TECHGUIDANCES
In recent times the world has witnessed numerous startups succeed. While much of their success is due to the quality of the goods and services they provide, some of it is because of their marketing initiatives on popular social platforms like Instagram.
Strategies for marketing implemented on Instagram do not just include promotions but also attempt to interact with followers. This article will walk you through all of the top Instagram engagement techniques to help your start-up increase Instagram followers. As a bonus, you can get free Instagram followers from service providers if you need rapid and simple expansion. First, let’s look at the meaning of engagement on Instagram and why it is important.
What is engagement, and why it is so important?
Instagram engagement could be described as an interaction between your intended viewers with the content posted on Instagram. There are many metrics provided by Instagram that allow companies to evaluate their engagement, for example:
- Shares
- Comments
- Followers
- Saves
- Click-throughs
- DMs
- Branded hashtags
- Mentions (both untagged and tagged)
These metrics provide insights into how your viewers interact with your content. When your numbers are high, they indicate that your audience is engaged with the content and actively engaged with it instead of just watching it.
Instagram’s algorithm will also prioritize pages with an incredibly high engagement. Therefore, if you’d like your business’s Instagram site to become seen by many more people, you need be paying close attention to the engagement aspect.
Once you’ve figured out what Instagram engagement is and how important it is, let’s look at ways to interact with the Instagram followers to boost your company’s visibility.
1. Be aware of whom you’re writing content to
Before you begin making and posting content on Instagram, it is essential to identify your ideal users. You can learn more about your target’s characteristics by researching their demographics. This is a complex process that includes:
- Collecting data on the existing social media customers and their audience
- Social listening can help you find conversations that are related to your brand
- Studying the channels on social media used by your intended public
- Reviewing your competitors
- Knowing what your target audience is looking for in your Instagram page
2. Be authentic when engaging
There was an era when companies relied on the slickness of marketing campaigns that were not authentic. The days of fake marketing are gone. If you’d like to make your company more prominent on Instagram, you must be authentic.
Being authentic on Instagram means posting content that gives your intended users a glimpse of the real people that make your company work. For example, photos of behind-the-scenes work or videos that show your team at work can make it easier for people to believe in your brand. Remember that honesty is much more appreciated than perfect.
3. Use captions to write your posts and hashtags to make your brand’s personality come to the forefront
Captions and hashtags play a crucial role in bringing your brand’s personality to your followers on Instagram. Make sure to utilize them properly. Instagram allows users to write captions that are 2,200 characters long, far more than is required to create captivating stories. The more engaging your stories are, the greater the likelihood will get you to get Instagram followers to share their thoughts about your posts.
You can also add up to 30 hashtags in each post. Hashtags are a crucial element on Instagram in that they enable sites and related content to be discovered by viewers. Be careful not to fill all of your posts using hashtags. Ideally, it is best to employ three to five hashtags in each post. It is also important to choose appropriate hashtags since users can complain about your content.
4. Videos can generate more engagement than photos
When Instagram first came out initially, it was primarily an app for sharing photos. But as time progressed, it has transformed into something else. Today, Instagram users prefer engaging via videos content rather than pictures. Make it a goal to post regularly with videos.
If you’re worried about flaws in your video, do not! The slightest bit of imperfections will bring authentic aspects of the brand to the forefront. There’s a myriad of video editing software out on the market that can be used to add some quality to your videos, too. For instance, you can incorporate music into your videos or combine various scenes.
5. Utilize the Carousels feature
Instagram’s Carousels feature lets users post multiple photos in the same post. If you’re looking for your images-based posts to stand out, you can’t go wrong with Instagram’s Carousels feature. It also creates lots of user engagement (on average over three times more than traditional posts).
There’s also plenty of information available online that will help you create Carousels posts to increase user engagement. There are also free templates that allow you to design Carousels posts for aspiring. Therefore, make the most of available resources to boost users’ engagement on your business’s Instagram account.
6. Images of high quality are essential.
Although video and Carousels posts are more likely to generate user engagement than traditional photos-based posts, that does not mean that you ignore the latter. Remember that the classic photo-based post is the easiest to write and use, and whatever engagement it creates, it’ll be a part of the overall statistics.
But, users can’t be engaged with an Instagram post comprised of a poor-quality photo. Therefore, before uploading an image on Instagram, make sure it’s high-quality. You can also use Instagram’s built-in filters or a photo editing application to improve the images before posting them.
7. Get real-time user engagement through Instagram Live
In the past 2 to three years, live videos have become extremely popular. This has resulted in every major social media platform offering live video, allowing users to interact with their followers in real-time. The greatest benefit of live videos is that they’re extremely effective in creating a deeper connection with viewers.
Instagram is currently adding the Live Shopping feature to sell their goods and host live videos. It is possible to welcome everyone who views your live videos with their name. This will create more emotional connections to the viewers of your Instagram followers.
8. Share content created by user’s content
Social media platforms permit followers of Instagram and other startups to participate in the conversation, not only by using words. For example, when a user mentions your company in the caption of a post, then you can post the content in the form of a story. Sharing the user’s content provides innovative methods for companies to engage with their customers.
Your followers will appreciate that you’re eager to spread their content which increases the likelihood of them sharing theirs. The new audiences will see how you share your followers’ content and encourage users to keep following your business.
9. Be open in response to DMs and comments
It’s not that it’s hard doesn’t mean you should avoid it. Responding to your followers with messages could cause them to feel like you’re not concerned about their concerns. This is why they could remove your Instagram page.
It would be helpful to take a couple of hours per week to respond to all comments or DMs. It isn’t necessary to be too detailed in your replies. Simply saying “thanks” for a nice comment can be all someone would like to hear from you.
10. Be sure to adhere to the time-based posting schedules
You’ve written an intriguing post, and I’m eager to be waiting to publish it. But, you got only a few responses to it from Instagram followers when you published it. What could be the reason?
You likely posted the post when the majority of your audience was sleeping. This is why publishing at strategic time slots is essential to ensure that your audience sees the posts. In the end, if your followers don’t have access to your posts and aren’t able to see them, there’s no possibility of them engaging in a meaningful way with the content.
11. Include calls-to-action in each post
Whatever post you publish, it is essential to include CTAs in them. There are certain instances when your followers will take a liking to your posts regardless of whether you’ve included CTAs. Some will still require encouragement to take action on your posts.
Make sure the actions you call for aligning with your brand’s character. Simply put, be creative and think of innovative ways to encourage your followers to take action on what you would like and require you to get them doing.
