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Likes are just one of Instagram’s many metrics that can be used to measure your success. Seeing how many likes a post, carousel or Reel has is one of the quickest ways to tell how well you’re doing.

But just how important are they? Do hidden likes still count? Should you buy likes on Instagram?

To answer that last question: No. Don’t do it. Buying likes on Instagram won’t work. The good news is, we’ve compiled tons of strategies for getting those hearts the legit way — the best things in like are free.

If you’re short on time, this video summarizes the most important tips from the list below:

Do Instagram likes still matter, even if they’re hidden?

They sure do! Likes matter as much as ever.

In case you missed it: Instagram announced in May 2021 that it would give people the option to hide public like counts.

Ever since, there have been two ways to go about hiding likes:

You can hide like counts in your personal Instagram feed (so that you don’t see how many likes others are getting)
You can hide likes on your own posts (so others can’t see how many likes you’re getting)

But whether we can see Instagram likes or not, the Instagram algorithm continues to work like it always has, according to the platform — and likes are one of the success metrics that help it decide whether a piece of content should be displayed to more people.

How to get more likes on Instagram: 24 tactics

1. Use the right hashtags

Using Instagram hashtags will help get your post in front of more users, leading to more likes. Once you use a hashtag, your post will appear on the page for that hashtag. That makes it easier for people to find you (and like your content).

This post from Indochino uses the hashtags #Indochino, #IndochinoWeddings, #WeddingWednesdays and #BlackFriday2022, making it very easy for users searching for wedding content (or Black Friday content) to find them.

2. Tag relevant users

Tagging other users in your IG posts will send those users a notification—and not only will tagged users usually like the post, they’ll also probably share it. More visibility = more potential likes.

This super artsy post required a collaborative effort from a poet, stylist and several ceramicists, and each of the creatives involved are tagged (and mentioned in the caption). This expands the post’s audience to all of the followers of all of the collaborators.

3. Write compelling captions

Instagram is a very visual platform, but it’s still a good strategy to use your words (after all, text is far easier for the algorithm to read than images are). Take time to write thoughtful captions to tell your audience more about your post — it helps to showcase a more well-rounded perspective of your brand. And Instagram users like that.

This reworked clothing maker puts a lot of work into her products, and she shares stories about the items in many of her captions. Her audience not only sees the final product, but also learns about the creation process (for example, that the coat above took over 8 hours to make).

4. Make a Reel

Even if videos aren’t your thing, try making an Instagram Reel. Reels are quickly taking over the platform, and have a higher Instagram engagement rate than still posts (and likes count as part of that engagement).

At first glance, this painter’s work would be better suited to a photo than a video — but instead of just posting a picture of the finished work, the artists showed their process in an interesting and engaging Reel.

5. Run a like-to-win contest

Appeal to the universal human love of free stuff and run a like-to-win contest to really get those <3s rolling in. There’s lots of excellent strategies for running a successful IG contest, but no matter what, you’re guaranteed to earn more likes if that’s part of a contest entry.

This giveaway asks users to like the post (in addition to tagging friends and following the page) in order to enter the contest. Tagging friends is another genius component of Instagram contests—tagged friends will be notified of the post, prompting them to also enter (and like).

6. Post good photos

Eyeroll, right? Obviously, one of the most basic ways you can get more likes on your photos is by posting photos that are good: think high-quality, well-composed, engaging images that are as shareable as possible.

This chicken sandwich is a good example. It really shows off the sando in all its juicy glory—tough for any foodie to resist liking. To create eye-catching, beautiful graphics, try using Canva right in Hootsuite Composer or one of these 21 other Instagram photo editing apps.

7. Post user-generated content

Posting user-generated content (with permission, of course) helps you to foster a stronger relationship with your target audience. Encourage users to post photos of your product and tag your brand, so you have plenty of great content to choose from.

For example, the photo above was originally posted by a vintage clothing brand that tagged Girlfriend Collective, the brand that makes the pocketed skirt. Girlfriend Collective reposted the photo (crediting the original poster) and earned some free—and funny—content showing off their product. It got 25 thousand likes.

You can encourage your followers to post user-generated content by creating a hashtag. That’s what actor Stephanie Hsu did to get people to post their Everything Everywhere All at Once Halloween costumes. Post-Halloween, there were over a thousand posts with that hashtag.

