If you, as an individual or company, are using Instagram then you must know that sharing only photos of anything and everything is not going to work on Instagram anymore. You can build your whole brand here, but not through those old ways.
With 1 million monthly active users, Instagram has evolved into a great brand-building platform. But it’s only possible with engagement. You need to have likes, shares, comments, and saves to know that your content is resonating with your audience and you’re on the right path.
The higher the engagement the better for your brand and more likely to land up on explore pages and appear on people’s timelines.
But engagement only works when it comes from real people, not bots. Remember, there’s no shortcut for quality engagement.
So where do you start? Don’t worry! Here are 7 best ways to increase your Instagram engagement.
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1, Know your target audience
It’s hard to make resonating content if you don’t know who you’re making it for and who it needs to resonate with.
So the understanding and demographics of your target audience will help you make the type of content you will put out, your brand voice, and even what days and times to publish.
Knowing who you’re targeting and what kind of content they usually interact with will help you determine a lot of things that will help your brand grow and get good engagement on Instagram.
2, Create resonating content
Create a great interactive content mix. Stories like contests, polls, questions, etc. encourage your followers to directly interact and engage with you. Creating informative posts that can be saved by your audiences for later use also gives your engagement a boost.
Carousels are a great way to build engagement too. The algorithm reserves these sorts of posts for followers who didn’t engage the first time around, giving them more chances to leave an impression, so these are great for engagement.
You can also make custom stickers and filters. Don’t forget to hop on trends, particularly if there’s a trending hashtag involved that is related to your niche industry.
See Also: Instagram Beauty Filters: Find and Use Perfect Face Filters?
3, Write strong captions & CAT
In Instagram captions, you can write up to 2,200 characters in length and add up to 30 hashtags. Use it and make sure for it to be great and resonating as well. These captions should add more context to your post and showcase your brand’s personality. Instagram hashtags, when used correctly, can drive some serious traffic and build a buzz so use them strategically.
If you want engagement from your posts sometimes, it just comes down to asking nicely. A great call to action will get more activity, likes, responses, or shares when done properly.
You can also add a “Save this post” call-to-action to your guiding/informative posts or videos to encourage users to come to visit this content again later.
Read Also: 10 Tips to Write Perfect Classy Captions for Instagram
4, Go live
80% of Instagram users would rather watch a Livestream than read a blog post. That should be reason enough for you to go live.
But going live every once in a while is a great way to connect directly to your audience, share news, and build engagement. You can answer questions live, and welcome them into your world in an engaging way, giving them an intimate insight of your brand or products or behind the scenes. There is also the new Instagram Live Shopping feature by which you can get an e-commerce audience to join.
5, Post consistently and strategically
To make sure you appear on your audience’s timeline more often, commit to a consistent schedule. Keep your feed fresh and your followers intrigued by creating a great content mix.
The more you appear on your audience’s timeline, the more they can engage. Of course, you can’t post when your target audience is not online. You’ve to consistently post and at the right time.
Understand what your audience likes and when they’re online to post relevant content at the right time to receive the best engagement.
See also: Best Short Instagram Bio Quotes & Ideas To Describe The Real You
6, Get active on Instagram Stories & Join conversations
Instagram Stories have incredible reach because around half a billion people use them every day. People will not just watch, you’ve got the opportunity to engage with them. Questions, Polls, Stickers, and Countdowns are ways to directly engage with your audience.
Respond to the comments and DMs you receive, it makes followers feel seen and heard. Don’t forget to get out there and start conversations of your own on other posts and pages though. It goes both ways.
7, Use Instagram Reels
Reels were introduced in the summer of 2020, on which users can create and edit short multi-clip videos with audio and effects.
It’s best for you if you try the new features introduced by social media platforms. They tend to get a boost in algorithms because they were recently introduced.
Instagram Reels is comparatively new and the best way to engage with your audience through short and small videos. They also appear on explore pages so there’s a good chance of using Instagram Reels for increasing your reach as well.
Conclusion.
Engagement isn’t just getting views and boost in your content on social media, it needs to be authentic people need to resonate and interact with your content.
But most social media marketing experts agree that strong engagement falls only around 1% to 5%. So don’t keep your hopes up. Try out these ways and get more engagement on Instagram.
