How to increase Engagement on Instagram

November 11, 2021
Contents

Instagram is an incredibly powerful tool for engaging with customers. With over 500 million monthly active users, it's wise to be there too. Marketers are challenged by the fact that on Instagram, users are more engaged with brands that produce high-quality content. For small businesses, this has led to success, as many are able to leverage their Instagram networks to find new customers who will engage with them on the platform.

Instagram is a great platform for connecting with potential customers. When it comes to engagement, there's no such thing as too much. Keeping track of your Instagram engagement rates helps you see whether your marketing efforts are paying off, and guides you towards deepening connections with followers. In general, it is important for companies to maintain a friendly customer service channel in order to be successful.

Therefore, in this article, we will be talking about how Instagram engagement is important for your brand and how it can be used in a better way to make a difference. Let us first see what is Instagram engagement.

What is Instagram engagement?

Simply put, your engagement rate is a measure of how often the people you're following interact with your posts. It's a healthy metric to monitor because it indicates how much your followers care about your posts and forces you to focus on data that matters, not just vanity metrics like how many followers you have. Your Instagram engagement rate is the number of likes and comments you receive per post, divided by the number of followers you have. Engagement rates measure how frequently followers interact with your content, and they’re a healthy metric to track. Social media marketing experts say that a good engagement rate lies somewhere between 1% to 5%.  Some of the engagement metrics include likes, comments, saves, shares,  DMs, Link clicks/swipe-ups, Mentions, Hashtag usage, Stories sticker interactions. This can be a part of your Instagram strategy and social media marketing.

Why is Instagram engagement important?

When you first start posting, you notice how people are reacting to your content. If they relate to what you're posting, it means your strategy is working! If you’re noticing higher engagement, it means your social media strategy is paying off.

To keep consumers coming back, Instagram ranks users by engagement. It aims to surface the posts you're most likely to interact with based on the accounts and topics you regularly engage with. The more often a user engages, the more likely their posts will show up at the top of their feed. Engagement is important for how well your posts rank in the feed.

Therefore, if you want more people to see your posts it is time you start to measure the engagement rate and work on increasing it. Next up we will be discussing ways in which you can measure engagement rate.

How to measure Instagram engagement rate?


Knowing about your engagement rate is important to work on it further and make further strategies for increasing it. There are two ways to calculate the Instagram engagement rate formula. One is through the number of engagements and the other through the number of impressions.  

Let us first look at how to calculate based on engagement. You simply take the number of likes, comments, and shares and divide it by the total number of followers. Let’s say you have 1,000 followers and your post received 100 likes, 8 comments, and 2 shares. Your engagement rate would be 9%.

(Number of engagements/Number of followers) X 100 = Engagement rate

Here in this example, it will be,

(110 engagements/1000 followers)X 100 = 11% engagement rate.

Calculating your engagement rate on Instagram is not as straightforward. Your followers’ opinion of your content does not take into account how many of them have seen it. So, while calculating engagement rates use the number of impressions.

To calculate your Instagram engagement rate, you will need the same formula as before, but instead of followers, use the total number of impressions.

(Number of engagements/Number of impressions) X 100 = Engagement rate .  

For instance, if your post received 200 impressions and 20 engagements for example then your engagement rate will be

(20 engagements/200 impressions)X 100 = 10% engagement rate.

What is a good Instagram engagement rate?

We're not sure how to say this, but “good” is a relative term. A pretty good engagement rate on Instagram might be as low as 1%! And that isn’t uncommon for any industry either. I know it may be tempting, but don’t forget that numbers are not everything. You need to define what “good” means. This comes down to progress over time. Take note of what content gets higher engagement rates, tweak your social media marketing strategy, and work on increasing overall engagement.

You want to replicate your competitor's Instagram success, but you're not sure how. You have the skills to create a good post, but you just don't know what makes their posts so successful. Why are they better at Instagram marketing than you? Well, you're in luck! This blog post will teach you how to increase engagement on your posts.

Ways to increase engagement rates on your posts

Identify the audience

To create successful content, we must know who we're creating it for. We can't just post anything and hope that people will see and enjoy it. Your target audience's demographics will help you define what type of content to post, your real brand voice, and when to publish. It helps to narrow your efforts so you focus in the correct direction.