8. Post behind-the-scenes content

Not every photo and video that you post has to be perfect and polished—sharing some of your process, or behind-the-scenes content, gives your followers a more holistic view of your brand.

This carousel post (and the accompanying caption) goes in-depth into the process of how the creator makes her products. Her followers can better appreciate—and like—all of the work that goes into her handmade jewelry.

9. Host a takeover

Ask someone affiliated with your brand (an employee, partner, collaborator etc.) to take over your Instagram for the day and share a more personal side of the work that you do. This opens your content up to a wider audience, as the individual taking over your Instagram account will likely share the content on their personal feed, as well.

For example, the English National Ballet had one of their dancers take over their Instagram and share a little backstage magic. This works in the takeover-er’s (that’s the technical term) favor, too—they’re exposed to your audience, and vice versa.

10. Post content at the right time

You’ll get more likes on your post if you publish it when your followers are online. Use a tool like Hootsuite’s Best Time to Post feature to make sure that you’re posting at the optimum time for your audience.

Use Hootsuite for free for 30 days

11. Embrace the memes

Show a more lighthearted sign of your brand (and convince Gen Z you’re not cringey) by posting relevant, relatable memes.

Memes don’t overtly advertise for your brand, but they’re fun, shareable and—if you do them right—hilarious. Chipotle nails the meme content on their Instagram feed, and earns tens of thousands of likes for their brilliantly bizarre posts.

12. Share posts to your Story

Since many Instagram users tap through stories instead of scrolling through their feed (and the Instagram algorithm sometimes means your posts won’t pop up on their feed, anyway), it’s a good idea to share new photos or reels to your Story.

Source: @hers

When doing this, it’s a good idea to give your followers some motivation to go to the actual post (and like it). This story from Hers shares a new reel with a “new Reel” sticker, encouraging viewers to go to the post itself to see the content. (If you’re looking for 32 Instagram Story ideas, we’ve got you).

13. Collaborate with other creators

No brand is an island. Collaborate with other creators or influencers in your industry to foster your online (and personal) community. In addition to making new friends, collaborating with others also helps further expand your audience and reach.

Nike’s collab with Naomi Osaka is a good example — the two work in related industries, so the partnership makes sense. Nike’s fans are introduced to Osaka, and Osaka’s fans see her support for Nike. It’s a win-win (and a like-like).

14. Be creative

Here’s an obvious but important bit of advice: as a creator, you’ve got to be creative. Sometimes, getting likes is as simple as coming up with a unique or clever idea.

Take this post from Pantone. It’s good marketing for the Pumpkin Pie and Pecan Pie colours, it’s a beautifully composed photo, and the idea overall is creative and fun. It’s got almost 40k likes.

15. Be funny

Why so serious? A little humour goes a long way on social media (see: Embrace the Memes) and it also creates a more well-rounded image of your brand.

The above post from Monday Hair Care nails a humorous voice, and also references the very-popular annual release of Spotify Wrapped. Relatable, funny content (example: “Your morning started with 2,786 hours sitting in your towel after showering) is super likable and super sharable.

16. Engage outside your feed

In its ongoing attempt to give the people what they want, the algorithm prioritizes Instagram posts from accounts that it thinks are “close.” How does it measure closeness? By monitoring how much accounts interact with each other.

So, if you want to expand your reach, and, therefore your chances of getting likes, don’t be a wallflower: go forth and interact. Get generous with the likes and comments.

17. Change things up

If you’re using your Instagram for business, most of your posts have marketing in mind. But it’s good to change things up every once in a while so your feed isn’t just a collage of ads for your brand. Every once in a while, consider posting cool and engaging Instagram content that doesn’t necessarily have to do with selling something.

This post from Brooklyn Candle Studio doesn’t mention candles at all—instead, it celebrates the fall colours in New York. The content is still related to the brand, but it doesn’t directly “sell” anything to followers. It’s a refreshing break from more traditional marketing efforts, and a very likable photo that fits aesthetically with the rest of their content.

18. Give back

We’re not suggesting philanthropy for the sake of Instagram likes—giving back should always be a goal—but sharing the ways in which you’re supporting your community is important.

