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If you’re a creator or business owner on Instagram, then there’s no escaping it: you need engagement. Engagement is what makes tthe Insta-world go round! But sometimes getting this attention and participation can be tricky.
We all know how frustrating it can get when we think we’ve put in the work but are getting no result. Thankfully, there’s a solution to every problem and the solution to your poor Instagram engagement is right here!
We’ve got 10 uber-easy tips that will have you sailing to the top of your Insta game in no time at all.
But before we discuss the tips, let’s set some things straight.
What Are Instagram Engagements?
Instagram engagements are the interactions other Instagram users have with your content.
It’s measured by metrics such as Likes, Comments, Shares, Saves, Direct Messages, Mentions and Branded hashtags.
Engagements indicate that your posts don’t go unnoticed. It means that people see your posts, enjoy them and relate to your content.
When you have a high engagement rate on your profile, it’ll propel the Instagram algorithm to favor you more. More users will see your posts, and before you know it, your post will be out there with the top brands on the explore page.
What Is A Good Engagement Rate?
Though there’s no fixed number on what a good engagement rate is, many experts agree that a good engagement rate is between 1% and 5% of one’s audience.
Engagement rates also vary with different types of posts. According to Hootsuite, here are the global average Instagram engagement rates for business accounts:
- Carousel posts: 1.01%
- Instagram post types: 0.82%
- Instagram photo posts: 0.81%
- Video posts: 0.61%
Now that you know the average engagement that each of these post formats carry, you know what content type to put out.
Now to the crux of the matter
How to Get Real Instagram Engagement Growth Creatively.
With these creative tips, you can change your game and boost your engagement.
Step Up Your Captions
Captions are great for captivating your audience and keeping them on the post a while longer. Captions also help to contextualize a post, making it easy for both the algorithm and your followers to understand.
What should you write in your captions? Anything, as long as it is related to your post, is catchy and provides value.
One way to achieve these is to tell stories in your captions. It doesn’t have to be a long story, just make them relatable.
You also want to ensure that the first line of your caption is catchy. That’s probably all a viewer will see until they press more. Use snappy catchphrases and emojis.
Include a call-to-action in your captions. Encouraging your followers to comment, tag their friends and share your posts actually influences them to take those actions.
Finally, mention your “Link-in-bio” in your captions to steer people to your website. Also use caption hashtags as they can help boost engagements.
Create Savable Content
If you have ever tapped on the bookmark icon of a post, it was because you found the post informative and worth saving. To grow your engagement, you must also make your posts so valuable that your followers see it as a no-brainer to save your post.
Create content that people actually need. Design something inspirational that they’ll feel compelled to share or go back to later.
“How tos” and tips based posts are excellent ideas for savable content. For example, @studywithatab made a study tip post on how to study history. History students may find this helpful and save it for future use or share it with their colleagues.
Use Instagram Stories
If there’s one thing Instagram stories can do well, it is promote interaction between Instagrammers. Don’t fail to keep your audience engaged with the many features on Instagram stories. Some interesting features you can use are:
- Branded GIF stickers: Use this to increase brand awareness
- Question stickers: Allow your audience to ask you questions about yourself or your brand. They could also suggest ideas to make you serve them better.
- “Add Yours” sticker: use this to create an engaging challenge with your audience.
- Poll stickers
- Emoji slider
- Music sticker
- Quiz stickers
- Location stickers etc.
Using your stories, direct your viewers to your feed posts, and include CTAs that will lead your audience to your Instagram profile. Share videos about your daily routines or hangouts with friends on your stories. Personal content will surely get you more followers and likes.
Post Memes
Memes are humorous photos or videos that depict the feelings of a particular audience. Since memes became a thing on social media, people have used them to show connection with others.
Memes also add an element of fun and relaxation to your Instagram feed. And once people find a connection with your brand, their engagement will come freely. Another thing to note is that memes are not niche specific. You can use them regardless of your industry.
Make Instagram Reels
If you’ve not started posting reels, then you’re missing out. Instagram Reels are shorter and more amusing to watch, which is why it’s been so popular lately.
Thankfully, you can do a lot of things with reels—show your audience what happens behind the scenes, teach something fast, or make people laugh. You can use the audio and AF filter features to make your reels more fascinating.
Interestingly, the average engagement rates on Reels are generally higher than what you get on regular feed videos. This doesn’t, however, mean that you should ignore regular video content as they also have their role to play in growing engagements.
Create More Carousel Posts
From the statistics mentioned earlier in this article, we see that Carousel posts have the highest engagement rate of 1.01%. This is so for a reason. Carousels allows you to post up to 10 carousel slides. As such, they help deliver more in-depth information.
Use these slides to pass more information to your audience at once. Share multiple photos of your products, before and after photos, how-to posts, and statistical information with them.
Post When Your Audience Is Most Active
There are times in a day when your followers are most active. This ideal time varies with accounts. But you can find out your audience’s peak activity time by checking your Insights.
When you post when your audience is most active, your content will be presented to them at the optimal time for engagement. You can schedule your postings if you can’t keep up with periods of strong activity.
Include Subtitles Or Text-overlays In Videos
According to Instagram, 60% of video posts to stories are viewed with sound on. This means that the other 40% don’t use sound. But there’s a need to reach this 40% for more engagement. Subtitles will come in handy.
Subtitles will make your videos more accessible even to those whose hearing is impaired. They will also help if you have an audience who speak another language. You can then use subtitles to interpret what you say in your videos.
Don’t Sleep On SEO
If other Instagram users don’t get to see your page, then they won’t engage with your post. This is why you need SEO to increase your visibility on Instagram.
Your username, bio/description and captions should contain keywords in your industry. For example, if you are a chef, it will help to include the keyword “chef” in your username or bio to help people find you.
Go Live
Using the Instagram Live feature is like holding out your hand to your followers. When they see your hand, they’ll reach out and hold you too.
IG Live creates a one on one situation for you and your followers to interact. You can call them by their names and answer their questions. This connection will clear the part for more engagement.
Finally
Getting engagement is easy once you know exactly how to go about it. We understand that growth is beautiful to see and that’s why we have provided you with these creative tips. Follow each one and be patient enough to see them work. We hope to see you at the very top of the Instagram engagement ladder.
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