Does it feel like nobody’s engaging with your content? The top questions I get are, “How do I increase my engagement?”, “Why is nobody liking or commenting on my posts?”
With Instagram, it’s more than just posting pretty pictures, in hopes of people stumbling and following your account. You have to take action and keep your audience engaged. The journey of a client from "stranger to paid client "depends on how good your engagement factor is. For Instagrammers and social media marketers, achieving a high engagement rate is key to growing their accounts. Unfortunately, Instagram engagement fluctuates along with algorithm changes, making it challenging to maintain, let alone improve!
Don't let yourself be discouraged, though.
Adding Instagram engagement tactics that are easy to use will help you grow your reach, acquire new followers, and build up your community quickly. Strong engagement indicates that your audience has a strong connection with your brand, meaning they will be inclined to make a purchase.
With Instagram's latest features and aids, managing your marketing efforts has never been easier! All you have to do is take advantage of the tools and reap the rewards! If you use more Instagram features, it will boost your profile, but posting ad hoc, random content won't bring you any more engagement. So keep reading to find simple tricks and features Instagram provides you with to increase your engagement.
Here are 9 ways to start increasing your engagement on Instagram
1. Be consistent.
This does not mean posting every day but find a posting schedule that works for you and stick to it. Look at your Instagram Insights to find out what day and the time your audience is most active when creating a posting schedule.
Consistency is the key to successful engagement, especially when you are using a platform for marketing. No company would want to post random content without a message or style. Consistent content types and styles will increase engagement on your account not only from your followers but from prospective followers too via reels, and stories. A schedule for the posting will help your followers to know what to expect and when they can expect it.
So to increase Instagram engagement, be consistent with the time of posting, the nature of the post, and the voice of the post.
2. Do not constantly be selling to your audience.
Nobody likes always being sold to. Try to capture your audience’s attention by telling stories and connecting with them. But then don't get me wrong! Instagram isn't a door-to-door selling marketing tactic, but a polished way of selling with images and content. Yes, give them the behind-the-scenes (BTH is one of the most viewed content) through stories, reels, problem scenarios, brand awareness(how u source the materials/ingredients), and how the product is the “Hero” in solving theirs or any recent customers problem.
Asking for opinions, their preferences, and sharing some personal side of your life helps in connecting with the audience.
For example, If you are a mom who is running a business, your fellow mom followers will be able to connect with you easily through your stories of struggles, and how you managed them, and ideally, conversation spark, word of mouth marketing happens and you might earn a few followers consistently. Make it natural, genuine, and relatable content.
To increase your engagement on Instagram, try to focus on building a thriving community rather than constantly selling to the audience.
3. Take advantage of the Instagram video features.
Video allows you to better show off your personality. Incorporate stories, reels, and IGTV into your content strategy to help increase engagement.
Videos and reels are the most viewed content format on Instagram and the most engaged type of content on Instagram. Share your stories through videos. Almost 500 million Instagrammers watch stories and reels a day as per the latest research.
Use Videos as much as possible to increase engagement on Instagram.
4. When using Instagram videos, use captions.
Many people watch videos without sound. So if they can’t hear what you’re saying, they will skip over your video. Instagram makes it easy with the closed caption feature on Instagram stories.
People might be in different environments while watching a video like traveling on a bus, at a dry pantry in the office, in hospitals, etc, so having captions helps them to get the value and visual captions in the video helps to retain and remember the facts better.
So, captioning your videos is a simple way to open up your brand to score up your prospects' target audience /group. Captions are found to be useful for recipe-based videos, tips, steps to follow, and explaining a process or phenomenon makes the videos and reels more meaningful and leads to “save for later” too.
Statistics show that videos with captions are a great way to increase engagement on Instagram.
5. Use Instagram’s link feature when you post a story.
Instagram recently came out with a new feature where you don’t need 10k followers to include a link. Take advantage of the link sticker to direct your audience straight to your website or sales page. Clickable link stickers are a great way to keep your loyal followers updated on your new posts and reels. I have noticed most of my favorite feeds and reels from my frequently following accounts through stories only as they appear at the top of Instagram.
So, without a second thought use the “add on the link” feature to maximize the engagement on your reels, and feed posts, and make them interactive and attractive. Links are also great for repurposing your feed or reels in stories! Voilà, your content for stories is ready, and you'll have much higher engagement on Instagram if you have recurring new subscribers joining every week.
6. Add CTA’s to your content.
Whether you’re posting a reel, story, or post, you need to include a call to action. People need to be told what you want them to do.
Here are 10 CTA ideas for you to use in your Instagram Content. These will help you boost your engagement and remind your audience to take action.
DOUBLE TAP IF YOU AGREE
SAVE THIS POST FOR LATER
DROP YOUR FAVOURITE EMOJI BELOW
HEAD TO OUR STORIES AND CLICK ON THE LINK
CHECK THE LINK IN THE BIO
COMMENT “AGREE” BELOW
HEAD TO OUR STORY FOR MORE TIPS ON.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR...
COME JOIN US FOR MORE! JOIN OUR...
WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU AGREE?
HAVE YOU DONE THIS?/HAVE YOU TRIED THIS?
Using these Call To Action in your content helps you to increase your engagement on Instagram.
7. Engage with other accounts.
It’s surprising to see how many people skip this step! If you want to increase your engagement you have to engage with other accounts. Schedule 15 minutes a day to engage with your current followers and NEW followers. The more you engage with others, the more your content is shared on Instagram. But engagement doesn't mean just liking posts randomly! Also never Post and Ghost! be in sync to know which content is getting consumed more, what's the hook which turns on the people, etc. A fruitful engagement strategy if you are working on your own and limited time is available. Follow the below steps:
Engage 15 mins with your niche and immediate followers-Before and after posting your feed. You may interact with accounts similar to yours or related to your niche. for eg: If you are a Plant-based Health Coach you may try engaging with similar or general nutrition coach profiles so that your chances of featuring on their or similar feeds are more.
Engagement feeds engagement is the Instagram rule! but the quality of engagement. Engaging with other users increases your chances of being seen. If you engage more, your profile will become more visible and you'll get more engagement from visitors.
As important as the quantity of engagement is the quality, it is important to select specific accounts to engage with. For eg: If you are a Beauty/Aesthetics brand you may interact with similar brands, beauty or fashion influencers, MUA artists, Bridal salons, etc so that the visibility increases.
Provide constructive feedback, interact, and congratulate (phew! Only positive feedback, no thrashings!)If you are still reluctant to do this part of Instagramming, no worries, read the next subheading and your problem is fixed!
Share others' videos, and their achievements on your status stories, appreciate them and it's gonna come back to you in many ways!
Remember, having an engaged community is very important to having a successful business on Instagram.
8. Outsource.
If engaging with other accounts feels too overwhelming for you then outsource the work. There are Instagram engagement experts who take up engagement and interactions with other accounts and reply to the DMS on your behalf. Some people specialize in engaging on Instagram and if you need help finding them, let me know!
9. Most of all, be patient.
Increasing engagement takes time. Don’t expect to triple your engagement overnight. What works for your peer may not work for you and you need to experiment and have perseverance. The more you apply these tips, the higher chances you have of increasing your engagement!
Which point are you struggling at? Which is your favorite tip among all these, let me know in the comments below.