Getting more comments on Instagram starts with one direct question and a reply
Comments are the single biggest driver of expanded reach.
Table of contents
Posts that start real conversations get shown to more people.
A post with 5 comments almost always outperforms a post with 50 likes but no comments. Comments are the single biggest driver of expanded reach. When someone comments on your post, Instagram reads it as a sign that your content started a real conversation.
A comment takes thought, intention, and time.
- Ask a direct, easy-to-answer question in your caption.
- Reply to every comment you receive.
- Post at the right time for your audience.
What you can try now: A post with 5 comments almost always outperforms a post with 50 likes but no comments.
Comments rank near the top because they require the most effort from the viewer.
A like takes one tap. A comment takes thought, intention, and time.
Instagram interprets that effort as a strong signal that your content is worth showing to a wider audience.
- Likes sit at the low end of the effort a viewer spends.
- Comments sit at the high end because they take thought.
- Saves and shares also rank high, and likes stay low.
What you can try now: A comment takes thought, intention, and time.
The early engagement window is the first 30-60 minutes after you publish a post.
During this period, Instagram tests your content by showing it to a small slice of your followers. If that group engages, especially with comments, Instagram expands its reach significantly. If engagement is weak, reach stays limited.
Think of it like a test audience.
- The test window is the first 30-60 minutes after you publish.
- Comments in that window are the signal that expands reach.
- Weak engagement in that window keeps reach limited.
What you can try now: During this period, Instagram tests your content by showing it to a small slice of your followers.
Place your question at the very end of your caption, just before any hashtags.
Questions remove the biggest barrier to commenting, not knowing what to say. The difference between a question that gets comments and one that gets ignored usually comes down to specificity. The weak versions are vague.
The strong versions tell the reader exactly what to type.
- Would you eat this for breakfast or save it for dessert?
- What's one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
- If you could only keep one app on your phone, what would it be and why?
What you can try now: Questions remove the biggest barrier to commenting, not knowing what to say.
It doesn't matter if it's a one-word comment or a paragraph.
A "This or That" post presents two options and asks followers to pick one by commenting their choice. When someone only needs to type "A" or "coffee," the barrier to commenting drops to almost zero. Both count as engagement signals that expand your reach.
Pick two things your audience has a clear opinion about.
- Choose two options with no obvious right answer.
- Keep the caption short and direct.
- Reply as soon as comments start coming in.
What you can try now: A This or That post asks followers to pick one option by commenting their choice.
Replying to your Instagram comments can boost engagement by 21%.
Even after controlling for whether posts had comments at all, replying correlates with higher engagement relative to the account's own baseline. About 63% of profiles performed better when they replied.
Julian analyzed nearly 2 million posts from over 220,000 accounts.
- Instagram shows about a 21% engagement lift when creators reply.
- About 63% of profiles performed better when they replied.
- Reply especially within the first hour of posting.
What you can try now: Replying to comments on your Instagram posts boosts engagement by 21%.
Photos with faces attract more likes and comments on Instagram.
On average a photo that contains a face receives 38% more likes and 32% more comments compared to a photo that does not contain any faces. The number of faces in the photo, their age and their gender do not impact engagement.
The corpus was 1 million images.
- A photo with a face received 32% more comments.
- The same photos received 38% more likes.
- Age and gender of the faces did not change the result.
What you can try now: A photo that contains a face receives 32% more comments than a photo with no faces.
A simple way to get more Instagram comments is to ask for them.
Post content on Instagram that lends itself to sharing, and ask users to answer a question or tag their friends and coworkers in the comments. You can caption posts with simple questions like "Agree or disagree?" or "What's your advice?"
It's a fun and easy way to interact with your audience.
- Ask people to answer a question in the comments.
- Ask them to tag a friend in the comments.
- Use a short prompt such as "Agree or disagree?"
What you can try now: Ask users to answer a question or tag their friends in the comments.
A fun and easy way to get followers to comment on your Instagram posts.
You could post on Instagram promoting the contest, then ask users to enter by commenting on your post. You could make your contest a weeklong campaign, where users have to comment each day.
You could even ask followers to post their own photos.
- Ask people to enter by commenting on the post.
- Run the contest for a week so people comment each day.
- Ask followers to post their own photos and mention you.
What you can try now: Ask users to enter by commenting on your post.
Test out your engagement rates on Instagram when you post at different times.
The answer varies depending on your industry, your followers, and what type of content you're posting. Figure out the time when your followers are more willing to stop and leave a comment. Determine your publishing schedule based on the results.
We recommend posting no more than once per day.
- The best hour depends on your industry and your followers.
- Test engagement when you post at different times through the week.
- Post no more than once per day so earlier posts are not lost.
What you can try now: Figure out the time when your followers are more willing to stop and leave a comment.
The more you post, the less feedback you're going to get.
The more photos someone uploads, the lower the probability any single one has of getting likes or comments.
Posting too much decreases likes two times faster than comments.
- More posts means less feedback on each one.
- Likes fall faster than comments when you post too much.
- Each extra photo lowers the chance that one photo gets comments.
What you can try now: The more photos someone uploads, the lower the chance any single one gets comments.
Turn on push notifications so you can quickly reply to or like your followers' comments.
The more users interact with your account, the higher on their feeds your content will appear. Make sure new followers can find your content by opening your account.
Toggle the Private Account button to the Off position.
- Open the account so new followers can find the posts.
- Turn on push notifications for comments.
- Reply when the notification arrives.
What you can try now: Turn on push notifications so you can quickly reply to your followers' comments.
Engagement through comments remains a pillar on Instagram, though it's on a gentle downward slope.
Instagram engagement rate per post is calculated as the sum of likes and comments on the post divided by the total number of followers that page has. The result is then multiplied by 100. Getting followers to pause and say something requires more intentional prompts.
The result is then multiplied by 100.
- Add the likes and the comments on the post.
- Divide that sum by the page's followers.
- Multiply by 100 to read the rate.
What you can try now: Add the likes and comments, divide by followers, and multiply by 100.