Useful Suggestions on How to Get Free Instagram Likes
Instagram likes used to be the most important metric for nearly a decade, but in 2020 the platform decided to hide the number of likes under posts. Surely, these heart-shaped marks of attention to the post for a long time served solely for gaining more confidence to a lot of people, but are they an important marketing metric?
Well, yes and no. Instagram algorithm definitely uses likes to track how each post is perceived by the audience, so the smart feed can show the most-liked posts to other people, potentially growing your audience. Also, likes used to be a part of the Engagement Rate (ER) metric, but now their use in it can be somewhat relevant because people nowadays tend to like everything in their feed as they're scrolling by.
But what about Instagram hiding likes?
Yes, likes are not displayed anymore in the majority of accounts. But this doesn't mean they're no longer used as an important part of metrics. This was done solely on the purpose to take care of people's mental health and stop pointless competitions to gain more likes on the platform.
Some influencers point out that their followers started to like their posts less often now. What does it mean from the marketing point of view? It means that Instagram algorithms slowly start to make likes more important for optimizing people's feeds.
Basically, the role of likes stays the same with only one tiny (but nevertheless important) difference — now you worry less about gaining fewer likes than “this one” influencer.
How to get Instagram likes?
There are plenty of ways to increase the number of likes when it's written in your marketing strategy. We'll start with the easiest and free ones, slowly moving to the advanced techniques and paid services.
Choose a good posting time
Post your content when most of your followers can potentially be online. For this, you'll have to have a bit of insight into what your audience is usually up to. For people 21-35, post in the morning or at the end of the working day — these are the times when working people usually check their Instagram feeds.
You can get your audience's activity info from the Instagram Insights page.
Post on a regular basis
If you're posting your content on a regular basis, Instagram Smart Feed algorithms will see your profile as an active one, showing your content to more people and ranking your posts higher in feeds.
The more likes you get this way, the more chances your post ends up in the “Recommended” section, providing you even more likes.
Be consistent with your posting — this strategy not only allows you to earn more trust points from your followers but also to significantly increase the number of likes.
Post good content
The definition of “good” is extremely ambiguous, but you have to figure out yourself what your followers will like. We can only advise you to stick to the main rules:
- post images and videos of high quality — choose aspect ratios and resolutions for photo & video content correctly;
- make sure this content is catered to the right audience — it seems a bit odd to post dad jokes on the account of beauty salon;
- don't opt for stock photos — people know when you post generic images instead of original ones, and this will inevitably decrease your likes ratio.
Our best advice: create a thought-through content plan and stick to it.
Use hashtags and geotags
Tagging your content gives it an opportunity to be seen by significantly more people on this platform.
Adding a geotag ties your post to a certain location — we advise you to use the popular one near your business location. This should be done for a few reasons:
- Algorithms. Yes, they work here, too, showing your post to the people nearby that place you tagged on the post.
- Search patterns. When someone wants to find a service or people nearby, they go to the “Discover” tab, choose the “Places” option and select the location they want to find the service or people at.
Geotags also work with Stories, but that's a story for another article.
Hashtags are great for letting people discover your service or products! The more exclusive your hashtag is, the more potential customers it will reach. For example, to book an appointment for brow lamination, a person from Manhattan will most likely type in the search bar #browlaminationmanhattan than #browlamination.
Create targeted hashtags, and you'll reach people who are interested in your content.
Write engaging captions
Despite popular stereotypes, people love to read captions. Create funny, explanative, or engaging descriptions to make people engage with your content and share it with friends. Don't forget to add a call-to-action line for selling or promo posts. Do it correctly:
- place a captivation headline;
- wake the interest for the product or your brand with the next few lines;
- ensure the reader that you can solve their problem with your product or services;
- encourage them to hit the like button and buy from you or book an appointment.
Focus on your audience's needs and problems and propose a solution — that's what it takes to make them sure they need your brand in their lives.
Like other people's posts
Select a pool of accounts that might become interested in your company and like their posts. Beware of restrictions!
