Without a doubt, engagement is the holy grail for brands running a business on Instagram. The more engagement they get, the better the odds of success. So, how do you get more engagement? Learn the algorithm and post likable, valuable, and share-worthy content. 

In this article, we’ll talk about Instagram engagement, why it is essential, how to measure it, ten ways to increase it, and the factors affecting it. 

WHAT IS INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT?

Every time a user likes, comments, saves, shares, or messages on a post, it counts as engagement. It is a metric that dictates whether your content is likable, shareable, and worth promoting. 

From what we know, it significantly dictates how well your brand performs. Much better than static followers count. Nobody knows for sure how the platform algorithm works. Yet, one thing is clear. The high-engagement posts enjoy a better push. 

Fortunately, your Instagram engagement is totally in your hand. Although, you can’t force a global audience to engage. However, you can genuinely influence them by sharing high-quality posts consistently. 

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HOW TO MEASURE INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT?

Monitoring Instagram engagement helps understand the user’s interests better. In turn, it enables the brand to create content that gets more likes, shares, and comments. Successful brands keep track of engagements to assess how well a post performs compared to others.

Instagram engagement helps you measure the effects of changing content type, posting time, and frequency. 

You can measure any post engagement by adding the likes and comments it gets and dividing it by total followers. Then, multiply the answer by 100. It will give you the engagement rate in percentage. 

                                                        Likes + Comments

              Engagement Rate =       ––––––––––––––––    X 100

                                                         Total Followers

On average, posts on Instagram get around 1% to 5% engagement. There is no suitable way to identify the best rate for you. However, it is clear anything between the two or above is worth a clap.

10 WAYS TO INCREASE YOUR INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT

There are many ways to skyrocket your Instagram engagement. Below are 10 of the best tactics you must adopt to push your brand up:

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1. Use Instagram Story Stickers 

Using story stickers is a tested tactic to boost engagement. Interactive stickers like polls, countdowns, questions, emoji sliders, and quizzes help make your brand buzz louder. Every time a user interacts with them, the algorithm counts it as engagement. Thus, it is probably the simplest and most effective way to give your brand engagement a kip-up. 

2. Share Valuable Carousels

Carousels work like a charm in boosting post engagement. You can add up to ten images, videos, or graphics in a single carousel. And, as long as each slide adds value, we suggest taking it up to ten. These posts not just educate the viewers about your product or service but presents a 10X better opportunity to lure an interaction. 

3. Add a call-to-action (CTA) in Caption

A caption acts as an extension of your content. The Instagram algorithm factors one key metric into dictating how well your post performs; time spent on your post. Besides creating killer content, you must aim to write a caption that encourages users to click ‘more.’ By doing so, they will spend more time on your post, giving the algorithm a green signal to push it up.

4. Adopt a Consistent Style

Every good brand has a personality. People are more likely to engage with brands and posts that are exceptional. Give your brand a voice and stick to it. It is vital to ensure your posts are tied to a solid vision and aren’t haphazard. 

Remember, the goal is not to shock the audience with odd content but build their expectation by consistently posting likable content. So, even when the quality goes awry, you may still win some over due to your personality.

5. Host Giveaways

Safe to say, there is nothing people like more than giveaways. The moment we see the term ‘giveaway’ or ‘free,’ we feel more inclined to engage. It is pivotal you use this trait to your advantage. However, it is worth noting a giveaway should be worth it. 

It is never a wise move to host a giveaway for the sake of it. Make it intentional, enticing, and authentic. You will see the engagement rate naturally go up. Additionally, it helps make your brand stand out and keep followers happy. 

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6. Leverage Instagram Collabs

Instagram collab presents brands and influencers with a new super-effective way to boost engagement. Through it, you can team up with influencers and brands in your space or beyond and market your product to a broader audience. The best thing about the feature is it enables both the collaborators to engage with each other’s comments and win new followers.

7. Use Top Hashtags

Yes, we know hashtags are there to help you get more traffic. However, doesn’t more traffic imply more engagement? Thus, market your brand with a solid hashtag strategy. 

As it goes, thirty is a lucky number. So, research hard, find relevant hashtags, and post the top thirty. Moreover, keep your hashtags niche-centered, as it helps amass traffic that values your content and is more likely to engage.  

8. Choose Quality over Quantity

As a content creator on Instagram, it is essential to understand quality matters more than quantity. Rather than sharing ten mundane posts a week, post five valuable ones. As said before, you must make your brand recognized for its personality. Never post extra at the cost of compromised quality. 

9. Don’t Forget Memes

As it stands, funny, relatable, and creative posts get maximum engagement. Know a kind that ticks all the above boxes? Memes. Sharing funny and likable memes is a sure-fire way to increase Instagram engagement. Memes are highly shareable post types, and you must integrate them into your content calendar. 

10. Engage Actively with Followers

Instagram is a community, and to get maximum engagement from it, you must become a recognized contributor. You can’t expect others to engage with your posts till you choose to engage with theirs. The algorithm knows it all. The more you engage, the higher the odds of it pushing your posts to followers who will return the favor. Besides the algorithm, it creates goodwill. People you engage with actively will consistently engage with you. 

WHY IS INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT?

The Instagram algorithm dictates content placement per the average engagement a brand gets. In addition, it factors user behavior to promote and place content on their feeds. Even if two users have similar followers, their Instagram will still look different due to their unique interests and behaviors.

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That’s why it is essential to create likable and engaging content. Aim to make your brand renowned for its consistency. Further, you must also engage with other creators as the algorithm uses your engagement frequency to dictate how active you are. 

As Instagram is a community, the more active you are, the better the odds of getting higher engagements.

FACTORS AFFECTING INSTAGRAM ENGAGEMENT

Whether your posts show up or not and where it shows up on people’s feed depends on multiple factors. Besides the normal ones like freshness and relativity, the algorithm also factors in the four aspects described below:

Average Engagement

It is hard to overstate the significance of posting quality content consistently. The average engagements your previous posts get somewhat dictates how well your future posts perform. To get into the good books of the Instagram algorithm, you must aim to make every post super engaging and value quality over quantity.

• Average Time Spent

How long people view your post matters. The more time users spend on your post, the better it is. The algorithm factors time as an indication of quality. The content that encourages people to stop the scroll drives more engagement. 

• Instagrammer-User Relationship

Posts from family and friends usually appear higher on the Instagram feed. The reason is Instagrammer-User relationships. The same factor contributes to good influencers often ruling the top of people’s feeds. Due to their credibility and high average engagement, the algorithm almost considers them family or friends and gives their posts a further boost. 

• Type of Content

Last but not least, the type of content you post matters. Thus, it is better to post interactive content like memes and carousels. The more the content relates to your audience’s interests, the better the chances it gets an engagement boost. For the algorithm, user interest is among the top factors contributing to post placement.  

WRAP UP

The best way to boost your Instagram engagement is by sharing content that creates a buzz. Besides this, factor in post frequency, type, and time, and you can rest assured your content will lure engagements.

We hope you found this article insightful. For further reading, check out How to Get More Engagements on Instagram Reels.