If you use Instagram for business, you are aware that it is much more than just a place to store your best product photos. It's an effective strategy for establishing your brand and growing an online following. Instagram has a monthly user base of one billion, making it a platform with significant ROI potential. But in order to benefit, you need involvement in addition to an audience. You need feedback from viewers in the form of comments, shares, likes, and other behaviors to show that your material is relevant to them.
For social media marketers, Instagram engagement is pretty much the Holy Grail. Users of the site, which is rapidly growing in popularity, pay special attention to the material from leading companies. Instagram is largely responsible for the growth of many small companies. They have discovered individuals who will like, comment on, and share their content, which helps them draw in new clients who might not have discovered them otherwise.
Here are some that would help you increase your engagement rate for your posts on Instagram
1. Make use of every Instagram feature
According to Taylor, Instagram's algorithm gives all-tools-used accounts the highest priority. And it is logical. Instagram aims to promote more engaging and diverse content. If the organization didn't want you to use the new technology, it wouldn't spend all that time and money developing it!
2. Use various content formats
Instagram was initially only a way to post images, but it has subsequently seen significant development. You now have highlights, stories, videos, carousel posts, and advertisements. Additionally, there may be even more choices by the time you read this. Continuously producing the same content is no longer justified.
3. View Instagram's statistics.
You'll get access to a tonne of statistics to assist you to boost your Instagram performance if you decide to switch to a business account. These consist of:
Locations of followers
Followers' gender Information about particular posts (to see which worked best)
These kinds of insights can be crucial if you take your Instagram marketing seriously.
4. Use polls, Stories highlights, videos, and other tools to increase interaction.
The more you can use these features and mix up the types of content you share, the better.
5. Regular use of Instagram Stories
They are immediately above the others! Therefore, even if people aren't as likely to locate your content in their feeds as they formerly were, ideally they will still see it there. Perhaps more importantly, Stories present you with the opportunity to interact in many ways and have a unique appearance, feel, and look.
Since they only last a day, you can afford to be more laid-back and intimate, which will be much more appealing to some people. Additionally, some people only choose to peruse Stories rather than their feed. So, while still providing excellent content for everyone else in your feed, you can be there for those users wherever they like to find you.
6. Learn about your audience
If you don't know your audience, it might be challenging to create engaging content. Your brand voice, the type of content you post, and even the days and hours to publish will all be influenced by the demographics of your target audience.
7. Be genuine
Being authentic and relevant on social media is greater than being flawlessly polished. Share content that exposes the actual people and experiences behind your brand in addition to your sleek marketing effort. That can entail posting behind-the-scenes photos or videos to Instagram Stories, coming up with a funny caption, or owning up to any errors.
8. Post more videos
In general, video posts receive greater interaction than other post formats. The good news is that you can use hashtags to try to make consumers find these films because they will be searchable. Therefore, it is worthwhile to produce some high-value, distinctive videos similar to this, though perhaps not as frequently as Stories. Ideal for:
Tutorials
Product introductions
Extensive brand campaigns
Anything you want others to remember and spread
9. Plan your Instagram posts during peak hours
You may get information about Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and pretty much every other social media platform that is worth worrying about by searching "the ideal time to publish on...". It's more crucial than you may imagine getting the timing correct. Taylor claims that Instagram's algorithm rewards postings with high levels of immediate engagement. There is a greater likelihood that a post will show up in more people's feeds if your audience interacts with it early on. And that implies even greater participation.
10. Post the appropriate amount of times
More might always seem like a better idea, but social media comes with certain limits. Just because one post might bring in ten likes doesn’t mean you can go posting an absurd amount of times. Trial and error is the best method to analyze and test your engagement. Try out and figure out which posting method is the most suitable for you with a higher yield.
11. Find fresh ways to engage with your followers
It might be a caption with a question for followers to answer or a contest, this will increase organic engagement such as more comments and likes which will create more reach. For example, you can ask your followers to choose between two choices or tag a friend with whom they can relate the post.
12. Use of Influencers
Influencers can present your brand to the appropriate audience because they have loyal and well-targeted communities. So start looking for them and interacting with them. Influencer marketing has already come to be associated with Instagram. By next year, businesses may be paying $2 billion on influencers thanks to the market's amazing growth.
13. Gain "super followers" from your current normal followers
Your supporters don't all look the same. Some people discover one or two pictures here and there before moving on to something else. Then there are some that eagerly awaits each new update, adore your Instagram photos, and adore your posts. We need more of these. A simple step might be turning your stories into highlights so that the content you create is not temporary and permanently available on your profile. Remind your followers that highlights do exist!
14. Include polls in your stories
Polls and competitions share the trait of being a clear call to action for your fans. And that naturally results in greater involvement. However, polls are even simpler to make than competitions. There is no requirement to declare winners, present awards, or even have a compelling rationale for conducting a poll. Additionally, participants in a poll are now engaged in the results. To see the outcome, they want to pay more attention to your account. And this can result in more people watching your Stories all the way through.
15. Share fantastic pictures
In case you missed it, Instagram is a visual platform. There are countless tools available to give your photo a little extra flair, even if you're not a fantastic photographer or graphic designer.
16. Make material that can be saved
You may also increase engagement by producing resources that people will want to add to their Collections. To entice readers to revisit this material later, add a "Save this post" call-to-action to a carousel post with advice, a how-to guide, or a recipe video.
17. Go live
Streaming live videos on Instagram Live is a fantastic method to interact with viewers, disseminate information, and increase engagement. Apparently, 80% of viewers would prefer to watch a Livestream than read a blog post.
18. Answering queries and remarks
It's only nice to reply when comments start pouring in, naturally in response to all your entertaining new photo and video content. Your followers will feel seen and heard if you respond to comments and participate in discussions. They will also be eager to communicate with you again in the future.
19. Utilize hashtags to your advantage
Hashtags on Instagram have two opposing sides. If used properly, you can generate significant traffic and buzz. If you go overboard, you'll come out as spammy. Use hashtags carefully and strategically to target a certain group or industry, join a hot topic discussion, promote a brand, or highlight your service offerings.
20. Boost your posts
One simple strategy to enhance interaction is to get more people to see your post (and ideally grow your following in the process). Your next superfan might be out there, eager to learn more about what you have to offer, with a potential audience of more than 928 million people on Instagram. Utilizing Instagram advertisements or "boosted" photos might be a clever method to expose your brand to the correct audience.
