What is Instagram Engagement? 

Engagement on Instagram takes place in the form of comments, shares, likes, saves, mentions, click-throughs, DMs, and branded hashtags. 

Why Does Engagement Even Matter?

Instagram engagement is crucial because it indicates that people are stopping their scrolling to interact with your content rather than scrolling through it. Engagement is an indication that something within your post resonated with them, it made them think, or feel valued in some way. 

Best Ways To Increase Engagement On Instagram 

Respond To Comments With A Question 

Responding to comments with a question is a great way to create engagement on your social platforms. For example, if someone comments on your Instagram post ‘Great post!’, instead of liking their comment or saying ‘thanks’, respond with ‘What did you like most about it?’. Asking your followers questions encourages conversation which helps to build a relationship. Your audience will feel more inclined to engage with your content if they know that you will respond. 

Create Content People Want To Share 

Useful, interesting, and captivating content is more likely to get shared. Shareable content is a great way to increase the engagement you are getting. When users come across content that they find helpful or interesting, they will often repost it to their story, like the post, comment, or save it. All of these are great ways to increase engagement. 

Consistently Engage And Interact With Your Followers 

Part of social media management is interacting with your followers. A great strategy to stick to is to be consistent. Follow users back if they are liking your posts. Comment on other users’ content. Start discussions in the comments section by asking and answering questions. Start polls in your stories to get your audience to engage in an open conversation. 

Include A ‘Call To Action’ In Every Post 

A great way to encourage engagement from your followers is to leave them with a simple call to action. In marketing, a call to action is when you encourage an immediate response. This could mean inviting them to comment on or like the post if they found it helpful, directing them to a website or blog post via a link in your bio, or persuading them to purchase a product or service. If done correctly your call to action won’t sound forced or gimmicky. 

Utilize Relevant Hashtags 

Including relevant hashtags in your social content will increase the post’s reach and allow more people to find it. The more reach your posts have, the higher likelihood that you’ll receive engagement. You can search for keywords in the Instagram search bar, then hit ‘tags’ to find the popular hashtags with your keywords. 

Master Your Aesthetic 

Visuals are everything on Instagram. If you aren’t paying attention to your visuals, the first time users engage with your page could be their last. You’ll want to have a profile aesthetic that is pleasing to the eye so that users are more likely to follow you. By increasing your followers, you increase the likelihood of engagement within your content. 

Embrace Video Content 

Video content has taken the social media world by storm. Especially short-form videos in particular. Video viewers enjoy watching videos as long as they last 15 seconds or less unless the video can maintain their attention for a longer duration. Even typical photo-sharing platforms like Instagram and Facebook have incorporated video aspects to their platform due to the popular rise of Tiktok. Incorporating videos into your media strategy is a great way to increase your reach and therefore, engagement. Respond to comments using reels on Instagram as a way to open back-and-forth communication with your audience. 

Let Your Personality Shine 

Most importantly, let your brand personality shine, and don’t be afraid to remain true to yourself. If you take any tips from this blog post, do it with your brand values in mind. Always put forth content that aligns with you and your brand’s mission statement. Consumers value authenticity in brands and enjoy building genuine relationships with them.

Need help with your social media management, branding, or other aspects of your marketing? We are here to help. Kinetek Media has a team of skilled marketing professionals that can take your company to the next level. Get help managing and curating your social media content today. Contact us to get started!