More Comments, More Visibility
Feel like you’ve tried everything to lift your Instagram engagement rate and you can’t get people talking?
Pouring your heart out and people are scrolling right on by?
Instagram is an amazing marketing tool, and with the right strategies you can grow from infamous to influential, and by using a few key actions each day, we’ll help you grow Instagram engagement rate.
Having a solid engagement rate means Instagram acknowledges your work is more ‘sharable’ and more ‘valuable’, making engagement something we care about just as much as our funny captions.
Social Media is a long game. You’re not going to be an Instagram influencer demanding thousands per post overnight but here are key actions you can actively do each day to encourage engagement and build your brand.
1. Reply to comments, thoughtfully.
You want people to feel welcomed, important and like a valued part of your community, reach out and let them know they actually are.
A great tip for this is when people do comment on your feed, treat them like you’ve just met them at a bar.
Person: “Hey that’s a great shirt”
Most people would respond with something like: “Thanks, friend! *insert 10 emojis*”
This is where you can stand out because very few do it properly. Imagine if you responded with “Thanks! I got it in this crazy bargain bin and almost had to fight a 10-year-old girl off after she dived in!! Crack up! Do you want me to send you the link?”
Which of the two would make you come back?
Christy who manages our Instagram account for @Plannthat can boast a very engaged audience with her quirky comments and thoughtful responses.
“If I was going out to make friends, I’d never just say ‘thank you’ and then walk away.
So why would I ever do that on Instagram?”
2. Ask Questions
The best and easiest way to encourage people to engage with your posts is by asking them to. Easy, right?
Try to incorporate a few questions into your posts, regardless of what it is about!
(In our experience, sometimes the weirder the better!)
It could be simple, like the usual asking your followers what their plans for the weekend are, or more complex like asking them their opinion on a certain topic relevant to your industry.
Most people can’t help themselves, if you’re new to asking questions, try asking for help.
Regardless of what you’re asking, it will give your account a personal touch, and make your followers feel involved with you and what you’re thinking.
We love this example by our friend Mari at @meandering_mari, and check out her Instagram engagement rate. HUGE.
3. Always have a Call-To-Action
Without asking anything of your audience, they’re going to scroll on by, you haven’t given then a reason to pause their thumb for a split second.
You’ve got a great image, surely a like is enough?
Try to encourage them to leave a comment for example, if you are asking them to read a blog post (from a link in your bio), ask them to leave a comment if they’ve read if or what they think.
Always be thinking about how you can encourage them to engage in a conversation, which will have a dramatic effect on your Instagram engagement rate.
4. Engage in your own community to grow your Instagram engagement rate
Check in regularly with your own followers.
Spend some time getting to know who they are, what they post about and what they’re problems are. Offer value and they’ll keep coming back.
Don’t forget at the top of your profile you can literally scroll through all of your followers, even if you aren’t following them all back.
A simple like or comment on their photos is a great way to let them know you’re still acknowledging their work and still care about what they’re doing
5. Recruit new community members
OK, so now you’ve got some great conversations happening, how do you grow your community?
Search through hashtags (or geo-location tags)
Find the hashtags your target market hang out in and you’ll naturally find more members of your community. Leave thoughtful comments and make this person feel like you care about what they do with their time. Leaving a “nice work” or “love this” on a feed is going to make you look like a nasty bot comment.
If you’re going to go to the effort to leave comments, do it properly and people will organically find their way back to you.
Re-posting users work from your community
Found some hot members of the community with cracking products or feeds?
Show you’re on board, share it!
Users on Instagram love having their work shared as it opens the opportunity to an even wider audience. Just remember to credit correctly, and some people would prefer you to ask permission, take a peek at their bio to feel their vibe before posting.
Plan your captions, calls-to-actions and questions in advance using our beautifully simple app and post on the go. Available on iOS and Android.
Got some great ideas for conversation starters?
Leave your favourites below in the comments!
