What’s most important: likes, comments, saves, or shares?
Not one of these things is more heavily weighted in the Instagram algorithm – their level of importance just depends on your goals.
If your goal is to nurture your audience, saves tell Instagram that your content is valuable and that means they’ll push it out to more people like them.
If your goal is to grow your following, shares are awesome because it means more people are seeing your stuff.
If your goal is to build a community, conversations are the most important thing – so you’re going to want to focus your efforts on comments & direct messages.
Let’s take a look, one step at a time.
Likes :: Okay, I lied. Likes don’t mean a heck of a lot, so we’re going to skip right over them. Yeppp.
Comments :: When someone comments on your post, always always comment back — and put some muscle into it! Getting a sentence or two out of your audience is a pretty big ask, and if all we get is a “heart” in return – well, that sucks.
Comments are gold and when your audience is making an effort to chat with you WHY ARE YOU NOT TALKING BACK?!! (I get a little fired up about this one 😂) That’s literally it.
Ask questions and start conversations right in the comments, just like you would if someone popped into your store / studio.
Saves :: Sharing quick tutorials and providing information that your readers will want to refer back to again and again is key if you’re looking for more saves… and shares too!
That, and telling your audience that they’re going to want to save the post. You can even include a little reminder in a carousel slide… it sounds obvious, but this stuff makes a big difference in what happens on the other side of the screen.
Shares :: Inspiring or funny content is the most popular stuff to share. Think about the kind of stuff you curate for your stories — it’s likely a mix of educational, inspirational, and entertaining content… and if you’re into it, your readers probably will be too!
Best Practices
- Start your caption with an enticing headline and follow it up immediately by telling your readers what to do.
“Not sure what to post on stories? Save this, print this, heck, FRAME this because you’re going to want to peep through the checklist every single day.” is my most saved post ever. Telling your readers what to do really does work. - Respond to every comment to spark conversation.
- Make sure that your content is relevant! What questions and frustrations does your perfect fit client have? What are small steps they can take TODAY to make tomorrow better? Inspire them to take action & they’ll be hooked – and it’ll show in their engagement with your posts.
Don’t know what to talk about? We gotchu. The Toolbox includes DAILY story prompts that are more than just fluff like what you had in your coffee or what your toddler is up to today (newsflash: nobody cares). Sign up here!
What’s most important: likes, comments, saves, or shares? Not one of these things is more heavily weighted in the Instagram algorithm – their level of importance just depends on your goals. If your goal is to nurture your audience, saves tell Instagram that your content is valuable and that means they’ll push it out to […]
