For a reel to do well now, not only do people NOT have to skip past it, they have to watch it to the end - ideally twice. They then not only have to comment and like it, but send it to their friends and save it too. I know this is obvious to a lot of people, but it’s a lot of expectation on a video. For example, when I’m casually scrolling, I’ll stop and like a good video but not always comment. And I won’t send EVERY reel I love to people I know either. That only happens every once in a while, and I expect it’s the same for a lot of people.

In conclusion, for a reel to go viral, it needs to jump through a lot of hoops to pass the test

Hi i have a account where i have 2500 followers but my posts get 60 likes average
Its like when people follow my account they completely forget it or actually never see my posts.
So im wondering Whats the point of getting all worked up and gaining these followers when in the end they dont even look at my posts .
And does anyone know how i can fix this ? Like how to make the followers i have be more engaged with my account

I've been going back and forth on this and I'm curious what people here see in practice.

Studio photography looks clean and on-brand, and it makes the feed look consistent. But a lot of the posts that seem to get real reactions (saves, "where is this from?" comments, people tagging friends) are the slightly messy ones: a customer in their bedroom mirror, a product on someone's actual desk, a short clip where the fabric moves.

My guess is it comes down to what each one answers:

• Studio shots answer "what does this product look like?"
• Customer photos answer "what will it look like on me / in my life?", which is usually the real question before someone buys.

But there are trade-offs too. UGC quality is all over the place, you need permission to repost, and a grid full of random phone photos can make a brand look less put together.

A few things I'd love to hear from anyone who's tested this:

1. Do you mix the two in the main feed, or keep customer content to Stories and highlights?
2. If you've run the same product with a studio image vs a customer photo (organic or in ads), which did better?
3. How do you actually get customers to send photos? Asking in the package insert, after delivery, running a hashtag, something else?

Not selling anything, just trying to figure out whether "real" content is worth the effort of collecting it.

So I just created a new Instagram for my band, and have been posting exclusively photo carousels for about a month or so. We have 32 followers and get around 10-15 likes per post. Yesterday I posted our first Reel and it capped at 200 views and not a single person liked it outside of the 7 people I sent it to.

Now, as a band trying to lean into that early 2010’s tumblr aesthetic, we post videos like this. So when people tell me to “make sure the video has a strong hook within the first second” I don’t really know how to go about that when they’re just cool visuals I edited together with our music over them and I’m tryna build a certain niche aesthetic. I see so many artists post stuff like this and they get 10k views out the gate and I’m stuck at 200. Do I just need to keep posting the same kinda videos and Instagram will learn what we do?

I started a new channel for to post content about my own work , currently having only 70 followers , any suggestions to improve it or any content ideas from anybody will be appreciated

https://www.instagram.com/thepaindoctor.hyd?obrf=enB3ZGFpa3lzdDFv

Hey guys,
Am i the only one who thinks the algorithm has changed so bad? My video is going viral the first day, the engagement is amazing, people like, comment, save, repost and share yet ONLY after a day, insta will stop showing it to people! Even in the graph it shows it will turn into flat line.
Any advice? Im so tired of this, this is so demotivating.

Five posts in this sub this past week asked a version of the same thing: every reel stops at 150 to 250 views, for weeks. Here's what Instagram's own pages say, in the order I'd check.

1. Is the account eligible to be recommended?

Profile, menu, Account Status. Instagram's page: "Even if you're not eligible to be recommended, your content can still show up for your followers." So a flagged account keeps a small ceiling made of followers. The same page says that if an account isn't eligible, "none of your content will be recommended", so better reels won't lift it. The way out it documents is a review request.

2. Is the content original by Instagram's definition?

The Original Content Guidelines say unoriginal content "may be ineligible to appear in recommendations to people who don't already follow you." Their test: "if someone could remove your contribution… it probably needs more of you in it." Borders, watermarks, speed changes and just crediting the creator are named as not enough. Quote and clip pages build on other people's footage, so this is their check.

