How to
Improve Your Instagram Engagement ?
1. Use Hashtags For 12.6% More Engagement
Two
good tips to keep in mind when using hashtags:
1.
“Look at how many
hashtags influencers in your industry and your competitors use in their posts.”
2.
“Track the engagement
of your posts when you use different amounts of hashtags.”
70% of the most used hashtags are branded. Consider creating a branded hashtag that you
use on each image post for more engagement. This way users can easily recognize
who the image is from.
2. Use
Correct Size Images To Stand Out In A Feed
There’s nothing worse
than uploading an awesome photo that gets cutoff or doesn’t upload the way you
envisioned. Instagram image size used to be 612px by 612px, but
then switched to 1080px by 1080px to keep up
with Retina and other high-resolution displays available on smartphones,
tablets and laptops.
That’s a huge
improvement! Instagram still scales these photos down to 612 x 612 pixels, but
you don’t have to worry about your image getting cutoff.
3.
Camera+ – Set exposure separately from
focus. Easily control how light or dark your shots come out.
4.
Overgram – Choose from 16 carefully curated and dramatically
different fonts. Find fonts that are useful, fun, and beautiful, perfect for
any occasion.
7.
Hipstamatic – The original photo filter app. Choose the overall
mood of your image with Hipstamatic’s signature Lenses, Films, and Flashes,
then fine tune with extensive editing tools
Make sure that your
photos are not only sized correctly, but are also appealing. Studies show
that brighter pictures get 592% more likes than the darker ones. Muted pallettes also get the
most likes
3. Include A
Call-To-Action
Instagram is a photo
sharing app. But, you can use it as a platform to leverage the written word
too. Take your audience a step further by adding a call-to-action to your
Instagram photos. That call-to-action tells your followers exactly what you
want them to do.
With Instagram
you can either put the call-to-action in the caption of the image or
creating images with the text built right in. The goal of a call-to-action is
to increase the number of likes and comments a photo receives.
For Example :
@digitalmarketingtrainer
You can ask your
audience to :
·
Double tap photos
·
Tag 2 friends
·
Share a comment
4. Include
Witty Captions On Photos
Not every description has to
include a call-to-action. You can win your audience over with a witty caption
on your Instagram image.
You can spice up
your Instagram captions by:
·
Dusting in a question:
·
Whipping up a quick
tip:
·
Sprinkling in a
benefit:
·
Adding a dash of
humor:
5. Post At
The Right Times
Instagram audiences are more
engaged throughout the week. Quick Sprout found that Instagram engagement is
fairly steady, with slight increases on Monday and decreases on Sunday. So,
Mondays should get a little more attention since it’s the beginning of the
week.
1.
Monday and Thursday at
any time other than 3–4 p.m.
2.
Videos any day
at 9 p.m.–8 a.m.
3.
Experiment with 2
a.m., 5 p.m., and Wednesday at 7 p.m.
General best times to
post on Instagram:
1.
8–9 a.m.
2.
2 a.m.
3.
5 p.m.
Find out what times
work best for you! Figuring out what drives the most engagement is all about
trial and error
6. Host Instagram
Contests
Drive the engagement your way
by hosting an Instagram contest. People are motivated by free
giveaways. Hosting a contest is one of the easiest way to gain exposure
and get more followers on Instagram, which will help you increase your
engagement.
Be clear about your
objectives and exactly how you want your audience to participate for the best
outcome. Define easy, simple rules before you launch your contest.
Here are
some tips for hosting contests:
1.
Like
to win contests. Users
can be qualified for the contest by simply liking the Instagram contest photo.
2.
Hashtag
user-generated content contests. Users can share their own photo by including a contest-centered
hashtag to the photo to be qualified.
3.
Tag
2-3 friends to win contests. Users can be qualified by tagging two or three of their
Instagram friends into the comment section of the contest photo.
4.
Make
your product the prize. If your aim is to promote your brand, make sure your product is
the prize.
5.
Use
a contest specific hashtag. Always use a hashtag when hosting a contest so that
your users are aware that a specific hashtag is related to your contest.
7. Create
Instagram Stories To Drive Engagement
Instagram Stories are fairly new, bringing
Snapchat-like functionality to the platform. This function allows users to
upload and write over unfiltered pictures and videos that disappear after 24
hours. What does this mean for marketers? Instagram stories will help boost
your Instagram strategy.
