How to Get More Likes on Instagram

Instagram is the social media platform of the moment. With more than 500 million users browsing the platform on a daily basis, whether you are a business or an individual looking to gain a larger following, Instagram has massive potential to expand your audience. Simply creating posts and liking the posts of others, however, will only get you so far.

Below, we outline several sure-fire strategies for significantly increasing your likes on Instagram—without spending a dime.

Before You Start...

It is important to note, prior to kicking off your new Instagram growth strategy, that for some profiles, likes are no longer visible. Likes you receive on your posts are visible only to you. For other profiles, likes are replaced with the written-out word (for example: “Hundreds of likes” or “Thousands of likes” Instagram is testing out this new view in several countries as part of an effort to reduce the competitive nature of the platform.

Its core algorithms, however, work just as they have in the past: a post’s performance is based on the number of likes and comments it receives.

Sure-fire ways to get more likes on Instagram free:

1. Identify your audience. Sure, you have an overarching marketing strategy, and you may even have defined whom you or your business wish to target most on social media. But your intended Instagram audience should be even more specific than this, given the vast variation in usership across demographics.

2. Keep it consistent. Develop a strategy and a theme that you can keep up with, consistently. That may mean to start with one good quality, on-brand post per week, but it will develop over time into a consistent and reliable presence that will attract users interested in your specific niche of content and design style.

3. Quality is key. Instagram is an entire social media platform dedicated to visually capturing beautiful and powerful moments. When posting on the platform, its core mission should be at the top of your mind. Consider using a phone with a high quality camera, or a using DSLR camera rather than a camera phone, and using professional editing software to enhance the image prior to posting it.

4. Hashtags help. Although using hashtags takes a bit of finesse, here are a few quick tips for success: (A) 9 is the magic number, when it comes to the number of hashtags you should use for each post. (B) Place hashtags in a comment below your original post, rather than trying to fit them all in the caption itself. (C) Keep hashtags relevant and don’t reach too far outside your circle of engagement (#love isn’t the way to a consistent, engaged audience).

5. Tag when appropriate. When it is relevant and/or logical, tag other accounts/users in your posts. When done correctly, this will not only expand your reach, but help followers of the accounts you have tagged find you, as well.

6. Caption to your strengths. Captions on Instagram offer you quite a bit of creative freedom, so use them to your advantage. Use length to captivate—sometimes longer posts come off as more genuine and journal-style, helping followers connect and identify more easily with you or your brand. Write carefully and thoughtfully, and try using the influencers who follow you as a guide for establishing a style and tone.

7. Geotag marks the spot. If you are targeting customers or followers based on a particular location, it’s safe to say that using geotagging will boost your engagement in the right direction. The instagram account for a wedding dress shop, for example, will definitely benefit from tagging their own store location, as well as locations of local weddings of brides who purchased dresses from them.

8. The old ‘like and follow.’ Although it should certainly not be the core of your strategy for increasing likes long-term, following and liking the posts of Instagram accounts you or your brand identify with will invite those accounts to return the favor, thus gaining you likes and followers.

Maintaining a high quality Instagram account can be a full-time job in and of itself. Luckily, there are experts like Select Influencer, who provide essential services that will help your Instagram consistently grow and flourish, so you can devote time to your other digital marketing efforts.