Impress with authenticity

Social media is a place to be yourself and show the world who you are. To increase Instagram engagement, share content that shows the real people and experiences behind your brand. Real people and experiences are what will make your brand shine. Sharing behind-the-scenes footage in an Instagram story or revealing a bit of your sense of humor or admitting when you make a mistake can give your customers a chance to connect.

Include strong captions

A captivating caption can help you tell your story or connect with your audience on Instagram. Captions are especially important if you have an Instagram Business profile, so you should get one if you're a business! Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters in length and up to 30 branded hashtags.  More importantly, the caption has the power to create this sense of community with followers.

Images do the trick

Images are really important for Instagram. It’s a visual platform, after all. One way to make your images stand out is to use filters. Even if you're not the greatest photographer or graphic artist, there are many tools that can help you edit your photo and give it some flair. By using filters, your followers get to see more of you and they can keep up with your activities. Images are a great way of telling stories and expressing thoughts. These images can help to start conversations. For more engagement post images regularly in a scheduled way.

Influence with carousels

Once you have mastered making your photos shine, try posting a few carousels. These carousel posts on Instagram are a great way to engage your followers. As it turns out, carousel posts have the highest average engagement rate of all types of Instagram posts (1.01%). Instagram carousel posts help you to tell your story, showcase your products, and connect with your followers. An Instagram carousel post can allow for up to 10 carousel cards of content. This means that you have more room to share your story, service, and products with viewers. You can also include clickable calls to action.

Interact through videos

Many people find your Instagram business without following you. The feed is an excellent opportunity to show who you are and what you do — and video offers a wonderful way to stand out from other types of content in the feed. Fashion, beauty, and real estate businesses should use this opportunity to showcase themselves visually with video. Quinty did a comprehensive Instagram research and found that video posts receive up to 21% more interactions than images. With a unique opportunity for you and your business to stand out, why not try creating videos? Posts with videos generate more interactions and more engagement because they are different from the majority of content on social media.

Instagram stories? Oh yeah!

We need to have a quick and easy way to engage with users and followers. Instagram's new feature, Instagram Stories, is just the thing. Microsoft found that the average human attention span is now 8 seconds, which means we must take it into consideration when designing a platform for this current generation. You can capture the audience's attention both in Instagram stories and through an Instagram post too. Instagram stories help the audience to regularly engage with the audience and can learn more about the business or brand. You can directly connect with the viewers through polls, ask me anything sessions, countdowns, and tagging other people too using Instagram stories. All this will maximize your reach and increase Instagram engagement. Therefore, get creative with your Instagram stories and build more engagement.

Incorporate saveable content

It's not all about likes and shares. Creating reference material your audience will want to save in their collections earns you a little engagement boost in your Instagram post, too. One way to encourage engagement is with a "save this post" call-to-action to a carousel post with tips, how-to guide, or recipe video. Your audience will want to save your explanation of complex topics in their Collections and Story Highlights. To create valuable, shareable content for your account, think about what’s important to your audience. For example, if you know your audience loves funny memes or quotes, try to create some that they will find valuable.

Interesting content

Posting the same old pictures every day is not going to work. Mix up your content schedule by adding contests, polls, questions, and quizzes. This will break the routine and get your audience involved. There are many ways to post on Instagram: single-image posts, carousel ads, IGTV, Instagram Reels, and Instagram Stories. You want to retain followers and attract new ones, too. To do that, you need to provide content with value. Brainstorm new ideas and leverage your site's content to increase engagement.

Interact with the audience

It’s important to be polite and respond to comments as they come in else it will be just a one-way street. Acknowledging your commenters and participating in conversations is a great way to make followers feel seen and heard. When they feel like their opinions are valued, they'll be excited to talk with you again in the future. This is a proven way to build engagement. Responding to customer questions and comments is fantastic, but don't forget to get out there and start your own conversations. A careful balance is key: in this case, think of reactive (replying) and proactive (starting a conversation).

Instagram reels for the win

Instagram Reels are a great way to increase engagement on the platform. They bring posts into the limelight and can be a new way to share content. To generate more engagement, Instagram recommends you share the video on your main feed. As you go to post your video, Instagram will prompt you to do so. Do this because it increases the chances of more people seeing it.

Stream live videos

Besides photos and videos, Instagram now offers a feature called "live video." It's a great way to connect with users, share news, and build engagement. With live video, you can answer questions or talk with your audience one-on-one, say hello to your viewers by name, and generally make your audience feel like they're in an engaging environment. Say you want to build an eCommerce audience with Instagram's new Live Shopping feature? Go for it!

