What Is Instagram Reach and How to Increase It? 5 Ideas for 2024

Instagram reach is an intriguing metric to discuss. However, it often finds itself in a murky space—either receiving undue attention or being entirely neglected.

Let me explain: Instagram reach is a valid goal, but it’s often given more importance than it deserves.

Conversely, it’s also frequently ignored altogether.

In the first case, reach is seen as a measure of success for small campaigns: “If a lot of people saw it, it worked!”

In the second case, reach is entirely overlooked, with conversions being the only metric that matters for an ad’s success.

Both approaches have critical flaws in analysis. In this article, we’ll delve into why that is and explore Instagram reach in greater detail, along with practical tips to improve it.

Shall we?

What Is Instagram Reach?

Instagram’s most basic metric is reach. It determines how many people—or unique accounts—have seen your post.

This metric applies to both organic posts on the platform and sponsored ones.

Reach is crucial for social media professionals because it indicates whether your content efforts are resonating with your followers.

Interestingly, reach often gets tangled in debates about vanity metrics.

For example, it’s common to hear that follower count is a vanity metric.

But that’s only the case if it’s disconnected from other metrics—such as reach.

What’s the point of having 100,000 followers if each post only gets 200 views?

Ultimately, Instagram reach serves to show whether your posts are being seen. It also informs other metrics and analyses, which we’ll discuss throughout the article.

But for now:

What’s the Difference Between Reach and Impressions?

This is where things get slightly tricky—but not too much.

Every time your content is shown to someone, even if it just passes through their feed, your reach increases. However, this is an individual metric—each account can only count once toward your reach.

This makes sense, as users can only be “reached” by a post once since they’re singular individuals.

Impressions, on the other hand, are a different metric. They indicate how many times a post or ad was viewed in total, regardless of repeat views.

This becomes even clearer when considering Instagram ads.

When you see an ad on Instagram, you’re unlikely to see it just once in a day.

Chances are, you’ll view it at least three times in a single day and about ten times over the week.

Impressions account for this: how many times a post or ad was viewed, repeated views included.

What Does “Accounts Reached” Mean on Instagram?

Building on the point above, Google Analytics offers similar metrics.

For instance, it differentiates between “users” and “new users,” showing how many people visited your site for the first time versus returning visitors.

It also distinguishes between “pageviews” and “users”—mirroring the difference between reach and impressions. “Pageviews” show how often a page was viewed (impressions), while “users” indicate how many individuals actually visited your site (reach).

Thus, “accounts reached” is synonymous with reach. Both terms signify unique views of your post.

What Exactly Counts as a View?

This is the million-dollar question. If Instagram reach indicates how many times a post was viewed, what qualifies as a view?

For static posts, such as photos on the Feed, simply displaying the post counts as a view.

For Reels, the criteria differ slightly. Here, a view is counted only when someone presses play and watches the video for at least three seconds.

This applies whether the Reel appears in the Feed or is watched directly on the profile. It requires both the play action and three seconds of viewing time.

Platforms like YouTube and Facebook, also owned by Meta, follow a similar principle.

Got it? Now that we’ve touched on the differences between the Feed and Reels, let’s dive deeper into Instagram’s algorithm.

How Does the Instagram Algorithm Work?

Understanding Instagram’s algorithm is vital because Instagram reach isn’t just about ads.

For organic posts, you’re entirely dependent on Instagram’s algorithm to boost your reach.

Or rather, the algorithms—plural.

The recommendations throughout this article and in the following sections focus on what Instagram algorithms deem relevant posts—making them more likely to succeed.

But first, let’s break down how these algorithms work. There are three primary ones:

• The Feed Algorithm: This shows content from profiles users follow, ads, and Instagram’s recommendations. Most people think of “the algorithm” as just these recommendations. However, even the order of posts in the Feed is controlled by it. For instance, will you see a suggested post or one from someone you already follow first? The Feed algorithm decides, based on your past interactions.
  
• The Reels Algorithm: A large portion of Reels content comes from accounts users haven’t seen before. This algorithm prioritizes such content to help users discover new creators.
  
• The Explore Algorithm: Similar to the Reels algorithm, it prioritizes content from accounts users haven’t interacted with yet. According to Instagram, its main function is to introduce users to new creators.
  
