Would you like to increase your engagement rate on all your posts? Do you want to get more likes on Instagram? Grow your following on Instagram?

The biggest currency on Instagram is Likes. When you get more likes, your post will appear first in users’ news feeds. Earning more Likes will also help ensure that your future posts get more exposure as followers grow. The platform’s algorithm works to show users more of what they have previously shown interest in.

More Likes can also provide a number of other benefits. These include more followers and traffic, as people will see your account if they like what you share. If planned correctly, “Likes” can become an important component of your strategy to grow followers on Instagram.

To help you take advantage of these benefits, we wrote this guide on how to get more Likes on Instagram.

Instagram Tips

Here are 7 tips:

#1 Share photos that work

Images or photos are probably the most important part of your Instagram strategy, so let’s start with them.

While sharing an image to get more Likes, think about what drives your followers to “Like” posts. Look at your old posts and analyze them. See which ones got the most Likes.

If you have a new account, or haven’t posted much in the past, you should keep an eye on other people’s or competitors’ accounts and see what they’re posting. Once you have an idea of the type of content that gets Likes, you can create similar ones and share them.

Generally, there are two types of content you want to share on your main Instagram feed: photos and designed/edited images.

“Mayfair” filter or no filter

If you share the photo by itself, just add a filter and it’s ready to post. A Track Maven study found that, to get the most interactions, you should either use the Mayfair filter or no filter at all (as posts without filters get the second best performance).

But if you are sharing a pre-designed image, you should consider adding some text overlay, such as a quote or a fact, or something entertaining that will get you more likes. Entertaining and useful content tends to perform well.

#2 Post during the weekend

When it comes to email, tweets, Facebook posts, etc., there are days of the week when people pay more attention, but the opposite is true for Instagram.

In the same Track Maven study, they looked at which days of the week people posted more often and on which days they performed better. It turns out that users tend to post more on Thursdays, but usually Saturday and Sunday posts yield better results in likes.

#3 Consider the time of the day as well

For your post to get more likes, it must be seen by as many people as possible. If you upload a photo in the early hours of the morning, your post will be seen by far fewer people and therefore will get fewer “likes”.

You can always try different days and times until you hit the nail on the head and see what works best for you.

According to Sprout Social, the best time to publish is between 11am and 3pm. Otherwise, it would be Monday, which is the day that generates the worst interactions.

#4 Use “Call-to-action” and hashtags

Want more likes? Ask for them.

Social Bakers found that tweets were retweeted more when people asked for retweets.

So you can leverage the same tactic on Instagram to get more likes.

Regarding hashtags, the truth is that there is no definitive set of hashtags that you can copy and paste every time for different posts and get great results.

Hashtagging may seem like a useless tool, but it’s definitely part of a good strategy. Why? Because hashtags can help you reach new people, connect with others, create contests for your profile, etc.

Instagram allows 30 hashtags per post. Our advice is to use 5 hashtags with a high volume and 5 hashtags with a small volume per category. This way, you can increase your chances of appearing in the explore feed on Instagram.

#5 Share your content on other social media

If you have followers on other social media platforms, it would help to re-share your Instagram posts on these social networks.

This type of sharing will drive your followers to your Instagram account, which will get you more likes.

Instagram allows you to automatically share posts to Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter when you publish them. It’s not always effective, as posts are displayed differently on each network based on image and character restrictions, etc. But it’s another approach worth investigating.

#6 Like other posts

Neil Patel started randomly liking posts from people he didn’t follow on Instagram. He found that for every 100 likes he did he received about 21 likes and 6 followers back. This strategy continued to work even if he didn’t follow these people back.

This strategy depends on your business goals. It may be worth scrolling through the popular Instagram feed and feeds of popular hashtags, and “Like” posts that you find entertaining or useful, or from profiles that are related to your business. This will help you gain Likes and grow followers on Instagram, which can expand your reach.

Comments and interaction with your followers

The more you interact with other users and the more Likes you give out, the more chances you have of them seeing your profile and giving you likes back. So take advantage of this and spend a few minutes interacting with your followers. Identify all the valuable comments and questions and answer them individually.

If you are just starting out and have a minimum number of followers, you can do this in no time.

If you don’t have a large audience… Go on the offensive

Unless you already have a large audience, it’s up to you to take the first step. Check the posts of the people you follow, choose three photos and leave comments. Don’t make generic “nice photo” comments, but comment on something that stands out and shows you’ve thought about it. This will put you on people’s radar and, over time, should lead to return engagement.

#7 Enter in contests

If you’re a business, “Like” to win contests are a simple way to drive engagement.

For these types of contests, all you have to do is post a photo on Instagram and ask people to like the post to enter. Since this is a simple process, it’s likely that a lot of people will do it, especially if the prize is good. If your engagement is suffering, this is an easy way to increase it.

Know more about social media contests and how to create them

For best results, run a “Like” and “Tag to Win” contest where you ask users to not only like the post, but also tag someone they know in the comments. Some of the people tagged will also “Like” the post and tag someone else.

A “Like” and “Tag” contest will increase both “Likes” and comments.