One of the biggest challenges of any social media platform is getting your audience to engage with your content. We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. I mean, when you post a picture on Instagram, there should be tons of engagement, right? After all, this is a platform of all images. Fortunately, we’re ready to dive in so you can increase your engagement on Instagram. We’re going to study 12 tactics + BONUS you can implement right now. Let’s start!
1- Use Hashtags for 12.6% Engagement
You didn’t think hashtags were just for Twitter, did you? Sync tags allow users to stumble upon your Instagram page by searching for hashtags. If a user is interested in marketing, they can type #Marketing in the Instagram search bar and find marketing-related posts.
12.6% more engagement than posts without at least one relative Instagram hashtag. If you want more likes on Instagram, hashtags are a great place to start!
Although Instagram gives 30 hashtags for each post, try to keep it around 5-10 so you don’t come across as spammy or you can either hide your hashtags so they can’t spam! Make them invisible by making them stand out from them with four or five periods each on their own.
2- Use Right Sized Images to Stand Out
There’s nothing worse than uploading an awesome photo that gets cut or doesn’t load as intended. Instagram image size is 612 pixels x 612 pixels, but later switched to 1080 pixels by 1080 pixels to follow Retina and other high resolution images found on smartphones, tablets and laptops.
This is great progress!
Instagram still scales these photos up to 612 x 612 pixels, but you don’t have to worry about your image being cut off. Instagram has finally brought an update where you can share your horizontal and vertical photos without cutting them.
3- Add an Action Key
Instagram is a photo sharing application. However, you can use it as a platform to use the written word as well. Take your audience a step further by adding a call to action to your Instagram photos. This call-to-action tells your followers exactly what they want to do.
On Instagram, you can put the call-to-action in the caption of the image or create images with the text placed directly. The goal of a call to action is to increase the number of likes and comments a photo receives.
You can ask your audience to:
- Double tap on photos
- Tag 2 friends
- Share comment
4- Add Captions on Photos
Not every statement needs to contain a call to action. You can win your audience with a clever caption on the Instagram image.
You can enrich your Instagram captions in the following ways:
- To talk about a problem.
- Using a humorous content on the agenda
- To talk about something useful.
5- Share at the Right Times
Instagram audiences are busier during the week. Quick Sprout found that Instagram engagement was fairly stable, with slight increases on Monday, and decreased on Sunday. Therefore, you should be a little more careful on Mondays, as it is the beginning of the week. The best times to post on Instagram are:
- Any time except Monday and Thursday from 15:00 to 16:00.
- The videos are between 08:00 – 09:00 on any day.
- Try it at 14.00 at 17.00 and on Wednesday at 17.00.
Find out the best time for you! What determines the cause of most interaction is understood by trial and error.
6- Organize Instagram Contests
Get engagement on your way by hosting an Instagram contest. People are motivated by free gifts. Hosting a contest is one of the easiest ways to reach exposure and most followers to help increase your engagement on Instagram.
7- Create Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories is new to bring Snapchat-like functionality to the platform. This function allows users to upload and write unfiltered pictures and videos against them being lost after 24 hours. What does this mean for marketers? Instagram stories help you boost your Instagram strategy.
Instagram stories appear as circles at the top of the news feed. You can click on these circles to view the story. Users can take advantage of photos and videos, add text and even add filters before publishing. It allows you to share more content without clogging your news feed.
8- Add a Link in Profile
Do you want your audience to view your website, sign up for a newsletter or read your blog? You can send them in the right direction by adding a link to your Instagram profile description. Instagram prohibits using clickable links in your captions, but you can change your bio link at any time and use a call to action to drive traffic to that link.
9- Share Videos to Get Attention
While there have been studies showing that photos get more engagement than videos on Instagram, videos are still great for getting engagement if implemented correctly. Last year, Instagram videos went from 15 seconds long to 60 seconds long.
Instagram videos are similar to Instagram stories, but they last forever instead of the last 24 hours. So make sure your video is creative and entertaining.
10- Follow and Like Similar Accounts
To find out the name of your business, you will have to see what others in your industry are uploading to Instagram. You can follow similar accounts by searching for hashtags to find favorite friends. When you find an account you like, follow and like.
11- Create Instagram Ads
One of the best ways to reach new audiences is with Instagram ads. You have to spend money to make money. Instagram ads are a guaranteed way to reach more people and engage your page. Facebook is the parent company of Instagram, so you will need to use the Power Editor feature on Facebook to create an Instagram ad.
12- Reply to Comments
Just like with any social media platform, it’s important to listen to comments and respond in a way that recognizes the person and cares about what others have to say. Let your audience know that you are not a social media robot – you are a real person.
- When users comment on your Instagram posts, respond quickly. If you don’t, then it will look like you’re not very active on your own Instagram page or that you don’t care.
- Your followers will be much more likely to post comments if they know you’ve read them and you respond in a helpful way.
- Use when replying to usernames. Addressing your followers in this way makes them feel more appreciated. Small gestures like this help build loyalty. If you reply right away, the conversation will continue as it may still be on your page.
BONUS: Using Instagram Services
You may also utilize the Instagram follower boost service to become a social media sensation on the world’s most popular social networking site. This business, which has quickly become the go-to alternative for consumers looking to increase the number of followers on their social media accounts, is completely trustworthy and fairly priced. As a consequence, you can now buy Instagram followers cheap for a reasonable rate. You may choose one of the Instagram followers packages if you require real followers quickly and discreetly without providing any login information. Flowline Center, a customer-focused firm, provides excellent follower growth strategies for anyone looking to become an Instagram sensation.
You can also write us your questions and thoughts on the subject in the comments. ?