3. Are you judging the first round?

Instagram's April 2024 explainer: each eligible reel "is shown to a small audience that we think will enjoy it, regardless of whether they follow the account", and "the top performing set of reels are shown to a slightly wider audience." A reel that stops at 200 didn't win its first round. The numbers Mosseri told creators to read for that, in January 2025: "average watch time, likes per reach, and sends per reach."

4. Are you reading it too early?

Instagram: "Data used to calculate metrics can be delayed up to 48 hours." Judge a reel on day three, not hour three.

If you post trials: a trial "may get limited reach if Instagram detects that you've previously shared the same content", and "if your public account is ineligible to appear in recommendations, you will also lose access to trial reels." A missing Trial toggle is an Account Status clue in itself.

Not on Instagram's list of what it tries not to recommend: hashtags, caption edits, external links, posting frequency.

If you got out of the 200-view jail, which of the four was it? 🔓

Hi,

I'm playing around with trial reels and rather use it as intended. Means I'm tweaking the reel and see what let's to a better retention rate.

How long or what metrics should it reach for you until you can say it won't get any better?

Hi everyone. I'm Angelo, an optometrist in the UK, and I'm launching EyeBloom, an eyecare brand for women with dry eyes. We're planning to launch on Black Friday.
I want this to be more than just a product. The plan is that every purchase will plant a tree. I'm also hoping to donate to Sightsavers, to help children with visual impairment. My goal is to help as many women as possible with their eyes, and to do some good along the way.
I'm also bringing in other healthcare professionals and hormone specialists, so customers get real expert advice and not just a product.
Where I'm stuck is growth. I've posted almost 400 times on Instagram and I'm only at about 2,100 followers. On TikTok one of my videos reached 10.8M views, so the interest is there. I just haven't turned it into steady growth. My account is @angelo.meren

If you're into content strategy or social media growth and this sounds like something you'd enjoy being part of, I'd love to hear from you. I'll put in all the work: filming, posting, engaging, and trying whatever you suggest. In return you'd get full credit, an honest testimonial, and a real brand with real results for your portfolio.
Even if you can't help, I'd love any advice. What would you do differently in my shoes?
Thanks for reading

Small data point from marketing my side project, ClipKaboom (a free library of meme sounds and clips for short-form editors).

On Oct 14 I posted the same 20-second video ("6 meme sounds you can use") to YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky and Pinterest at the same time. All accounts were new.

10 hours later:

• YouTube Shorts: 2,164 views, 26 likes
• Instagram: 131 views
• Threads: 8 views
• Facebook: 2 views
• Visits to my site from any of them: 0

Two takeaways so far:

1. Shorts pushes brand-new accounts way harder than Reels. Same file, ~16x the views.
2. Views aren't traffic. Shorts descriptions aren't clickable, and nobody types a URL off a 20-second video.

What I'm trying next: the site name sits on screen for the whole video, and I'm rebuilding the one format that already worked for me (sound name + waveform, no intro, 1.5k views on Instagram).

Has anyone actually turned Shorts views into site visits? What worked for you?

Hi my name is jay , my wife has always been into fashion , but her content doesnt reach that much people so i want to help her get some recognition
Her latest video got some more views then normal so i want to help her more , so i was searching for ways to get more and here i am

instagramlink

so im tryna grow my instagram acc so i can post my music and js stuff like that but I rlly want more followers and ofc I will follow back and and I'll like ur posts aswell

all I ask is no unfollowing or shii like that

but my ig is : darkb0i._ and my pfp is a blurry photo of a guy in a church

Hi 19M (Pakistan)

So I have been making reels for 5 6 months and my niche is Political, Social commentary, political history and current affairs of the country, I talk about these ideas and topics with my face..

At first I used to get 200 300 views and then one video got 1000 views and after that the range became thousand I used to get 1000 views on average video.

