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How Do Instagram Views Work, and How to Go Viral on Instagram?

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With Instagram influencer marketing growing to 72.5% by the end of 2022, it’s easy to say that going viral on the platform is worth it. However, becoming viral is another issue. So if you’re new to the game or haven’t gone viral yet, don’t worry.

The truth is, there are marketing strategies you can use to help you go viral. One significant way is by increasing your views. While you could try and gather thoughts yourself, you may also find that using services like Viralgrowing IG views works.

However, proven marketing strategies can also help boost your profile and content views. Below, we’ll provide a breakdown of how Instagram views work and how you can learn how to go viral.

Does Instagram Count Views?

For videos, reels, and stories, Instagram records the number of views that each content gets. Pictures are the only content that isn’t recorded for views, as likes mainly track those.

So, the primary way to count views or page views is by using Instagram Analytics. However, only professional accounts can view insights using Instagram Analytics.

When a person views your account, one view is recorded. The algorithm will detect your view as well. However, the main difference is that Instagram will only track one view per account. This means an account can view a video multiple times, but Instagram will record only one view.

What is Considered “Viral” on Instagram?

When the internet refers to the word “viral,” your content reaches more people than it usually does. For example, if a profile only has 5k followers, getting more than 5k in a single post is considered viral. So, you don’t need a lot of followers to go viral.

That said, the number of views considered ‘viral” changes when you get into the more significant leagues. For Instagram, a viral post will have at least 100,000 likes or views. In addition to that, a viral post will also include more than a thousand comments.

You’re considered a viral content creator when you’re consistently hitting big milestones for Instagram. Yes, you can have one or two viral posts. Still, you won’t be regarded as a viral content creator unless you’re doing it consistently. Of course, the number of people you reach will eventually get capped.

How Do You Go Viral on Instagram?

Going viral means understanding marketing. So, you’ll need a good marketing strategy to go viral. A one-off viral post is good, but if you want to stay relevant, you’ll want to implement marketing strategies into your posts.

1. Knowing Your Audience

Your target audience is going to determine how many people you can reach. If you don’t have a specific target audience, your post may get lost in the sea of other random posts. Instagram uses niches to help push certain content on users.

You can get Instagram to push your content to certain users’ feeds by targeting a specific niche and audience. That way, you’ll be able to be discovered by a wider audience who is interested in what you or your brand represents.

2. Creating Unique & Personalized Content

Instagram users love brands and individuals who push unique and personalized content. If your content is generic or copies others, then there’s a lessened chance that your content will go viral.

While it is recommended to study the competition and see what works, it’s not good to copy them word for word or picture for picture. Creating unique content that entices your audience is the best way to get posts to go viral.

3. Craft an Aesthetic

There’s no better way to go viral than to create a unique brand look. For some companies, you can quickly tell them apart from others just due to their logo and style. An excellent example of a few is McDonald’s, Target, and All-State.

Each of these companies focuses on using specific characters, colors, and themes in the content they create. The same can be said for Instagram brands. Creating a unique aesthetic will help people remember your content.

4. Engage With Your Audience

Another good way to go viral is to engage with your audience. If you never reply to messages or comments, you’re missing out on a big part of how others go viral. Making your audience feel well connected and heard is key to getting more views.

As stated early, a “viral” post will get at least 1,000 comments or more. An excellent way to do this is by replying to recent comments and prompting your audience to reply. The more replies, the more potential viewers will interact with or follow your page.

The main goal of going “viral” is to get your audience to share posts with others. So, coming up with content that can do so will help you gain more traction. For example, replying to comments, hosting events, and asking questions or feedback from your audience are helpful.

5. Learn From the Competition

Learning from the competition is also a good marketing strategy if you’re new to Instagram. The Instagram algorithm is a bit trickier compared to other websites. So, sometimes it’s best to draw inspiration from similar pages.

However, this doesn’t mean you should copy the competition to a T. Instead, use them as a guide to see what is working. Some questions to ask yourself are:

  • What’s drawing more of an audience in?
  • Why are people engaging with their posts?
  • How often and when are they posting content?
  • What type of content are they posting?
  • How did they design their Instagram bio and logo?
  • Are there enough people interested in their content?

By looking at these elements, you’ll be able to get at least a draft of what your page should look like. First, however, you want to ensure that you are using a page in your niche. The same strategy may not work for you or your business if you choose a random page.

6. Use Analytics

A tool we see so many people skip over is using the Instagram Analytics tool. However, you will have to either have a business account or a creator account to access it. When you sign up for Instagram, you’re given a standard account with limited access to the Analytics Tool. We highly recommend setting up a business or creator account to ensure you get all the tools to help your account grow.