Along with proving to your followers that you’re in this for more than just the money, you might encourage other brands to do the same.

Cheekbone Beauty’s scholarship fund is a good example. It’s a mindful, socially conscious effort to support their community, and sharing the post on social media is a great way to spread the word. And more likes = more exposure = more applications and more inspiration for other brands.

19. Get on the explore page

The explore page (a collection of public posts and videos) is like a personalized bulletin board, and it’s a great way to showcase your content to a new audience. Getting on the explore page requires employing many of the strategies already mentioned in this post: using those relevant hashtags and geotags, writing descriptive captions and taking great photos.

This post from Trader Joe’s is a good example: there’s hashtags for #TraderJoes, #Brie, #Cheeseboard and #Charcuterie, plus a clear and informative caption. The photo is visually appealing, too—the perfect recipe for a 12k likes.

20. Make great merch

Merch is a good strategy for making money on Instagram, and cool and creative merchandise will earn you likes, too.

A24’s post of their adorable Marcel the Shell figurine earned over 24 thousand likes, as well as over a hundred comments. Not all of those users would have bought the merch, of course, but those likes show support for the brand and give the post a good algorithm boost.

21. Share useful information

Think of this kind of post like a service you’re providing to your followers: what expertise can you offer that will make their lives easier? Posting free and useful information is a great way to get more likes (and more importantly, a great way to share important information).

This Reel sharing Indigenous-owned brands to shop during the holiday season is a perfect example. It’s timely, practical and valuable information communicated clearly and concisely.

22. Watch what works for your competitors

Competition makes you better—especially when you perform a competitive analysis. Think of the superstars in your industry and use their strategies as inspiration for your own.

For instance, if you’re an up-and-coming skincare brand, you might want to take a page out of Fenty Skin’s book. Their Instagram contests, beautiful photography, engaging Reels and more are a great place to start.

23. Share satisfying content

Regardless of your industry or niche, satisfying content almost always does well on Instagram. Think about how you can share elements of your brand that feel gratifying to watch (timelapses of cleaning, packaging, building or destroying things are a good example).

Hydraulic Press Channel is all about this type of content—even if you’re not particularly passionate about hydraulic presses, everyone “likes” seeing Skittles turn into noodles.

24. Tag your location

Geotagging your location is a way for more people to find and like your photos. It’s even more helpful if you’re a brand with a brick and mortar location, as you build up a sense of community with your regulars… and potential regulars. (Just remember to make sure your physical coordinates are correct so that you appear on the map.)

Beaucoup Bakery geotags their (very tasty-looking) photos of treats, making it easy for pastry lovers to find them.

Start building your Instagram presence using Hootsuite. Schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage your audience, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles — all from one simple dashboard. Try it free today.

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The post How to Get More Likes on Instagram in 2023 (They Still Matter) appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

Originally posted on January 9, 2023 @ 9:41 am

36% of the entire global population uses Facebook monthly. And while we’re certain each of those 2.91 billion people has their own unique personality and specific interests (pineapple on pizza? Crocs in regular or sport mode?), we’re also sure that 100% of them have one thing in common: they love free stuff.

Hosting a Facebook contest or giveaway is an excellent (and cheap) strategy for promoting your business—plus, it’s a nice way to give back to your brand’s loyal followers. That said, there are also a lot of ways—from obnoxious to outright illegal—that Facebook contests should not be run.

Keep reading for a step-by-step guide on how to plan and execute a Facebook contest that’ll thrill both your audience and your analytics.

What is a Facebook contest?

A Facebook contest is a contest that involves Facebook users entering to win goods, services or other things of value (for example, clout) provided by the contest organizer. Think of it like a physical draw you’d enter at a supermarket, but instead of participating by writing your name and contact info on a slip of paper, you’re entering electronically, by liking a post or writing a comment.

What is a Facebook giveaway?

A Facebook giveaway is a popular subcategory of Facebook contests — in fact, most of the contests you’ll see on the platform can be classified as a giveaway.

Giveaways always involve the gifting of something of monetary value to the contest winner. For example, a photographer might hold a contest and gift the winner a free photoshoot. Or a candle brand might give away a set of their new Fall scents (pumpkin spice, obviously).

