How to Get More Views on Social Media

Getting your social media posts in front of more people can feel like a constantly moving target with algorithm changes and new features popping up every month. If you're tired of posting great content to an audience of crickets, you're in the right place. This guide will walk you through foundational strategies and actionable tactics to genuinely increase your views and grow your presence organically.

Create Attention-Grabbing Hooks

You have less than three seconds to stop someone from scrolling. If the first moment of your content doesn’t grab them, they’re gone. This is where a strong hook - the first sentence you say or show - is absolutely vital. A good hook creates curiosity, states a relatable problem, or makes a bold claim that your content then proves.

Types of Hooks That Work

Forget generic openings. Your hook needs to punch through the noise. Here are a few formats you can adapt for any niche:

• The Controversial Take: Start with a statement that goes against common knowledge. For example, a fitness coach could say, "Cardio is actually the worst way to lose fat. Here’s why." It creates immediate intrigue.
• The Relatable Problem: Directly address a pain point familiar to your target audience. A business mentor might start with, "You're working 60 hours a week and your business still isn't growing. Here are the three bottlenecks you're ignoring."
• The "Here's How" Solution: Show the end result first, then promise to show the process. A graphic designer could start a video by showing a stunning logo and say, "Here’s how I designed this in under 30 minutes for free."
• The Story Starter: Begin with a personal story or a shocking discovery. A chef might say, "I just tried a Michelin-star restaurant's most famous dish, and my homemade version is better."

Before you create any piece of content, spend a few minutes brainstorming three to five different hooks. Write them down. Say them out loud. One will always feel stronger and more natural than the others. Go with that one.

Optimize Your Content For Each Platform

Posting the exact same video or image with the same caption across Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and X is a recipe for low engagement. Users on different platforms have different expectations, and the algorithms prioritize content that feels native to their environment. Customizing your content doesn’t mean creating entirely new posts from scratch, it means making small, smart adjustments.

Think Platform-First

Each platform has its own unspoken rules and content culture. Honoring them can drastically improve your views.

Instagram (Reels & Stories)

Instagram is highly visual and aesthetic-driven. For Reels, quick cuts, trending audio, and on-screen text are your friends. Focus on providing value that is either entertaining, educational, or visually inspiring. For Stories, use interactive stickers like polls and quizzes to encourage engagement, which the algorithm loves. Don't recycle a TikTok video on Reels with the watermark still on it, Instagram has been known to suppress the reach of such content.

TikTok

TikTok’s algorithm is incredibly powerful at pushing content to the right audience, but it prioritizes authenticity and creativity. It's less polished than Instagram. Leveraging trending sounds and video formats is non-negotiable here. Use TikTok's native text editor and features. Your goal is to make content that feels like it belongs on the "For You" page, not like an ad shoved into the feed.

YouTube Shorts

Think of Shorts as the gateway to your long-form content. Shorts viewers are often looking for quick, punchy answers or entertainment. Ideal Shorts are fast-paced and deliver educational, how-to, or fascinating factoid-style information. A great strategy is to create a Short that summarizes a key point from one of your longer videos and then use the pinned comment to link back to the full video.

LinkedIn

Views on LinkedIn come from professional value and thought leadership. When sharing a video or image, the caption is extremely important. Use it to tell a story about a career lesson, share an industry insight, or start a professional discussion. Ask questions to encourage comments. Content that is purely self-promotional typically performs poorly. Instead, focus on sharing your expertise generously.

Ride Trends the Smart Way

Jumping on a trend can feel inauthentic if done wrong, but when you do it right, it’s one of the fastest ways to get a massive boost in views. The key is to find trends that align with your brand, your niche, and your personality. Don’t force your brand into a dancing meme if it doesn’t fit.

How to Find and Use Trends

Trends aren't just about specific songs or dances, they can be video formats, editing styles, or even recurring conversation topics.

• Follow the Sound: On TikTok and Instagram Reels, trending audio is a powerful discovery tool. When scrolling, pay attention to which sounds appear repeatedly. If you see a sound multiple times in a short span, tap on it to see how many people have used it. If it's on the rise, think about how you can adapt it to a topic in your niche.
• Look for Format Trends: Sometimes, the trend is a format, like the "Unpopular Opinions" videos or a specific style of voiceover. You can keep the format but swap the topic for something related to your industry.
• Adapt, Don't Just Copy: The most successful accounts don't just copy a trend, they add their unique twist. Take the audio or the format and use it to tell a story about your product, share a tip, or make a joke relevant to your audience. This shows you understand the culture of the platform while staying true to your brand.

Engage Like a Real Person

Social media is a two-way street. If you're just broadcasting content without participating in the community, the algorithms will notice, and so will your potential followers. Engagement sends powerful signals to the platform that your content is sparking conversation, which can lead to it being shown to more people.

Actionable Engagement Tactics

Don't just wait for the comments to roll in. You have to be proactive.

• Reply to Every Substantive Comment: When someone takes the time to leave a thoughtful comment, reward them with a thoughtful reply. Ask a follow-up question to keep the conversation going. These reply threads count as additional engagement on your post. For short comments like "Great post!", a simple 'like' or an appreciative emoji will do.
• Pin Relevant Comments: Most platforms allow you to pin a comment to the top of the conversation. Use this feature to highlight an excellent question (which you can answer), a glowing testimonial, or even a funny joke that adds to the vibe of your content.
• Engage with Other Accounts: Spend 15-20 minutes a day leaving genuine comments on posts from other creators in your niche (or your potential customers). Don't just type "Nice!" Look for opportunities to add value, ask a question, or share a related experience. This makes you more visible to their audience and builds relationships with other creators.

Tell Compelling Stories

Facts tell, but stories sell. Whether your goal is to sell a product or grow your audience, storytelling is how you create a connection that goes beyond a single view. People remember stories, not data points. Even a short 15-second video can have a narrative arc.

A Simple Storytelling Framework: P-A-S

If you aren't a natural storyteller, use a classic marketing framework: Problem, Agitation, Solution.

1. Problem: Start by introducing a pain point your audience recognizes. (e.g., "Trying to film content on your phone always ends up looking shaky and unprofessional.")
2. Agitation: Stir the pot. Explain why this problem is even worse than they think. (e.g., "You spend an hour re-filming, the lighting is all wrong, and you end up just not posting anything at all.")
3. Solution: Introduce your answer as the solution. This could be a tip, a product, a strategy, or a service. (e.g., "Well, this $20 smartphone tripod completely solved it for me. Now I get stable, professional-looking shots in one take.")

This simple structure can be applied to nearly any piece of content to make it more engaging and persuasive. It works because it hooks the viewer with a relatable issue and holds their attention until they get the resolution at the end.

Final Thoughts

Getting more views is not about finding a single secret hack, but about building a solid foundation. If you focus on creating powerful hooks, tailoring your content for each platform, engaging authentically, and telling great stories, you will see real, sustainable growth over time.

Consistently executing all these moving pieces - planning your content calendar, customizing captions for every platform, and replying to every comment - can be a huge drag. We know this firsthand because we struggled with clunky tools built for a different era of social media. That’s why we created Postbase. It's built from the ground up to handle today's world of Reels, TikToks, and Shorts, helping us stay organized with a visual calendar and manage all our conversations from one sane inbox. It’s the tool we needed to focus more on what actually matters: creating content that people genuinely want to watch.