With more than 150 million users, Instagram has become the most popular and widely used social network. Brands, businesses, and influencers leverage this platform to expand their reach and maximize social influence. Instagram likes are an essential part of the Instagram algorithm and play a significant role in what posts appear in the users’ feeds. Although Instagram allows users to hide like counts, Instagram post likes are important for improved visibility and higher engagement.
In this post, you’ll discover the science behind likes and strategies you can implement to increase likes on your posts and pages.
Psychology Behind Instagram Post Likes
Whenever any person notices many likes on an Instagram post, their brain starts a significant increase of the dopamine hormone. This hormone is commonly known as the hormone of happiness. Many people get easily and quickly addicted to dopamine stimulation.
Moreover, likes provide users with an excellent way to show their appreciation and approval for a post. Most users show their appreciation for a post by hitting the like or tiny heart button without leaving a comment.
FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out is another psychological phenomenon that is caused primarily by social media. FOMO is developed when any person is concerned with the virtual (online) life of another person.
Likes on Instagram act as a silent sign of online presence. Sometimes this action becomes automatic on social networks, making users click the like button without even paying attention to the content. Lifestyle bloggers are generating content regularly thus their followers become dependent on accessing their content and are afraid to lose it.
Likes are beneficial not just for the audience but for content creators, influencers, or businesses also as a large number of likes provide them satisfaction and happiness. It shows the audience support and approval for their posts and makes them believe that they are successfully catering to their audience’s needs.
This significant metric works as a friendly tap on the back by friends and family members, allowing creators to feel they are doing something that is approved by society. Therefore, gaining lots of likes is a primary need for businesses and influencers thinking of expanding their impact on the audience and the entire platform.
Best Ways to Receive More Likes on Instagram Naturally
- Use right hashtags
Hashtags are the keywords or phrases used by Instagram users to search for any content on the platform. By adding popular and relevant hashtags in your content and caption, you can improve the searchability of your content and let it appear in the feeds of more users. Find the most common hashtags that your target audience uses the most. Also, look at the hashtags your competitors are using to reach the same audience. You can leverage online hashtag research tools to find the right hashtags quickly.
- Add Instagram content to the email newsletter
If you are running a business, you might be using email as a significant part of your online marketing campaign. Including your Instagram content in your weekly email newsletter can keep your audience engaged over time and drive free Instagram likes and followers.
- Post multiple reels
Most social media users are interested in enjoying short-form videos over longer videos. So, you could be missing the most effective strategy if you are not using reels. Creating and uploading multiple reels can help you go viral on the platform by improving your visibility and reach. Stay updated about the new trends and try to create reels on the trending topics. Experiment with unique ideas while ensuring entertainment and fun for the audience.
- Add multiple images in a post
Instead of posting multiple photos separately, you can combine them in a single post. According to a study report, it has been found that adding multiple images receives 25% more comments and 20% more likes than photos that are single. By combining several images, you can encourage more comments, likes, and more followers. You can share customer-centric content i.e. posts that give value to the target audience. It keeps users engaged in your profile and encourages them to share it with others.
- Create Instagram guides
In mid-2020, Instagram Guides was launched to create useful guides or resources that can make product or recommendation discovery easier for followers. It may include public figures, products, brands, influencers, and more published on the platform. Basically, these guides are an integration of blog posts and carousel posts that allow users to share more information. Additionally, you can use Instagram guides as the most powerful source for boosted engagement.
- Share Instagram posts on other platforms online
Just like Instagram, many other social networks feature a bigger news feed. For example, YouTube, Facebook, etc. You can share your Instagram photos or videos on these networks to turn your audience on those platforms into your Instagram followers. Alongside social media channels, you can promote your Instagram content on your website to promote your Instagram profile and drive more followers and likes.
- Show engagement with others by liking or commenting on their posts
The more you interact with your audience, the better they feel connected to you and engage more with your account. So, interact more with other users by liking their posts, leaving interesting comments, and responding to their comments. However, find and interact with users who post content similar to the ones you like or comment on. When users will notice your engagement, they will explore your profile and when they like your style, they will be more interested to follow you and discover more similar content.
Conclusion
At the bottom line, the power of likes on Instagram is enormous. However, to get the most out of this metric, you must use it strategically and evaluate when you are receiving a large number of likes and on which types of posts. The strategies mentioned above have proved to be highly effective in increasing the likes count on Instagram organically.
