5 Tips To Increase Engagement on Instagram
Whether your a blogger, a small Etsy shop, or a big name brand engaging with your audience is vital. Audience engagement provides you with clear feedback of who your audience is, what they want, and what they think about you and your product or service. Knowing these things about your audience is huge for your strategy. For example I notice that when I share something personal about motherhood on Instagram I get a ton of comments and feedback. This tells me a few things. For one it tells me that a big piece of my following is moms. It also tells me that moms are very engaged and active on Instagram. Another key thing here is that it tells me that I need to develop my strategy around moms. I mean it all makes sense. I’m a new mom. I am going through this experience just like other new moms and sharing my story helps other moms who may be experiencing the same things. Before I go rambling on about being a new mom for the 100th time let’s get down to business and chat about 5 easy, yet very helpful tips to increase your Instagram engagement.
1. Share posts that get comments- It’s that simple. If you have specific types of posts that receive more comments continue to include them in your strategy. For example if you post an #ootd pic and it gets 2 comments & you also post a food pic that gets 7 comments start sharing more food pics! Your followers like your food pics better and they are more engaged with that content.
2. Comment on similar accounts- Chances are if you leave a few friendly and insightful comments on a similar account you will receive comments back on your account. This also helps increase your followers & helps you make new Instagram friends.
3. Ask a question under your photo- For example if you post a picture about your upcoming travel plans to San Francisco ask your audience if they have ever been and what their favorite spots are. Asking a question is a sure fire way to receive comments and engage in a conversation with your followers.
4. Reward your followers with giveaways-This isn’t something you have to do all of the time, but it is a nice way to make your followers feel special. You can do a single giveaway just on your account or you can participate in a loop giveaway with like-minded businesses or bloggers. See more about how to join loop giveaways in a previous post I wrote here.
5. Be real- It’s really easy to come across “perfect” on Instagram. You carefully curate your photos to gain a following by staging the picture, making sure the lighting is right, and editing your photo. I don’t disagree with doing any of that, but I think it’s important to be real on Instagram. If your photo is perfect but your hair is a little messy, keep it that way. Maybe even talk about it in your comment. People relate to real people.
I hope these help you! Let me know your tips in the comments!
Thank you for the helpful post! I agree that looking at comments is a great way to engage your followers and find out what they like. Great tip about asking for suggestions for upcoming travel plans!
http://www.livingtoat.com/
Thanks Theresa! I appreciate your comment 🙂 Have a great day!
Great tips! I love instagram… I know I dont use it ‘properly’ all the time, but I def keep it real!
Thank you! I’m really not using Instagram as well as I should. I don’t think I’ve asked a single question. Going to snap a pic and try it now!
Awesome! Let me know how it goes!
I definitely agree that giveaways can be really helpful, as long as they are done within reason! I do a loop giveaway every other month and it’s been working out for me!
Yes, I totally agree with you!
These are all such wonderful tips, I was happy to find out I do most of them already, haha.
Super helpful! I’m always looking for ways to grow on Instagram!
Good to know. Glad it was helpful. Thanks for stopping by the blog Callie!
Great tips, thank you! I’ve been really trying at these for a while now and seeing results!
Awesome!
Great tips! I’ve been wanting to increase my Instagram engagement for awhile – this was exactly what I needed!
Great! Hope they are helpful Ashley!
These are super helpful! Definitely a few tips that I will keep in mind as I’m posting!
xo, Michelle Paige
http://www.michellespaige.com
Great! Glad I could help Michelle!
Great tips! I’m obsessed with Instagram and I have found that the more I engage, the more engagement I get on my account! It is so important to remember that social media is all about being SOCIAL!
Great post! I will be putting your tip to use! Thank you.
Great post and I am really interested in a bunch of your other posts. I will be perusing! Thanks you!
Loved these tips! Growing my instagram community is something I’m working on right now. I’ll have to go through and see where I have the most comments 🙂
I need to work on asking more questions in my Instagram posts! Great tips!
Love these tips. And, I totally agree that being “real” on instagram is super helpful in connecting with readers and increasing engagement.
Thanks! Glad they were helpful!
This is great. I’ve really been struggling with my instagram account. I think because I have my personal one, it’s so hard to get into the groove of using my blog one. But I know I need to just do it.
Great tips! We’re trying to get better about commenting on other people’s posts. There’s just so much to do and so many social media outlets…so hard sometimes to “spread the wealth”.
Such great pointers! I really agree that finding like-minded people is key — go engage with them and they’ll likely engage with you.
Great tips. I need to work on a lot of these – I struggle with engagement on some pictures yet not on others and need to figure out the formula to get the engagement I want on every picture!
Just found your blog from Pinterest. Love the instagram tips! What do you use for a plugin for your Instagram pictures on your side bar? I love the layout.
Thanks Lisa! It’s the liketoknow.it app!
you are a blessing to people like me who want to start blogging. 100% helpful
SO glad I could help!