But sometimes, you’ll see Facebook contests that aren’t technically giving anything away—for instance, an animal shelter might hold a “cute dog” contest and simply share a photo of the winner instead of having an actual prize of monetary value. In most cases, though, the words “contest” and “giveaway” are interchangeable.

How to plan and run a Facebook contest

Running a Facebook contest is easy enough, but there’s a few things to know before you embark on your first giveaway — both for the success of your Facebook marketing strategy and to make sure you’re not breaking any of the platform’s rules.

Step 1: Know your goals

Why are you running a Facebook contest in the first place? It’s to improve your social media game, of course—but how?

Ensure you know what your goal is. Building brand awareness, boosting engagement, getting likes, marketing a new product, gaining followers and learning more about your followers are all common goals. When planning your contest, make sure to keep those goals in mind.

If you’re not sure where to start, Hootsuite has a whole online training session on best practices for running social media contests — check it out.

Step 2: Define your Facebook contest rules

You’ll want to set your own rules (for example, no one who works for your company can win — bummer) for your Facebook contest, but you also need to be mindful of the social media platform’s official rules when it comes to giveaways.

Facebook’s most recent updated contest rules break down into three major parts.

You are responsible for running the contest legally. In other words, Facebook isn’t going to help you avoid breaking state, provincial or federal laws by, say, accidentally running a lottery instead of a contest.

Hint: a lottery includes any contest where participants are required to spend money to play, i.e., buy a product.

You are responsible for obtaining from participants “a complete release of Facebook” and an acknowledgement that Facebook has nothing to do with the contest. One tried-and-true place to house all these regulations, notifications, and consents is a giveaway landing page.

Requiring people to use their personal timelines or friend connections to participate is not allowed. Here’s where the old rules fall by the wayside. Asking people to tag a friend or share a Facebook post on their timeline used to be a standard contest requirement. No more!

Here’s the direct word from Meta itself:

“Promotions may be administered on Pages, Groups, Events, or within apps on Facebook. Personal Timelines and friend connections must not be used to administer promotions (ex: “share on your Timeline to enter” or “share on your friend’s Timeline to get additional entries,” and “tag your friends in this post to enter” are not permitted).”

That said, the benefits of these latest changes outweigh the inconveniences.

Those practices were actually pretty annoying to most people. Decreasing the overall pollution on Facebook means a better experience for users, which means people will continue to use the platform (and enter your contests).

So, to recap what’s allowed versus what‘s not:

Acceptable Facebook contest entry requirements:

Like this post
Comment on this post
Like comments on this post (i.e., vote by liking)
Post on this Page’s timeline
Message this Page

Practises that are not allowed (and might result in your contest post being flagged or deleted):

Share this post on your timeline
Tag your friends
Share this post on your friends’ timeline

One grey area is asking people to like your Facebook Business Page. Technically, this isn’t against the rules, but it’s not recommended because there’s no easy way to track the folks who have done so.

That said, you can encourage people to like your Page and enter for a chance to win via a less suspect method.

Step 3: Pick a prize

Pick a prize that aligns with your brand, and is something your followers are going to get excited about. For example, giving away a product from a new launch is a great way to promote the launch (and the non-winners might just buy the product anyway).

Also, take a moment to think logistically about your prize and how you’re going to deliver it to the winner—for instance, an ice cream business is better off mailing a branded t-shirt than ice cream.

Step 4: Create your assets

All the details of your contest can be communicated via plain text, sure. But that’s not very engaging, and people aren’t going to enter if they don’t even notice that you’re holding a giveaway. Whether or not you’re a graphic design pro, there are plenty of apps out there that make photo editing (and adding things like text, stickers and graphics) super easy.

Step 5: Promote your contest in advance

Let your fans know that you’re having a contest by sharing it in advance. You can create hype by sharing info about your prize (or, if you have multiple prizes, you can share one per day leading up to your contest launch).

Use a scheduling tool—like Hootsuite’s calendar, for example—to plan out the posts and make sure you’re posting at the best time of day.

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If you’ve held contests in the past and the winners have shared photos of themselves with the prizes, consider sharing those photos to promote your next contest—just make sure you ask for permission.

Step 6: Post your contest

And, liftoff! Publish your contest on Facebook and watch those entries flood in. Make sure to moderate the contest post and address any questions or confusion that might crop up.

