Having a successful blog on Instagram is not just posting your photos and stories. This platform has in its essence the principle of engagement with an audience. Keeping your followers challenged with your posts and stories is a kind of art. Yet not all bloggers master it initially. If you have this talent, you are a lucky guy. What if not? Then, understanding of principles of good engagement rates on Instagram may come in handy for you. Let’s devote that article to the topic of engagement and discover how to impact it by your activity on this social network.
What Impacts Engagement Rate on Instagram
Instagram is one of the most powerful platforms to boost your business online. Having an Instagram account is almost a must for businesses and people who earn money on the Internet. But not all the ideas gain success when it comes to Instagram. The secret is in engagement. What is engagement on Instagram, you may ask?
What Is Instagram Engagement
It is a commonly used term to describe all the types of interaction your audience (we mean followers and users visiting your account) provides for your content. When you get likes for your post that is engagement. When you receive DMs from potential customers – that is also engagement. Shares, saves, comments – all this is engagement. When you get lots of interactions for each post or story you make, you can say that you have a strong engagement. That’s a good omen as the stronger is your audience’s engagement, the more motivated it is to buy your products or services.
There is one more reason to boost engagement on Instagram. It is the principle of Instagram’s algorithms. The platform prioritizes content with higher engagement showing it more often than other posts. This works like a snowball principle. You boost Instagram engagement, the platform detects it and shows your content to more users. They become engaged and the process continues. Yet to start an effective engagement company on Instagram requires from you some special actions to do.
Is It Similar to Reach?
You shouldn’t mistake engagement with a reach that is the number of followers you get. You may have a 10k-followers account yet the engagement will still be too small if they do not interact with your content. So here is the main principle you should adhere to. Whatever ways you choose for your IG engagement, they should be directed to build a strong community with the audience.
There are several ways to increase engagement on Instagram. These are as follows:
- Create involving and aesthetic content for your blog.
- Get in touch with your audience.
- Choose the best hours to post on Instagram.
- Add hashtags and tags for your location.
- Pay attention to your IG stories and their editing.
Now let’s focus on several of these tips.
Types of Content and Some Tips on How to Use It to Increase Instagram Engagement
If you think that only likes increase your IG engagement, you are pretty wrong. The most valuable interactions with your content are saves and shares. When you create something valuable, your visitors will be eager to save this content to return to it from time to time or share it with their audience. Both ways are profitable for you so try your best to make content that will be of the highest value. What could it be? That depends much on the topic of your Instagram. Yet there are several types of content that always get the most appreciation. Here they are:
- Catching infographics that will be useful and colorful at once.
- DIY or training videos that your audience may return to regularly.
- Aesthetic photos that provide the audience with pleasure.
First of all, your content should be visually attractive as Instagram was created for visual aesthetics. Besides, you shouldn’t forget about some special features that Instagram provides for its users and make them a powerful armor for your engagement goals.
- Use hashtags. Lots of people willingly watch and save content that is hashtagged by something they are interested in. For example, if your blog is devoted to fitness and wellness, using #workout and similar hashtags may involve an audience that is subscribed to these hashtags.
- Use geo-location tags. Especially when you are blogging on the topic of travelling, casual life or the same wellness. Some audiences can be engaged by being at the same location as you.
- Make your direct messages the source of engagement. You probably have seen some e-commerce accounts that provide colorful content on their products without going into detail about their price or availability. The audience may ask these questions in comments but you can go higher as Instagram comments increase engagement but DM makes it even higher. Provide all the additional information in DM for each potential buyer. That may make them more engaged with you.
The Best Time for Posting: What Time to Choose for Your IG Content Posting
Time matters even for content posting. Haven’t you noticed that the audience is usually more active on business days? Or that your content gathers more likes and shares when it is posted on a certain timeline i.e. in the morning or at midday? That is true, you can define Instagram’s best hours to post yourself. They depend on your audience’s location, their lifestyle, and the topic of your Instagram. Just observe this fact and you will certainly find out what hours are golden ones for your account to post the content.
How to Increase Instagram Stories Engagement
Almost all users on Instagram use stories. And they gladly communicate via them. Why should you neglect that tool then? Increasing Instagram stories engagement is not a complex thing. All you need to do is to use the tools that the platform offers you for stories making.
- Add surveys to your stories.
- Make QA stories to get in touch with your audience.
- Use emojis and stickers to involve the audience in communication with you.
What About Numbers? Is It Real to Check Instagram Engagement?
We can say it is quite real as you can count all the communication issues your content gains. There is our article What Is a Good Engagement Rate for Instagram in 2021 where you can get all the information about the average engagement rate on Instagram and how to check it.
Summaries
Instagram does not need to say a powerful tool to boost your business. Using it thoughtfully can bring you good results. And checking engagement rates and providing measures to increase them also is a part of your blogging strategy. By building strong communication with the audience, you can get two goals at once. The first is increasing your brand awareness and sales rates by communicating with potential customers. The second is getting a higher ranking on Instagram as algorithms of that platform take into account engagement as well as other features. So be brave and use our tips to gain the success you dream of.
