Experiment: Does early engagement boost reach on Instagram?

Did you know that the average Instagram post only reaches about 32% of an account’s followers?1 If you’ve ever felt like your content is stuck in a black hole of low engagement, you’re not alone.

Many marketers struggle with what we’ll call Low Engagement Fatigue (LEF) —a totally real (and definitely not made-up) social media syndrome that leaves you wondering, “Am I shadowbanned? Why aren’t my posts getting traction? Is the algorithm out to get me?”

If LEF’s got you down, here’s a glimmer of hope: some swear that boosting early engagement can jolt your posts back to life. We decided to test it.

Here’s what we found — and how you can use these insights to supercharge your own Instagram marketing strategy.

Key takeaways

1. Early engagement gets your post noticed. Quick likes and comments tell Instagram’s algorithm your content is worth showing to more people.
2. Interaction can reach beyond your followers. A strong start helps your post land in front of new audiences, like on the Explore page.
3. Simple actions kickstart engagement. DMing loyal followers or using Stories with a prompt can spark that crucial first-hour buzz.
4. Good content and timing set the stage. Pair quality posts with active hours to give your engagement efforts a head start.
5. Tracking reveals what works. Use tools like Hootsuite Analytics or Instagram Insights to monitor reach and engagement, refining your strategy over time.

Hypothesis If a post receives high engagement in the first hour, then Instagram’s algorithm will boost its reach

Our hypothesis? If a post gets high engagement in the first hour, Instagram’s algorithm will boost its reach — simple, but rooted in how platforms reward buzz.

Social platforms like Instagram prioritize content that sparks immediate interaction, as this signals to the algorithm that the post is valuable and worth showing to more people.

If this hypothesis holds true, it could mean that a small investment in early engagement — like asking friends to like and comment or sharing your post in Stories — could lead to significantly higher reach and visibility.

Of course, algorithms are fickle. Could timing or content quality throw a wrench in this plan? Let’s see.

Bonus!!!

Use our free engagement rate calculator to find out your engagement rate 4 ways fast. Calculate it on a post-by-post basis or for an entire campaign — for any social network.

Download now Methodology

To test whether early engagement could jolt our reach, we ran a two-week experiment with a single Instagram account, sticking to carousel posts for consistency since they tend to perform well.

Our goal was to isolate early engagement as the variable, so we kept everything else steady: same captions, hashtags, and a 7 pm posting time each day.

Week 1 served as our baseline. From Tuesday to Thursday, we dropped three carousels into the wild with no extra push — no Stories, no DMs, just the algorithm doing its thing.

Here are the cover images for Week 1’s carousels:

Control: Tuesday Control: Wednesday Control: Thursday

In Week 2, we posted at the same time on the same three days, mirroring Week 1’s content as closely as possible, despite some slight visual tweaks.

And here are the cover images for Week 2’s carousels:

Experiment: Tuesday Experiment: Wednesday Experiment: Thursday

During Week 2, we actively tried to increase engagement in the first hour by:

• Sending DMs to 5-10 friends, asking them to like, comment, and share.
• Sharing the carousel in Stories immediately after posting with a call-to-action.
• Commenting on our own post with a prompt to encourage replies.
• Replying to all comments as quickly as possible to keep the conversation going.

Tracking results

We tracked likes, comments, shares, saves, and reach after 1 hour and 24 hours to see what stuck. (Pro tip: A content calendar can streamline this process.)

Wondering where to find your post insights on Instagram? Open Instagram, navigate to the post, and click View Insights under the image:

Just a note: You need to have a Business or Creator account on Instagram to view insights, so make sure to convert your Personal profile if you want to be able to see these numbers!

Instagram won’t give you the engagement rate for each post, though, so to calculate engagement rates, we used Hootsuite’s free engagement rate calculator — a must-have social media analytics tool for any marketer looking to track performance.

Results

The numbers tell a clear story: boosting early engagement paid off. Here’s how Week 1 and Week 2 stacked up across reach, impressions, and engagement rates.

Here are the highlights:

MetricWeek 1 (Control)Week 2 (Experiment) Average reach (1h)1860.6 Average reach (24h)80.3229.6 Engagement rate (1h)0.24%1.08% Engagement rate (24h)0.67%2%

Note: Engagement is represented as a percentage. Most social media marketing experts agree that a good engagement rate is between 1% to 5%.

Digging into that critical first hour reveals why the effort mattered. Engagement rates spiked when we pushed for interaction — here’s the breakdown.

Engagement rate after 1 hr:

Week 1 (Control)Week 2 (Experiment) Post 1 (Tuesday)0.37%0.98% Post 2 (Wednesday)0.33%1.0% Post 3 (Thursday)0.04%1.47%

Reach offers another angle. The number of individual people seeing our posts jumped in Week 2. Here’s how it played out after that first hour.

Reach after 1 hr:

Week 1 (Control)Week 2 (Experiment) Post 1 (Tuesday)977 Post 2 (Wednesday)2050 Post 3 (Thursday)2555

Who saw these posts? A look at impressions shows Week 2 reaching beyond our followers:

Week 1 – Impressions after 1 hour (followers)Week 1 – Impressions after 1 hour (non-followers)Week 2 – Impressions after 1 hour (followers)Week 2 – Impressions after 1 hour (non-followers) Post 1 (Tuesday)100%0%94.5%5.5% Post 2 (Wednesday)100%0%93.5%6.5% Post 3 (Thursday)97.3%2.7%95%5%

On average, Week 2 posts reached more non-followers than Week 1 posts. Interesting!