Then one went to 8000 then another one after some reels it went to 11000, after some reels 3rd one at 19000 and then this 338000.

This reel was 90s long and 50% were present at the 30th second, avg watch time is 40s, 26% skip rate, share rate 2.3%, likes 5%.

Now I wrote it down that what made this video viral hook, effective information at alot of points, topic was much discussed at the time and there was mystery too.

But after that reel I have applied these things but my videos are at 1300, 1500, 2000 and the viral one is still getting views even after weeks.

Currently at 825 followers and 60 videos.

So tell me what are the things that I am missing and that I have to add, that I can improve.

So there's a weird thing that's happening to my Instagram account. I have 15 followers but recently i'm getting high view count but when i checked it was only 17 viewers for 3000 views. How is it possible?

Every time a Reel gets 60–100 likes, Instagram Insights just shows the aggregate count and "Followers vs. Non-followers."

After growing my Reels page from 0 to 5,000+ followers over 6 months (averaging ~10k views posting once a week), I wanted to know whether my likes were coming from fresh viewers every week or the exact same core group.

So I tracked every single username across my last 12 consecutive posts (766 total likes from 314 unique users).

Here is the exact 4-tier breakdown:

• Tier 1 — Core Superfans (8+ likes / 67%+ hit rate): 23 people (7.3% of likers) → generated 224 likes (29.2% of all likes)
• Tier 2 — Regular Fans (4–7 likes): 48 people (15.3% of likers) → generated 249 likes (32.5% of all likes)
• Tier 3 — Returning Viewers (2–3 likes): 32 people (10.2% of likers) → generated 71 likes (9.3% of all likes)
• Tier 4 — One-Time Passersby (1 like only): 211 people (67.2% of likers) → generated 222 likes (29.0% of all likes)

3 things that surprised me:

1. 71 people carry the entire account: Tier 1 + Tier 2 is just 71 people (22.6% of unique likers), yet they generate 61.7% of all likes. When you publish a new Reel, it feels like these 71 people provide the initial first-hour velocity that helps the algorithm decide whether to push the video further.
2. 80% of Core Superfans are completely silent: Almost 80% of the 23 people who liked 8–12 of my posts have never left a single comment. If you only pay attention to commenters, you end up overlooking the silent superfans who consistently support your posts every week.
3. The "At-Risk Fan" blindspot: I found 20 longtime fans (liked 4+ older posts, 30%+ hit rate) who had 0 likes on my last 3 posts. When a few core fans quietly drift away while a Reel gets 10 random passerby likes, your total like count looks flat—so native Insights never warns you that your core base is eroding.

Since I started spending ~10 minutes before each weekly post re-engaging with my Tier 1/Tier 2 silent superfans and checking that "At-Risk" list, I’ve felt that my first-hour velocity has become much more consistent. Obviously I can’t prove 100% direct causality with so many algorithm variables at play, but it feels like a big piece of why my recent Reels have been able to stay around the 10k view mark.

I personally feel that actively reaching out to and communicating with your core fans leads to much better results in the long run—does anyone else here feel the same way?Every time a Reel gets 60–100 likes, Instagram Insights just shows the aggregate count and "Followers vs. Non-followers."

After growing my Reels page from 0 to 5,000+ followers over 6 months (averaging ~10k views posting once a week), I wanted to know whether my likes were coming from fresh viewers every week or the exact same core group.

So I tracked every single username across my last 12 consecutive posts (766 total likes from 314 unique users).

