Managing an Instagram account is a full-time job. From content creation to community building, answering DMs and comments, and even handling PR crises, there’s a lot to handle for any Instagram account. Instagram is more than just an app—it’s a dynamic platform for creators and marketers, serving as a visual, social, and business hub where you can build your brand identity and engage your audience.
Not to mention having multiple profiles to manage.
As an Instagram creator or marketer, you have to deal with various tasks, but not all of them are equally important when it comes to growing your account.
What are some top Instagram tips and tricks that will help you skyrocket your performance and grow your followerbase and engagement in 2025 and beyond?
We’ve got you covered.
Outdated Instagram tips and tricks
There are plenty of online guides that list numerous Instagram hacks and tricks. And reading most of them is, honestly, a waste of time. We’ve gone through many, and they usually cover the same outdated tricks.
Some of those outdated Instagram tips include:
- The possibility to archive posts without deleting them.
- Using the ‘return’ button to insert line breaks into your bio and captions.
- Using special characters in your bio, captions, or Stories.
- The option to pin posts on your profile.
- Limiting screen time in your profile settings.
- Saving replies to frequently asked questions in your inbox.
- Taking advantage of user-generated content.
- Posting Reels or other trending formats.
And so much more.
Let’s be honest – these aren’t secret hacks and tricks. They’re common knowledge to every marketer and professional content creator. Or they should be.
Using even all of these tips every single day may help you save time, for example, and will arguably enhance your overall performance.
However, there are also useful and actionable Instagram tips and tricks you should know and take advantage of to grow your Instagram account. To stay ahead, make sure to explore new features and strategies on the platform that can help you reach a wider audience and boost your results.
You’ll find them below.
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Understanding the target audience: the foundation of Instagram success
If you want your Instagram posts and stories to truly resonate, it all starts with understanding your target audience. Knowing who follows your Instagram account—and what they care about—lets you create high quality content that speaks directly to their interests. This is where Instagram Insights becomes a powerful tool for any business account. With just a few taps, you can easily find out key details about your audience, such as their location, age range, and which posts or stories they engage with most.
By regularly checking Instagram Insights, you’ll discover what type of content your audience prefers, when they’re most active, and which topics spark the most engagement. Use this data to refine your Instagram strategy: focus on creating posts that align with your audience’s interests, and don’t be afraid to experiment with new formats or ideas based on what you learn. The more you tailor your content to your target audience, the more likely you are to boost engagement, grow your following, and build a brand that people want to connect with. Remember, creating content for your audience—not just for yourself—is the key to long-term Instagram success.
Instagram tip #1: Increase engagement and reach users more directly with Instagram DM automation
Last year, Instagram DM automation started to become popular, and now it’s undeniably a trend.
Not sure what we’re talking about? If you’ve seen creators adding to their captions something like, Comment ‘GUIDE’ and I’ll send you…, Comment ‘START’ and you’ll get…, that’s it.
With Instagram DM automation, you can get much closer to your followers and simultaneously provide them with valuable and useful content.
You can use Instagram DM automation in situations such as:
- Welcoming a new follower to your profile.
- Sending additional materials to what you’ve briefly talked about in your post.
- Promoting your latest ebook, webinar, event, or workshop by sending a direct link to sign-up/registration.
- Sending a follow-up message to your followers.
- Building up an email newsletter list.
- Asking your followers for their opinion by sending a message with a poll.
How will you benefit from using Instagram DM automation?
- The engagement on your profile will increase.
- You’ll become closer to your followers by having more direct conversations with them.
- DM automation can encourage people to interact with your content and participate in conversations by prompting them with questions, captions, or calls to action.
- It’ll be much easier for your followers to familiarize themselves with what you want to communicate. They won’t have to go to your bio to find a link or look for specific info on your website. You’ll send them a direct message with all the necessary information, so there is less of a chance they’ll miss it.
- It’ll be easier for you to achieve short-term or long-term goals – for example, ebook downloads or buys, event registrations, blogpost views, etc.
Sounds like something you’d like to try? Just keep in mind you’ll need an external tool to set up your automation – for example, ManyChat.
Instagram tip #2: Discover your competitors’ ER and top posts by using analytics tools
You can significantly improve your performance by understanding what works for other profiles. That doesn’t mean copying their activities and content but understanding both your target audience’s interests and preferences as well as social media trends.
