How to Have More Likes on Instagram? It's Not What You Think.

Look, I was on a call last month with a bakery owner in Minneapolis-great lady, makes the best croissants I've ever had-and she was just pulling her hair out over Instagram. She was posting beautiful pictures, using all the "right" hashtags, even boosting posts... and getting crickets. Maybe 30 likes, half of them from her cousins. She asked me, "Byron, how do I get more likes on Instagram?" And I had to stop her right there.

Honestly, that’s the wrong question. I've been doing this since 2010, and if there's one thing I've learned watching hundreds of small businesses burn through their cash, it is this: chasing likes is a fool's errand. A complete waste of time. What you need is engagement-real people taking real action. Likes are just a side effect of that.

The Problem With Chasing "Likes"

Here's the thing. We've all been sold this idea that a post with 1,000 likes is a "successful" post. It’s not. Not always. I remember this one client back in 2018, a clothing boutique, that was paying an agency a fortune to get likes. And they did! Their posts were getting 500, 800, sometimes over a thousand likes. But their sales? Flat.

Turns out the agency was using like-pods and a bunch of other shady tactics to juice the numbers. The "likes" were coming from accounts in countries they didn't even ship to. They were vanity metrics. Totally useless. It looked good on paper, but it didn't put a single dollar in the register. It drives me crazy when I see people giving this advice. "Just get more likes!" How? By magic?

Frankly, you need to give people a reason to care. A photo of a coffee cup is just a photo of a coffee cup. But a photo of a coffee cup with a caption that says "Guess the secret ingredient in our new Fall Latte and win a free one!"-now that's a reason to stop scrolling.

So, What Actually Works? Gamification.

Yeah, I know. It sounds like a Silicon Valley buzzword. I thought so too until I saw it work. And work like crazy.

Basically, you turn your marketing into a simple game. People are hardwired to love a little competition, a chance to win, a quick puzzle. It gives them a shot of dopamine. It’s fun. When was the last time your marketing was genuinely fun for your customers?

For years, I've messed around with all the tools for this-Gleam. io, Woobox, you name it. They're fine, but they can be complicated or expensive. Lately, I've been getting fantastic results for my clients with a platform called Faisco. It's just... easier. And it’s built for businesses that don’t have a full-time marketing department or thousands to blow on an agency. I can get a campaign up and running in ten minutes. Seriously.

Let me give you some real-world examples, not just theory:

• A Chicago pet grooming salon. They were struggling to get reviews. We ran a "Summer Catch" game-a simple catching game. Every time someone played, they got an entry to win a "full year of free grooming" and we simply asked them to leave a review for an extra entry. They got 2,760 new Google reviews. In 12 days.
• That Minneapolis fitness studio. They needed new leads. We used the "Star Seeker" speed game. People played, entered their email to see if they won a free month pass. The result? 938 new local email addresses in just over a week.
• A Charlotte barbershop. Super local, community-focused place. We ran a simple "Scratch Ticket" game for a chance to win a free haircut. It got them 162 new members in their local Facebook group where they build all their community. That’s 162 real, local people who are now loyal customers.

See the pattern? We're not asking for a like. We are giving people something fun to do, and the likes, follows, and shares happen as a natural result. The best game in the world don't work if it's boring, but these quick, instant-win style games... they just convert. People see a "Lucky Spin" or a "Scratch Ticket" and they can't help themselves. It is pure psychology.

The Right Game for the Right Goal

Not all games are the same, of course. What I like about Faisco is they have these templates that just... make sense.

If you want email addresses, you use an Instant Draw Game like "Lucky Spin" or "Scratch Ticket." The conversion rates are insane-I've seen over 40% on landing pages because people want that instant feedback.

If you want people to share your stuff, you use a Reactive Game like "Whac-A-Mole." It’s skill-based, so people get a score and immediately want to challenge their friends. That's how you get organic reach, not by begging for it.

And the seasonal stuff is just genius. Around Christmas, I used their "Fill My Christmas Stocking" catching game for three different retail clients. Every single one of them saw engagement go up by over 300% compared to their normal holiday posts. We're talking hundreds of shares, thousands of likes... and more importantly, a ton of website clicks and foot traffic. Because it was different from the 50 other "20% off!" posts in their feed.

But Don't Forget the Fundamentals...

Look, you can't just throw a game on a terrible Instagram profile and expect miracles. You still have to do the basic work. Good photos. A clear bio that explains what you do. Actually responding to comments. That stuff never changes. I've been saying that since... forever.

The game is the hook. It’s the pattern interrupt. It’s the thing that makes someone stop and pay attention to you instead of the ten other businesses just like yours in their feed. It's how you turn a passive scroller into an active participant.

So, here's what I recommend. Stop worrying about the like count for a month. Seriously. Instead, run one simple game. It doesn't have to be complicated. A digital scratch-off for 15% off their next purchase. A quiz about your industry to win a small prize. You'll see a shift. You won't just get more likes on Instagram; you'll get more DMs, more email sign-ups, and more actual customers. And isn't that the whole point?

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