Instagram Reach: Getting More Eyes on Your Content

Every brand knows that if people don’t see their content, it’s a losing game. No one will buy from you, support you or even know your name if your posts don’t reach their feed. That’s why Instagram reach is the most important metric for many content creators to look at when assessing their social media strategy.

There are around one billion active users each month on Instagram—and everyone wants a piece of that pie. The platform is so lucrative for brands and business owners that want to reach as many people as possible.

But what is reach in the first place? And why is it so important for content creators and businesses? Today, we’re taking a deep dive into this key Instagram metric.

Instagram Reach for Dummies: What Does Reach Mean on Instagram?

Every brand or marketer working on their social media strategy should know a thing or two about Instagram metrics. It’s what shapes their campaign’s goals and success indicators. And one of the most basic metrics all content creators should understand is reach.

So, what does reach mean on Instagram? Instagram reach is the number of unique people who see your content, visit your profile or watch your Instagram Stories or Reels. Whether people see your posts on their feed, on the Explore page or by visiting your profile, they add to your total reach.

Keep in mind that because reach equals people, one person watching your content over and over won’t increase your reach. Even if someone views your Instagram Story multiple times, they will only contribute one count to the post’s reach.

There are also a handful of other important metrics tied to reach. One is your reach rate, the percentage of your followers seeing your post. You can compute a post’s reach rate by dividing your total reach by your follower count.

Let’s say you have 1,000 followers. You post an Instagram carousel, and your post reaches 200 people. That means you have a reach rate of 20%. Note that this is quite high, as brands with huge followings get a rate of around 10% per post.

Another set of metrics related to reach are Instagram organic reach rate and paid reach. Paid reach is a great way for business owners to see if they get a return on ad investment. Meanwhile, Instagram organic reach rate shows how many of your followers you reach without paying money for them to see your post.

Clearing Things Up: Reach vs. Impressions Instagram

Many people confuse Instagram reach with other awareness metrics, such as impressions. But these two could not be more different. So, let’s talk about reach vs impressions on Instagram.

Reach is the total number of unique users who see your post. Meanwhile, impressions refer to the number of times people see your post on their app. If one person were to replay your Instagram Story five times, it would have one reach and five impressions.

Even if a person doesn’t watch your Instagram Reels or Stories in full, it will still count as an impression. The only requirement is for it to show up on their screen. That’s what makes it different from a view, which requires a user to watch the video content for at least three seconds.

Engaging, shareable content will have both high reach and impressions. However, your total reach will never be higher than your impressions. It’s mathematically impossible because reach is unique, and impressions are not.

Why Instagram Reach Is One of the Most Important Instagram Metrics for Brands

There are plenty of Instagram metrics that brands and content creators use to measure the success of their posts. For some, engagements and content interactions like likes, comments and even swipes on an Instagram carousel are success indicators. For others, views on video content like Instagram Reels and Stories are the bigger priority.

But however you measure the success of your social media strategy, you should still always look at your total Instagram reach. It’s one of the most important metrics for businesses and brands on Instagram. Here’s why.

High Instagram Reach Potentially Means More Brand Awareness

First, reaching more accounts with your Instagram posts can boost brand awareness. Even if you’re running a campaign with the goal of sales and conversions, brand awareness is also important. No customer will buy from a brand they don’t know, right?

Aim for high Instagram reach for every post if you’re a small brand or a striving influencer. High reach means getting your name out there more. You’ll be discoverable to others, which can potentially help you increase your follower count and loyal audience.

Good Reach on Instagram Means More People See Your Content

Imagine slaving away, editing that Instagram Reel or feed post for hours, only for no one to see your content. You don’t want your hard work to be for nothing, right? If your post has an excellent total reach, it’s a sign that people see your content and like it.

High Instagram Reach Makes Influencers More Attractive to Brands

When big brands select influencers to help them promote their campaign, they base their decision on potential reach. They choose content creators that have a high following because it means they’ll reach more people. Sometimes, brands will even ask influencers to share their Instagram insights to see how much their average total reach is per post.

That’s because high reach is a sign that you are credible and that people listen to you. It’s social proof that signals to brands that if they invest in a partnership with you, they will get a return on investment. It assures them that when you post about their brand, a lot of people will see it.

So, if you’re a striving influencer, you must ensure a high reach on Instagram. This will be your key to getting more brand deals and product partnerships.

Instagram Reach Tells You How Well a Campaign Is Doing

Tracking your posts’ Instagram reach will also tell you how well your campaign is performing. Reach is a key performance indicator for campaigns with objectives such as brand awareness, event promotion, and growing follower count.

The reach metric also helps you improve your future campaigns. Let’s say your goal is to boost brand awareness, but you see a low number of accounts reached. That tells you that you need to revisit and tweak your social media strategy. Use these learnings for your next campaign to see if it helps increase your reach next time.

How To Find Instagram Reach on Your Post or Profile

You can see the total Instagram reach on your posts or profile on the Insights page. Only content creators who have switched to a professional or business account can see this page.

To see your Insights page, go to your Instagram profile and tap the “Insights” button below your bio. You can also click the hamburger menu on the upper-right of the screen and select “Insights” from there. To see your profile’s total reach, look at the metrics under “Overview.” This shows you how many accounts visited your profile within the selected timeframe.

Want to see your total reach for a specific post? Go to your profile and choose which Instagram Reels or post you want to see insights on. You’ll see a button that says “View Insights” below the post. Tap on that and read through your reach metrics.

You can also see metrics for specific posts by going straight to the Insights page and clicking “Content You Shared.” You’ll see reach, engagement and other key insights on feed posts, Instagram Stories and Reels here.

