How to Grow Social Media Reach: Get Your Posts Seen by Non-Followers

Ana Paiva
Jan 16
4 min read

Updated: Jan 25

LinkedIn Marketing Tips to Reach Non-Followers | Facebook Engagement Tips for Small Businesses | Instagram Reels & Carousel Strategies for Discovery | Universal Social Media Tactics That Work Across Platforms | Hashtags & Timing: What Really Matters | From Zero Followers to Organic Growth | Bonus: Zero-to-First-100 Engagement Cheat Sheet

When I first started sharing content online, I quickly realised that growing social media reach isn’t just about likes or follower counts. The real challenge is getting your posts seen by people who don’t already know your brand.

Over time, by experimenting across LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook with the organisations and entrepreneurs I wrok with, here’s what I help my clients with — and what I’ve learned works in 2026 to build an audience outside your existing network.

These strategies are practical, low‑cost, and perfect for small businesses and purpose‑driven brands ready to grow organically.

LinkedIn Marketing Tips to Reach Non‑Followers

LinkedIn’s algorithm prioritises content that engages users beyond your direct connections — original content and early engagement matter most. According to LinkedIn’s own best practices, engagement and relevance drive visibility more than simple likes. (LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Best Practices)

Key tactics we use:

Post original content (not reshared links).
Add 3–5 relevant hashtags to help categorisation.
Encourage multi‑word comments, which signal relevance.
Use short, relatable videos that prompt conversation.
Respond quickly to comments in the first hour to boost reach.

LinkedIn’s own insights show hashtags and early engagement help the algorithm understand your content and distribute it more widely. (LinkedIn Hashtag Guide)

Facebook & Instagram: Visibility and Discovery

On Meta platforms, engagement signals like comments, shares and saves matter more than simple likes. Meta regularly confirms that meaningful interactions help the algorithm decide what content to show more people. (Facebook Algorithm Overview)

How we do it:

Create Reels or short videos with a compelling hook in the first 2–3 seconds.
Add subtitles so videos work even on mute.
Ask questions in captions to drive multi‑word comments.
Use 3–5 relevant hashtags to support discovery.
Encourage shares and saves — saves especially signal content quality to the algorithm.

Instagram’s priority on Reels for discovery is well documented by Meta: short vertical video formats lead to higher distribution because viewers tend to watch all the way through. (Instagram Reels Guide)

Universal Social Media Tactics That Work Across Platforms

Some strategies consistently work across LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram:

Engage within the first 60 minutes of posting — early interaction matters.
Use strong hooks in the first few seconds of video or the first line of text.
Create original, relatable content rather than reshared links.
Apply 3–5 relevant hashtags and descriptive alt text for accessibility and searchability.
Maintain a consistent posting rhythm to build algorithm trust and audience expectations.

Research from social engagement experts confirms that early engagement, timing and relevance continue to be strong predictors of visibility in social feeds. (Sprout Social – Organic Reach Trends) (Social Insider – Social Media SEO & Engagement)

Hashtags & Timing: What Really Matters in 2026

There’s a common misconception that hashtags don’t matter anymore. The truth is they matter when used strategically — that is, relevant niche hashtags that align with audience intent and content topics.

Hashtag insights:

Random or generic hashtags can dilute reach.
3–5 well‑chosen hashtags help categorise your content for discovery.
Use hashtags your target audience actually follows or searches for.

Experts agree that hashtags help platforms understand content context even if engagement signals are the primary drivers. (Sprout Social Hashtag Guide)

Timing insights:

Posting when your audience is active increases the chance of early engagement, which is critical for visibility.
Best times vary by platform: midweek mornings often work best for LinkedIn, while evenings tend to work well for Meta platforms. Data from publishing tools confirms this pattern. (Buffer Best Times to Post)

What Really Drives Reach

Across platforms, the main drivers of visibility are:

Early engagement — likes, comments, shares and saves in the first hour.
Retention and watch time — especially for video and Reels.
Original, relatable content that resonates with your audience.
Contextual relevance — hashtags, alt text, and captions that match audience intent.

External research on social algorithms supports these priorities: content quality and user interaction signals consistently outperform superficial metrics. (HubSpot on Social Media Engagement)

Hashtags and timing help, but they enhance what’s already working, they don’t replace strong content and engagement.

Bottom Line: Growing Followers from Zero

If you’re starting from scratch here’s how grow social media reach to non-Followers:

Focus on reels or short videos with strong hooks.
Drive early engagement with intentional questions and replies.
Use relevant, audience‑specific hashtags.
Create content that’s original, relatable and problem‑solving.

These tactics consistently help clients reach people outside their network, build engagement and grow an organic following — even from zero followers.

Next Platforms We’ll Analyse

Once you’ve got LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram dialled in, the next platforms to explore for expanding reach are TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube Shorts, Pinterest, and niche communities like Reddit or Quora. Each offers unique ways to get discovered by new audiences, and we’ll dive into content strategies, engagement signals, and growth tactics for these channels in our next guide.

Free Resource: How to Grow Social Media Reach: LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram Cheat Sheet

To make implementation easier, I created a free cheat sheet summarising all the tactics from this post for LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. It includes: