Instagram is a powerful tool for gaining recognition and promoting personal businesses online. This is why there are over one billion monthly active users on the platform. As the number of active users keeps increasing, Instagram users keep finding ways to engage with their followers.
Posting stunning photos, videos, stories, and reels might not be enough to make your followers engage with your posts. So, you need to identify powerful ways to increase engagement rates.
Have you been wondering what you need to do to increase engagements on your Instagram page? If so, you should take the time to learn the best ways to achieve you aim. Lucky you, this post highlights the most effective tips.
Table of Contents
Create an Online Personality
As a person or even a brand, it is important to create an online personality. People are more likely to engage with your posts or Instagram stories when you do so.
A good way to let your personality shine through on Instagram is by sharing authentic content with your community of followers. This involves being real and relatable, and finding ways to bring you individual uniquenesses into the type of content you share.
You also need to put a face to your profile, so your followers can know who they are dealing with. People are more likely to engage with your post when they’re convinced that a real human is sharing them. Putting your face out there automatically increases your relatability. You will grow your Instagram followers and engagement rates when you do this.
Create Instagram Carousel Posts
Creating carousel posts is a great way to increase engagement with your Instagram followers. This engagement gold mine is a proven strategy to spike the curiosity of the target audience and keep them on your page for a long time.
Carousels are designed in a way that users can select and upload multiple photos and videos per post. With Instagram carousels, you can share valuable information with your target audience because you have up to 10 slides in a single post.
Whether you’re sharing to entertain or support a social cause, Instagram carousel posts should be the way to go. This will keep your Instagram feed well organized and keep your audience glued to your page
Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) and Tyra Banks (@tyrabanks) are examples of successful models that use the Instagram carousel to engage with their followers. You should check them out.
Explore All Instagram Features
The Instagram algorithm will prioritize your posts if you incorporate Instagram’s best features. This is to encourage users to post more quality and diverse content on the social media app.
As Instagram keeps rolling out new features, you have to keep exploring them. The more you use all the features available on Instagram, the more you create avenues for people to like or comment on your posts.
Naturally, the algorithm will reward you for trying out new features like Ads, Reels, Stories, Highlights, Videos, and Carousels. Instagram is always trying to ensure that their app and features are popular and accepted. Using these features means you’re cooperating with them.
Also, exploring all these features tells the algorithm that you’re serious about your profile. As such Instagram will reward your content marketing efforts with more reach and consequently, more engagement.
Learn to Use Filters and Stickers
It is important to learn how to use filters and stickers if you want to grow your engagement on Instagram. Filters and stickers tend to catch people’s attention fast, and if your goal is engagement, you need to make your audience Interested first.
As a brand, Instagram AR Filters will help you market your products or services in a fun and relatable way. Business owners are now leveraging them to showcase their products and also teach people how to use their products.
You can also create your filter or sticker by using elements that make your brand unique. Doing this will make the pictures and videos you’re sharing look peculiar to you alone. As a result, the worth of your posts will increase in your followers’ eyes, and possibly gain you more Instagram likes.
Collaborate on Instagram Feed or Reels
Instagram launched a new feature that allows people to collaborate on their Instagram feed or reels. This involves inviting someone to share your content with their community of followers.
This strategy will make your posts reach a bigger audience. This will, in turn, increase the chances of more engagements since people from other communities will see it.
If you decide to co-author content with a fellow Instagram user, you will share likes, views, and comments on the post. In the example below, @jasonkalambay and @leyon successfully collaborated on a reel post.
Use Trending Hashtags and Geotags
This is one of the best tactics for boosting interaction on your page. The advantage of using Geotags and trending hashtags is that it opens up your posts to more people. Therefore, this is the perfect tool for expanding your reach on Instagram.
But how do these tools aid engagement? When people follow a hashtag or geotag, it’s because they connect with content related to the tags. Because of this connection, they’re not only likely to follow an account that delivers great content on the topic, but they’re also likely to be actively engaged.
While using trending hashtags, make sure they are relevant to the content you’re sharing. This will boost your engagements.
Share Interactive Instagram Stories
The beauty of Instagram lies in its catalog of interesting features, which make sharing entertaining, educative, and informative content easy.
Instagram Stories have become very popular and many users are creating them daily. If you want your followers to engage with your Stories, it’s advisable to make them very interactive.
So, the question is – How do you make your Instagram Stories interactive?
Start by creating stories that feature polls, quizzes, countdowns, and emoji sliders. You should also adopt sharing relatable memes that will make your followers feel close to you.
Write Engaging Instagram Captions
Great captions are the highlights of feed posts. Captions give more information about your post. They’re a good place to give value to your audience and make an impact in how they view you.
Also, if you curate your captions well, you’ll be able to trigger the reader to leave a comment or, at least, hit ‘like’
Here are sure ways of using Instagram captions to drive engagements with your followers;
- Make the most of the first sentence.
- Ensure the caption is thought-provoking.
- Tell a story with your Instagram captions.
- Include fun-filled emojis to add extra flavor.
- Include a call to action to generate a response.
- Add value to the caption with tips and tricks.
Examples of Instagram accounts doing captioning right include @buzzfeedtasty and @vox. These accounts use engaging captions to get the attention of their target audiences.
Stay Active and Consistent
Studies have shown that people are more likely to engage with Instagram accounts that stay active. If you want your followers to engage your posts, you should avoid ghosting them. The Instagram algorithm is designed in a way that it pushes your content down the feed if you’re inactive.
The more active you are on Instagram, the more your followers will be willing to like or share your posts. While you’re at it, ensure your posts are good enough to spark engagements.
Your followers will quickly move on if you leave them hanging for weeks. You can plan out what you intend to post by scheduling them for a week or two.
Conclusion
The journey to increase your engagements requires effort and patience. The more you explore different ways, the more results you’ll see over time.
A high Instagram engagement rate will add more visibility to your posts, and it also help you build a huge community of followers.
Try the different tricks that we’ve mentioned in this guide to increase engagement with your followers.