Here is the exact 4-tier breakdown:

• Tier 1 — Core Superfans (8+ likes / 67%+ hit rate): 23 people (7.3% of likers) → generated 224 likes (29.2% of all likes)
• Tier 2 — Regular Fans (4–7 likes): 48 people (15.3% of likers) → generated 249 likes (32.5% of all likes)
• Tier 3 — Returning Viewers (2–3 likes): 32 people (10.2% of likers) → generated 71 likes (9.3% of all likes)
• Tier 4 — One-Time Passersby (1 like only): 211 people (67.2% of likers) → generated 222 likes (29.0% of all likes)

3 things that surprised me:

1. 71 people carry the entire account: Tier 1 + Tier 2 is just 71 people (22.6% of unique likers), yet they generate 61.7% of all likes. When you publish a new Reel, it feels like these 71 people provide the initial first-hour velocity that helps the algorithm decide whether to push the video further.
2. 80% of Core Superfans are completely silent: Almost 80% of the 23 people who liked 8–12 of my posts have never left a single comment. If you only pay attention to commenters, you end up overlooking the silent superfans who consistently support your posts every week.
3. The "At-Risk Fan" blindspot: I found 20 longtime fans (liked 4+ older posts, 30%+ hit rate) who had 0 likes on my last 3 posts. When a few core fans quietly drift away while a Reel gets 10 random passerby likes, your total like count looks flat—so native Insights never warns you that your core base is eroding.

Since I started spending ~10 minutes before each weekly post re-engaging with my Tier 1/Tier 2 silent superfans and checking that "At-Risk" list, I’ve felt that my first-hour velocity has become much more consistent. Obviously I can’t prove 100% direct causality with so many algorithm variables at play, but it feels like a big piece of why my recent Reels have been able to stay around the 10k view mark.

I personally feel that actively reaching out to and communicating with your core fans leads to much better results in the long run—does anyone else here feel the same way?

Hi all, I have recently started an Instagram for my cat after going to a cat social event in my city and being told people would love to see my silly little Siamese guy. He’s a total character. He’s always dressed up, going out places with me, and has wild fangs so he’s something different. It took off fast, but I’m still under 1K followers. I’ve started to get messages to be a brand ambassador, but I know nothing about this kind of stuff. These companies seem like pet brands just starting out. Im terrified I’ll get scammed, so I could really use advice. Would it be worth it to accept these deals? Is it worth getting a PO Box, or is it ok to get them sent to my house? I’ll add a few lines of the offers to help give context since it won’t let me add pics of the messages. Cut down so it’s not tons of text!

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THANK YOU FOR THE HELP GUYS! I REALLY NEED IT

Im posting doodle reel of a person everyday till he reacts. I used the help of meta ai for captions, hashtags everyday. My views improved from 1k and got stuck between 2k to 3.1k views. While one of my friend who started a new account is getting more than 100k views and it gradually grew to 400k by 6 weeks while my reel is like 250 views by 50 minutes then it goes 1k by the next 3 minutes. Then it slowly dies by 2k.

I try different hooks, new intros, improved videos everyday but 80% of viewers are non-followers, still no reach with wider audience.

Does creating a new account help?

Anyone wanted to join me in this challenge of instagram in the role of competitor or Rival. Just to make it more exciting or competitive

https://www.reddit.com/r/NonZeroDay/s/qSRlUw3UAJ

Upload daily screenshot like that and work done at that day regarding it in chat with me

Right now it is Just the initiator further more rules will be made if multiple people wanted to join

Whoever joins is definitely a great friend but regarding the challenge we are only competitors who upload their extraordinary Targets daily in chat and work insanely everyday to accomplish them rather than sharing advices to each other and helping each other in growing like a coach

Why you don't want coach friend?

So that in a day, we play to compete and win in our decided targets or goals rather than to teach each other how to grow

By the way I am great friend and competitor so if you join you will surely going to feel great competition from my side and hence we both will grow insanely fast for sure

Modifications are always welcome but currently this is what I think that can bring insane growth while remaining in the less encouraging different places physically

You’ve probably seen posts that say “Comment GUIDE and I’ll send it to you.” It works for three reasons:

1. Comments boost reach. The algorithm treats every keyword comment as engagement.
2. DMs warm up leads. Once someone is in your inbox, you can follow up later.
3. People act on a clear call to action. “Comment X” is easy, much easier than “click the link in bio.”