Even though you can get an idea of what is trending and performing just by looking at competitors’ profiles, that won’t give you the full picture.
That’s why analytics tools come in handy.
You can use them, for example, to understand which of your competitors has the most engagement on their profile – something you can’t do manually. Tracking Instagram performance through analytics tools helps you identify which strategies are most effective by analyzing metrics like reach, engagement, and content effectiveness.
Sotrender will pull this data for you automatically, and it’s a great starting point for further Instagram analysis.
Based on that, you can delve deeper into content and engagement on the profile with the highest engagement rate (ER)
You can also monitor top posts for the selected group of profiles. It’s not always the brand with the highest ER that has the most engaging posts. Sometimes it’s all about regular posting and effective community management.
If you’re looking for an idea of what to post, what your audience will interact with more willingly, or the current trends, you should take a look at competitors’ profiles and consider using an Instagram mockup to visualize how your content might appear.
Instagram tip #3: Reach people effectively by adding relevant keywords
Hashtags are no longer a thing on Instagram. It hasn’t been officially announced, but now keywords are much more powerful. And you can already observe that trend on many accounts.
Instagram SEO (and social media SEO in general) is as important as your website’s SEO. Adding relevant keywords in your bio and posts makes your content more searchable, but more importantly, it helps the algorithm find your content and serve it to the right audience. Optimizing your profile and posts for search ensures your content is more easily discoverable by your target audience.
That doesn’t mean, though, that you should neglect using hashtags. Using the right hashtag helps categorize your content, increases post visibility, and can improve engagement. Just limit yourself to adding up to five. ‘The more, the better’ doesn’t translate here. Using trending hashtags can help your posts reach a wider audience and tap into current conversations.
Instagram tip #4: Start adding more links in your bio and Stories to reach your objectives faster
There are many Instagram tips and tricks related to links and redirecting users to your website, blog, or e-commerce store. For many businesses, Instagram is just the first touch point between their brand and potential customers. Building brand awareness on Instagram and interest in your offer is rarely an end goal. If you haven’t created a website for your brand, this is your go to make one with an online store builder right now and spread the link in your profile. Consider directing followers to a dedicated page, such as a landing page or product page, designed specifically for sign-ups, sales, or other business objectives to maximize conversions.
And related to this, as of 2024, we have good news for you.
The first thing is that you no longer have to use external tools like Linktree to have the option of adding multiple links in your bio section. You can now add up to five links in your bio, which is a huge convenience.
Secondly, for some time now, everyone can add links to their Stories, no matter how many followers they have. The ‘Swipe up’ feature is no longer valid, so you can freely link to anything you wish. However, it’s not advised to add too many links to your Stories. No matter if you add five or fifty Stories per day, you shouldn’t add links to more than just two or three Stories. Otherwise, your Stories’ reach may drop significantly.
Adding too many links will also distract your Instagram followers from what’s most important.
Get the most out of Instagram links, but do so with full awareness.
Instagram tip #5: Discover content categories with the highest potential for high user engagement
Another insight that may not be clear at a glance is how specific content categories on your profile perform.
In your Instagram content calendar, you probably have a few post categories, such as how-to guides, product promotions, memes, or report releases. Not all of them will be equally interesting and engaging for your target audience. And you should know which one drives your profile growth the most.
You can easily discover that using Sotrender
By using our Content performance chart, you’ll find out which categories (created based on your custom tags) are most effective in terms of impressions and total engagement (Activity Index).
By following this simple Instagram tip, you can start focusing on creating and posting content that really matters to your audience.
Instagram tip #6: Take a peek at your competitors’ ad spending to see if you’re not overspending
Among the many Instagram tips and tricks, we can’t miss those related to advertising.
If you’re investing in Instagram ads, it’s important to spend your budget effectively.
Things you should do regularly include:
- Checking the return on investment of your ads.
- Benchmarking your current ad spend, conversions, and other relevant metrics with past campaigns.
- Comparing your CPC or CPM metrics and the number of ad clicks and impressions with competitors’ stats.
Surprised by the last point?
, you can take a peek at some of your competitors’ ad results. You’ll be able to see the average CPC or CPM in your industry and how your results stack up against competitors.