• The Stories Algorithm: Users only see Stories from accounts they follow and ads—no suggestions here.

The challenge in discussing Instagram’s algorithms is that this is almost all the information available.

Their true workings are a proprietary secret of Meta, kept under wraps.

We do, however, have a bit more detail—emphasis on “a bit”—on how the recommendation system operates.

How Does Instagram’s Recommendation System Work?

The exact functioning of Instagram’s recommendation system is somewhat mysterious; no one knows precisely everything that goes on in the algorithms.

However, Instagram itself shares some insights with us—not everything, but at least a little.

Instagram’s recommendation system analyzes a user’s interactions to determine what to recommend next.

The algorithms consider what the person has liked, which pages they follow, how quickly they like and engage with content, how much time they spend watching videos, which content they ignore, and more.

We don’t know all the factors, and, in fact, it’s quite possible that even Instagram doesn’t know all of them.

The most significant signals, however, come from the users themselves: through interactions with content and by marking Instagram’s recommendations as inappropriate.

How to Reach More People on Instagram: Updated Practices for 2024

Increasing Instagram reach is one of those cases where there’s no magic formula. Success largely depends on how you, as a content creator, approach the platform.

All the tips provided here tie back to that. There’s no hack or mystery: consistent, high-quality work increases Instagram reach.

Moreover, Instagram’s general trend is to boost reach over time, as long as you’re not losing followers.

The following tips, however, aim to speed up this process.

Once again: there are no shortcuts or magic tricks. But since you need a production routine aligned with the platform, it’s best to make it as efficient as possible.

Ready for the list?

Create Engaging and Original Content

This might sound basic—and it would have been, 10 years ago.

Now, in 2024, creating original content is no longer as basic as it once seemed. The bar for what is considered “original” has risen significantly, largely due to the sheer number of brands attempting to do the same thing.

The originality of your content is closely tied to how you choose to produce it.

Many brands decide to post three times a week but make little effort beyond simply coming up with topics to talk about.

It’s necessary to think of new formats, analyze which content performs well and which doesn’t, and understand what your audience wants to read or see.

And all of this requires a good team—one that isn’t overworked and is entirely dedicated to Content Marketing.

It’s also important to go beyond basic formats. Over 12 months, Jackson Olson, a baseball player in the U.S., increased his reach sixfold because of his Reels. For a year, he posted one video per day.

Diversifying your content is also crucial. For instance, if you run an auto repair shop, you don’t need to post only photos of cars. Use your team to create relevant content for car owners, not just those who need repairs.

All of this should be done consistently, with a curious mindset that’s always eager to test and discover what works well—and what works even better.

Collaborate with Other Creators in Your Niche

Instagram collabs are fantastic for increasing your reach, sometimes significantly and even overnight.

A collab happens when you publish content in partnership with another profile. Your post then appears both to their followers and yours.

Additionally, your post is recommended to users interested in your content and the content of the account you’re collaborating with.

This is one of the best ways to quickly increase your reach on Instagram. But how do you collaborate if you don’t know anyone in your field on Instagram?

First, start building connections. Keep an eye on events in your industry, even if they’re online, and participate in all of them.

Also, search for accounts in your segment, use hashtags, and create a list of profiles with the most followers and engagement.

Then, reach out to these profiles to propose a partnership. Many of them are open to collaboration. Just make sure you target profiles with a reach and engagement level similar to yours, okay?

Optimize Your Bio

Another critical aspect is to fill out your bio with information relevant to your users.

What’s your area of expertise? Who are you? What unique value do you offer? What type of content do you create?

This directly impacts Instagram’s algorithms and its search functionality.

For example, suppose an engineer follows several civil engineering accounts on Instagram. The algorithms will then start suggesting other engineering-related accounts.

How does Instagram know your account is about engineering? Through the posts you publish, your follower base, and, of course, what you communicate to the platform.

Your bio is your way of making this communication. It’s almost like SEO work. This also helps your profile appear in Instagram search results.

Conduct thorough hashtag research and include as many as you can in your bio. Don’t forget to use them in your posts as well.

Engage with Your Community

Interactions on your posts equate to engagement. When you respond to a comment, you signal to Instagram that you value this engagement.

