Instagram has become a popular social network among brands due to its ability to generate a large amount of engagement.
But not everyone will get the same levels of participation. How much you drive will depend on the content you share, how you share it, and other important steps.
So, to help you get the most engagement on Instagram, I have created this guide for you. Check out all the tips below …
Start creating better photos
To drive engagement on Instagram, your main emphasis should be on the photo. Most of the Instagram users visit the site to see beautiful photos. So you need to find out which photos your followers want to see and brush up on your basic design skills.
One way to find out which photos your followers prefer to interact with is by creating a poll and asking your followers to participate in it. Make sure to ask all the questions related to Instagram photo design in this survey.
An alternative is to experiment with various types of designs and discover which ones generate the most engagement using your analysis.
You can then create similar images in the future.
For inspiration from Instagram photos, take a look at Etsy’s Instagram account.
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They share several creative photos like the one above promoting their products.
Share more entertaining and educational content
It’s good to post product photos on Instagram. Several brands do this regularly and drive both engagement and sales. But most of the photos you post should be educational and entertaining.
Content generates more engagement and builds trust. Therefore, you must follow the 80/20 rule here. This is where 80 percent of the photos you post should be free content and 20 percent of the posts sandwiched between them are promotional.
The content you post can range from dating images, photos of your everyday life, beautiful landscapes, etc. It should mainly depend on the brand you want to project and what your followers want to see.
One simple type of content that any brand can create is image citing. Most people like them and you can find quotes for any niche. There are also general quotes that suit anyone.
To create your image, start by finding a good Instagram background photo. The background photo is an important part of an image, as Curalate found that images with more background get 29% more likes.
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You can take this photo yourself, buy it, or browse for a stock photo. Then upload it to your favorite online editor. Some, like PicMonkey, have access to their own photos and background templates.
After choosing your background photo, copy and paste the quote, the author of the quote, and add your mark. And it should be ready to program.
You can use this technique to create various types of images in minutes on Instagram.
For some ideas on how to create better dating images, check out PicMonkey’s Instagram account.
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Those who post regularly like the above. They also post other fun content in the form of photos and videos.
Accompany with subtitles
Photos are the most important part of your Instagram posts, but the second most important component that people often ignore is the title. After people view the photo, their eyes will naturally move to the caption to learn more about the image.
So you need to pay more attention to it and write a well thought out one. If you are promoting a product, include the features and benefits of using it. If you’ve shared a quote, write about how the quote influences you or write something about the author of the quote.
When sharing photos from your personal life, please describe why you took this photo. Sometimes writing short, funny lines works. It should mainly depend on what your followers want. So experiment with both long and short captions to see what works best.
After describing the photo, you need to add a call to action that asks people to like the photo. If you want more comments you can ask a question.
End the caption with lots of hashtags. A Trackmaven study found that photos with more than 11 hashtags generated the most interactions.
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They should be a combination of general and specific hashtags related to the topic.
Instagram users can follow hashtags. So if you use popular and relevant hashtags on your Instagram posts, more people will see your posts and interact with them.
Here is a list of the 100 best Instagram hashtags to like. I like to use it when I quickly need some popular hashtags for my captions.
Team up with influencers
Another way to increase the engagement of your Instagram business account is to partner with influencers. One of the most common ways brands do this is through a sponsored post where they sponsor an influencer to post something on their behalf.
Most influencers have a strong relationship with their followers, therefore when they post your photo they are likely to get a large engagement. And if they tag your username in the description, some of them will follow you and also participate in your future posts.
Make sure to use a good Instagram analytics tool to find influencers who generate high levels of engagement. Also, only join influencers who are relevant to your niche and not just anyone who has a large following.
Another way to partner with influencers is with an acquisition. This is where they post everything to their Instagram account for a day or more. Sometimes an acquisition can only be one post.
Build communities
People will more enjoy interacting with your Instagram posts when they feel like part of your community. Show that you care about them.
There are a couple of simple things you can do to easily build a community. One is by posting user-generated content. When you post photos taken by your customers and followers, you show them that their opinions and views are important to you. Therefore, they will interact with the post again with likes and comments.
Now when they respond with comments, you can further strengthen the relationship by responding with your own insightful comments. So set aside time each day to leave meaningful and personalized responses to these comments.
One company that does both, publish user-generated content and respond to comments, is Buffer.
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Be sure to check out some of their photos and user-generated responses.
Run contests
If the commitment is very low, one way to increase it quickly is with a contest. Running most contests can take a little longer. But they are worth it for the high levels of engagement it generates. They can also help you gain followers on Instagram quickly.
If you are very busy, you have alternatives such as the “Like to win” and “Like and tag” contests that can be quickly set up.
Now boost your participation on Instagram
These are all the techniques you can use to boost your engagement on Instagram. As you can see, they are a combination of sophisticated and easy-to-use techniques.
You can start with simple, easy-to-implement techniques like creating better photos, writing captions, and building a community today. Time-consuming techniques, such as teaming up with influencers and running contests, can be incorporated gradually.
What steps do you take to boost your engagement on Instagram? Which ones have given you the best results? Please leave your comments below.
Note: The opinions expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and not necessarily the opinions of Caphyon, its staff or its partners.
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