How to *Actually* Get More Instagram Likes (My 15-Year Take)
Look, can we just be honest for a second? The whole conversation around how to get more likes on Instagram is broken. It’s been broken for years.
I remember this one client back in, what, 2018? A fantastic bakery in Minneapolis. They made these croissants that were just... incredible. But their Instagram was a ghost town. They were following all the "expert" advice: posting three times a day, using 30 hashtags, commenting on other accounts. They were exhausted. And for what? Maybe 15-20 likes per post, mostly from their cousins and a few loyal customers. They came to me and said, "Byron, we're doing everything right, why isn't it working?"
And that's the thing. They were doing everything they were told to do. But nobody ever tells you the truth: just "posting great content" isn't a strategy. It's a ticket to the game, not a way to win it. You're just shouting into a hurricane of other people also shouting.
Why Most "Like-Getting" Advice is Garbage
Here's my biggest pet peeve. It's when some 22-year-old guru who got lucky with one TikTok video tells a 50-year-old small business owner to "just go viral." It's the most useless advice in marketing history. It's like telling someone who's broke to "just win the lottery." It's not a plan.
Honestly, I've been doing this since 2010. Started with a tiny tech startup in Portland that was lighting its seed money on fire with Facebook ads. What I learned then is the same thing I know now: small businesses don't need a miracle. They need a system. A reliable, repeatable way to get attention that does not rely on luck. Most of my clients find that the constant pressure to be clever or funny or profound on every single post is what burns them out. You don't have to be a comedian or a filmmaker to get likes... you just have to give people a reason to stop scrolling for 3 seconds. That’s it.
Stop Begging for Likes, Start Earning Attention
So what's the alternative? Do we just give up? No. You just have to change the game. Literally.
This is where I started getting really interested in gamification. Yeah, I know, it's a buzzword and it sounds complicated, but stick with me. It’s not. Basically, it’s about using simple games-like a scratch ticket, a quiz, or a little prize wheel-to get people to actually engage with you. It’s a pattern interrupt. Instead of seeing another boring product photo, they see a chance to win something or play something. It works because it taps into basic human psychology. We're all just toddlers who want a cookie, you know?
People don’t want to be sold to. They want to be entertained. And a simple game is infinitely more entertaining than your post about "20% off this weekend!"
Okay, So What Games Actually Work? (My Field Notes)
I've tested everything. I mean everything. From those clunky, expensive enterprise tools to the basic giveaway apps. Frankly, most of them are either too complicated or too pricey for a typical small business.
Lately, I've been using a platform called Faisco with a lot of my clients because it just... works. It's not trying to be everything to everyone. It just lets you build and launch a simple, effective marketing game in like 10 minutes. And it gets results.
Here's what I typically recommend, based on what I've seen in the trenches:
For quick lead capture? Instant Draw games are king. I'm talking "Lucky Spin" wheels or digital "Scratch Tickets." I set one of these up for a fitness studio in Tampa-I think it was their "Pet Match & Win" game-and they got 1,384 new email addresses in two weeks. TWO. WEEKS. Why? Because the dopamine hit is immediate. You play, you see if you won. It's that simple. The conversion rate on that landing page was over 40%. It's insane.
For pure engagement? You want Reactive Games. Think "Whac-A-Mole" or "Find the Differences." These are great because they’re skill-based. People don't just play once; they play again to beat their own score, and then they share it to challenge their friends. We used the "Crazy Karting" game for a barbershop in Nashville... and in less than three weeks they had 258 new people join their local Facebook community. These were local people who could actually become customers. Not just random likes from halfway across the world.
For educating customers? Quizzes all the way. Something like "Unlock Lucky Words" or a "Treasure Hunt Challenge" is brilliant. I worked with a flower shop in Minneapolis-this was a different one from the bakery-and we did a word puzzle about different flower types. People had to follow them on Pinterest to get clues. They got 846 new Pinterest followers in 12 days. That’s a real, tangible result that helps their business long-term.
And the seasonal stuff... it's just a no-brainer. Faisco has templates for Christmas, Halloween, Black Friday, everything. That "Christmas Stocking" catching game? I've used it for three different retail clients, and every single one saw their Instagram engagement go up by over 300% in December compared to their normal posts.
A Quick Word on Tools: Faisco vs. Gleam. io
A lot of people ask me about Gleam. And look, Gleam. io is a solid tool. It’s powerful. But honestly, it’s overkill for 90% of small businesses, and it starts at like $39/month for the basic plan, which quickly gets expensive. You end up paying for a bunch of features you will never, ever use.
With Faisco, I can get a campain live for a client in under 10 minutes. With Gleam, it's usually an hour-plus of fiddling with settings. For a local coffee shop or a plumber, that time and money makes a huge difference. You're getting the core functionality-the part that actually gets you likes and leads-at a fraction of the cost and complexity. It’s a workhorse, not a show pony. And it connects properly with Instagram, Facebook, TikTok... the integration actually works, which is where a lot of these other tools fall flat on their face.
Your Action Plan for This Week
So, how do you get more likes on Instagram? You stop chasing them.
Instead, run a simple game. You don’t need a huge prize. A 15% off coupon, a free coffee, a digital download. The prize almost doesn’t matter as much as the chance to win.
- Pick a simple goal. Do you want more email subscribers? More local followers? Pick ONE thing.
- Choose a game. If you want emails, use a Spin to Win. If you want engagement and shares, use a skill game like Whac-A-Mole.
- Set it up. Use a tool like Faisco. Seriously, don't try to build this yourself. Spend the 10 minutes.
- Promote it. Put the link in your Instagram bio. Do one or two posts about it. Run a small ad budget if you have one ($50 is plenty to start).
That's it. That's the whole strategy. I've seen businesses get 200-400% bumps in followers and 150-300% growth in their email lists in the first month. Not through some "viral hack," but by giving people a fun, simple reason to pay attention. It's not magic, it's just good marketing. And it works.
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