Types of Popular and Most Liked Instagram Content

Everyone wants to know what kind of content is most popular on Insta these days. Figuring out what topics or types of content are generally well-liked is great. Often jumping on trendy topics or type of content is a good way to increase interest in your account over time. However, even with the right kind of content, sometimes you have to compete with a lot of other content creators. Meanwhile, IG favors accounts with more followers and hearts, so if you’re new to the site, it can be very hard to get started. 

How do you overcome this challenge? Even with several hundred followers, only one or two may see your post in their feed, because the algorithm is more inclined to show people popular content. For this reason, many Instagrammers looking to improve their stats decide to buy some cheap IG likes with gradual and drip option available. This helps their awesome content get seen by more people, which in turn boosts organic engagement, which leads to even more visibility for your posts.

In the meantime, here are some types of popular and most liked Instagram content:

Food

It’s easy for the older generations to make fun of Millennials and Zoomers for “always taking pictures of their lunch.” But the fact is that this content actually gets a lot of hearts and engagement on IG. It turns out most people on Insta really do want to see your lunch. In particular, pictures of food art or unusually creative dishes do especially well—like these unforgettable giant bagels. So if you molded your mashed potatoes into a castle, created a flower arrangement out of fruit, or spelled out an announcement in olives on your pizza, snap a pic and get it posted!

Animals

Dogs and cats are also hugely popular on Instagram, with hashtags like #DogsOfInstagram and #CatsOfInstagram racking up hundreds of millions of photos. In fact, this test photo of a dog was the first pic ever posted on the site. 

  • The funnier the picture, the better. Did your cat manage to open the refrigerator and make off with the cold cuts? Snap a pic of the bandit in action. 
  • Cats and dogs aren’t the only animals Instagram loves—photos of wildlife also do well. 
  • Animal pics in which the creature has a particularly humanlike expression or is doing something humans can relate to are especially well liked, such as this picture of a raccoon named Pumpkin who appears to be desperately seeking coffee.

Behind-the-Scenes Looks At How Your Product Is Made

This is a great idea which will get a lot of likes if you’re promoting a business or brand. Most people don’t want to see a flat-out ad for whatever you’re selling, even if it’s something they’d be interested in. IG users scroll right past ads all the time. But often viewers are interested in how products they like are made, especially if you capture an unusual or eye-catching photo. These do especially well if you can be candid and show the human side of making a product or delivering a service. Some people might hesitate to take a selfie after they finish fixing a printing press at 3 AM and wipe the sweat off their brow. But this, with the now running press in the background, could draw people in to read more about your magazine or newspaper.

Videos

Video content is becoming increasingly popular on Insta, with good reason. Video content has a 2X higher engagement rate than still photos on the site and lands more comments than other types of posts. Here are some things to remember about videos:

  • How-to tutorial videos are the most popular kind of video on IG, followed by behind-the-scenes posts, interviews, and news coverage. 
  • It’s always a good idea to put a new twist on things. You can experiment by interviewing your neighbors, doing satirical news coverage of mundane things that happen in your neighborhood,  or presenting a behind-the-scenes look at how you clean your closet or make dinner for yourself. 
  • Be sure to invest in good-quality editing software so your video can look its best.

Landscapes or Outdoor Images

Instagram is the place to escape from the monotony of your own life and surroundings. People often enjoy travel posts, especially views of beaches, mountains, and other scenic landscapes—the bigger, the better. Flowers, gardens, and well-manicured lawns are also well-liked. There are also niches for people who love forests, wildflowers, particular kinds of trees, and even fans of abandoned buildings. Wide-angle shots showing a broad swatch of the landscape get a lot of engagement, but so can close-ups, so take a lot of photos the next time you’re on a trip and use a combination to see what sticks.

Selfies

Surprisingly—or maybe not—these self-shot photos are still extremely hot on the site. But because most users take a #selfie from time to time, you’ll need to do something unusual for yours to stand out. Maybe you take a selfie in an uncommon place or at a weird time. You can also go with candor, humor, or a slice-of-life approach, such as taking a selfie at 2 AM when you can’t sleep and you’re watching Netflix. Not all selfies have to look perfect and staged, and a more realistic style sometimes serves people well.

Trends

Occasionally Insta goes through a trend where everyone wants to take the same kind of picture, often with a pithy caption and a specific hashtag. Sometimes the actual trend is posting a spoof of an original, heavily viewed photo. For example, the #wokeuplikethis trend began with people taking staged-looking, heavily posed or made up photos and claiming they “woke up like this.” Suddenly, everyone wanted to look more extra than that. While some people did appear to have just woken up in their pictures, others clearly had gone to a lot of trouble to look immaculately put together. Many of the pictures garnered high engagement for their creators.

Final Thoughts

  • Piggybacking on trends and other popular content is a great long-term strategy for increasing hearts and comments, as well as gaining new fans. 
  • However, it can be hard to get your posts seen at first, when IG’s algorithms give preference to accounts with the biggest audiences and most engagement. 
  • How can you compete with someone who has millions of followers? You can slowly level the playing field by ordering cheap likes for Insta regularly. 
  • This helps people see your food or animal pics in the first place, so they can double tap and your stats will go up. Then you can tell people you #wokeuplikethis with hundreds or thousands of hearts!