So you want to know how to get more Instagram likes?
You’re in luck because today, we’re sharing the top 5 up-to-date tips on how to get more Instagram likes and engagement in 2024.
What worked last year may not work this year, so you’re going to want to read till the end of this post.
Let’s dive in!
5 Tips On How To Get More Instagram Likes
Tip #1: Ask for engagement- indirectly
One of the simplest quick fixes to getting more likes on your Instagram posts is to tell your audience to like it, BUT you don’t want to put it that bluntly.
On Facebook, your posts will specifically get lower reach if you ask people to like the post because it comes off as spammy.
Facebook will intentionally lower your reach (and therefore engagement) if you do this.
And since Facebook owns Instagram, we’d imagine similar measures are being taken on IG.
So the trick here is in how you ask for the like.
The most popular verbiage is to say “double tap” instead of “like”…
…because that’s the physical action someone takes on their phone when they like an Instagram pic.
But more than just saying “double tap,” you want to give them a reason to. For instance, say “DOUBLE TAP”:
- if you agree,
- if you feel the same way,
- if this has ever happened to you, or
- if you want to see more content like this.
Also, we know in this post, we’re specifically talking about likes, but you can extend this method to get other engagement as well.
And if you want to learn more Instagram engagement hacks, then be sure to read this post next.
Tip #2: Know what your audience likes
You don’t want to ask for likes in every single post you make, so it’s helpful to create content your audience just inherently likes to begin with.
How do you do this?
You start with a deep dive into your customer avatar, also known as a buyer persona.
This is something we talked more in-depth about in our target marketing example post, so check it out after you read this.
But essentially, you want to know what motivates your audience.
Are they looking for a solution to a problem they have or for a way to achieve a goal they have?
How does your product or service fit into that picture? These are the things you’ll want to consider when planning out your content calendar.
Another useful tool to look at in this area is your Instagram analytics. What type of posts has gotten you the most likes thus far?
You can go into Insights and tap on Content You Shared.
And then, change the filter to be by likes, then set the time period you want to view be it a year, 30 days, etc.
When you filter to view your top posts this way, you can usually spot a pattern here to see what it is about those posts that people are responding to.
Start with that, and then build from there.
Tip #3: A/B split test different posting styles to see what works
If what you’ve been doing isn’t working, then you’ve got to try something else.
But make sure you test things in a way so that you know which change is making the difference.
For example, let’s say you only ever post single image Instagram posts with long captions.
If you start posting carousel posts with short captions and getting a lot of likes, you won’t know which change is making the difference.
Is it the shorter captions or the multi-media?
That’s the jist when it comes to the purpose behind a planned A/B test.
So here is a list of things you can test out to shake things up:
- Content type
Single images vs carousel posts vs video vs Reels vs guides etc.
And if you need further explanation on what any of these content types are, you’d better read our post on creating content on Instagram.
- Captions
Short vs long, funny tone vs casual vs professional, emojis vs no emojis.
All 30 vs less than 30, testing different niches, and testing small in size vs large in size.
- Media
Using stock videos and photos vs using your own videos and photos, showing your face vs not showing your face.
So figure out what your audience does like to see from you, and build on that to continue creating content they will likely “like.”
Now before we get into our last 2 tips on how to get more Instagram likes…
…we just want to quickly remind you about our new social media ads training course that’s out now.
If you want to hone your social advertising skills, this is the perfect course for you.
Tip #4: Content stack
Content stacking is when you take a post on Instagram and share it to other places, be it on or off Instagram.
Ideally, you’ll want to share it everywhere you have an audience.
The first place you can start with is sharing your post to your Story.
The way the algorithm is, your audience may not see your post organically in your feed at first.
So one way to help make sure your Instagram followers don’t miss it is to share it to your Story.
From there, you can share it to your Facebook page, your Twitter, your LinkedIn, your email list…
…or wherever else you have a sizeable audience.
Give them the CTA to check out your post, and like and comment so that you’re maximizing all of your followers, not just your Instagram followers.
Tip #5: Optimize your posts
Post optimization will consist of a few things, so let’s break it down.
The first thing is to add any location tags, photo tags, and hashtags that are relevant and applicable.
This will help extend your reach which usually helps to get more likes so long as the reach you’re getting is qualified.
Hence, why we said all your tags should be relevant and applicable.
You don’t want to get reach for the sake of getting reach. You want to put your post in front of a targeted audience.
For example, let’s say you sell chess boards…
…but you use location, photo tags, and hashtags that aren’t necessarily related to chess; you just pick tags that get a lot of reach.
Well then, you get people who have no interest in chess looking at your picture, so they just scroll on past it with no interaction.
This not only fails to help you, but it actually hurts you.
Instagram will notice that people are seeing your post and moving on without liking it, and Instagram will think…
…“Well, I guess this isn’t a good post then. Better kill the reach on it.”
And that’s exactly what will happen.
The next thing you can do to optimize your post is to make sure relevant keywords are included in the caption.
If you missed our Instagram updates 2024 post, you might have missed the news that Instagram is becoming more like a search engine.
But what that means is that users can search a keyword in the Instagram search bar…
…and find posts and accounts that have that keyword in their content, even if it’s not listed as a hashtag or location.
So you’ll want to make sure your caption includes relevant, high-intent keywords.
The third thing you can do to optimize is to make sure you’re posting when your audience is online.
Go to your Insights, tap Total Followers, adjust the time period to the last 30 days, and scroll down to the bottom to see the most active times.
This will show you the most active hour your users are online each day of the week, or if you toggle to days, you can see which days they’re the most active.
The reason this tool has become relevant again is because…
…Instagram is bringing the old chronological algorithm back as an option that users can choose to opt-in to or not.
So for users who view posts in their feed chronologically, knowing what time those users are online will play a big part in getting more Instagram likes.
And then the last thing you can do to optimize your Instagram posts is reply with speed and a plan.
What do we mean by that, well when you receive comments you want to…
…first of all, make sure you’re replying back in a timely manner and second of all, reply back with a question.
This will encourage the person who commented to comment again.
Now you may be thinking what does this have to do with Instagram likes?
You see, the more engagement your post gets in general, the more likely the algorithm is to serve your posts to more people (which leads to likes).
So that wraps up our 5 tips on how to get more Instagram likes in 2024!
And to help you maximize your IG marketing, give us a call today at 404-596-7925.
Or you can head over to our Instagram marketing services page to learn more about how we can help.