15 Proven Strategies To Boost Reach on Instagram

Instagram reach is one of the most important – and overlooked – metrics that show how well your content is performing. If you’re posting and not getting views, why?

We’re going to explain how to increase reach on Instagram using proven strategies that work time and time again so that you get views.

You want your followers, and others, to:

But if you have poor reach, you don’t have a chance of reaching any of these goals. Let’s change that.

What is Instagram Reach?

You’ll find dozens of metrics and terminology that you must know when mastering social media. Reach is the total number of views your content receives.

If you post on Instagram, you can use Instagram Insights to analyze:

Why Does Reach Matter?

Instagram recently wrote a blog post on how to increase Instagram reach, and while their tips were subpar, they did give insights into their algorithm. The platform uses Reach as a way to say that the algorithm recommended your content to someone: followers and non-followers.

And purely based on numbers, if you have 100k reach instead of 10k, you have ten times the number of people who may:

Reach is like a commercial for your posts, showcasing them to people who will then decide on the next steps they want to take, such as following you.

If you have good Reach, this means that your content is being seen in people’s Feeds or on the Explore page. People may also be looking at your Stories or at your Reels, which is exactly what you want.

Think of the last person you followed. Why did you first see their content and learn of their profile? Their content reached you.

15 Actionable Strategies to Increase Your Reach on Instagram

I’m going to be honest: you’ll be overwhelmed with all of these actionable strategies. What we recommend is that you spend time implementing each idea, one-by-one, and over time, you’ll start seeing your Reach increase.

Instagram is a long-term game – play it right.

1. Write Captions That Engage Viewers After the Hook

Videos need captions. You should add captions after your video’s hook to keep people engaged and watching your content. Random, hook-worthy captions will pique a person’s interest and lead to them watching your Reel or video for longer.

But you can also have captions (basically your text description) for your:

You’ll find studies on engagement show two major, extreme trends. Captions perform best when:

1. They’re 20 characters or less, OR

2. They’re 2,000+ characters

There’s no in-between.

So, what can you do? Experiment with your captions and see what works best for your audience. What most people don’t realize is that the Instagram algorithm will parse your captions and use them to help others discover your content.

When creating your captions, you’ll want to spend time making them catchy and telling a story. Businesses must keep their captions professional and focus on spelling and grammar (with rare exceptions if you’re an edgy company).

2. Add Trending Audio to Your Videos and Reels

Trending audio is something we’ve talked about a lot in our guides. Instagram users are addicted to good audio, and they’ll even search for certain audio that people are using and view their Reels just because they use the audio.

These audio enthusiasts will expand your Reach, and many will end up following your account.

We recommend:

If you follow these steps, you’ll be able to view all of the latest, trending audio that’s available. 

Be sure to select audio that you know will resonate with your audio. If you watch a Reel or video with audio, you can see audio used right underneath the creator’s name. Tap the audio name to see more information.

3. Create Conversation-Starting Videos

Videos – and Reels – are perfect for forcing any type of action on the viewer. You can ask for engagement in video, but you can’t do the same with images or carousels, although you can always add a call-to-action to your captions.

But for Reels and videos, you can boost engagement and Reach (the algorithm will recommend your content more if it has high engagement), by doing this:

If you want to expand your Reach, your content must start conversations. Create every video, Reel and captions will a purpose.

4. Focus on the First 3 Seconds of Your Videos and Reels

Hooks are the strategies that we recommend to get 1 million views on Reels. Why? You need to have something that is so attention-grabbing that potential viewers will spend time watching your video.

What can be this enticing?

It depends.

You may show the results of a fitness journey and then show people how you reach your goal. You can also start with the results, such as a car tire being flat and cops on the side of the road, before saying, “How did I get here?”

A hook can also explain things, such as “You’ll lose 10 pounds if you follow these tips,” or, “did you know that the galaxy just created a new mystery?” Any type of video content can have a hook. You just need to extract it to create one worthy of people watching.

5. Tell a Story Through Your Carousel

If you’re using multiple forms of content (next on our list), you’ve certainly noticed that there’s a lot of power in carousels. You can tell an entire story through your carousel, and we recommend that you do.

But how?

You’re not a storyteller, but you can be. If you begin telling stories to increase your Reach on Instagram, you’ll find people will begin following you and viewing more of your content.

You should start by:

Once you create your carousel, add hashtags and captions, you’ll want to preview it and see if it tells the story that you want. If possible, have other people view the carousel for you and give you their opinion.

6. Create Multiple Forms of Content

Instagram is a business. Creators, as bad as it sounds, are a product that Instagram sells to advertisers. It’s really that simple. When you understand this, you’ll realize that every type of content has a purpose.

And you never know what Instagram will prefer tomorrow that it may not prefer today.

We saw this with Reels. Reels were introduced as a way to compete with TikTok. Instagram preferred them and showed them excessively using their algorithm. Today, it prefers images and carousels.

So, what should you do? Create:

Start going Live, too. If you begin experimenting with every type of content, Instagram’s algorithm will notice. Then, you’ll have assets that are recommended more often to people and expand your Reach.

7. Share Posts in Your Stories

A simple hack to increase your Instagram Reach is to share your posts in your Story. Your Story gets the most love on the app because it’s shown at the very top and it is impossible for it to be missed.

