With an increase in reach also comes an increase in data privacy risks. 

The fact stands true for websites and social media, Instagram included!

Innovative campaigns that garner your brand’s praise and more sales won’t sustain the most important ingredient that guarantees success in the long run: credibility. With data privacy compliance, users feel safe. This safety leads to more trust and, well, more sales!

In 2022, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined Instagram 405 million euros for mishandling children’s data. So, the key is to find a balance between boosting reach and complying with privacy regulations. This article is all about the how. 

However, before that, let’s understand how Instagram’s ever-updating algorithm affects the reach of businesses. 

Instagram’s algorithm and its impact on reach 

To put it very simply, 

Reach = the number of unique viewers.

So if ten users find your post through the discover tag, location, hashtags, or feed, the reach of your post is ten!

Fortunately, the latest update of the Instagram algorithm makes it easy to find your audience with the right social media marketing strategy. The algorithm ensures that users see the content they’re most likely interested in, leaving a broad scope for you to find your tribe. As a personal brand or a business, your job is to figure out ways to reach as many users as possible. 

A few ways of doing so could be:

Make friends with Instagram’s latest features 

Users adopting the newest Instagram features is essential to Instagram, so it makes these features more prominent to its users. While doing so isn’t a sure-shot way to boost reach, the platform will undoubtedly favor specific posts highlighting their features. 

Diversify your post types

It’s easy to fall into a pattern of posting–carousel posts, reels, etc. However, try turning a carousel into a video the next time, or vice versa. Because, hey, only some people want to read through a carousel!

Pick the right time 

Get insights into your audience’s most active times and figure out which times serve you best. Consider the history of your posts in the analysis. 

These are some of the most basic ways to boost reach on Instagram. We’ll now take a step further and look into other ways to do so while considering users’ data security. 

4 ways to boost reach on Instagram and comply to privacy regulations 

While enhancing Instagram reach through consistent posting, proper hashtags, and collaborations are critical, more is needed. We’ll explore four ways to do so in detail while keeping user data safe.  Let’s start with the first one.  

1. Use subtitle translation services to reach a wide audience 

The art of writing optimized captions isn’t unknown. It helps find the relevant audience. The real challenge, however, is to insert subtitles and offer subtitle translation for users from different locations. After all, increasing reach means growing your audience from local to global, isn’t it! 

For local businesses, increasing reach means posting content that most users in the specific location find relevant. Large-scale businesses aiming to cater to a global audience need to post relevant and understandable content to users from varying backgrounds. Here’s when translating subtitles comes into play. Reaching a multilingual audience is only one of the many benefits. The service also includes:

Helps with legal compliance 

In specific locations, providing subtitles in multiple languages is a legal requirement. So, if your brand curates official or legal content, a subtitle translation service is only necessary.

Attracts native viewers 

With subtitle translations, your content reaches native viewers. Your content, therefore, isn’t limited to a specific audience or location!

Enhances SEO friendliness

Incorporating keywords in multiple languages automatically increases search engine optimization and the likelihood of getting discovered. 

If your brand falls under the media, entertainment, or even education sectors, let subtitles aid in boosting reach! 

2. Adhere to data privacy laws for privacy regulation  

A bang-on Instagram campaign will garner you ample appreciation.

A single data breach, on the other hand, will cause your brand immense disrespect and a loss of followers. To prevent it from happening, enforce compliance with privacy regulations.

Privacy regulation is that behind-the-scenes techie whose job it is to ensure the overall performance is glitch-free. A brand with privacy regulation policies such as GDPR or CCPA in the United States fosters trust among users and ensures legal compliance. So, if you want to protect your business from hefty fines in the future, learn about the data privacy laws and ways to incorporate them on Instagram. 

The above points in the article focus simply on boosting the reach; let’s look at privacy regulation and ways to practice it. 

• Understand Instagram’s terms of service and data usage policy.
• Keep an eye on any updates on the platform’s data usage policy.
• Attach a data privacy link to your Instagram bio, if necessary, outlining the data you collect and its purpose. 
• Clearly explain to users how their data, such as name, email address to subscribe to newsletters, etc., will be used.
• Only collect the data that is required. 
• Respond to user requests about their data, including requesting data deletion, altering data, etc. 

3. Utilize hashtags and geotags 

With the right hashtags, a business, beach, or a buckle, almost everything is Instagrammable! 

Users discover content through hashtags. To increase reach, you need users outside of your following to see your content, and hashtags are a great way to reach these users who may be interested in the type of content you post. 

In short, posting content without using hashtags will do nothing to increase your reach. While Instagram lets you put up to 30 hashtags per post and 10 per story, putting up random tags will do little for your business reach. Worse, too many or wrong hashtags may attract a different audience than intended. Instagram advises creators to use between 3-5 relevant hashtags for better reach. 

How do you devise the right hashtag strategy? 

• Know your audience and research the hashtags they use. 
• Research the most trending hashtags relevant to your industry, and use a hashtags analytics tool. 
• Create a unique hashtag for your brand.
• Blend the trending hashtags with niche-specific ones. 
• Keep an eye on the hashtags your competitors use. 
• Use geo-tagging if your business caters to a location-specific audience. 
• Create specific hashtags to run social media campaigns. 

Last but not least, test and analyze at regular intervals. Consider incorporating a hashtag analytics tool or contacting an agency if doing it on your own is overwhelming.  

4. Use interactive Instagram stickers to boost engagement 

Engagement amplifies reach and vice versa. 

The more users discover your content, the more chances they choose to engage with it, too. Instagram rewards engagement. Hence, you need to figure out fun ways to keep your followers engaged to increase reach. Leveraging the platform’s interactive stickers is easily one of the best social media practices. 

Interactive stickers poke users to participate, signaling Instagram’s algorithm that your posts are engaging and should be displayed more on the users’ feeds. The most common stickers you could leverage include: 

Emoji slider stickers 

Emotions aren’t always black or white. An emoji slider sticker gives you a nuanced insight into how your users feel about a peculiar post. 

Poll sticker 

Who doesn’t like to answer a simple this or that question? Poll stickers are an easy way to get users’ input. 

Quiz Sticker

Pique their curiosity with multiple-choice questions. Use this sticker to educate your users or entertain them with quizzes. 

Question Sticker 

Allow your followers to ask questions about your brand. They could be brand-related or user-specific. Share the most exciting answers to your stories to boost engagement. 

Hashtag sticker 

With an interactive hashtag sticker, users can explore other media shared on the platform with the same hashtag. It’s a great way to promote your branded hashtag on Instagram stories. 

The platform keeps launching new stickers, such as the latest “Add Yours” sticker, which lets users create a content chain on Instagram stories. Using Instagram stickers is about observing the newest and hopping on the bandwagon when you spot a new one! 

Time to take your Instagram reach to the next level 

The ways of boosting reach on Instagram ensure the two “I’s” for any business–integrity and influence. You want to influence your audience while adhering to privacy regulations. This way, the brand not only thrives ethically but also with integrity. 

Use the tactics mentioned here, see which brings your brand the expected results, and keep innovating. 

Don’t forget to create a delicate balance of creativity and data security and see your business grow in leaps and bounds!