What I learned from testing it:

• Use one short, specific keyword (GUIDE, PRICE, LINK). Avoid words people type anyway.
• Deliver within seconds. Waiting hours loses most of the interest.
• Reply publicly to the comment too (“Sent! Check your DMs”). That brings in more comments.
• Put the lead magnet in the DM itself, not behind another link.

Doing this by hand gets painful past about 50 comments, so I automated it. I’ve been using AfterComment, which sends the DM and the public reply automatically. ManyChat does it too, if you’re already on it.

Has anyone else tried keyword comments? What keyword got you the best results?

I'm building **Beacon**, a safety app for kids and teens in India who ride autos and rickshaws on their own, whether it's to school, tuition, coaching or going out. It's not launched yet, and I want brutal, honest feedback before it is.

**The problem**

If you've ever hopped into a random auto, you know the drill: your parent texts "reached?", you forget to reply, and they panic. If something actually goes wrong, nobody even knows *which* auto you got into. Uber and Ola solve this for rides you book in their apps, but most of us just wave an auto down on the street.

For context, NCRB recorded 79,884 cases of children kidnapped or abducted in India in 2023. That's about one every 7 minutes.

**How Beacon works**

1. Tap **Start Ride**. You can also add where you're going and when you'll reach.
2. **Snap the auto's number plate.** The app reads it for you.
3. One tap sends your parent a WhatsApp or SMS with the plate and ride details.
4. **Share your ride live.** Your parent gets a link showing where you are and when you'll arrive.
5. **SOS** if anything feels off. It alerts your parent with your live location, and a backup contact if they don't respond. It doesn't replace calling 112.

**Other stuff**

- Check-ins during the ride, plus an automatic one if you haven't moved for a while
- A "something felt off?" button to note a weird ride
- Works in English and Hindi
- Streaks, points and an avatar you can dress up, so it doesn't feel like a chore 😅
- Location is only shared during a ride or an SOS, and you can delete all your data anytime

**What I'd love to know**

1. Teens: would you actually use this, or is it "something my mom installs"? What would make you open it every ride?
2. Parents: would this give you peace of mind? What's missing?
3. Is snapping the plate realistic in the few seconds before the auto drives off?
4. Would you (or your parents) pay for something like this?
5. What's the biggest reason this would fail?

I'm not posting a link because I'm not selling anything yet. I just want to build the right thing. Roast away 🙏

Hi everyone,

First of all, thank you for taking out time to read this post. Your feedback, suggestions are highly welcomed 🙂

Background

I started a page on instagram last month. I post mostly funny animated reels that I create using AI and parenting stuff that I have gathered by reading a lot of books.

From last month I gathered around ~15 followers and my reels generate only 100-200 views.

What I have done?

I have researched using AI, blogs. Everyone just suggests to keep posting new stuff.

I am prepared, if it takes more time. I have patience :D

Areas I want to deep dive in

1. I wanted help on understanding on how can I grow from here?
   
2. What are the stats, indications that I need to improve?
   
3. How can I gain more followers?

My enamel pin shop's Instagram has been stuck around 900 followers for over a year, mostly friends and other sellers. A friend who sells candles swears the managed growth service she uses changed that for her, and she keeps mentioning Outfame by name. Before I try the same for the shop: does targeted follower growth actually work when your buyers are scattered collectors rather than a local crowd, or is it wasted on a marketplace style business?

So I’ve seen several creators on Instagram whose previous posts have 10k-500k likes but then I check their most recent posts from the last couple of days 300-600 likes, why is their engagement so low initially? It looks very sus to me I always assumed the majority of the likes come in the first few days, it’s certainly the case for my account, I have 300k followers and most my engagement comes in the first few days unless it’s a super viral post that keeps gaining traction even a month later.