No formula will make all of your Instagram posts go viral, but there are a few things you can do to maximize the performance of each post.

It’s not about timing your posts perfectly, always using 25 hashtags, or applying the ‘Clarendon’ filter. There are no easy tricks or hacks to significantly boost your posts (which also applies to your Instagram strategy as a whole).

However, I’m not here to tell you that it requires a lot of work either. …

With over one billion active users, it’s getting increasingly hard for accounts to grow on Instagram. Some even say that organic growth is impossible nowadays.

It’s not. There are still accounts that thrive, despite all the competition — and all of these Instagram accounts have a handful of traits in common.

The most interesting part is that none of them require any special skills or big budgets.

No, they’re childishly easy to implement and set yourself apart from the masses.

Why so few are doing so is beyond me.

1. Not All of Their Posts Are Optimized for Highest Possible Engagement

“If you try to be everything to everyone, soon you’ll be nothing to no one.” …

Just because someone has a lot of followers on Instagram doesn’t automatically mean they have any influence over their audience. It’s possible to be a fun person to follow, without having any authority whatsoever. In fact, this is the rule, not the exception.

I’ve consulted businesses who have worked with so called influencers, been kind one myself, and helped people with large audiences get deals with brands, so I’ve seen this from every side. It’s clear to me that most people, including myself, don’t have significant influence over masses of people.

People with a big following simply have the ability to broadcast a message to a large audience. That’s not nothing, but don’t mistake it for influence. …

I get most of my followers through posts that reach an audience beyond my own. The usual number is in the hundreds per post, but occasionally, I manage to get everything right with the post and gain over 1,000 new followers.

There are four things to master: the photo, the caption, the commentability, and the right hashtags. Get these right, and you’ll get in front of new people. If your profile is in order, that will result in a wave of new followers every time you post.

Let’s look at the four posts — which I’ve included stats for — and the four things to master so that you can all accelerate the growth of your accounts. …

Main brand accounts aren’t good for driving growth via Instagram. They serve an important role in other ways, such as product and service updates, success stories from users, customer service, giving a quick overview of your offering, and tips to get the most out of what your customers are buying.

In fact, people expect brands to have an Instagram account for these reasons, and you should go above and beyond with everything mentioned.

That is to say, the main Instagram account for your business is geared toward your existing customer base, as well as those who are already actively looking for something that you’re offering. …

Value propositions (or props) are the benefits a product or service is providing. They’re why someone should care about what you’re selling, and are most commonly used in ads and the copy on your site.

Sadly, they don’t get get as much love as they deserve. Value props are the essence of your marketing and sometimes businesses even leave them out completely from their ads.

I’ve seen marketing campaigns with sophisticated target audiences — with ads that basically say “Buy product X now. We have free shipping.” Then when results are poor, the solution is to find a better audience.

That’s a pretty extreme example, but it’s really common to not go wide or deep enough with value props. When you do it properly, though, you’ll see your marketing campaigns come to life, and your product pages convert better. …

The importance of social media for businesses has always been a controversial subject. Many think the ROI is too small and the effort is better spent somewhere else.

Of course, the matter isn’t black and white. It depends on what you’re selling, and how you approach it.

Nevertheless, it’s a valid point. Instagram and other social media are certainly not worth it for all businesses. I don’t see a corporate law firm ever needing an Instagram strategy.

But even Instagram suitable e-commerce businesses, such as clothing and cosmetics brands, could’ve been better off focusing their efforts on multiple other things than social media for the last ten years. …

The most inspiring Reddit post I’ve ever read is a 342-word rant about how it’s impossible to give a fuck while eating an apple.

How do you eat an apple? You just fucking bite it. Where? Who the fuck cares where. You know where to bite. In the APPLE part. You chomp the fuck into that apple and you rip it the fuck apart.

Look at yourself. You’re a god damned bad ass. The number of fucks you give is decreasing rapidly.

At first, I laughed about the absurdity and creativity of the write-up, but there was a real lesson behind it. …