How to Increase Instagram Engagement
Whether you’re new to Instagram or have been using the platform for a while, learning how to increase Instagram engagement can be tricky! Do I post too often? Do I not post enough? Did I use the right hashtags? How do I know what my readers like?! I’m not an expert, but I’ve been working on increasing my following and engagement on all platforms, and I’m going to share a few things that have worked for me!
How to Increase Instagram Engagement
Include a call to action.
What do you want your followers to do? Whether you want a heart, a comment, or something else, make sure you have a clear call to action so everyone knows what you want them to do. If I like a photo, I’ll double-tap it. However, if the poster has asked me to leave a comment, I’m likely to do that as well. If you don’t ask, I won’t comment nearly as often.
Don’t ask for too much.
On that same note, don’t ask for comments on every. Single. Image. That’s annoying, and people are going to stop seeing your call to action if you repeat it on every photo! If you want your followers to visit your blog, say so – but do so sparingly.
Mix it up.
If you usually ask for likes, ask for a comment. If you usually ask for them to visit the blog, don’t ask for anything at all. Or, ask a question instead of asking for them to do something. “Which colour do you like best?” is a great question to ask, no matter which niche you’re in. You can post paint samples if you’re a DIY blogger, or nail polish if you’re a beauty blogger!
Be consistent.
Just like with any other social platform, consistency on Instagram is key. Post regularly (a few times a day is fine), and interact with your followers! Respond to mentions and comments in a timely fashion. If you post daily and then don’t post for a while, a few of your followers might “forget” about you. Likewise, if you post 10 images in a two-hour period when you usually only post once a day, they’re going to be annoyed.
Quality over quantity.
This goes without saying, I think, but it’s worth mentioning briefly anyway. Just like with blogging, quality matters much more than quantity when it comes to posting on Instagram. Before you post, ask yourself: Does this deliver quality? Remember there are a number of tools out there to help you create the best content you can such as this easy-to-use Instagram post maker.
Stick to a theme.
While you don’t have to box yourself in to posting about just one or two things, it’s nice to have a theme – and not just on Instagram, but across all social media platforms! While each platform is completely different, your brand remains the same and your posts should reflect that.
Be a friend.
Mention friends in posts to try and boost their followers and engagement. They will most likely return the favour, but don’t expect it! Scroll through and “like” their images, and leave comments when you have time. Do not, under any circumstances, comment with things like “Great photo! Go like mine!” – or anything of the sort. That is spammy!
Hashtags, hashtags, hashtags.
Use hashtags, but do so in a way that makes sense and is effective. For example, if you’re posting a picture of your morning run, would you simply hashtag it “#run”? No, of course not! You also wouldn’t want to add a caption like “Morning run!” with 30 hashtags after it.
I like using most of the 30 allowed hashtags, depending on the subject and the length of the caption. Using general hashtags like “#run” might seem like a good idea, but specific hashtags generally give you better results. Though you don’t want to get too specific (#earlymorningrunwithmydogsteve), hashtags like #morningrun, #runner, #iloverunning might work well. I also run my own hashtag #UKBloggerLife find out more in my post about it.
What has worked for you? Share your Insta-tips in the comments!
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Thanks for the wonderful tips! I have been slacking off on posting to Instagram lately. Sometimes social media sharing can get overwhelming and I often forget about Instagram.
These are such wonderful tips and I need to follow these to improve engagement in Instagram account!
Good luck – i really hope they help you up your engagement 🙂 x
Love these tips. I stopped using instagram a while ago. Couldn’t make sense of how to use it. I will give it a try again and see how I get on.
It can be hard to get your head around at first but worth it 🙂 x
These are great tips for increasing the Instagram engagement. I really do like the mixing up what you are asking followers to do because people don’t like doing or seeing the same thing all the time. Thanks for sharing these Instagram tips.
Great tips! Being active, consistent and posting great content has worked well for me too. And engagement on instagram is so important!
Consistency is key I think with so many things – when people know you might be posting they will look out for it more. x
Instagram is just like any other social media website, you need to interact and to be active so that you’ll get a good following! I like the tips that you have here, they are definitely helpful!
I’ve just started focusing more on instagram and can say hash tags do help, but I use the max of 30.
I don’t use Instagram that much but I think I have to do it. Great tips!
Hashtags are king for sure. I recently switched over to a business account and I’ve noticed more likes, more reach and the analytics are dope too.
It is amazing what using the right hashtags can accomplish 🙂 x
Wonderful tips for instagram! I personally don’t use it that much but these seem very helpful nonetheless
I am currently building my IG following and these tips are wonderful! Thanks so mmuch for sharing. I definitely need to work on posting more consistently – and stopping by friends accounts to show them some love is a great idea!
Good luck with building your following – I really hope these tips help in a small way 🙂 x
Great tips. I am trying to work on Instagram and have been struggling a great deal. I don’t have a specific niche … meaning, I’m not a beauty blogger, so I tend to post what I find beautiful or what I am working on for the day, etc… Definitely keeping all of this in mind as I move forward. Thank you!
IT can be hard – some people seem to have this knack of just managing to fly on such things. Me not so much lol.x
I am not big a using Instagram at all! I know that is bad, but I could never get into it. I do on every once in a while to check out the people I follow but that is it. You list so great tips, but do need to keep in mind if I decide to use it.
These are great tips!! It can be so hard sometimes to tell what is working for Instagram and gaining more interaction!
IT seems to be up and down as well – with all the changes they are making it’s hard to work out what is the right thing to be doing.x
We have been working on growing our Instagram and improving our engagement. Being consistent has really helped us.
Great advice here! It’s important to be consistent and those hashtags help a ton!
Instagram can be tricky. I find it’s important to post at the right time, include a lot of relevant hashtags and ask questions in the caption! Thanks for sharing your tips!
You seem to need to get a lot of interaction quickly as well these days to show up to others – I miss seeing things in timeline order.
Great advice, Instagram is my favorite social media account to use these days.
I need to do more interacting on instagram. I do try to return comments and likes if I can. I’m going to use your suggestions.
These are wonderful tips to increase my instagram engagement. I’m having trouble getting others to engage in likes and comments. I’m trying to mix my photos up.
Some great tips here. I think I’ve finally got my Instagram nailed after years of trying out different strategies.
Great tips. It’s so easy to like a photo or leave a comment. And often you will get that in return from others, so it’s a win-win situation!
I haven’t been a super active Instagram user. I will try these and maybe it’ll propel me and turn me on to it!
Thanks for the tips. My Instagram needs a boost, I will try these.
Loving all of your tips. I am in a few commenting pods and they have REALLY helped me increase engagement.