How to get engaged followers on Instagram

If you live in 2019, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you have an Instagram account. Almost 1 Billion people use it actively every month. In case that did not sink in, there are around 7.7 Billion people in the ENTIRE world! About One-eighth of the entire world’s population is on Instagram!

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Well that kind of makes it one of the best platform to market your brand online. But you already have an account so the question is:

How do you boost engagement on Instagram?

With tons of creative brands competing for people’s attention on an Instagram feed and a super smart algorithm, it’s harder than ever to increase Instagram engagement rate. But worry not, compadre! Keep reading to find out how to make your business seen on social media among the 25 million business profiles on Instagram.

Know Your Hashtags

We cannot, and I mean absolutely cannot, stress enough on the importance of a strong Instagram Hashtag game. Creating and monitoring branded hashtags is important to your brand identity but in order to increase engagement, you need to know how the hashtags are impacting your content. Or more specifically which hashtags are driving people to your profile and posts. The key is to organize them so that when used in a post, you can easily tell which pulls in high engagement on your post. You can also explore Instagram Analytics and Instagram marketing to find out how many impressions you got from your hashtags.

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Write Longer and Meaningful Captions

Fun fact: You have a 2,200 character limit on your Instagram caption. That’s a lot of unused space to be shared with your target audience.

Another fun fact: One of the many factors that affects how your Instagram post performs in the algorithm is time spent on post. So take a deep breath and let those fingers run wild. A long (and obviously engaging) caption will surely help with that. To increase engagement when writing that long caption, ask yourself: why does this post matter? How is it serving anyone other than me? Am I doing the story justice?

Even though writing a long caption is a lot harder than expressing yourselves by a few emojis on Instagram but it is a great opportunity to open up to your audience and inform about your brand and your products, your business mission or anything else that adds to your unique brand identity.

HOT TIP: Tag your friends and people who will engage with your content!

Use Instagram Stories Stickers Spicy Broccoli

2019 is undoubtedly the year of Instagram Stories. Instagram has come a long way from the comments and “double tap” likes. Growing your Instagram now includes getting engagement from your stories, Instagram users following your brand hashtag and IGTV views. While the war for organic reach is getting more difficult by the day, Instagram Stories are growing constantly. Almost 500 million people post or watch Instagram Stories every day! Instagram is keeping with the fast paced growth by constantly innovating new ways for brands to connect with their audience through stories.

Instagram Stories Stickers are a great way to start a conversation or let people share their opinions and experiences with the brand. This cultivates a connection that drives brand loyalty.

Use the Question Sticker or the Poll Sticker to maximize the connection by letting your audience become a part of your marketing strategy.

Optimize Every Instagram Story You Post

Whether you’re using Stories or just Instagram posts, optimizing your posts leads to a significant increase in your engagement. When people click on your posts, they are looking at your brand. Which means your posts need to be complete and proper. Drive movement to your blog or website with a plain and simple link in your bio, and don’t forget to include “link in profile” in every caption. Now that we have got that down, there are three other things that you should include in your Insta Stories including and not limited to: A mention sticker, Location Sticker and Hashtags.

Mention Stickers come in handy, especially when working with other brands or reposting some user-generated content. It’s really important that you mention their account and it helps in building a loyal and reliable community.

Location Stickers are amazing if exposure is what you’re looking for. Tag a location in your next Story to increase engagement. Anyone who looks up that specific location will also be able to see your story. Yay!

Hashtags in a Story? What. Well yeah. Adding relevant Hashtags to your story makes sure it’s searchable and drives tons of engagement! But remember, you can only add ten per post and if you don’t want them to cover your beautiful story, just pinch the text to make it super teeny and hide it behind a cute emoji! Problemo solved!

Collaborate with Like-Minded Brands and Influencers

Think of Instagram Collaborations as friendships! You got each other’s backs. (Aww) While also generating tons of engagement and traffic for each other obviously. But it is important to choose the right people, who have the same goals as you do. If you are still confused, ask yourself these 3 questions: Do you share similar business goals? What will you be offering your audience with this collaboration? Would they be happy to work with you year-round?

Like we mentioned above, it is absolutely pertinent that your business goals are aligned. Also, there is a rise in long-lasting “authentic” campaigns which show partnerships not just at business level but also at a personal level. This leads to building a strong trust between the followers of both businesses. Just make sure that whatever collaboration you put out there is unique and helps followers see your product and brand clearly.

Instagram is an increasingly competitive place. But it can be pretty fun and rewarding too. So next time you plan your Instagram content and strategy, just keep the above-mentioned tips in mind and let us know how it goes!

Send us an email at info@spicybroccoli.com, or give us a call on +61 2 8084 5554!