Tips to Improve Your Instagram Engagement Rate
Business owners, social media marketers, and influencers have turned to Instagram to boost their businesses. This is a perfect idea because the platform is ranked among the most popular social media apps globally.
But many IG accounts have low engagement rates because it takes time and effort to interact with the target audience in authentic ways. Additionally, the platform has a super-intelligent algorithm, and such efforts may not even lead to undeniable results.
Instagram engagement includes various ways your audience interacts with your posts or content. Followers who feel a strong connection with your brand tend to comment, like, share or tag their friends as well as make a purchase.
Similarly, the Instagram algorithm prioritizes brands with heightened engagement helping their content to continually reach a wider audience and grow their list of followers. However, having a huge following doesn’t translate to a high Instagram engagement rate. You have to organically activate them and build an active community of loyal followers. But you can jumpstart your profile and get quick results by buying instant likes, views, or followers.
Here are additional tips to improve your Instagram engagement rate and get your metrics to the sky.
Post Consistently
Gaining a single Instagram follower is much harder than losing one. This channel builds engagement not on loyalty but current content. Posting extremely visual content with a mix of relatability, endearment and inspiration can increase the engagement rate. In other words, you must keep your content Instagram-friendly, and the audience should be able to relate with, enjoy and be ready to share.
Further, being active on Instagram can help boost your engagement rates and attract more followers. You can keep your feed fresh and relevant and your audience entertained by publishing 1-2 posts each day. Invest in your content because it shows your audience you're committed to your brand and them. This helps your followers to engage with your content regularly and build a loyal relationship which translates to a higher engagement rate.
Pay Attention to Your Branding
Instagram is a highly visual-driven platform. It's a social site for uploading and sharing free photos and videos with your followers. Because of that, visuals are everything on this platform and must make the first impression. Failure to pay attention to your branding is costly because Instagram users will never engage with your brand. To follow you, they first want to see aesthetically pleasing content from your brand.
They also want to tag their friends or repost high-quality visual content on their feeds. Sharing, commenting, liking, saving, or reposting your content improve your Instagram engagement rate. Therefore master your aesthetic and consistently deliver such content. Fill your Instagram grid with on-brand graphics and images with complementary filters and other features to showcase your brand vision.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Instagram is a platform built on hashtags. They are more descriptive on this platform than when you use them on Twitter. Because of that, Instagrammers can use as high as 30 hashtags in a single post. The following are ways to use hashtags on Instagram.
Hashtags to direct users to a topic page in the Instagram Stories or bio.
Location-based hashtags to create higher visibility.
Hashtags to create user-generated content campaigns.
However, you must use relevant hashtags to increase your engagement rate; otherwise, spamming followers can lead to an Instagram shadowban or sink your content to the bottom of the feed. Also, avoid generic hashtags because they increase competition. Instead, blend industry-specific and trending hashtags because they will put your content in front of your target audience.
Instagram Needs SEO
Although Instagram and SEO don’t look like they can make a good combination, creating an SEO strategy can help build a competitive profile for your brand. Start by evaluating your account name and handle. Your handle should be short, sweet, memorable, and reflects your industry. The account name that usually appears below your profile picture should reflect the industry and the account handle.
Further, you can include your industry or a keyword linked to your brand in the name field. The use of words that your target audience uses during their searches optimizes your profile and SEO rankings as well as improves your Instagram engagement.
Explore Instagram Video Ad features
Online video content has become more popular these recent years. Instagram recognizes that fact and offers marketers a suite of video options to deploy when generating visual content. They include Instagram Stories that can have multiple videos and an ad or 60-second videos with long-form features.
You can take advantage of the live video option on Instagram Stories to host big reveals or Q&A about your products and services. Nowadays, Instagram Reels rival TikTok and give brands a perfect way to engage with their community using 30-second clips. Additionally, you can use a prerecorded ad to show your followers behind-the-scenes stories in an entertaining way, thus boosting your Instagram engagement. Therefore be creative and use Instagram video features to showcase your brand’s authenticity and share user-generated content with your audience.
Embrace Instagram Influencer Marketing
Partnering with micro-influencers has become increasingly popular on this platform. Instagram influencer marketing allows you to partner with key thought leaders in your industry and your content to reach a wider audience. However, picking the right influencer has been difficult for some brands. As a result, they end up working with celebrities who don’t bring to the table the desired results.
Opt for micro-influencers instead of household names because they're affordable and considered more authentic. Because of creating a more personal connection with their followers, micro-influencers have higher engagement rates than macro-influencers. Next, give your influencers the right resources, tools, and guidance to help them fulfill their roles. Your team should also work hand-in-hand with your influencers to boost the outcome of your campaigns.
Cross-Promote Your Instagram Content
A good social media strategy enables your business to promote its products or services on multiple platforms. The good news is that you can cross-promote on these channels. For instance, you can spread the word about your Facebook channel on Instagram and vice versa.
Further, you can exploit the cross-promotional or auto-post tools on Instagram to instantly post on other platforms, thus bringing your followers from all social networks together. But don't over-promote all your posts on Instagram on other channels because it will prevent your followers from visiting your channel since they can access your content elsewhere.
Conclusion
Boosting your Instagram engagement rate is an endless journey because the video-sharing app is rapidly evolving. Building a deeper connection with your followers takes time and effort, but in the end, it keeps those comments, likes, shares, and views coming.
Following the above 7 tips can help you improve your Instagram engagement rate and maximize the channel’s potential. Try to incorporate them when preparing your Instagram content, and watch how your engagement rate will grow.
