What is Instagram Engagement?
If you are unaware of what Instagram Engagement is, basically it is the number of likes, comments, and views your photos receive. Being that Instagram accounts receive more engagement than Facebook and Twitter you need to start boosting your engagement. Instagram has more than 600 million users and is the best social media platform to drive results on.
So, the real question is how do you get more engagement on Instagram? Below we have listed the top 20 ways how to boost Instagram engagement.
How does Instagram Engagement help you?
If you have high engagement on Instagram your posts will reach more people. When the Instagram algorithm notices that your photos have high engagement they boost your posts. What this means is that your posts will be promoted on the Instagram Explore Page, on Top Posts for hashtags, and on top locations if you include a location.
How to Calculate Instagram Engagement?
There are various ways to calculate your Instagram engagement. It may sound simple, but look at your posts and see how many followers, comments, and likes each post drives. You can do this by either signing up for an Instagram business account or using particular services.
A great way to monitor Instagram engagement is to look at other accounts in your space. Once you are viewing these accounts you can see how many people engage with a particular post. Leverage these stats and compare your account to your possible competitors.
Another way to calculate Instagram engagement is to view your followers. Although this might sound like a no-brainer many people still don’t monitor their own followers!
A simple platform that is great to help you monitor Instagram engagement is SocialBlade. SocialBlade allows you to see how your account is performing while also getting insights into future growth.
#1 Have Real Accounts Follow You
Sad to say but those followers you may have thought of buying won’t help your account. They are simply non-real accounts that have followed you because of a service you may have purchased. These non-real Instagram accounts won’t engage with your photos and turn into real followers. Therefore, it is essential that you grow your account with real dedicated followers via organic growth. If you are interested in growing your account organically with real followers check out our Instagram Marketing Service.
#2 Use The Right Hashtags
Tagging the right hashtags to your Instagram posts is essential because it allows you to receive new exposure and drive engagement. Instagram posts that include hashtags benefit you by driving new valuable followers and helping you reach a bigger audience.
Make sure that you analyze the hashtags you are tagging before you post. Try to use hashtags that aren’t competitive by other accounts in your space, but get tagged often. Normally we tag our posts with hashtags that have around 50,000 to 100,000 posts tagged.
#3 Post At The Right Times
Research your audience and make sure to post at times that are relevant to your audience. Such as you aren’t going to want to post at 3 in the morning; however, 5 in the afternoon? That’s a perfect time! There are a couple of ways you can see what times your posts are seen by the biggest audience.
If you have not yet signed up for an Instagram business account, an alternative you can use is Iconosquare.
#4 Add A CTA To All Your Instagram Posts
Make sure that all of your posts have a CTA (Call to Action). Call to actions allows your followers to see a caption and engage based on what you say.
For example, you can ask your followers these questions:
Comment your favorite emoji below.
Enter to win, and comment below.
Where are you from? Comment below.
#5 Join An Engagement Group
Most people are unaware of the fact that if you have large accounts or accounts with relevant followers commenting on your post, your post is normally boosted to their follower’s Instagram explore pages. A great way to get accounts in the same niche to comment on your posts is to join Instagram Engagement Groups. These are certain Instagram DM Groups with accounts that post similar content to yours. Once you join one of these groups all the accounts in the group like and comment on the photos you share with the group. These groups are a great way to drive more engagement and promote your content. We have a full detailed guide for Instagram engagement groups here.
#6 Contribute to Instagram Stories
Instagram stories allow you to have your content featured in all your follower’s stories. You can include a CTA in your story to promote your new recent post. Therefore, all of your followers will see the post and click on your most recent post. These can also be used to engage with your audience via Instagram Polls and drive traffic to certain posts or accounts.
#7 Host an Instagram Contest
Contests on Instagram help drive new valuable followers while also increasing overall account engagement. You can great a contest where you select one of your followers who comments on a photo. Therefore, you will entice your followers to engage with the photo while also increasing engagement. You can also ask them to tag their friends for a chance to win. This results in your account getting more exposure and your post receiving tons of engagement.