Chances are, you’re like me and have mindlessly scrolled from one Story to the next without even realizing it.

If you post something new on your profile, be sure to:

Following this simple trick is exactly what influencers on your Instagram are already doing and it works insanely well.

8. Add Interactive Elements to Your Stories

Shares and engagement are crucial for expanding your Reach because they’ll help you gain favor with the algorithm. But how do you increase them? One trick when creating a Story is to add interactive elements to it.

You don’t have to add these elements into every Story, but when you add them into the right Story, you’ll be able to:

When creating your next Story, you should try adding interactive elements into it. Small interactions like this will help you create a loyal base of followers that will continue to view your content and help increase its Reach.

9. Set Your Profile to Public

Is your Instagram profile private? I had mine set to private for ages, and of course, my Reach was abysmal. When you set your profile to public, you’re explicitly allowing Insta to share your content with others.

It takes just a moment to make your profile public:

Once you do this, just remember that anyone will be able to see your content, even if they don’t follow you.

10. Collaborate with Other Creators

Collabs are your chance to reach multiple communities and build valuable connections with other creators.

Collaborative posts allow you and other creators to team up and share your posts across all of your feeds, instantly expanding your Reach.

To make the most of collab posts, make sure that you’re working with other creators who have similar audiences. 

You can collaborate with up to 20 different creators, so you have the potential to reach up to 20 different communities with a single post. That’s powerful – and a quick way to skyrocket your Reach.

11. Post Often and at the Right Time

Want to really skyrocket your Reach? Start posting more often and at the right time. If you’re not mindful of your posting time, you may be missing out on opportunities to maximize your Reach.

Because if your content is published when your audience is asleep, no one will see it.

Instagram’s algorithm favors new content, and if you post when your audience is online, the algorithm is more likely to push your posts to new users.

When should you post? That depends on your industry and audience. But we’ve found that posts perform best when posted at the following times:

You can also use your Instagram Insights to find out when your audience is most active. Make sure that you take their location into account.

12. Create a Reach-Enhancing Hashtag Strategy

If you want to expand your Reach, you need to use every tool at your disposal – and that includes hashtags. 

Hashtags are still an effective way to get your content discovered by non-followers.

The key is to be strategic.

If you’re struggling to find hashtags, you can use our Instagram hashtag generator tool.

13. Put UGC in the Spotlight

One of the most overlooked ways to boost Reach is to spotlight UGC (user-generated content). For example, you may share a testimonial from a customer or a photo a follower shared that’s relevant to your brand.

When you spotlight content from other users, they’re likely to return the favor – and to share your spotlight post. Your audience will love it, too, because you’re giving your followers some love. 

Sharing user-generated content is a great way to expand your Reach overnight and build deeper connections with your followers at the same time.

14. Give Boosted Posts a Try

Want a quick and easy way to amplify your Reach? If you have the budget, you can try boosting one of your posts. 

A boosted post is, essentially, an ad. You’re paying Instagram to show your content to more people. But unlike a traditional ad, you don’t have to go through the hassle of creating unique visuals and copy.

Just choose a piece of content you’ve published and tap the Boost post button. Instagram will promote your existing post to other users.

One advantage of boosted posts is that you have more options for targeting, so you can get your content in front of the right people.

15. Post Unique Content on Your Instagram

If you’re copying other creators or just sharing content you’ve created for other platforms, your Reach may take a hit.

Sharing content across platforms can be beneficial, but if all of your content is just rehashed from your TikTok or Facebook accounts, people will get bored.

And if you’re just copying other people’s content, you’ll turn your audience away.

Focus instead on creating unique content for your Instagram account. 

Ask yourself: what’s my account’s unique selling point? What’s my aesthetic, style, and tone? Create an image for your Instagram account and treat it like a brand.

Along with having a unique aesthetic and style, make sure that you’re also focusing on unique topics. Give a new perspective on an old idea or share something new you’ve discovered.

Find ways to catch people’s attention with your content and keep pushing the envelope to create unique posts that your audience loves.

Why is My Instagram Reach Declining?

Most Instagrammers will face this problem at least once. Your account’s Reach may be on the decline for a number of reasons:

Your Reach may also be declining because you’re not as active anymore and your audience has lost interest.

The great news is that you can use the tips in our guide to turn this trend around and increase your Reach on Instagram.

Will a Greater Reach on Instagram Make Me More Money?

Yes. The larger your audience and the higher your engagement rate, the more money you can make on Instagram. In fact, audience size is one of the key metrics that brands consider when deciding whether to work with an influencer. 

And if you’re a brand, having a greater Reach will mean driving more traffic to your site and higher sales.

No matter how you cut it, increasing your Reach will translate to more money.

What is the Average Reach on Instagram?

According to Statista, Instagram posts with 50K-45 million followers reached 36,464 people in 2024. Experts say that accounts with 500K followers should aim for a reach rate of 8%, which is about 40,000 people.

Because every account has a different number of followers, it’s best to aim for a reach rate (percentage of your followers) rather than a static figure.

Are Reach and Impressions the Same Thing?

No. Reach and impressions are similar but different. Reach refers to the number of people who see your content. Impressions are the number of times your content has been displayed, regardless of whether it was clicked. 

So, your post may get 5K impressions but only have a Reach of 2K. This means that your photo or video was shown in the search, Explore page or feed 5K times, but only 2K people actually viewed it.