Psst: you don’t have to stick to just Facebook—you can run the same (or a similar) contest on Twitter and/or Instagram and/or Youtube, too.

Step 7: Continue to share your contest leading up to the deadline

Here’s where that scheduling tool comes in handy again. To make sure your contest doesn’t get buried in engagement announcements or minion memes (or whatever else is bogging down your followers’ feeds) by sharing it often.

As you approach the contest deadline, make sure you communicate to your followers that time is running out. A countdown until the entry deadline is a great motivator for lazy entrants—get it before it’s gone!

Step 8: Pick the winners

Are there any rules for picking winners of Facebook contests? Technically, no. There’s nothing stopping you from choosing the person with the coolest name or your friend’s mom to win —except, obviously, your ethics.

Picking a winner totally randomly is the best way to go. There’s plenty of free apps and websites that you can visit to pick a random winner:

Comment picker will pick a random comment from your post (so, it’s a good one to use if folks enter by commenting).
Namepicker and Osortoo also pick a name from the comment section.
Woobox can pick comments or “likers.”

Step 9: Notify the winners and close the contest

Contact your contest winner to let them know they’ve won (tip: try and sound as human as possible in your message, so the winner doesn’t think it’s fake!) and “close” the contest. In other words, edit all of your contest posts and add a line stating that the contest is closed. This lets latecomers know that the contest is over (and makes sure you’re not getting spammed with comments weeks after the winner has been picked).

Source: Facebook

Step 10: Share the winners (with their permission)

This is a bonus step. Once you’ve picked your winner, you can publicly share their username (as long as you’ve laid out that possibility in the contest rules). Or even their photo, with permission. Make sure you get the consent of the winner before doing this.

Source: Facebook

Sharing who won isn’t mandatory, but it does help with your brand’s transparency. Proving you did pick a winner at all ensures that the concert is legit, and you’re not just doing it for the likes or comments.

4 Facebook contest ideas

1. Collaborate with an influencer (or celebrity)

Working with influencers, KOLs or other influential people (like celebrities, if you have that kind of access and budget) is an awesome way to promote your contest. You’re automatically increasing the reach of your contest by appealing to both your followers and your collaborator’s followers.

Kaytee’s recent (if weird) collab with Rainn Wilson is a good example of that.

When collaborating with an influencer, KOL or celebrity for a Facebook contest, remember to:

Choose a person whose brand is in a similar industry to yours, or who your audience can easily relate to.
Do your research on the person—make sure you’re not associating your brand with anyone whose beliefs don’t align with yours.
Read Hootsuite’s best practices for influencer marketing.

2. Make a game of it

Instead of simply asking followers to like or comment on a post to enter your contest, consider making the entry process a little more challenging (and, as a result, more fun).

Fashion e-commerce company Myntra used a simple video graphic for their giveaway—participants had to guess how many wireless headphones appeared in a video in order to enter.

When making a game out of your contest entry, consider this:

Don’t make entering too hard—the point, after all, is to have lots of entries, not to make your contest exclusive. Entering a contest shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes, max.
Make the game related to your brand or to the product you’re giving away (for example, “Spot the difference” between two photos might be an effective, simple contest idea for a photographer).
Be sure the person who wins actually gets the answer correct. The easiest way to do this is to use a random comment picker, then find the comment and verify the answer is right. If it’s not, spin again.

3. Ask your followers for help

You might not think of a Facebook contest as a good source of brand feedback or inspiration, but it absolutely can be. Take this post from a San Francisco pizzeria:

Source: Facebook

The company is seeking out a new name for a product and taking to Facebook to ask for suggestions. Folks who comment with new name ideas are entered to win a $500 gift card plus one pizza a week for a year (whoa).

This is a great way to get your community involved in your business and to create a meaningful connection with your followers.

For this kind of contest, make sure you:

Keep true to your word. If you’re saying that a contest entrant is renaming a product, you’ve got to actually pick from the comments. With that in mind…
Don’t make the contest about something super important. Even if your followers are a community of respectful, reasonable and creative geniuses, you don’t want to give them too much power over your brand (don’t let them rename your whole company, for example).
Share the results! In this kind of contest, you should definitely share what the winning suggestion is. Sharing a couple runner-ups is a good way to get more traffic, too—your honorable mentions are likely to want to share that honor on their own feeds.