#8 Engage With Your Followers
An overall way to boost your Instagram engagement is to engage with your followers. If you have some spare time over the weekend, go on Instagram and leave some likes and comments on your follower’s posts. This will bring them back to your account and establish you as a real person.
#9 Repost Your Best Posts
Discover which posts of yours receive the highest engagement and copy those posts. Literally, once you have a killer post simply wait a couple of weeks and reuse the post! There’s nothing wrong with posting content again. Just make sure you delete the old post.
#10 Promote Your Page Across Networks
Another great way to boost your Instagram engagement is to cross-promote your posts on other networks. Let your Facebook fans know when you have posted an image on Instagram and drive them to your account. This will also result in you getting higher engagement while attracting people interested in you or your account to your profile.
#11 Incorporate Videos into Your Feed
Videos by far receive the highest Instagram engagement, due to the fact that they interact with anyone watching. If you post a video it stands out on a platform that mainly just has photos. Therefore, more people will see your video and it tends to have better engagement. This post may even make its way to the Instagram explore page.
#12 Use Creative Captions
When posting on Instagram it is essential that your posts have great captions as this is the piece of text that your audience will see. If you have creative captions that also have a CTA you will not only drive people to engage with your post, but you may even receive them tagging their friends!
#13 Encourage People to Tag Your Account
Encourage people to tag your account in their posts. Say if you have an account that posts your customer’s photos, tell them to take you in their photos for a chance to be reposted. This idea will benefit both you and your loyal followers. You will receive exposure from your followers and they will receive exposure from your followers. It’s a win-win situation.
#14 Size your Images
The larger the image the more of the screen it takes up. Therefore, if you have a great photo that encompasses the full useable space for Instagram images. Followers will engage more with the post.
#15 Post only Quality Content
This is a no-brainer. Of course, you will want to only post quality content to your audience because isn’t that what they want to see? Don’t spam your feed with ugly photos as they won’t receive any engagement or drive any followers.
#16 Engage with Other Posts
A great way to boost your Instagram engagement is to engage with photos similar to yours by adding a comment to the photo. Your comment will be seen by everyone else who is commenting on the photo increasing exposure to your account and helping to drive followers.
#17 Participate in Popular Conversations
Participating in popular topics is another way to drive Instagram engagement as when your photos are either tagged to a popular hashtag or the post revolving around a popular topic. Your post will see more engagement by people who also share those views or ideas on the topic.
#18 Use Influencer Marketing
If you aren’t already using influencer marketing to help grow your account and drive engagement. You’re being left in the dust. What we mean by influencer marketing is having large accounts give you shoutouts and help promote your account. This is the most direct way to establish a real following and to promote your account engagement.
#19 Develop a Great Looking Feed
Having a great-looking feed is essential to Instagram. No one wants to look at an ugly feed that doesn’t resonate with the viewer. If you have a great-looking feed and post high-quality content your Instagram engagement will blow through the roof.
#20 Include Faces and Solid Colors
Who doesn’t like to look at someone’s face? This may seem strange but Instagram posts that include a face normally receive better engagement than those that don’t. This is due to the fact that people like people.
One last way that you can increase Instagram engagement is to post photos will a solid color. These draw attention to your post and result in higher engagement and more people clicking through to your profile. We highly recommend if you are running a contest post the image with a solid background color.
Should You Buy Instagram Engagement?
Buying Instagram engagement is a no-go. This will only result in your account getting less exposure by real followers. Who wants a ton of robots liking and following your account? No one does. What’s the purpose of having an account with 10,000 followers if you only receive 12 likes? Let me answer, there’s no meaning to the account. So think twice before you buy followers online. Instead, use these tactics to improve your account engagement or allow us to grow your account.