You know what I love about Instagram?
The CEO literally tells you what works and what doesn’t. There are so many “gurus” who traffic in rumors and theories, and then Adam Mosseri comes out with a video and just straight up tells you. He’s one of the best CEO’s in the game and a must-follow on IG for this exact reason.
This week, he came out with a video captioned “Five simple tactical things you can do to increase your reach on Instagram.”
Here’s the video 👇
Let’s break it down.
#1: You need a hook
Give someone a reason to keep watching in those first three seconds, so you stop them from scrolling.
Remember, hooks come in multiple forms:
- Verbal: What you say
- Visual: Text on the screen
- Audio: Music or sound effects
For a deeper dive on hooks, read this.
#2: Turn on captions
Mosseri goes on to say that about half of the people scrolling Instagram are doing so with the sound off. So, if you don’t have captions on, you are missing out on an opportunity for them to engage with your Reel.
Here’s a great example from Jared James, who uses a text-based hook and captions to make sure he captures your attention at the beginning and throughout the Reel.
#3: Turn on translations
Most of the users don’t speak the language you speak, no matter what language you speak. They can now automatically translate Reels using AI into English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi. This will only expand.
A lot of bilingual agents have asked me if they should create a second account or film different posts in different languages. This appears to solve that. In this week’s Walk Thru, Jason Cassity showed what this looks like, and it’s amazing. His lips are moving like he’s speaking perfect Portuguese!
Watch the episode below.
#4: Use music
Mosseri says to use music, particularly when you are posting photos or carousels, but also in Reels. I personally will not publish a static image or carousel without audio. It makes the post more enjoyable to consume, and it works as an “audio hook” as you’re scrolling.
#5: Use Trials
Trials are a great way to test content and reach non-followers.
There you have it!
Most of these we kind of already knew, but it’s good to hear from the man himself. The translation feature is awesome, by the way. It’s cool seeing yourself speak a foreign language!
BTW, we just did our weekly content drop in our BAMx Community. Here’s a FREE TRIAL to get instant access to our social media templates, video scripts, emails, blogs, and trainings. Hope to see you in there!
