Gone are the days when a successful Instagram account was meant to be the one with the highest number of followers. From businesses buying fake followers to influencers trying to get fake likes and comments, we all have witnessed the murky side of this social media platform. Thankfully, due to the latest Instagram algorithm, now your account’s popularity is not solely dependent upon the number of followers but is greatly dependent on the engagement rate of your audience.
Although having a good number of followers still counts, your efficiently crafted posts will not make any sense if they do not reach to the targeted audience. While it might be difficult to gain the attention of your followers and continuously engage them due to the rising competition, learning a few tactics will help you in gaining new followers, engaging with your audience and building up your community. Here are some simple ideas which will help you in achieving your Instagram goals.
1. Know Your Instagram Engagement Rate
Before jumping to grab the attention of your Instagram followers, it is important for you to know your current Instagram engagement rate. Knowing your current rate will help you set a benchmark and you can accordingly work to implement audience engagement ideas. While we are pretty sure that our ideas will prove to be useful, measuring your Instagram engagement rate will help you in checking if these ideas really worked for your account.
Basically, Instagram engagement rate is the percentage of the total number of followers engaged in any posted content. It is calculated based on the number of likes, comments and shares your post receives. Apps such as Later, Triberr, Phlanx, Influencer Fee, etc. are easily available on the internet and can help you in calculating your Instagram engagement rate. All you have to do is enter your Instagram handle details and these calculators will give you the complete statistics.
2. Engage with Accounts Similar to Your Industry
One golden rule of Instagram is engagement attracts engagement. So, before working on your next Instagram post or story, take some time out to appreciate the work of others. If you get engaged in the posts of accounts which are a part of your niche, there are high chances of you getting noticed. The more you interact, the more visible your account becomes. This will help you in bringing more profile visitors and the ones who are genuinely interested in your work might even start following you.
However, make sure to get positively engaged and be a part of healthy discussions on the platform. Also, choose quality over quantity and take enough time to identify your industry-specific accounts and engage with the posts which you feel are meaningful. By doing this, you are presenting yourself in front of the right audience, who might have some interest in your content.
3. Reply to Comments
To keep the conversation going and to help push your post towards the top of your follower’s feeds, it is important that you reply to your comments. As the number of responses on your post increases, Instagram recognises your post as an appreciated piece of content and gradually pushes it in your followers' feed.
Although tedious, but take time to actively reply to different comments on your post. Just make sure to keep the ball rolling, try to post friendly comments which will attract the attention of more followers. You can even tag other people in your comments and draw their attention towards your conversation. For example, if you are an influencer and are reviewing a product or a service, introduce your affiliate brands or ask fellow influencer friends to provide their feedback on the similar product.
4. Make Every Post Count
No matter whether you are a brand or a micro-influencer, everything you post on your Instagram account is visible to your audience. Don’t post anything in a jiffy or just because someone else posted and you also posted.
Every little thing counts for making a post engaging. Make use of clear pictures and write a creative caption to build your brand awareness. Go through your post before posting and make sure, it gives out a clear message of what you intend to give to your audience.
Also, focus on your profile as a whole, as it is the first thing your visitors will see. Set a good profile picture and add a descriptive bio. Try creating different style patterns or grids and make use of filters to keep your images appearing fresh. Simple planning before posting a picture will help you in presenting a consistent and positive brand image to your audience.
Recommended: 7 Tips to Create the Best Content for Social Media Marketing Posts
5. Give Your Followers an Insight of Your Brand
Nowadays, Instagram followers expect more than usual from their favourite brands. So, instead of limiting your posts to just product pictures or simple seasonal greetings, express your brand’s mission, introduce the people working behind the brand, your work culture, company ethics and so on.
As Instagram is an open platform, it is a great place to share these details and your ideas with your followers. In return, you will find your audience feeling more connected towards your business activity and will be continuously looking out for more such posts.
For example, you can share live product launches or interviews with the brand’s senior management. As people look up to popular accounts for inspiration, you can even start non-profit initiatives such as sustainable living or using eco-friendly products and create dedicated hashtags for such initiatives. In return ask your followers to share their pictures and videos using these hashtags.
6. Draw Attention of Your Followers through Instagram Stories
An increasing number of Instagram followers are now getting more interested in stories than posts. So, boost your audience engagement through Stories. For example, rather than simply posting about something, get more creative and express your ideas with the help of Stories.
You can even use Instagram Stories to attract your followers towards your profile. You can do this by either taking a poll about which picture to post and ask your followers to select one from the given options or asking your followers opinion about content which they would like to see on your profile or simply by running a countdown for a surprise post will keep your audience coming back to your profile. When you post a new picture on your Instagram feed, you can also create a story with engaging stickers such as “Tap Here” to see the latest post. But make sure you don’t give complete details in your story as the ultimate aim to bring people to your main feed.
Recommended: A Comprehensive Guide to Use Instagram Stories for Small Business
7. Schedule Your Instagram Posts and Stories
An important reason why your post is not getting the desired number of impressions is probably due to the wrong time of posting. Try to get aware of the time frame in which your maximum number of followers are active and post a picture or a story in the same time frame.
To understand this, spend some time in tracking and monitoring your Instagram analytics and see which is the best time to post for your audience. If you have an Instagram business account, then you can easily access your profile analytics through Instagram Insights by tapping the bar chart icon placed at the top right corner of your profile. This will help you take a complete look at your audience demographics and will also tell you the time when your audience is most active on Instagram.
Anna Clarke is the owner of online writing company 15 Writers. She is a successful entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in freelancing, academic dissertation writing consulting, specialising in Business, Economics, Finance, Marketing and Management.
