How to Find and Reach Your Target Audience on Instagram (Step-by-Step Guide)

Before you dive into creating content or posting daily, here’s something crucial: Instagram target audience research should be one of the first things you do when building your Instagram strategy.

Why? Let’s break it down:

• To create content your followers love, you first need to know what they actually enjoy.
• Want better captions? You need to speak their language.
• To find the perfect time to post, you need to know when they’re online.

In short: understanding your audience is the secret to Instagram success. Knowing what they like, how they behave, and what they care about helps you craft content that resonates and builds real connections.

But… how do you actually find your Instagram target audience? Let’s get into it.

🤔 What is an Instagram Target Audience?

Your Instagram target audience is the group of people you want to reach—your ideal followers. They’re the ones most likely to engage with your posts, enjoy your content, and potentially become customers.

Think of them as the community you’re trying to build. Knowing their age, interests, values, and habits helps you post content that feels personal and relevant.

🔍 How to Identify Your Target Audience on Instagram

1. Start With Your Existing Buyer Personas

If you already have customer profiles or marketing personas, don’t start from scratch—reuse that data.

Ask yourself:

• What is my product or service?
• Who is it designed for?
• What does my audience care about?
• How can I attract them on Instagram?

📌 Example:
If you sell minimalist 9K gold jewelry (like Sydney-based @recreationalstudio), your ideal audience is likely:

• Into high-end, minimalist design
• Fans of quality craftsmanship
• Financially able to afford luxury jewelry
• Interested in fashion or curated aesthetics

This gives you a strong base to define your ideal Instagram follower.

2. Check Instagram Insights for Demographics

Your Instagram account already holds a ton of useful info. Head to: Instagram App > Insights > Audience

You’ll find:

• Age range
• Gender
• Top cities and countries

This is essential for fine-tuning your content and ad targeting. If there’s a mismatch between your desired audience and current followers, it’s time to adjust your strategy.

3. Discover What Your Audience is Actually Looking For

Demographics tell you who your audience is—but not why they’re following you.

Ask yourself:

• Are they looking for inspiration?
• Tutorials or educational content?
• Behind-the-scenes peeks?
• Entertaining or relatable posts?

You’ll need to dig deeper to learn their preferences, values, and content habits.

4. Do a Little (Digital) Stalking

It’s totally okay to analyze your followers’ profiles—just not in a creepy way 😉

Here’s what to do:

• Click on followers who comment or like your posts
• Explore their accounts: What content do they post? What hashtags do they use? What influencers do they follow?
• Pay attention to their captions: Are they funny, serious, full of emojis?

Use these insights to mirror their tone and style in your own content.

5. Explore What Else They Like

Go to your followers’ Following list. See who else they’re engaging with. You might uncover:

• Competitor accounts
• Influencers in your niche
• Other brands or interests (like design, travel, fashion, etc.)

💡 Pro tip:
If you find they love quote pages, maybe test an inspirational quote post yourself. If they follow a certain influencer, consider a collaboration or shoutout.

6. Send a DM & Ask

Yep, sometimes the best way to learn what your audience wants is to just… ask.

Try a friendly message like:

“Hey! Thanks for following us 💛 We’d love to know—what kind of content do you want to see more of? Your input really helps us shape our posts!”

People appreciate the personal touch—and their answers are gold.

7. Spy on Competitors (The Friendly Way)

Look at brands in your niche and analyze:

• What kind of posts get the most engagement?
• What themes or topics are resonating with their audience?
• What kind of people are engaging with them?

✨ For example: If you sell sustainable fashion, and a competitor posts travel content from the regions where the clothes are made (like Nepal or India), and that content performs really well—maybe it’s worth trying that yourself.

You can even engage with their followers—comment, like, follow. Be social!

8. Use Questions & Polls

💬 Ask your audience directly in captions:

“What type of posts do you want to see more of—Reels or Carousels?”

📊 Use Instagram Stories Polls: Ask questions like:

• Why did you follow us?
• What kind of topics are you into?
• Do you prefer short videos or photos?

These little actions can give you big clues about your ideal audience.

9. Use Hashtags to Find Your People

Hashtags = reach. But don’t just use them—explore them.

Here’s how:

• Look up hashtags your audience might use (like #minimaliststyle, #fairfashion, #goldjewelry)
• Engage with posts under those hashtags
• Follow and interact with users that post relevant content

This helps you organically grow a community of people who care about what you offer.

10. Analyze What’s Already Working

If you’ve been posting for a while, go back and track your top-performing posts. What got the most likes, shares, comments, saves?

On tools like Iconosquare, you can quickly identify your most engaging content:

Analytics → Engagement → Top Posts

Once you know what works, do more of it!

11. Post at the Right Time

Timing matters. If your audience is based in New York, but you’re posting based on Paris time—you’re probably missing them.

Use your insights or Iconosquare data to check:

Analytics → Community → Followers by City/Country

Then schedule your posts to match when they’re online.

💡 How to Reach Your Target Audience on Instagram

Now that you know who your people are, it’s time to show up where they’re hanging out.

✅ Tailor Your Content

• Make posts that align with their interests
• Use strong visuals—they’re scrolling fast, so catch their eye!
• Tell stories—authenticity builds connection

✅ Use Hashtags Strategically

• Mix trending + niche hashtags
• Create a unique branded hashtag for your community
• Follow and engage with content under hashtags your audience loves

✅ Engage Like a Human

• Respond to comments and DMs
• Ask questions in captions and Stories
• Run giveaways, challenges, or interactive posts to spark engagement

✅ Team Up With Influencers

• Collaborate with influencers who align with your brand
• Create fun, relatable, or educational content together
• Keep it authentic—people can spot a salesy post from a mile away

🎉 Let’s Wrap It Up

Finding and reaching your Instagram target audience is a process—but a rewarding one. The more you learn about them, the better you can serve them.

✅ Do the research
✅ Test different content
✅ Be social, be curious, be YOU

Keep refining your strategy, and soon you’ll have a thriving Instagram community that’s engaged, loyal, and excited about what you post.

Now go make some Instagram magic! ✨

Let me know if you’d like this broken into social posts, carousel content, or even turned into a downloadable guide!