get creative with it: you could post before&after type photos, make Instagram vs reality posts, or share high quality, editorial style pics with a behind-the-scenes photo at the end of the gallery. Don't forget to reference this in your caption!
• Share video content. Users generally spend more time watching video posts than looking at photos.
• Use interactive stickers on your IG Stories, so your followers won't just skip them but engage with them. The quiz, vote, and questions stickers are my favourites but you can try & test what your followers react to the best.
• Utilize IGTV to create and share video content. IGTV posts don't need to be overly edited - it's a space for authentic content, it's perfectly fine to just sit and talk to your phone camera.
• Now you can even create series within IGTV. A weekly series will have your followers return to your channel routinely.
• Still not sure what your community likes best? Ask them! Use the IG Story stickers to conduct a mini research on what type of content they like to see: on the one hand, you'll be getting lots of interactions, and on the other, you'll have first hand data on what your followers want.

Improve your discoverability

So far we talked about tips to better engage with your current followers, but how can you improve your reach and get discovered more?

• Use relevant hashtags - emphasis on the relevant. What would your ideal followers be searching for? You can use a maximum of 30, and if you don't want to clutter your carefully crafted caption, you can hide these in the first comment.
• The best hashtags to use should have enough posts in them to attract considerable traffic, but not so many that your post will instantly get lost. For example, there are over 1.7 billion posts under #love and it is highly unlikely that your post would get to the top there. However, #bulletjournalnewbie is specific enough to segment users, but still has over 120 000 posts - it's not impossible for your great content to get to the top and be promoted to others.
• Hashtags in your Stories should be used strategically. If found through the hashtag, often that story will be the first impression you make on a new, potential follower. Therefore, use hashtags with caution, and only on the most value-packed, strongest stories you share.
• Keep hashtags on stories relevant and keep in mind this is for people that are discovering you for the first time, not for people who are already familiar with your brand. Think what your ideal customer would be searching for, such as #stylingtips, and not your personal hastag such as #sarahsstyle.
• Use geotags when appropriate so people searching for locations can discover your content too!
• Time your posts when your following - and ideal, potential followers - are most active. With a business account this info is available in your insights, but you can base this on your own Instagram browsing activity and common sense as well. For example, people are unlikely to be most active in the middle of the night, but more people are scrolling first thing in the morning and before work.
• Identify relevant resharing accounts that thematically curate content. These usually have their own hashtags that they browse to find posts to reshare. Huge profiles like these can get you a lot of exposure, so make sure you make a note of their hashtags and use them on your posts when applicable. You can even tag the accounts on the photos as well as use their hashtags.
• If you are a blogger or content creator who works or wants to work with brands, make sure you have a list of those brands' Instagram accounts and branded hashtags. When sharing content that includes those brands products make sure you tag them & use their hashtags. You could get a reshare and gain exposure, or even bag a brand deal if they like your work.
• If you are a brand or company on Instagram, create your own branded hashtag and encourage your followers and customers to use it when sharing photos of your products or service. You can then search that hashtag and find valuable user generated content (UGC) to reshare, while your customers are acting as personal micro-influencer and advertisers for your brand.

Now, there you have it: 26 tips you can put into action today and grow your account. However, don't forget: social media is a marathon, not a sprint, and building your following will take a lot of work and quite some time, especially if you are just starting to take your Instagram strategy seriously. Don't get discouraged if you don't see results from day 1, these tips will ensure you are building a strong profile.