4. Encourage followers to share with friends

We already went over the fact that “tag a friend to enter” is technically not allowed—that’s due to Meta’s rules for promotions.

(Note: many, many businesses ignore these rules. In fact, it was tough to find examples of contests that didn’t involve tagging friends for this blog post. Still, those are the rules, and not sticking to them puts you—and your social account—at risk.)

However, there’s a sneaky way around this, as exemplified in this concert ticket contest:

Source: Facebook

Technically, this radio station didn’t ask folks to tag their friends—the vague language of “let us know who you would bring” means that hopeful participants could enter by simply commenting something like “my mom.” But people tagged their friends anyway, which put the contest on the friends’ radar, as well.

For this kind of contest:

Make sure you don’t explicitly ask followers to tag their friends.
Ask them a question that involves naming another person—for example, “tell us who you’d share this romantic dinner for 2 with!” or “tell us who you’d convince to come bungee jumping!”

Remember, it’s also against Meta’s giveaway rules to ask followers to share the post on their own or a friends’ timeline in order to enter the contest.

Bonus: 3 Facebook giveaway ideas

1. Give away a product from an industry partner

Even if you’re not a brand that makes an easily gift-able product, you can still host an awesome giveaway—you just need to collaborate with another business. Not only does this mean you can pick a prize that your followers truly want, but it also creates positive relationships with other folks in your industry.

For example, Modern Cat magazine’s most obvious giveaway prize would be a subscription to their magazine. Instead, this giveaway is a partnership with a cat food brand. It’s hosted by the magazine and gives away a product that the readers of the magazine will find appealing.

Source: Facebook

When collaborating with another brand for a giveaway, be sure to:

Partner with a brand that aligns with your business values, and has a similar audience (Modern Cat wouldn’t partner with a dog food brand).
Make sure the terms of the giveaway are clear, and sort out logistics—will the price be delivered to you to pass forward, or straight to the giveaway winner, for example?
Consider including the other brand in the giveaway entry method: a like or comment on their Facebook Page can count as a single entry, too, which helps to further promote your contest and solidify your relationship.

2. Celebrate a milestone

You don’t need an occasion to give a gift, but it’s always nice to root your Facebook giveaway to something brand-related—for example, hitting a career or social media milestone. Common milestone examples are gaining a certain amount of followers or the anniversary of founding your business. Professional soccer player Katriina Talaslahti hosted a giveaway to celebrate hitting 20 thousand followers.

For this kind of giveaway, make sure you:

Frame the giveaway as a gift to your followers to thank them for your support
Pick a professional or personal milestone… or both. In the above example, Katriina launches the giveaway to celebrate hitting 20k followers (professional) and picks a winner on her birthday (personal).
If you’re celebrating a regular milestone (for example, a business anniversary that comes around, well, annually) consider marking your calendar for upcoming years—you can make your giveaway a tradition.

3. Jump on a trending topic or current event

Making your contest relate to a timely event helps to communicate urgency. You want people to enter now, while they can, and tying your campaign to something that is temporary is an effective strategy. Good news: this can be a loose tie; it’s all about how you sell it.

For example, there’s this winery giveaway that’s linked to a football game:

Source: Facebook

And this pet store giveaway that’s linked to “back to school” season.

The winery isn’t really related to the football game, and dogs don’t go to school (or wear backpacks, usually) but both of these brands linked their contests to current events in a creative way.

For this kind of contest, keep this in mind:

Choose an event that your followers are likely to care about. For example,the winery above chose a sports team that their community supported, and the pet store chose “back to school” for pet owners who think of their pets as children (so, most of them).
Plan far enough ahead of the event that you’re not scrambling to make assets. Keep stress levels low by planning weeks before whatever current event you’re aligning your contest with (for example, plan your Valentine’s Day giveaway waaay before February 13).

Manage your Facebook presence alongside your other social media channels using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule posts, share video, engage your audience, and measure the impact of your efforts. Try it free today.

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The post 7 Creative Facebook Giveaway Ideas for 2023 [+ Examples] appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.

Originally posted on January 9, 2023 @ 9:41 am