Instagram engagement. The pretty butterfly #IGers are always chasing. So if you’re reading this article, you’re probably excited to learn how you can get more activity on all of your Instagram content.
Thankfully, you’ve landed on the right page because, in this article, you will be given eight powerful tactics on how to grow engagement on your Instagram profile.
1. Take Control of the First 15
Not everyone knows this, but the first fifteen minutes after you post to IG are crucial for determining how much engagement your content receives. This is because Instagram is judging your post to gauge whether it’s worthy of ranking higher in more of your follower’s feeds. Therefore, posts that receive several likes right away will be shown on more home feeds and hashtag feeds. Explaining why some choose small Instagram likes that you can buy at smalllikes.com.
What to do immediately after posting:
- Engage with other people’s posts (like/comment)
- If you have other Instagram accounts, like your new post from those accounts
- Text a few friends and ask them for likes
- Reply to all comments right away
Announce your new post on your IG Stories.
2. Be Yourself & Mix it Up
While following a trend is occasionally okay, you should stick to being yourself for the most part. Other people’s content can inspire your own when you need ideas – but never copy. And honestly, why copy? You will get more reactions by being original.
The other thing to focus on while creating content is utilizing various formats. Instagram now has several different types of content available, so why not mix it up and use them all? Don’t post only single images; try carousels. Post stories frequently and make sure they tell a story. These days, Reels are big. Learn how to make them well and post lots of them! Then watch your account explode. The more you post the more interactions you’ll get. You can also boost this by buying more views. Keep at it, and watch your Instagram story views skyrocket. Warning: You may need to turn off your notifications because who knows – you could be the next Bieber.
3. Consistency is King
Have you ever been scrolling through a hashtag feed and noticed the same person posted fifteen photos of his cat consecutively and thought to yourself, “Who does this guy think he is?”. If so, you might recognize that it’s never a great idea to batch post fifteen photos. But that is an exaggeration. It’s also not okay to post three pictures in one day and disappear for the rest of the week. A better idea is to post every two to three days consistently. In the court of Instagram, consistency is king, and you’ll be rewarded for abiding by the king’s laws.
4. Quality Over Quantity
Quality is always preferred to quantity. Short on time? Aim to make two great posts a week rather than five bad ones. Here’s what happens when you make a bad post on Instagram:
1. Your posts receive few likes or fewer comments.
2. The algorithm notices your lack of engagement and demotes your future posts. This means your followers will see a lot less of you.
3. You have to work even harder down the line to repair the damage your bad posts created.
5. You Get What You Ask for
If you want more engagement, you need to get creative with how you ask for it.
Here are some examples:
- Make your Stories interactive with questions, quizzes, and polls
- In your videos, make it personal by speaking directly to the viewer. Always address one person – not a group, using words like “you” or “yours”. Ask questions in your videos that elicit a response.
Also, use phrasing in your captions that encourage engagement like these:
- “If you know someone who could benefit from this post, pass it along!”
- “Small businesses love support from their communities. Thank you for engaging with our content!”
- “You might want this for later – you know what to do!”
- Or simply ask any genuine question in the first 2-3 lines of your caption.
In contrast, here are a few phrases to never use in the caption of your post:
“Like our post!”, “Leave a comment!”, “Save this for later!”…you get the drift. The algorithm penalizes posts that use statements like this, so remember: you get what you ask for, but not what you demand.
6. Follow Instagram’s Lead
In this dance, Instagram is leading, and it’s up to you to follow. So how do you do this? Analyzing performance on your past content will teach you the steps, and using Insights to determine when your fans are on the app will teach you the timing. Once you master the steps and the timing, you’ll be doing the cha-cha to the top of every IG feed.
Pro tip: When analyzing your past posts, it’s helpful to go into Insights and filter by each type of engagement to understand better what content your followers have found the most interesting.
Your Insights are the master key to learning what is working for you and what isn’t. If you aren’t already familiar with Insights, you need to have a professional profile on Instagram and a minimum of 100 followers. You’ll find your insights from the profile tab and by clicking on the three horizontal lines at the top right-hand corner. Next, navigate to “Audience” to see what days and times your fans are using the app and post at those times.
7. Optimize Always
Put on your IG nerd hat because we’re ready to go into the nitty-gritty of IG post-optimization. What’s incredible about IG is there are so many opportunities to optimize your posts that you almost need a checklist so you can remember them all. Hey, wait! That’s a great idea. Let’s do it.
Instagram Post Optimization Checklist for Your Profile, Posts, IG Stories, Reels, and IGTV videos:
- Geotag posts to show in location feeds
- Use relevant hashtags
- Enter alt text into images
- Use keywords in captions
- Optimize your IG bio
- Tag people in your posts.
8. #HashtagStrategy101
Having an effective hashtag strategy can be vital in improving your IG engagement and having your page grow wilder than dandelions in spring. The best hashtag strategies follow these three principles:
Be precise. Only use hashtags that match your post topic. For example, you wouldn’t use the hashtag #ilovetobake on a tutorial about making sushi, now would you?
Be picky. Review the hashtag feeds of the HTs you are considering using. Do they match your content? Do they give off the same vibe? If the feed is full of junk posts or spam, cross it off your list.
Be realistic. Don’t expect to get any engagement on an HT feed that has over a million posts if you only have a few hundred followers. You’re better off using hashtags whose feeds hold less than 500K. Using a mixture of low-traffic and medium-traffic HTs and sprinkling in a few high-traffic HTs will result in more engagement.
All you need to do now is apply each of these eight strategies, and remember to send a thank you card when your Instagram page reaches Kardashian levels of obsession!