The person you replied to might respond again, creating even more engagement.

The more engagement you have, the more your reach on Instagram grows. Engagement is a fundamental metric for the algorithm, as it indicates that your account is interesting to people who consume your content.

Utilize Paid Traffic on Instagram

Those who invest in ads increase their reach in two distinct ways.

The first, and most obvious, is that ads generate reach on Instagram. It’s one of the three primary metrics for paid traffic, alongside engagement and conversions.

Important: Reach from ads shows that your ad is being seen by others, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the ad is achieving its objectives.

We began discussing this in the introduction, and before concluding the article, let’s revisit the topic.

The second reason is less obvious and not officially confirmed: Instagram might interpret your ads as a form of interaction with the platform and start recommending you more in the Feed and Reels.

How to Track Your Reach Growth on Instagram

All this information is available through Instagram’s analytics tool, Instagram Insights.

To access it, you’ll need a business account. Insights aren’t accessible with a standard user account.

Make sure your account is set to business mode, then move to the next step.

The next step is straightforward. Simply access the menu in the top-right corner (the three lines).

Then go to the “Professional Dashboard” submenu and select “Instagram Insights.”

That’s it! Now you have all the information about your Instagram reach right at your fingertips.

Through Instagram Insights, you can also monitor other data, such as follower growth, engagement rate, follower demographics, and more.

Important: These insights are only available on mobile. You can’t access them on a desktop.

What’s a Good Level of Reach on Instagram?

It’s tough to pinpoint an absolute number that defines the best level of Instagram reach you should aim for.

Some studies try to establish an average benchmark, but they’re quite general and don’t account for the most important factor: the reality of your brand.

Hootsuite, a social media scheduling and analytics tool, found that larger brands with many followers typically have a reach rate of 8% of their follower count.

In other words, 8% of their followers view all the posts the brand publishes.

Reach on Stories is much lower—about 1% of the total follower count.

This shows how tricky it is to analyze this metric: it’s tied to your follower count, right? But what about the number of people reached through recommendations?

Even with this slightly skewed metric, it’s safe to say that a reach rate of 8%-10% is standard. If your rate is much lower, it’s time to step up your game.

If it’s much higher, it’s time to celebrate.

Other brands also share their benchmarks, but they usually revolve around this value.

The key is that it’s not very productive to compare yourself to other brands. The 8%-10% range is typical for other types of Instagram posts, even for personal accounts.

When it comes to ads, it’s worth looking at this from another perspective: how much you invested, what the ad’s objective was, and how reach contributed to achieving that goal.

For example: you invested $100 in a campaign and achieved 10 conversions with a reach of 1,000 accounts.

In another campaign, you invested $50 and achieved 20 conversions with a reach of 2,000 accounts.

In these cases, reach is a complementary indicator, offering insights about your campaign’s efficiency rather than its success.

Let’s discuss this further in the article’s final section:

Is Reach on Instagram a Vanity Metric?

At Leadster, our position is that no metric is inherently a vanity metric.

In other words, the metric itself isn’t to blame. What makes it “vanity” or “real” is how it’s interpreted.

Reach is often turned into a vanity metric, especially when it’s used to gauge a campaign’s success.

Think back to the earlier example. There, we saw that reach doubled with half the investment, meaning the ad was more efficient, likely due to better audience targeting.

But what if someone showed you only the two reach numbers, 1,000 and 2,000, and asked you to choose which one is better?

In absolute terms, 2,000 is better than 1,000. And that’s where the danger lies: vanity metrics often deal with absolutes.

What if, with 500 accounts reached, you generated more conversions than ads that reached 5,000?

So, reach is by no means a vanity metric on its own—because such a thing doesn’t exist.

However, to avoid using it as a vanity metric, it’s important to relate it to other metrics. Only then can you tell the full story of your marketing efforts.

---

After discussing metrics so much, how about learning about our metrics here at Leadster?

That’s right. Today, you can gain access to our key metrics from 2023.

It’s our Open Benchmark, the first time a brand has revealed so much of its data to the public completely for free.

The full webinar is available right below, in the banner. You can watch it today.

It’s a bit long, but it’s definitely worth your time. We go into great detail about content, social media, and paid media.