It’s now more vital than ever to get Instagram engagement. Engagement is one of the metrics that Instagram uses to decide where your content appears on your followers’ feeds.
So, are you ready to boost your Instagram engagement in 2022? One thing you need to keep in mind is that while it is important to grow Instagram followers, it is even more important than the people following you are active and engaged. To activate your followers, you need to focus on building a community of people who are interested in your brand and offering.
From hosting giveaways and creating valuable content to using the right hashtags, there are tons of tactics to engage with your community. Here are seven tips that can help you increase Instagram engagement.
- Make Your Feed Aesthetically Pleasing
Instagram is a primarily visual platform, which means that looks are everything. If you want people to tap the ‘follow’ button and start engaging with your brand, you need to make sure you produce high-quality, visually appealing content.
Take some time to plan posts that create a gorgeous grid layout on your page. For instance, you can choose a color palette or a certain tone to feature in every photo or alternate the style of photos you post in order to create a checkerboard look on your grid.
- Experiment with Different Types of Content
Instagram allows you to play with a number of different content formats: single-image posts, videos, carousels, Reels, Stories, and IGTV. Studies have shown that carousel posts have the highest engagement rates, especially carousels that include a combination of videos and images. They attract even more engagements when all ten slides are used.
You can use carousels to share photo dumps, tip-based threads, and before and after photos. You can also encourage your audience to save the post for later on the last slide to boost your engagement.
However, what works for other brands may not work for you, so it’s always best to experiment with different content formats and see which ones your audience likes and engages with most often.
- Engage with Your Audience
Tapping the heart icon when your followers reach out is better than ignoring them altogether, but it’s still not enough; you need to engage right back. By responding to DMs, comments, and the content you’re tagged in, you’re showing your followers that you are listening to them and that you care about what they have to say. A prompt, thoughtful response can encourage them to engage again in the future, while at the same time creating a strong relationship.
Another way to increase your engagement levels is by being proactive and reaching out to people who would be interested in your content and products/services. Comment and like posts from profiles that have a similar target audience in order to expose your brand to their following.
- Post Stories with Stickers
According to statistics, more than 500 million unique users view IG Stories every day. This means that Stories have a huge potential to get engagement for your brand. The platform offers “stickers” you can add to your IG Stories to get you even more interactions. You can use stickers to create quizzes, polls, emoji sliders, or host Q&As. In fact, the question sticker is one of the most engaging Stories stickers because it allows you to have direct conversations with your followers. One way you can use this sticker is by hosting an AMA (ask me anything).
Not only are stickers fun but they can also go over any type of content: videos, photos, Boomerangs, or attractive graphics. Each time a follower interacts with a sticker, it counts as engagement.
- Use Hashtags
Adding hashtags is a great way to make your IG posts highly searchable and increase engagement by exposing your posts to users who have related interests.
But how do you decide which IG hashtags you should use? It is always best to choose hashtags that are relevant to your brand and not oversaturated with posts. For instance, if you own an interior design company, instead of choosing a broad hashtag such as #interiordesign, opt for a more niche-focused one, such as #midcenturyhomes.
You can search for relevant hashtags through your IG search bar. Begin typing in terms to see what suggestions will appear, then opt for the hashtags that have from 5,000 to 500,000 posts.
Final Thoughts
Remember, boosting your engagement levels takes lots of time and patience. However, the more you experiment with different tactics, the better results you are going to get. Don’t forget to track your performance to see what works and make improvements where necessary.
