“200-view jail” is a real thing.

This is one of the BIGGEST challenges creators face when they’re just starting. 

The good news is that there’s a proven way to getting more views on Instagram and get out of jail.

If you make these 14 tweaks to your content, you’ll put yourself in a much better position to build a solid following, go viral, and reach your traffic goals. 

They might seem small, but they stack on top of each other to add thousands (even hundreds of thousands) of views over time.

The 14 Ways to Get More Views on Instagram

#1. Master the Most IMPORTANT Part of Your Reels

The first 3 seconds of your reel are by FAR the most important. 

Why? 

Because most people aren’t searching for your reels yet. They just run into them while scrolling mindlessly through their feed. 

They are scrolling FAST, and they’re skipping everything uninteresting.

That’s why your first 3 seconds need to be SO strong and SO interesting that it stops people in their tracks.

Learning how to master hooks takes some time and an in-depth understanding of your audience, but here are a few ideas to get you going:

• State a controversial opinion — “Boosting reels is a waste of money.”
• Start with a question — “Did you know most people are posting Reels wrong?”
• Call out your audience — “For small business owners struggling with views…”
• Use numbers/lists — “3 mistakes killing your Instagram reach…”
• Trigger curiosity — “Have you ever wondered (insert highly interesting question)…”
• Promise a benefit — “Double your views in 10 minutes a day…”

And here’s an example of a POWERFUL curiosity-triggering hook for inspiration.

#2: Don’t Ignore Video Quality

Look…

If all you have is an old phone with a poor camera, don’t let that stop you from starting an account. You can still connect with people even if you don’t have the latest and greatest tech. 

However, if you’re struggling to get more views, video quality is one of the little tweaks that can help tremendously. 

Here are some fast ways to upgrade your video quality:

• Try adjusting settings in your phone — jump into your phone’s camera settings and look for your camera’s resolution and frames-per-second (FPS). Increasing your camera’s resolution brings the overall quality up, while increasing the FPS makes the movement in your video silky smooth. 1080p resolution and 30 FPS should be good. If possible, try bumping it up to 4k resolution and 60 FPS and see if it’s worth the extra storage space! 

• Pay attention to lighting — most phone cameras struggle in dark settings. As much as possible, shoot in well-lit areas where the subject is clearly highlighted. Also, if you’re shooting outside, shooting right after sunrise or right after sunset gives you the most dramatic and eye-catching colors. 

• Upload at highest quality — before posting your reel, click on the “Advanced Settings,” and look for the “Upload at highest quality” toggle. Make sure this is turned on so that Instagram doesn’t shrink your video for faster upload speed. 

• Avoid zooming/cropping — while editing your video, avoid zooming in or cropping your video. This kills the quality of your video. Of course, there will be some times when you have to do this, but try as much as possible to get the framing right the first time. 

#3: ALWAYS Use Subtitles

Even if you have the STRONGEST hook, it won’t count for much if your audience can’t hear (or read) it!

Many sources say that roughly 85% of Instagram and Facebook users occasionally watch reels on mute.

That’s why adding subtitles to your reels is crucial. Without them, you’re essentially throwing away hundreds (if not thousands) of views. 

When you upload your reel to Instagram, look for the “CC” button (closed captioning). Click this, and Instagram will automatically add subtitles to your reel. 

You can edit the subtitles by clicking on them. However, this can be a little tricky to fix, especially in longer reels. 

For more control, download Instagram’s “Edits” app. Or use other third-party editing apps like CapCut instead. 

#4: Use Keywords, NOT Hashtags!

This might shock you, but…

Hashtags are DEAD. 

They’re no longer relevant or helpful for getting more views on Instagram. 

In the past, hashtags were a way to help Instagram’s algorithm categorize your reel, so that people interested in #travel or #food would have a better chance of finding your reel. 

Nowadays, Instagram’s algorithm is sophisticated.

It can scan your caption, pick up keywords, determine what your reel is about, and show it to people who might be interested. 

So instead of using hashtags, make sure you use keywords relevant to your niche in your caption, in your text-on-screen, and in the things you say in your reel (because Instagram’s algorithm can pick that up too). 

#5: Add Value in Your Captions

Have you ever seen those reels that are relatively short, but have a long and interesting caption? 

