I adore the whole concept of a secret, mythical Instagram hack. When a social media ‘expert’ shows up on my feed insisting that I need to perform the Fate of Ophelia choreography under a full moon after every post to go viral, there’s a decent chance I’ll give it a try. (And if you think you saw me rehearsing that dance in my last vlog, no, you absolutely did not.)
The reality, though, is that those kinds of true ‘hacks’ don’t really exist. The quality of what you post is ultimately what determines how your Instagram content performs.
That said, there are a few practical things you can do to give strong content a little extra lift. Posting at times that work well for the platform helps, and so does maintaining a steady, reliable posting rhythm.
We already have data to support those ideas — and now I can add one more proven booster to that list.
Replying to comments on your Instagram posts increases engagement. By 21%, in fact.
What I find most encouraging about this is that it confirms something that shouldn’t feel groundbreaking, but somehow does: actually being social on social media is effective.
Most skilled social media managers and creators do this naturally. Now we have solid data showing that it genuinely improves how posts perform.
Responding to comments on your Instagram posts can raise engagement by roughly 21%, based on Buffer data scientist Julian Winternheimer’s analysis of more than 700,000 Instagram posts from nearly 68,000 accounts.
Julian discovered that when creators actively reply in their comment sections,…