Performance didn’t stop at the first hour, either. Tracking views over time shows how Week 2’s posts kept climbing.

Week 1 (Control), Post 3Week 2 (Experiment), Post 3 After 1 hour After 24 hours

What stands out most? Week 2’s early push delivered results that held strong—here’s the takeaway:

• Week 2 posts reached nearly 3x more people than Week 1 posts.
• The engagement rate after 1 hour was 4.5x higher in Week 2.
• Week 2 posts also reached more non-followers, suggesting that the algorithm pushed them to Explore pages.

So, does high engagement in hour one boost reach? The numbers scream yes.

What do the results mean?

So, does early engagement really boost reach? The data says yes, but there’s more to the story.

Here are the highlights:

• Early engagement matters. Posts with high engagement in the first hour consistently outperformed those without.
• The algorithm rewards interaction. Instagram’s algorithm seems to prioritize posts that spark immediate interaction, pushing them to more users’ feeds.
• Non-followers are key. Week 2 posts reached more non-followers, suggesting that early engagement can help you tap into new audiences.

Early engagement doesn’t just pad your stats; it can reshape how your brand grows online.

Posts with high interaction in the first hour consistently outperformed their quieter counterparts, suggesting Instagram’s algorithm favors quick momentum. This matters for marketers chasing visibility since more reach means more chances to turn views into followers or clicks into sales.

The algorithm’s preference for interaction isn’t new, but our test shows how manageable tactics, like a few DMs or a Stories share, can trigger it.

Why does this work? Instagram’s algorithm tracks “velocity” — how fast a post gains traction after going live. High likes and comments in hour one signal relevance, prompting the platform to test it with a wider audience, like the Explore page or hashtag feeds. Our Week 2 non-follower bump (5-6.5%) supports this: early buzz likely earned us algorithmic brownie points.

Reaching beyond your existing audience, no matter how you do it — via the Explore page, hashtags, or fans resharing your content — opens doors to new communities, amplifying brand awareness without extra ad spend.

While our experiment focused on carousels and a small sample, the pattern holds promise: early effort can snowball into lasting impact

7 ways to boost your Instagram engagement

Ready to put these insights into action? Here are seven strategies to boost early engagement and supercharge your Instagram reach:

1. Create content worth engaging with

Quality matters. Posts with strong visuals, such as polished carousel graphics, and captions that invite a response tend to perform better.

For example, swapping a generic “New product update” for “What do you think of our latest release? Let us know below!” can spark more interaction.

Our experiment leaned on carousels, which worked well, but test different formats to see what resonates with your audience.

2. Post when your audience is online

Timing can give your content an early edge. We posted at 7 pm each day, but according to our research, these are the universal best times to post on Instagram: Mondays from 3 pm to 9 pm, Tuesdays from 5 am to 8 am or 3 pm to 7 pm, and Thursdays from 5 pm to 7 pm.

Check your Instagram Insights to find when your followers are most active — or use Hootsuite’s Best Time to Publish feature to take the guesswork out of scheduling your posts. It analyzes your past performance and audience engagement patterns to recommend the optimal times for your content.

3. Encourage comments and shares immediately after posting

Take the lead in sparking conversation. Adding a comment right after posting, such as “What’s your opinion on this? Reply below!” or “Who would you share this with?” can encourage followers to chime in.

In Week 2 of our experiment, these prompts drove higher engagement within the first hour. Keep it tied to your content for authenticity.

4. Like and reply to comments as soon as possible

Replying to comments does more than show appreciation; it boosts your post’s activity.

In our Week 2 tests, fast responses kept conversations going and lifted engagement rates. Aim to reply within 15 minutes of posting to every comment you receive.

A thoughtful response, rather than a quick emoji, can prompt further replies and amplify your results.

5. Use Instagram Stories to rally your followers

Instagram Stories offer a direct line to your audience. Sharing your post there with a simple call-to-action, like “Check this out and leave a comment!” or “Let us know what you think below!” pushed our Week 2 average reach to 60.6 in the first hour, compared to 18 in Week 1.

This step leverages the personal feel of Stories to drive engagement from your existing base.

6. Reach out to loyal followers via DM

Your most consistent supporters can give your post a head start.

Sending a quick DM to 5-10 loyal followers with a note like “Just posted something I think you’ll enjoy—would love your thoughts!” helped spike early metrics in our experiment.

This personal touch strengthens ties with your core audience and pays off in sustained engagement.

7. Don’t overdo it on the outreach

A final word of caution: Don’t overdo it.

Bombarding followers with DMs can feel spammy, so stick to a small, trusted circle like our 5-10. Generic Story prompts like “Like this!” without context flop; tie them to your post’s theme.

And if replies lag despite your efforts, check your content. Hate to break it to you, but algorithm boosts won’t save a dud post.

Boost your Instagram engagement using Hootsuite. Schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage your audience, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles — all from one simple dashboard. Try it free today.

1. On average, an Instagram post reaches about 32% of an account’s followers. However, smaller accounts tend to have a higher reach percentage (10–40%), while bigger accounts typically reach a smaller proportion of their followers (5–25%). Huge accounts often surpass their own follower count, likely due to algorithm-driven exposure. Stats via Statista. ︎

The post Experiment: Does early engagement boost reach on Instagram? appeared first on Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard.