Are you trying to boost your monthly Instagram ‘Likes’ count, but not sure how to go about it?
Instagram ‘Likes’ are an interesting metric. They give you lots of valuable information that can help you grow your company.
But they can also become a vanity metric that gets you focused on the wrong thing. And, sometimes, that leads to people thinking they should buy more ‘Likes’ just for the sake of having them (Spoiler Alert: Don’t do that).
So, in today’s post, I’m going to tell you what your monthly Instagram ‘Likes’ SHOULD tell you, and give you some more tips on how to get them organically.
Then I’ll share how you can add this valuable KPI to your monthly marketing reports so you can see even larger growth from your social media marketing strategy.
First, though, let’s get clear on what Instagram ‘Likes’ tell you.
What Do Instagram Likes Tell You?
When it comes to engagement on Instagram, ‘Likes’ are the first metrics that come to mind. Since it’s quick and easy for someone to double-tap your post (or click on the little heart), there’s not all that much investment involved for the user.
That means Likes are a great place for you to get an idea of how engaged your audience is. Because it’s SO easy for them to a like a post, not having many likes on your posts means you might need to step up your game.
On the other hand, you might get tons of Likes and have a false impression of how interested people are in your brand.
Again, the fact that it’s so easy to like a post is a double-edged sword.
But Likes are still useful as an indicator that people are noticing your content. While comments, saves, and shares require a higher level of engagement, Likes are at least better than a neutral scroll by.
Plus, they affect your engagement rate in a fairly significant way.
Instagram’s engagement metric tells you how many people are interacting with your posts – which includes the number of people who liked them. In this way, likes can help you determine which content resonates best with your audience.
Now that we know a bit about what Likes CAN tell you, let’s quickly look at how to get more of them.
How to Get More Monthly Instagram Likes
I’m going to take it as a given that you’re already planning on posting the best content you can. That means eye-catching imagery, engaging captions, and a focus on delivering true value to your audience.
Once you have those basics down, how can you get more likes and increase your Instagram engagement rate? Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
1. See what works for your competitors
Now, I’m not encouraging you to go steal content from your competitors’ accounts. But keeping up with what they are doing successfully can help inspire your own unique posts.
If you have a good idea of who your target audience is, look for other brands or large accounts that they follow. These accounts don’t have to be in the same exact niche as you. In fact, sometimes it helps if they aren’t.
But it will help you to narrow down the type of content and the tone of voice that works well for the people you are trying to reach.
If you see that illustrations or memes always get a lot of likes for accounts with a similar audience, consider developing some of your own. If your audience prefers humor, you can adjust your tone of voice to bring in some comedy now and then.
Using inspiration from other brands to create posts that fit your audience will help you get more likes.
2. Cross-promote your content
Instagram continues to introduce new formats for sharing content. From stories and lives to the introduction of reels, there are plenty of different options for creating attention-grabbing content.
But Instagram’s algorithm can also make it tricky to get your content in front of your audience consistently. So, one way to get more likes is to cross-promote your posts to the different formats Instagram offers.
Share your grid posts on your stories and encourage your followers to read and like. If you’ve embraced reels, be sure to post them to your grid and stories, as well, to get the most engagement you can on each one.
When you share stories, you can also use stickers and GIFs as calls to action. This highlights your content further and will hopefully drive more people to like it.
3. Use hashtags strategically
Stuffing your posts with hashtags makes them hard to read and can be annoying for your audience. But using a handful of strategically chosen, relevant hashtags can help you attract more likes by getting your content in front of more people.
According to the scheduling tool, Later, using at least one hashtag in your posts can up your engagement rate by 12.6%. It’s still an effective way of reaching new audiences and getting more likes.
Most Instagrammers now place hashtags at the bottom of their captions instead of in the main body of the text. Or they may even put them in a separate comment. This keeps your posts readable for your human audience while still getting your content found.
Research which hashtags are popular with your target audience and use them to get more likes on your posts.
You should also keep track of trending hashtags, so you can use relevant ones in your captions. Just be sensitive – brands often get backlash for misusing hashtags relating to social justice or political movements. Check what a hashtag stands for before posting it yourself to make sure it means what you think it does.
4. Tag your location
Instagram gives you the option to add a location tag when you post content. And you should take it up on the offer.
Location tags help your content get found by potential followers in your area. The more people who discover you and realize that you are a local brand, the more likes you will get on your posts.
People also use location tags to research areas they are thinking of visiting. So, there’s another potential audience available who might stumble across your content.
5. Ask your followers to share
Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to grow your brand. It just looks a little different in today’s digital world.
Encouraging your existing followers to share your posts helps you attract more likes. By putting your content in front of their audience, your followers can spread the word for your brand. And, since it’s coming from someone they are already engaged with, their followers are more likely to pay attention to your posts.
You can simply ask your followers to share your posts or to tag one of their friends if they agree with your message.
You should also focus on creating shareable content – infographics, funny memes, educational carousels, quotes, and so on. These are the types of posts that your audience will instantly relate to and want to share with others.
The more they share your posts, the more likes you’ll get.
6. Plan your posting schedule
Although Instagram’s feed is no longer purely chronological, the algorithm does still try to show up-to-date content to its users. That’s especially the case for frequent scrollers or people who don’t follow many accounts.
Instagram’s analytics help you to see when your followers are most likely to be online.
Although you should still experiment with posting times, scheduling your best content for when the most people are logged in gives a higher chance that they will see and like your posts.
7. Monitor your engagement
I’ve saved the most important point for last. You can and should learn a lot about what your audience might like from what they engage with from other brands.
But you’ll only know what works best for you by keeping careful track of how each post performs.
Experiment with different types of graphics and test video versus static images. Tweak your tone of voice. Try long captions and shorter ones.
The more data you can amass on what works well and what doesn’t, the better you can plan your future posts to maximize your likes.
How to Monitor Your Instagram KPIs
Your likes on Instagram are just one KPI that you need to track on that platform.
And Instagram itself is just one marketing channel that you need to monitor to see a larger ROI from your marketing channels.
But how can you keep all your valuable data organized in a way that it’s actually useful for your team or clients?
One method is to use Metrics Watch:
Metrics Watch is one of the best report-building tools on the market. That’s because literally anyone can create comprehensive marketing reports in a matter of minutes, even if you don’t consider yourself tech-savvy.
It has a drag and drop builder that lets you pull data from your favorite marketing channels, such as:
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Facebook (paid and organic)
- Instagram (paid and organic)
- LinkedIn (paid and organic)
- And much more…
But what really makes Metrics Watch stand apart from other tools is the frictionless report sharing.
Most marketing reports are shared via PDF attachment or 3rd-party URLs that require user role management.
This adds a layer of friction that, in my mind, is simply unnecessary.
That’s why Metrics Watch sends detailed reports directly to your recipients’ inbox. No PDFs. No password sharing.
Instead, you can send the data to the people who need it in a format they already know.
It’s one of the reasons why onvista chose Metrics Watch over 20+ other marketing tools.
Want to see it in action for yourself? Click below to start your 100% FREE trial today (no credit card required):
Start Your Free Trial Now!And that’s all for now! I hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, you might also benefit from the following resources:
These posts have everything you need to improve your social media marketing strategy by creating more detailed marketing reports.