Generating good engagement on Instagram takes a lot of effort and hard work unless you are already a famous celebrity. For the rest of us, it is all about being consistent, uploading content that is ideally suited for your followers, and, most importantly, being interesting yet unique.
With millions of Instagram accounts out there, that’s not as easy as it sounds. To help you stand out and increase engagement, there are a few proven ways to generate high reach and credibility.
Get geared to up the game and learn how you can create an Instagram account that has massive engagement and following:
Know the Engagement Metrics and How They Work
Before we start on the tips and tricks to enhance Instagram engagement, let us understand how it works. Instagram engagement defines the way your followers and other Instagram users interact with the content that you publish.
Instagram engagement is a great metric to track how well your account connects with the audience. Also, higher Instagram engagement is excellent as it helps to influence Instagram’s algorithm.
The more likes, comments, or any engagement that your posts receive with the audience (whether followers or otherwise) will determine how likely your future posts are to appear in someone’s feed or suggestion.
Some of the useful Instagram engagement metrics one needs to consider are:
- Impressions: The number of times all your posts or stories are seen
- Reach: Unique views on your posts or stories
- Profile visits: Users who have visited your Instagram profile
- Followers: The number of followers you have, including followers you’ve gained over a defined time period. There are several variations you can get to track the follower count.
- Comments: The comments that are left on your Instagram posts. This is important since higher interaction with your followers Vs. the reach it has is generally a sign of good quality content.
- Likes: Total number of likes you have gained on Instagram
Now that you know the metrics, let’s look at ways to enhance your Instagram engagement:
Focus on Your Topic of Expertise
Officially, Instagram has more than 1 billion users, which means the competition is significant. If you are looking to get Instagram engagement, it all depends on the content you upload. Make sure your posts and videos talk about a topic that you are comfortable speaking about.
Make your content unique and focused on the kind of audience you are targeting, enhancing your profile, and gaining loyal followers.
Nail the Timing, Hashtags, and Geotags!
Remember that it is all about how frequently your posts get in front of the right users more than the relevance. To ensure your content reaches your audience, use the power of three:
- Timing: Essentially, when you should be posting your content on your profile. While news and hot events should be posted right away, other posts that can be long-term should be ideally posted depending on when your audience is online. Use analytics to your advantage and test out to find the ideal time for you to post.
- Hashtags: While your followers will see your content in their feed, getting engagement and new followers is all about the hashtags you use. Make sure you ace the art of using hashtags but don’t overdo it. Too many hashtags can be a put-off, and you may come across as too needy for attention.
- Geotagging: To make the most of a particular location, always use the geotagging feature. This helps your content be showcased when users search for pictures of a specific resort, holiday destination, tourist spot, or any other place.
Used properly, you can expand your reach and enhance your engagement with the right content.
Grab Attention With Impeccable Video Content
IGTV (Instagram TV) and the boost for video content by Instagram clearly indicate that the platform is looking to boost video content. So if you are not uploading video content, your posts may get lost in the crowd.
Instagram videos and stories have to be short yet robust, between 3 seconds to 60 seconds, to truly get engagement. You can make better video content using the several options available on Instagram and online platforms, and create a highly engaging intro to keep the audience hooked.
Use Influencer Marketing and Collaborations to Your Advantage
In real-life or on Instagram, you can’t just expect to do things on your own. You need to build a credible network and be in touch with other storytellers or influencers to truly make it big. So while you are creating great content, make sure you also promote it using influencer marketing.
Influencer marketing is a tactic to collaborate with other creators, which enables your account to get more credibility among your followers.
Meanwhile, your content also gets noticed on the influencer’s account, which means it reaches their followers and widens your reach. This indirectly enhances your Instagram engagement if the content is apt for the audience.
Enhance the Images and Stories to Stand Out
Millions of Instagram stories and posts are being uploaded every day, and most users have to scroll through endless posts to find the ones they like. With just seconds to grab the attention of your audience, your images and stories must stand out.
While you have Instagram filters and advanced smartphone cameras to help you out, don’t forget online tools as well. Use a tool with layouts, themes, and other features that are ideally suited for Instagram, and create images and videos that are unique from the rest.
Go Live, Connect With Your Audience
Instagram Live is a great option to increase your engagement, as your followers and other users get to interact with you in real-time. The live event is notified to all your followers, and you can chat with them, answer questions, or have fun interactions, which are great to boost your engagement.
Before you go live, make sure you do the basics. Let your audience know the time and date when you are going live, and be sure to keep the demographics in mind (e.g., if your followers are in a particular geography, the timing should be ideal for their timezone).
The best way to capture their attention and give them an overview of what to expect is by using eye-catching invitations. You can create a video story for this or a teaser video while enhancing it using VideoCreek’s fully-online Instagram story maker.
Conclusion
There is no simple way to increase Instagram engagement. But with consistency and high-quality content, you are sure to break all barriers. So focus on creating content that speaks with your audience, and enhance the picture and video quality to be top-notch.
And who knows, you may be the next Instagram influencer with millions of followers and colossal engagement!