Be consistent and schedule Instagram posts

Take a look at your Instagram. Do you know when to post for the best engagement? Is there a time when your audience is most active? If so, post during that time and watch the engagement climb. This will work by posting more often and using hashtags. The algorithm for Instagram loves posts that generate a lot of engagement in a short time, so this trick will often move those posts to the top of your followers' feed.

To ensure that you are giving your followers the best experience, spend some time tracking your Instagram using analytics tools. Different people are on different schedules, so find out when your followers are online to post. This way you can reach more people, increase engagement, and grow your brand! Posts must be scheduled to keep followers intrigued and your feed fresh. You need to find the best time to post or else your follower engagement might suffer.

Use stickers and filters

There are many ways to engage with your audience online. Brands are now giving stickers and filters to users in Stories. These will encourage your followers to talk with you and share their opinion of your content. Some of the most common are polls, questions, quizzes, and sliding scales. The countdown sticker on Instagram Stories is perfect for events and sales posts. Your followers can subscribe to the countdown event, which will send them a reminder when the time is up and the event is complete. Quiz stickers on Instagram Stories let you ask followers trivia-style questions and see how they answered. When they vote, you can see how many people voted and predict which answer they chose. Using these stickers and filters you can draw more people to your Instagram account and also increase your engagement rates.

Include relevant hashtags

You know how hashtags are. They can be really beneficial but they can also be really spammy. When you use them appropriately, though, they're great for driving traffic and generating buzz. The more thoughtful and strategic you are about the hashtags you use, the more specific you'll be able to target your community or industry, join a trending conversation, push a branded campaign, or identify your service offerings.

Share audience content

Social media is all about conversation, not a monologue. Engage with the audience by "listening" when they talk to you. One way to do this is to show your audience's content on your Instagram account. One great way to do that is to share their content with others by reposting or sharing the customer's post. If you re-post a post related to your product, tag them in it so they know you are listening to them. When customers feel thrilled, they are more likely to not just stop at you. With just a few clicks you can get the most engagement.

Go with the trends

To be relevant in today’s market, brands have to have a finger on the pulse of what is happening at the moment. If there is already a buzz about a trending topic or event, then you should jump into the conversation. When you bring the conversation to your brand, you give it an instant topical hook and can connect with new audiences in a different way. This can also increase your follower count on social media. This type of Instagram content is enjoyed by a lot of people and can be one of your best-performing posts.

Experiment with new things

Online experimentation is a powerful tool in the social media age. The beauty of social media is that it’s made for continual tweaking and experimentation. If something works, you will know pretty quickly; if it’s a flop, you can learn from your mistake. So get creative and test your ideas. Just keep in mind that many factors will affect the success of your grand idea, so keep a close eye on various metrics to find out how effective you’ve been. These ideas will drive traffic to your account and increase Instagram engagement.

Add effective calls to action

How do you get engagement from your posts? All it takes is a little consideration. A good call to action will lead to activity, likes, responses, and shares when done with care. If you include a CTA in your Stories, your audience will learn about your product and have a chance to interact with it. It will increase engagement on your stories and might also increase clicks on your website.

Build the suspense

One of the easiest ways to give your audience a sense of ownership in your brand is to give them a sneak peek. Even if they are public posts, you can still give them intriguing hints of new releases to entice them to guess what's going on. This will encourage them to return to your profile page in order to see if any announcements have been made.

Promote across other networks

To maximize exposure for your company on social media, use all of your social media channels. Share your Instagram account in your Twitter bio, include it in your email signature, and throw it in your company newsletter or Facebook page. The more you can point people towards the platform, the more eyeballs you'll get on your content! By doing some cross-network promotional posts you can increase Instagram engagement and connect with the target audience.

Add Influencer marketing

Instagram is already a huge part of influencer marketing. If you are looking for new followers, it makes sense to have others involved in your Instagram strategy. By paying an influencer to promote you, they can easily bring more people to the Instagram handle. Influencers can drastically widen a company's reach and bring new followers into the community by increasing Instagram engagement.

Conclusion

On Instagram, it can be tough to stand out and get noticed. But the good news is that there are tons of ways that you can stand out and get your Instagram content noticed. Next time you think about what content to post, try incorporating these methods and then see how your followers respond. Use our  Marketing video maker and create videos that will wow your audience and increase your followers. Boost your Instagram engagement using specially customized videos that can be made without any hassle.

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