Reading the Metric: What Does “Accounts Reached” Mean on Instagram?

When you look through the metrics of your Instagram post, one of the first ones you’ll see is “accounts reached.” What does “accounts reached” mean on Instagram?

Accounts reached basically means your total reach—this is how Instagram Insights presents the information to you. It reminds you that your post’s Instagram reach refers to the number of unique accounts that saw it.

What’s cool about the “accounts reached” section is that you can break down the information about this audience. You’ll be able to see what cities and countries the people you reached are from, as well as age and gender.

Disappointing Reach Rates: Why Is My Instagram Reach So Low?

Not happy with your total reach on Instagram after checking it out on the Insights page? Don’t be so hard on yourself. Instead of overthinking and asking, “Why is my Instagram reach so low?” it’s better to study and understand reach benchmarks for brands.

Remember that the higher your follower count, the lower your reach rate will be. That’s simply because you can’t expect to reach every single person that follows you. Meanwhile, those with smaller follower counts have more chances of engagement and views.

The reach rate benchmark for big brands with over 10k followers sits at around 8%. Meanwhile, small brands will have an average of 34% reach rate.

So, if your reach is low, it doesn’t automatically mean you have a bad social media strategy. It could just mean you have a lot more followers than other brands—which is always a good thing!

Of course, reach rates will differ for every brand. You shouldn’t compare yourself to another brand’s benchmarks. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Instead, focus on your posts’ performance and how you can increase your reach each time you publish something new.

Not Happy With Your Reach? How To Get More Reach on Instagram

That said, striving for higher Instagram reach for your posts is perfectly okay. It’s important to keep tweaking your social media strategy to get more and more reach for every campaign.

Want to get more eyeballs on your content? Here’s how to get more reach on Instagram, whether you’re an everyday content creator or a business interested in social media advertising.

How To Increase Instagram Reach Organically

Contemplating how to increase Instagram reach without paying to boost your posts? We’ll tell you all our secrets about getting higher reach organically.

If you’re a regular content creator, the best way to boost Instagram reach is by ensuring that your content is engaging. If your posts are exciting and relevant to your followers, they have high chances of engagement. The more engagement a post gets as soon as it’s published, the more it is shown on people’s feeds. As a result, it increases your total reach.

One surefire way to get more engagements on your post and increase your reach is by posting it when your audience is online. You can see when your followers are most active by checking out the Audience Insights tab on your Insights page.

You can also experiment with different post formats to see what your followers like. If your reach and engagements on feed posts are declining, try posting Instagram Reels, Stories or carousels. Your audience might appreciate the refreshing chance and be more attentive to these posts. And if they engage with them, you might see an uptick in reach later on.

How To Reach Non-Followers on Instagram to Boost Following

Business owners might be interested in learning how to reach non-followers on Instagram. After all, you can’t just sell products to the same group over and over again. You need to expand your audience and reach new potential customers.

The best way to increase your Instagram reach as a business is through social media advertising. Posting shareable content is one thing. But boosting your post to reach more audiences is even better if you want more people to know about your brand.

Once you “boost” an Instagram post, it technically turns into an ad. Instagram then serves it to people who don’t follow you yet but are within your target audience demographics. This increases brand awareness and your page’s total reach on Instagram. It can potentially boost your follower count, too.

What’s cool about boosting posts or publishing ads is that you can adjust their specifications to meet your business goals. Here are some things you can specify when managing ads to align them with your social media strategy:

·   Brand goals, whether it’s brand awareness, app downloads, conversions or others

·   Target audience demographics to make sure the right people see your content

·   Your daily ad budget so you never spend beyond your means for a project

·   The ad duration, so the ad automatically stops running when the campaign is over

Get Higher Instagram Reach When Users Discover You Through Tags

If you don’t want to pay for social media advertising, consider using hashtags in your content. They help get you on someone’s radar when they explore the hashtag. Plus, it’s completely free! Just make sure that you use hashtags that are relevant to your brand.

Aside from hashtags, consider adding a location tag to your posts. Not only will this make your posts more discoverable by non-followers, but it tells people where they can find your business. It’s a great way to reel in more followers in your local area. 

Busting the Myth: Does Editing a Post on Instagram Affect Reach?

Rumors abound that if you edit a post on Instagram, it will reset its reach. There are whispers that if you do that, the algorithm won’t rank your post as high on people’s feeds. Thus, it lowers your chances of engagement and total Instagram reach.

So, does editing a post on Instagram affect reach? Should you stick to the first caption you publish, even if you’re unhappy, to preserve your reach momentum?

We’re here to tell you that this isn’t true at all. Instagram allows people to edit their post’s captions in case they want to correct a typo or add a hashtag. Some people might even edit their caption because they thought of a caption that was wittier than the first one. The algorithm never punishes content creators for doing this by deprioritizing their content on the feed.

If you want to edit your caption or add a location tag after you’ve published your content, go ahead! There’s no reason to stress over losing your momentum and how it affects your reach. Those engagements and content interactions will keep on coming!

Understanding Instagram Reach Is Pertinent for Continued Growth and Success for Brands

Likes and comments are great, for sure. But businesses and influencers that want to grow their community and increase brand awareness should always prioritize Instagram reach. If you don’t focus on reach, you’ll be stuck catering to a small audience, lowering your chances of engagement and sales.

Need a leg up in reaching more people on Instagram? We can help out by giving you a boost in following!Path Social has a proprietary targeting algorithm that serves your content to people most likely to be interested in it. Not only will your posts reach more people, but you’ll also get an uptick in your follower count. With our growth tools, you can grow your community and maximize your reach on Instagram. Work with our team today!