Increasing engagement on Instagram is possibly the number one issue this digital age faces as this platform grows. Whether you’re a business owner, social media influencer, marketer or an individual increasing one’s engagement is paramount. One needs to understand that Instagram’s algorithm coupled with tons of users all competing for people’s attention, makes it harder than ever to increase Instagram engagement.
As the platform grows, users will increase and this is important because it can mean more customers or more competitors therefore your engagement will be put to the test.
Below are tips to boost your Instagram engagement whether you’re a beginner or a pro its always good to reference:
- Post Instagram Stories daily and create more video content.
- Be consistent.
- Be Careful of follower fatigue.
- Mention others and engage with similar accounts in your industry or niche every day.
- Add a location every time you post.
- Be authentic.
- Write shorter Instagram captions OR Longer Captions.
#1 Post Instagram Stories daily and create more video content.
The beauty of this feature is that every time you add a new story, your profile image gets a red circle around it, signalling to your followers that there is new content. If you post on a regular basis your users will become accustomed to your posting and effectively it will be second nature to always check your stories.
Stories last for 24 hours, so you can add a personal touch without being too serious and stories seem to appeal to some users better.
It’s crucial to categorize and share stories again using the Stories Highlights feature across the top of your profile page. Categorising stories enables followers to find content that they’re interested in easily and this is always great because it saves potential followers time.
Adding hashtags in your Stories is a masterstroke because you effectively broaden your reach and additionally you mustn’t forget to draw attention to your ordinary feed photo post through Stories
#2 Be consistent
Why would you go to a store that has outdated stock???? An account that only bothers to post something new once every 3 months is annoying and will be unfollowed quicker than a bad ex-girlfriend or boyfriend. Look it’s just irritating.
When you consistently post your followers will get into the habit and routine of engaging with your content on a regular basis and it is easier to gain new followers.
Instagram Stories scheduling is available on all Heropost plans.
#3 Be Careful of follower fatigue.
You may be oblivious that you are causing follower fatigue. What you may do to remedy this, is to think of an instance where you felt like unfollowing someone, or unsubscribing to an email, or muting a profile in your feed. Why did you do it? Listen to your gut. In doing this it will help you understand your issues and address them.
YOU CAN:
- Add polls
- Questions and stickers in your feed.
- Start conversations with Instagram Stories Stickers to encourage your followers to chat and share their opinions and experiences with you.
Don’t be in a constant formal mode, you must liven up your feed, after all Instagram is a fun place.
#4 Mention others and engage with similar accounts in your industry or niche every day
No man or woman is an island and this point illustrates this. Featuring coupled with mentioning any person or brand in your post or Instagram Story where they can share your post in their own Story is an amazing marketing masterstroke. You are effectively killing 2 birds with 1 stone in the sense that your engagement increases as your followers are intrigued by your guest and importantly the followers of your guest see your story together and ultimately this equals to more followers.
#5 Add a location every time you post.
Doing this easily boosts your exposure and improve your engagement. Posts that are tagged with a location receive a higher engagement rate. It’s easier to get potential followers from your neighborhood or city because people want to be relatable or engage with relatable content.
If I am a baker in Toronto I would more likely follow people from Toronto than a New York because I operate there, secondly, those Toronto followers can visit my bakery in person and thirdly I can catch tourists that may be looking for my service as well as locals that didn’t know of my brand.
Big Tip 1:
The next time you create a new post for Instagram on Heropost select “Advanced Option” , here you can enter the location info as well as add a first comment on your post.
#6 Be authentic
How many times do you come across an Instagram page that is filled pretentious garbage that you actually feel embarrassed? Real content, real connection and relatable content is aways key to engagement. Show your followers the ups and downs coupled with a positive attitude.
I recommend doing these small yet significant things for authenticity.
- SAY HI TO NEW FOLLOWERS
- LIKE YOUR FOLLOWERS PHOTOS
- RESPOND TO ALL COMMENTS
- LEAVE FEEDBACK
- INCLUDE CALL TO ACTIONS
- ASK QUESTIONS
- REPLY TO YOUR DMS
Big Tip 2:
Inside Heropost’s dashboard you can create and save captions you plan on using frequently for different posting ideas. Simply navigate to the Captions page and click “add new” to start creating and saving your best caption ideas. Spintax and emojis are fully supported. To also learn more about syntax visit: our article Guide On Spintax
#7 Write shorter Instagram captions OR Longer Captions.
Did you know that your Instagram caption can be up to 2,200 characters long? That’s a whole lot of space to share with your audience.
This point is very debatable because there are so many opinions about it.
- SHORTER CAPTIONS
Your followers don’t have time to go through essays. Time is important. Using emojis and a punchy caption is appreciated by your followers. JUST GET TO THE POINT.
- LONGER CAPTIONS
One of the factors that affects how your Instagram post performs in the algorithm is how people engage with your Instagram content.
QUESTION: So what’s an easy way to increase the time people spend looking at your post?
ANSWER: Write long and attractive Instagram captions.
Don’t overdo or abuse the long caption algorithm benefit because some followers don’t have time for that. Save the long captions for important times and not just for everyday posts because you may lose relevance.
Imagine a scenario where you are known to have shorter captions and then one day you have this long caption, you will have your followers complete attention because it’s not like you to post like this. But if you constantly post long captions you may not have that attention effect.
So just mix it up.
Lastly, as Gary Vaynerchuk would say, “stop comparing yourself to others and if you want to build an authentic community and brand on your Instagram, it’s going to take time.”
Do you want to increase your Instagram engagement in 2020?????
Sign up with Heropost Heropost to write better captions, post at your best times, track your analytics, and more.