Based on all this information, you’ll be able to decide if you should invest more money in ads or resign from paid advertising in case your ads aren’t paying off. Sometimes, you need to pay for advertising or influencer partnerships to achieve your desired results. It’s also a great starting point for optimizing your ads and achieving better results within the same budget.
Instagram tip #7: Use user-generated content and community to build trust and loyalty
User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most effective ways to build trust and loyalty with your Instagram audience. When your followers create and share Instagram posts, stories, or reels that feature your brand, it not only provides you with authentic, high quality content, but also fosters a sense of community and belonging. Encourage your users to tag your account, use branded hashtags, or participate in trending challenges related to your products or services. This makes it easy to discover and curate UGC that aligns with your brand’s message and aesthetic.
Prioritize quality and relevance when selecting UGC to share on your own account. Highlighting your followers’ content in your posts or stories not only promotes your brand, but also shows appreciation for your community—turning casual users into loyal brand advocates. Don’t forget to respond to comments and messages, and give shoutouts to those who contribute. This two-way engagement helps strengthen relationships, builds a sense of trust, and encourages even more people to create and share content about your brand. Ultimately, a thriving UGC community can set your Instagram account apart and drive ongoing engagement.
Instagram tip #8: Craft a memorable Instagram presence with visual aesthetics and branding
A strong visual identity is essential for making your Instagram account stand out and stick in the minds of your followers. Start by ensuring your profile picture, bio, and Instagram posts all reflect your brand’s unique style and values. Consistency is key—use a cohesive color palette, similar filters, and relevant keywords and hashtags across your posts to reinforce your branding.
High quality content is non-negotiable. Invest in sharp, eye-catching photos and videos that showcase your products, services, or behind-the-scenes moments. Carousel posts and Instagram stories are great ways to share more in-depth or varied content, while reels can help you tap into trending formats and reach new audiences. By creating engaging, visually appealing posts that align with your brand’s identity, you’ll make your Instagram account easily recognizable and memorable for your target audience. Remember, every image, video, and story is an opportunity to reinforce your brand and connect with your followers on a deeper level.
Instagram tip #9: Expand your reach authentically through influencer collaboration and partnerships
Partnering with influencers and other brands is one of the top tips for expanding your reach and building credibility on Instagram. When you collaborate with influencers who genuinely align with your brand and values, you create engaging content that feels authentic to both your audience and theirs. These partnerships can introduce your Instagram account to new audiences, helping you tap into communities that are already interested in what you offer.
To get the most out of influencer marketing, prioritize quality and relevance—choose partners whose followers match your target audience and whose content style complements your own. Use hashtags and trending challenges to amplify your collaborative posts and increase their discoverability. Don’t forget to engage with comments and messages on these posts, as active participation helps build trust and encourages people to follow and interact with your brand. By strategically leveraging influencer partnerships, you can promote your brand, create engaging content, and grow your Instagram account in a way that feels both organic and impactful.
Start taking advantage of these Instagram tips and tricks
Once you start following our tips, you’ll slowly but surely notice that with just a few small tweaks, your current Instagram marketing strategy becomes much more effective.
To further boost your results, experiment with features like giveaways to increase engagement, use poll stickers in Stories to interact with your audience, and take advantage of the Reels tab to reach a wider audience. Focus on creating high-quality images and engaging photo content, and use the right words in your captions to drive action. Don’t forget to connect your Instagram account with Facebook to unlock additional business features and access valuable insights.
First, conduct your Instagram profile audit to identify its weakest points, and only then move to implementing changes and improvements. However, remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You shouldn’t aim to achieve quick results and improve vanity metrics.
That’s all for now! Which of these Instagram tips and tricks are ground-breaking for you?
Read more:
- How to build a brand on Instagram?
Building a brand on IG is a combination of a well-thought-out strategy, planning a cohesive feed, and teaming up with relevant niche influencers, just to name a few. - How to create content for Instagram using templates?
You can facilitate your content creation process by using some ready templates adjusted to your brand aesthetics. - How to come up with more Instagram content ideas?
Check our guide with more than 30 Instagram content ideas. This can also be a great source of inspiration for anyone who is just starting their Instagram journey.
