Three Easy Steps to Increase Instagram Engagement

A solid Instagram engagement rate is essential to growing your account, so it should come as no surprise that this is the number one goal for many small business owners and social media marketers. On the flip side, however, Instagram engagement is prone to fluctuate depending on algorithm changes. The goal posts keep changing to maintain your engagement, let alone improve it! Even so, there remain several easy-to-implement tactics you can use to grow your Instagram engagement, and therefore your reach; you’ll be on your way to embracing new followers and building your online community in no time at all.

Use Long-tail and Strategically Selected Hashtags

Long-tail hashtags, such as #postmodernarchitecture, are specific and detailed, which means they inevitably more accurately reflect the context of your content. If you post a photo of a postmodern building on Instagram, for example, you could use the hashtag #architecture with 86 million associated posts, or #postmodernarchitecture, with 8,000 posts. With new posts added to the former hashtag every second, your post is going to be pushed down the hashtag collection very quickly. On the other hand, posts are being added to #postmodernarchitecture much less regularly, giving your content more time at the top of the page, and increasing its chances of being found. Further still, if you have a popular account with a sizeable following, your content will be featured under “Top Posts” on the hashtag search.

Write Better Captions

Instagram posts with captions routinely generate more engagement and encourage users to spend more time looking at your photos. This, in turn, puts you at an advantage with the current Instagram algorithm, as it prioritizes content based on engagement. A good caption gives your photo context, expresses your brand personality, and draws in your audience. You can approach your caption in a number of different ways: it can be a long, detailed caption that tells a story, or it can be a short and succinct piece of writing that provides a “take” on the image. Whether serious or light-hearted, your captions are a chance to help your content shine.

Post more Photos of People

Photos with faces get 38% more likes than those without. Accordingly, make your next post one of a person. Posting photos of people is a great, easy way to boost your engagement. It doesn’t matter what the product is, you can always find a way to integrate people into your Instagram post strategy one way or another. This might be by sharing a post with your team, or you could share photos posted by your customers; they could be photos of the people your brand is trying to reach, or just have models showing off your product. Sharing photos of faces helps to humanize your brand, connect with your audience, and boost your engagement.