Without any doubt, social media is now a major part of our daily lives, and it doesn’t look like changing one bit. According to research conducted by Statista, the number of people becoming influenced by social networking websites is increasing daily. Moreover, the rate at which every user uses social media on the Internet is 145 minutes per day. If you have a professional life where you sleep and work for eight hours each, social media takes a reasonable portion of time when you are up. This shows you that social media has a huge influence on our lives.
Speaking of social media accounts, one platform, in particular, has gained spotlight over the past decade, i.e. Instagram. Since its initiation in 2010, Instagram has carved out its own niche on the Internet. It is a platform that enables you to upload photos, videos, and GIFs with strong captions. You can calculate Instagram engagement depending upon the quality of content you upload. Apart from that, you can follow your friends and family members, alongside well-known celebrities and politicians. You also have the choice of keeping your posts public or private.
Tips to Improve Engagement on Instagram
1. Strong Captions
On Instagram, a high-quality picture is worth a thousand words. However, that doesn’t change that a caption worth a thousand words can also prove to be meaningful. Strong captions are a significant part of image optimization on Instagram. On Instagram, your caption can be 2,200 characters long, and you can use up to 30 hashtags. You will display your content to wider audiences by including hashtags in your content.
Image taken from Instagram
Most importantly, it is vital to write captions that relate to the image that you have uploaded. For example, you can’t be writing a caption related to politics when the image you have uploaded is related to eCommerce. The relevance has to ensure that your caption coincides with your image. This is one of the ways to increase Instagram engagement. By uploading quality captions, you will also have a chance to improve your brand personality.
2. Great Images
Like many eCommerce websites, you can increase Instagram engagement by uploading high-quality images. If you haven’t noticed yet, Instagram is a visual medium. Even though you don’t need to be a huge celebrity like Serena Williams to get yourself going on this platform, you must upload top-class images. By uploading high-quality images, you can ensure that your content stands out from the rest of your newsfeed.
Image taken from Instagram
Even if you don’t have any graphic designing skills, there are thousands of photo editing tools online to help you in optimizing your images. For example, you can go to Canvas to enhance your image by adding captions or different textures on the image as per your will. Apart from that, there is Hootsuite Compose, in which you can add texts and filters to your images. If your images are blurry or have jumbled-up text in them, there is a huge possibility that your rate of social media engagement gets negatively impacted.
3. Create Video Content
Videography is extremely important not just for Instagram but also for most social media platforms. Videos are incredibly eye-catching, and they help you to increase Instagram engagement. It is said that video posts generate a 38% more engagement rate than images. When we talk about videos on Instagram, you don’t need to overthink. The most polished or edited video doesn't need to generate the most clicks.
Image taken from Instagram
There is no point in investing too much in video editing when you don’t even guarantee that it will go viral. The most important thing when it comes to videos is authenticity. When you have an opportunity to capture something unique, capture the video and give it an instant edit. You can make it public for the wider world to see with a few more clicks. If you want to combine a few scenes or add music to your videos, numerous tools (Movie Maker) help you with this. Regardless of your video being five seconds or one minute long, it can be influential on Instagram.
4. Instagram Reels
There was one significant development in the summer of 2020 as Instagram Reels joined the platform. As an alternative to Tiktok, it also allowed the users to modify or edit short multi-clip videos with music and effects. Even though it's still a relatively new feature, it is destined to increase Instagram engagement of your account. It is guaranteed to bring more spotlight than a standard video.
If there is any new feature, such as the Instagram Reels, that joins a social media platform, it boosts the algorithm. Therefore, you must make sure that you consider the latest offerings. Reels can be seen consistently on the Explore page, so embrace this new feature, and within a few days, you will get to see some fresh faces. Many people call it a gold mine for online businesses around the world.
5. Boost Posts
One of the Instagram engagement hacks is to boost your posts substantially. If you can bring more attention to your posts, it will only help the conversion rate. Apart from that, it will also increase your follower account on Instagram. As there is an estimated amount of 928 million users on Instagram, there is a possibility that your superfan could be just around the corner.
Your superfan would be waiting anxiously to see the kind of content that you are about to upload. Apart from that, you can also use Instagram ads or boosted to ensure that your name or your brand’s name gets heard more often.
6. Respond to Comments
As is the case with almost every online business around the world, Instagram engagement remains incomplete without the factor of customers. If your customers are satisfied with your content, they will ensure that they will let you know. It can be in the form of a like, comment, or share your post on their Instagram stories. As a social media user, you must ensure that you don’t let them down.
If you upload high-quality content consistently, there is a chance that you will get to see repeat customers. If your customers have any queries surrounding the product or the service you are promoting on Instagram, make sure that you remove their issues first and foremost. If they leave their thoughts in the comment section and you fail to respond, they will eventually walk away, leaving question marks on your professional integrity.
7. Create Engaging Content
To increase Instagram engagement, create engaging content. When we talk about engaging content, it is not just about hashtags. Hashtags will be part of your captions to ensure that you attract wider audiences. By engaging content, we mean to say about the content that keeps your audience interested.
You can create stories in which you can ask questions about your services or products to keep the audience interested. If you have a groundbreaking announcement to make, you can put the timer on your Instagram story, which will keep the audience guessing. You have to ensure that you catch your audience’s attention whenever you post anything on your account.
Add Instagram Account to Your Strikingly Website
When you get to know what is Instagram engagement, you will also learn about the importance of involving this social media platform on your websites. By involving Instagram stories, you can ensure that your videos or images can be seen by a wider public. To do that, you need to go through the following steps
Image taken from Strikingly
- Go to Strikingly’s site editor, and click on “Add New Section”
- Click on “Advanced” and move to “Social Feed Section”
- Click on “Edit” when you add the social feed section
- Select the Instagram account and you are done!
Image taken from Strikingly
If you are using Instagram content to improve your engagement status, you couldn’t have come up with a better plan. By establishing a world-class website on Strikingly, you can integrate Instagram content into your working plans, which will help budding entrepreneurs and current businesses expand their market reach.
Conclusion
Apart from your stories, there is also a possibility that you can connect your Instagram account directly with your website. By involving your Instagram account in your Strikingly website, you will see improved results when you calculate the Instagram engagement of your account. If you are looking for dynamic content, you must ensure that you post regularly on Instagram. Make sure that you go through the tips above to improve your engagement status.
As you have gone through all of the Instagram ideas above to improve your engagement status, it is important to put them into practice. To ensure that you leverage all the features of Instagram, you must create a business website on Strikingly alongside it. If you are willing, go to Strikingly today, get yourself registered, and make your mark with your Instagram content.