Instagram community guidelines state that you can like only one post per 30 seconds, no more than liking 1000 posts at one go — and after liking session like that you'll have to take a 24-hour break, or else your profile will be marked as suspicious and you won't be able to like posts for a few days.
There are a few smart services that allow you to like posts automatically, minding these restrictions, so you won't have to do it manually. Soc-Promotion is one of these services — you can receive likes from real people in the amount and at the speed you set individually.
Don't be afraid to experiment
Don't get attached to the same marketing tools and techniques you used in 2018. Try new content types, new engagement techniques, experiment with IGTV or Reels, and track your audience's response. It will take you some time to gather enough data to analyze the reaction, but refreshing your profile style will serve your brand really well.
Ever tried to communicate with your audience through games or Stories stickers? Try it now — implement game mechanics to your post and see the response. Do a Q&A session in Stories using the “Questions” sticker or post some content generated directly by your customers — reviews, praises, opinions.
Use cross-liking services
These websites and apps are in most cases free to use. After signing up, you'll have to like other people's posts in exchange for them liking yours — this way you can regulate the rate of gaining new likes to your posts.
Don't forget about community rules on liking amounts and speed, otherwise, you'll be restricted from liking posts for a few long days.
Make use of Instagram trends
Your marketing strategy should be up-to-date if you want to gain more likes and conversions. No need to use all of the trending tools or techniques, but some of them can be relevant for your brand's marketing:
- IGTV or Reels to explore new types of content and get more activity from your audience;
- posting user-generated content to extend your community and show that your business is close with their customers;
- posting cool, but not too-perfect content to build a sincere community revolving around your brand;
- collaborations with micro-brands and nano-influencers can help you share your values and promote your company in the local community of people who share these values with you.
Encourage your followers to engage
Use contests or gamified techniques to encourage your audience to like your posts and tag their friend in the comments below them. This will help you accomplish two goals:
- spread brand awareness among the people who have a high chance of becoming your customers;
- make more people like your posts, boosting activity in your account.
We highly recommend creating entertaining, but easy contests catered only for people interested in your company's products or services. Otherwise, you'll temporarily gain more followers and likes, but these people will unfollow you as soon as the contest ends.
Create a collaboration
Working with other brands or influencers is not only fun — but it also draws to you an organic audience, interested in your content and your services.
Choose your partners correctly — for better results, partnering influencers or brands should have similar demographics to your business. Also, keep in mind that accounts with more followers than you can give you better results.
Make your collaboration campaign a unique one — it can be a likes exchange campaign with small prizes, art projects, or mutual advertising. The main rule is to make it fun and engaging for the profit of both accounts.
Place an Instagram ad
This one is a paid feature. You'll need to use Facebook Business Manager or Instagram Promotions to place an ad on your potential followers' feeds or stories. Target your audience correctly using guides or service suggestions and create a sustainable budget to cover most of the targeted audience.
If your main goal is to gain more likes, we recommend you to place an advertising post on the feed — this way you'll both get more likes on the promo post and encourage people to like more of your other posts.
Use a like-gaining service
There are a lot of websites that can provide you with a lot of likes — each one has its own toolset and billing rates.
Some of these services can be dangerous as they gather user data including data for Instagram authorization, so beware of them — use only reliable ones with real reviews and safe websites.
Soc-Promotion allows you to be in control of the number of likes your profile gets. You can set the pace and amount of likes individually. We guarantee you a safe growth of likes from real people. Also, our service never collects your authorization data — we respect your digital safety. Choose a billing plan most suitable for you and your marketing goals, and start gaining more likes now.
Conclusion
We can't say likes are not important anymore. Yes, there is a shift in metrics priority. However, if a few years ago the number of likes provoked mental health issues in some people and was only used as a competitive metric, nowadays likes are heavily used by algorithms to promote posts and profiles in feed, even though being hidden from people.
Should you pay more attention to likes on your account? You can at least try it and compare results — likes can be really useful to reach your Instagram marketing and business goals.
Taylor Brooks
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Also read:
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▷ 10 Cool Features to Use Instagram Stories Like a Pro: How do Instagram stories work?