These are usually only around 7 seconds. And they can be: 

• Educational (“This is why your posts aren’t growing on Instagram”)
• A story (“I almost quit my business last year”)
• Helpful/inspirational (“Here’s what I wish I knew before turning 27”)

These reels can work really well, because if people stay to read the caption, this increases your reel’s watch time. The more watch time your reel has, the more Instagram will push the reel to a wider audience. 

It’s a bit sneaky, but this is a well-known trick to increase views. 

The challenge is writing a caption that people actually want to read. 

So start with a strong text-on-screen hook (because in the reels tab, people can only preview the first line), and keep it so interesting, even the laziest doomscroller will take the time to pause and read. 

Aside from that, captions with complete information increase saves and shares — both super important metrics for increasing reach! 

Check this reel out. Notice how the text-on-screen reveals the answer, but doesn’t explain (the explanation is in the caption). 

#6: Become an Analytics Nerd

Instagram gives you some very powerful analytics tools for your reels, and far too many people don’t even bother to check them. 

With these tools, you don’t have to guess what’s working and what isn’t — there’s data to show you. 

So, a couple of hours after posting, click on your reel and you should see the “View Insights” button. 

There are a lot of metrics here, but here are some of the important and interesting ones to study:

• View Rate Past First 3 Seconds — this is the best measurement for how strong your hook is. Below 60% means your hook didn’t land too well. 60 – 70% is good, but can be better. While anything above 70% usually means you have a very attractive hook! However, don’t get overly fixated on this metric, since a strong hook doesn’t guarantee a viral reel (it’s just one of the main ingredients). 

• Average Watch Time — this metric shows how good you are at keeping people watching. Look at the average watch time, and compare it to how many seconds your reel is. For 15-second reels, an average watch time of 9 seconds means you did extremely well keeping people glued. While for 60-second reels, average watch times of 13 – 15 seconds are usually a good sign. 

• Overview — your total views, watch time, interactions, and profile activity (a.k.a new followers from the reel). These numbers by themselves are pretty arbitrary. But if you have a strong hook (view rate past 3 seconds), and good retention (average watch time), but your numbers here aren’t obviously better than your other reels, that’s a sign that your payoff is weak (payoff meaning the emotional connection with followers that gets them to like, comments, share, or save your reel). 

There are a bunch of other metrics you can see, like where people watch your reel, at what point in your video they hit like, how many views and interactions came from followers vs non-followers, and so on. 

So study these and use them to improve.

#7: Create Shareable Content

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri recently said in one of his story Q&As that “shares” are one of the most important metrics for the algorithm (even more important than likes). 

It’s the reason why reels like this do SO well.

Now… we’re not saying make something exactly like that. 

Just keep in mind that Instagram wants content that people can send to their buddies, partners, families, or to their own followers (by sharing it in their stories or using the new repost feature). 

Here are some tips to increase shareability: 

• Make it easy to consume — people don’t usually send 1-minute-long reels to each other unless they know the person needs the information in the reel. Most shared reels are short, easy to consume, and pack a punch.

• Make it relatable — go to your inbox and check the last few reels that your friends sent you. You’ll probably notice that many of them are highly relatable and usually a little humorous. These types of reels do extremely well when they land, so try your hand at some. 

• Or… make it valuable — some of us struggle to be relatable, or we just aren’t naturally funny. The good news is that you can also pack your reel with valuable information; people have to share it anyway. Think insider tips, hacks, and detailed how-tos that address common problems.

#8: Hop on Trends (Properly)

Trends are tricky. 

On the one hand, it’s fun to be part of something that everyone else on Instagram is doing. 

On the other hand, everyone has already seen hundreds of reels using the exact same concept and sound — so it can be challenging to get people to stop and watch your version. 

The trick is to add a small twist. 

For example, take the Ice Bucket Challenge trend from 2014 (which everyone and their dog took part in). 

Instead of just dumping a bucket of ice water on your head, try using a stock pot (if you have a cooking account), do the challenge in a mountain (if you’re a hiker), build a contraption to pour the water on you (if you’re an engineer), and so on. 

Doing this works because people already know the premise of the video, but they’ll want to see your unique take on the challenge.

#9: Trial Reels, Trial Reels, Trial Reels

One of the greatest updates by Instagram for creators was giving them trial reels. 

Trial reels let you post a reel without showing it to your followers. This reel will only go to non-followers on the explore page. 

This makes trial reels a great opportunity to test different hooks, ideas, and variations without bothering your core audience (your followers). 