While comments and likes are critical, Instagram Analytics shows much more in-depth information that can help grow your profile. This includes your account’s user demographics, behaviors, and patterns. For example, you can find the following information using insights:

  • Highlights – Highlights display recent account increases in performance. Essentially, it helps display recent changes within a timeframe. You can select the timeframe. Otherwise, it will show the past changes within 90-days.
  • Overview – This shows an overview of the accounts you interacted with, followers, and earnings.
  • Accounts Reached/Engaged – This shows the demographic information for the accounts you’ve reached and engaged with. Additionally, it provides information about interacted countries, cities, ages, genders, etc. You’ll get all the demographics that you can customize the timeframe the infographics are recorded.
  • Total Followers – You can see trends once you reach 100 followers. Aside from that, you can gather how many followers you’ve gained or lost. Other information is displayed, such as age, timezone, etc.
  • Content Shared – this displays the content that you’ve shared and posted. This includes stories, videos, pictures, and posts. You can select what timeframe you want to view them in.

7. Host Contests

A helpful method to go viral is hosting contests or giveaways on Instagram. Of course, you can’t just post a contest or giveaway. Instead, it would be best to familiarize yourself with Instagram’s Promotion Guidelines.

A summary of the rules for hosting any promotion includes the following:

  • You’re responsible for the lawful operation, including stating the official rules, offering terms and eligibility requirements, and compliance with applicable rules and regulations for the prizes.
  • Must tag content correctly
  • Promotions should include a release on Instagram and acknowledgment that the promotion isn’t endorsed or associated with them.
  • That Instagram is not responsible for assisting with the content or promotion
  • You agree that using a service to administer promotion is subjected to risks.

Once you understand the rules, you can create your contest, promotion, or giveaway. Crafting a contest is a bit difficult at first. Still, you must remember to come up with good prizes and a method of entry. Make sure you designed the contest so that other users will need to share the page or tag friends.

Making the contest conditions to be shared or tagging encourages new people to view the page. This is a great way to go viral, as more page views will likely happen due to the contest.

8. Use Videos

Instagram Engagement Reports show videos are the best method to increase user engagement. According to the report, videos generate an average of 150 comments, almost three times higher than photos. Photos, on the other hand, generate around 65 comments. So, choosing the better option for going viral is recommended.

Of course, you should still incorporate a mixture of pictures and videos to get the best balance of user engagement. However, don’t just post videos. You’ll want to utilize reels and story posts. Using a mixture of methods will boost user engagement and increase your chances of getting viral.

9. Stay Relevant

Another excellent way to get people to notice your account is to mention current events. Current events stir up conversation and entice people to engage in the conversation. The more people comment, like, or tag your posts, the more you’ll get noticed.

Aside from that, using current event hashtags is also an excellent way to get noticed. A hashtag is essentially a tag that represents a category or subject. Instagram posts utilize this so that users can find content on the hashtag that they are following.

So, adding relevant hashtags to your content can help new viewers find your page. However, it would be best to use only relevant hashtags to your content, as using a hashtag that doesn’t relate can be more damaging. For example, if you’re using a social movement tag in content that isn’t relevant, it could stir more bad press than good.

10. Use Sponsorships & Partnerships

Large-scale businesses and companies already have a dedicated fanbase. Partnering or getting a sponsorship from them can also help draw in a new crowd. Unfortunately, despite this being a good idea for going viral, getting a partnership or sponsor is difficult.

In most cases, a company will reach out to a user with a large following to help promote their service or product. The downside is that even if you reach out to the company, there is a low chance of getting contacted back. That’s why you must build a following before you use this method.

Once you have a decent amount of followers, you may get a sponsorship or partnership. By doing so, you can then use the company to help your posts go viral. In addition, a few posts using codes, discounts, etc., can help users want to follow you for more referrals in the future.

However, you may not secure any promotions, codes, sponsorships, etc., for a while. So, we wouldn’t rely on this method to become viral.

The Bottom Line

Going viral isn’t just a one-off chance, as there are strategies you can learn to help your account be more likely to get views. That said, it takes a fundamental marketing strategy to keep going viral. If you want your content to reach new people, you’ll have to keep up with recent trends and what’s relevant.

Our guide only covered a small aspect of what you can do to boost your account views. Therefore, we highly encourage you to do your research. That way, you can find even more tips and tricks to get your content viral without relying heavily on chance.

 

 

 

 

Jeff Campbell