Instagram stories are located
at the top of the news feed as circles. You can click on these circles and view
the story. Users can draw on photos and videos, add text and even filters
to jazz them up before posting too. It allows you too share content, without
clogging up your news feed
8.
Include A Link In Profile
Do you want your audience to
view your website, sign up for a newsletter, or read you blog? Well, you can
send them in the right direction by including a link in your Instagram profile
description. Instagram prohibits the use of clickable links within your
captions but you can change your bio link at any time and use a call to action
to drive traffic to that link.
To change your
Instagram bio:
1.
Click Edit
Profile on your Instagram profile page.
2.
Click on Bio.
3.
Type out your new bio
and include the URL link you want.
4.
Select Done.
Make sure to tell your
users what the link is for and where they can find it in your Instagram post.
9. Share
Videos To Attract Attention
Although there have been
studies that photos see more engagement than videos on Instagram,
videos are still a great for engagement if executed correctly. Earlier this
year, Instagram videos went from being 15 seconds long to 60 seconds long.
Instagram videos are similar to
Instagram stories, except they last forever rather than 24 hours. So make sure
your video is creative and entertaining.
10. Create
Banner Images
A tactic that’s often
overlooked is using banner images. Banner images are multiple images posted
that form together to create on big picture on your Instagram profile.
To create
banner images you can use mobile apps such as Giant Square or Banner Pic. These
apps allow you to easily upload the photo you wish to post as a grid, divide it
up into several segments and upload them to your Instagram gallery.
11. Choose
The Best Complementary Filter
The key to having a clean
Instagram page is to have all your images look similar, or branded. Brand image
is how people perceive your brand and it sets you aside from others. It’s
important so customers can identify themselves with your product based on an
image they see.
Take our Instagram page for
example, all of our images have the same style so it’s easily recognizable that
it’s a post from @yourbrandname
When it comes to brand
image:
·
Choose a similar style
of filter every time so that your Instagram page looks uniform.
·
Don’t use too many
different filters.
·
Avoid black and white
photos because they don’t stand out in a feed.
·
Filters that increase
saturation (intensity of color in the image) don’t increase
engagement.
12. Cross
Promote On Other Social Channels
Is your business on Facebook?
How about Twitter? Maybe even LinkedIn?
Chances are, your business is
on more than one social channel. Use these sites as a gateway to bring your
audience to your Instagram company page. For example, when your Twitter
followers mention your company, you can occasionally respond back by
encouraging them to check out your Instagram page.
Cross
promotion can boost your presence from nothing to something. Remember not to
respond to every mention this way so you don’t come across as spammy. Only
encourage your followers to check out your Instagram page if you truly think
they would.
13. Follow
And Like Similar Accounts
To get your business name out
there, you’ll have to see what other’s in your industry are posting on
Instagram. You can follow similar accounts by searching for hashtags
to find likeminded friends
14. Create
Instagram Ads
One of the best ways to reach
new audiences is through Instagram ads. You have to spend money in
order to make money. Instagram ads are a guaranteed way to reach more
people and bring engagement to your page.
Facebook is
the parent company of Instagram, so in order to create an Instagram ad, you
will need to use the Power Editor feature
through Facebook.
To create an Instagram
ad in Power Editor:
1.
Click the Manage
Ads tab at the top of the page.
2.
Click on the left side
of the page and then click Create Ad.
3.
On the Create Ad page,
choose whether to use an existing campaign or create a new
campaign.
4.
Enter a name for the
ad and click Create.
15. Respond
To Comments
Just like with any social media
platform, it’s important to respond to comments so that your audience knows
your human and you care what others have to say. Let your audience know
that you aren’t a social media robot — you’re a real person.
When users comment on
your Instagram posts, respond quickly. If you don’t, then it’s going to seem
like you’re not very active on your own Instagram page—or you simply don’t
care.
·
Your followers will be
much more likely to post comments if they know that you are reading them and
that you will respond to them in a helpful manner.
·
Use first names when
you are responding. Addressing your followers in this way makes them feel more
appreciated—not to mention that people love to be acknowledged. Small gestures
like these help to build loyalty.
·
If you respond right
away, there’s a chance that the conversation will continue since they may still
be on your page.
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