And if a trial reel does well? You can simply share it to your main feed, and your followers will see it as well. 

However, keep in mind that you’ll need at least 1,000 followers before trial reels become available.

#10: Post Stories for Context

One strategy that many accounts use is posting a story before publishing a reel. This is especially effective for longer reels. 

Posting a story will give your followers some context, and it’s also a great way to build hype or curiosity so that when you publish, more people will watch the whole thing even if your hook isn’t super strong. 

Aside from that, you can also share your reel to your story once it’s published, and add some text along the lines of, “It’s finally here!” 

Remember, Instagram doesn’t show your reel to all of your followers. So sharing your reel to your story is a great way to get some extra reach for people who already follow you. 

Be careful, though, since sharing reels to stories with NO context is a surefire way for people to swipe right and skip your stories altogether. 

#11: Post When Your Audience is Active

Momentum is key for Instagram. 

If your reel gets tons of engagement really quickly, Instagram’s algorithm will take note and start increasing that reel’s reach. 

So try to post at times when your audience is the most active. 

However, remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the best time to post on Instagram. It all depends on your audience’s habits. 

Once you have a fair amount of followers, here’s how you can check your audience’s active times: 

1. Go to your Instagram profile
2. Click on the ☰ menu button in the top-right corner
3. Click on insights
4. Click “New Followers” 
5. Scroll to the bottom, and you should see something like this: 

As you can see from this example, the most active times for this particular audience are 6 pm – 9 pm. While the least active times are 12 am – 6 am (these people aren’t night owls!)

#12: Don’t Waste Your Money Boosting Reels

Some people advise you to boost your reels to increase views. 

But here’s my controversial take: 

That’s a WASTE of money. 

The only time it makes sense to boost a reel is if the reel has already gone viral organically. 

Boosting a viral reel that’s already died down is a great way to bring it back to life and get even MORE reach and followers from it. 

Since it already went viral, this means it had a strong hook (so people stopped to watch), and it was valuable or relatable for your target audience (so people liked, shared, and saved it). 

However, if you boost a reel with no track record of success, there’s a fat chance people are just going to swipe right past it. 

You don’t know how good the hook works, and whether it’s valuable for your target audience. Spending real money for a boost is just artificially pumping your view numbers.  

#13: Mix in Carousels For Your Existing Audience

Reels are hands-down the best way to get more reach on Instagram. 

However, this doesn’t mean you should only post reels. 

Carousels are one of the best ways to keep your current followers engaged. 

Unlike reels, carousels actually show up TWICE in your followers’ feed — once with the first slide in the carousel, and another time showing the second picture/video. 

As a rule of thumb, if you’re trying to grow your account, aim for 80% reels and 20% carousels. 

If you already have a big following, you can adjust to 60% reels and 40% carousels. 

Note: single-picture posts are a thing of the past. You can still post them for fun, but they don’t provide much value in terms of growth on Instagram. 

#14: Collaborate With Other Creators in Your Niche

Lastly, you can get much more reach if you work together with other creators in your space. 

By collaborating, you essentially tap into each other’s audiences. 

Even if your follower counts aren’t massive, this strategy works wonders because you’re getting in front of people who are already interested in your niche.

Here are a few easy ways to collaborate:

• Co-create a Reel — shoot a video together (in-person or virtually) and post it as a collab. Instagram lets you tag a collaborator so the reel shows up on both your feeds.

• Stitch or remix — take one of their reels and add your commentary, reaction, or extra tips. It creates value and gives exposure to both accounts.

• Shout-outs — share each other’s reels in stories or do a “creator spotlight” carousel.

The beauty of collaborations is that they don’t just bring more views, but views from the right followers. 

Since you’re both in the same niche, anyone who follows them is very likely to follow you too once they see your reel! 

Ready to Get More Views on Instagram?

Look…

Making ONE of these tweaks isn’t going to make you go viral overnight. 

In fact, you might only see the teeny tiniest bump in view count with one tweak (or maybe none at all). 

But if you combine 2 of these tweaks, or 3, or 4 (or especially ALL 14), your reels will get significantly more views than before. 

So start working on it slowly but surely…and watch what happens to your follower count.

Now… It’s one thing to know these tweaks, but it’s a completely different thing to know what exactly to post. 

If you’re struggling to find ideas, then check out THIS blog post where I go over 17 content ideas you can try!