If you’re an active Instagram user, you may occasionally see notifications about “bonuses” or “rewards” you can earn by completing certain actions in the app. These bonuses usually involve things like getting extra followers, views, or exposure for your account and content. The frequency with which you can obtain Instagram bonuses can vary quite a bit based on the specific type of bonus and your activity on the platform.
Follower Bonuses
One of the most common Instagram bonuses is gaining additional followers. There are a few ways this type of bonus can become available:
- Instagram Follow Challenges – Every so often, Instagram will promote follow challenges in the app encouraging you to follow certain accounts in order to gain extra followers in return. The frequency of these challenges varies, but you can expect to see them pop up in your notifications feed maybe once or twice per month on average.
- Third-Party Follow Exchanges – Some third-party apps and services will let you exchange follows with other users in order to quickly gain more followers. The availability of these exchanges depends on the app, but some allow you to do exchanges multiple times per day.
- Instagram Shoutout Accounts – Large accounts will sometimes offer follow-for-follow deals in their Stories or posts to rapidly gain more followers from their existing audience. The frequency depends on the account, but active shoutout accounts may offer these on a daily or weekly basis.
Increased Exposure Bonuses
In addition to follower growth, Instagram also offers bonuses that can get your content and account more visibility:
- Hashtag Bonuses – Using certain trending hashtags when posting can sometimes trigger a bonus allowing your post to be featured at the top of that hashtag’s feed for a period of time. The availability varies, but checking hashtags before posting can help you find bonus opportunities multiple times per week.
- Badge Bonuses – Instagram occasionally creates limited time achievements or badges you can earn for things like posting consistently, getting a certain amount of likes/views, etc. These may be available a few times per month typically.
- Reels Bonuses – Creating Reels can sometimes randomly trigger bonuses like getting extra views or placement in Explore. There’s no set schedule, but actively posting Reels can help you organically earn small bonuses daily.
Engagement Bonuses
Bonuses aimed at increasing your engagement and account reach may also pop up periodically:
- IG Live Rewards – When broadcasting on Live, random viewer milestones can unlock things like extra viewers, longer max broadcast times, and badges to display on your profile. These bonuses occur organically during broadcasts.
- Story Sticker Rewards – Using certain interactive stickers in your Story can unlock bonuses like extra profile views. These are random but available daily when posting Stories.
- Notifications Bonus – Occasionally when you open the app, Instagram will offer a bonus to notify some portion of your followers about your recent posts. This seems to happen once every week or two on average.
Shopping/Creator Bonuses
For business, shopping and creator accounts, there are some unique bonuses available as well:
- Product Stickers – Linking products in your posts or Stories can randomly trigger bonuses like extra impressions and a sales lift. These are random but frequent when actively tagging products.
- Reels/Video Bonuses – Business and creator accounts can unlock bonuses like extra reach and views when posting Reels and videos consistently. Daily posting can result in multiple bonuses per week.
- IG Shop Bonuses – Making sales through your IG Shop can occasionally boost your product’s visibility in Search and Explore for a period of time. Bonus frequency depends on shop activity and sales.
How Often Will You Actually See Bonuses?
Instagram bonuses may seem random, but taking a proactive approach can help maximize the frequency you’ll encounter them:
- Engage heavily with any bonus/reward notifications Instagram sends. Completing them consistently trains the algorithm to send more.
- Post high-quality content daily, especially Reels/Stories/Lives. More overall activity = more bonus opportunities.
- Use relevant, trending hashtags and stickers as much as possible to find hidden bonuses.
- Consider participating in third-party follow exchanges and IG engagement groups to gain more bonus visibility.
- Analyze your analytics to identify what types of posts, times, etc. tend to produce the most bonuses for your account.
While there’s no concrete schedule Instagram follows, an active account that utilizes all the app’s features can reasonably expect to see some form of bonus opportunities multiple times per week, if not daily. The more you put into your Instagram presence, the more bonuses you’re likely to unlock over time.
Tips to Maximize Your Bonus Potential
Here are some additional pro tips to help you capitalize on Instagram’s various bonuses and rewards:
- Turn on notifications so you never a miss a bonus opportunity or challenge.
- Watch Stories and Lives of large accounts in your niche to find follow-for-follow deals.
- Engage with your current followers daily to build loyalty and reach for maximum impact when you do get bonuses.
- Track your daily analytics and bonus outcomes to optimize your posting strategy.
- Use third-party scheduling tools to automate and streamline your content creation.
- Collaborate with complementary accounts/influencers to expand your audience and bonus potential.
- Consider promoting the best bonus content via Instagram Ads to maximize the impact.
- Diversify the types of content you create to take advantage of all the different bonus options Instagram provides.
While there’s an element of randomness, a savvy Instagrammer who stays active and keeps their account engaging can take advantage of the many bonus opportunities the platform offers on a regular basis. So be sure to jump on any bonuses that come your way to supercharge your Instagram presence!