3 Ways to Boost Your Instagram Engagement
Hi, Polished People! I hope you're having a nice day. In today's post, much as you could guess from the title, I'll be sharing three methods for boosting your engagement on the 'gram. I've been learning and researching and really putting a lot of effort into my social media strategies this year, so I'm thrilled to be sharing some of my faves with you. The reason I'm putting this post together is because I'll be releasing my very own eBook on this subject very soon. Consider this a sneak-peek. Stay tuned! Let's get started.
1. Include a CTA (call to action) in every caption
A "call to action" is something that tells your followers what you want them to do. It could be something like comment below or click the link in my bio or double tap if you agree.
Because Instagram is such a "passive" platform, a lot of people definitely won't read your caption. A lot of people definitely won't respond to your CTA. But, if you include a CTA, you have a chance of at least one person following through. And if you continue to build your engagement, that one person could turn into a lot of people. So don't forget to add these! Don't be sales-y or pushy; being genuine and friendly is important in any situation.
I've been adding CTAs more often recently. While the response is minimal at this beginning, it's better than not including one and decreasing my chances of up-leveling my engagement at all. Every little bit counts!
2. Less biz, more personal
Everything you post shouldn't be a sales pitch. Make your account more personal, share what you're doing on the daily, be personable. I am offering you these instructions, but I don't want you to implement them in a phony way. You should always be genuine, authentic, real, etc. You're a star; you probably know these things already. Just keep these things in mind as you build your account. Communicating through social media is complicated and it can be easy to lose your actual voice in the chaos of becoming an influencer.
It's taken me a while, since I didn't know much about Instagram marketing when I started, but these days I'm much better at not being sales-y all the time. I tell more personal stories, share a peek at my day via my IG Story, and post Bitmoji pics now and then. I feel much more connected to my audience and want to continue to strengthen that relationship over time.
3. Engage with your followers/target audience
Reciprocity is always appreciated. Encouragement is always valuable. If you want your followers/target audience to engage with you, you have to go out and engage with them. Like, comment, respond to Stories, etc. Once again, I don't want you to do this like a robot. Do this consciously and meaningfully. Don't comment just because you think you have to. Comment because you want to, because you're impressed, inspired, in agreement, etc. Leaving meaningless comments doesn't give this person any value and doesn't help you build a relationship.
Please don't use this method to build inauthentic relationships or to be phony just to rack up that number above your name. Truly investing your time and caring about your audience can really create a community and benefit you as a person. Treat online people how you'd treat real life people, with kindness and authenticity. Let's put the "social" back in social media.
This is one of my favorite things to do. Every day, I try to be more aware while I'm on social media. I joined social media to be immersed in a community of inspirational and creative people. So why am I just passively scrolling through and not putting time into what I'm doing? I always do my best to consciously comment on photos, engage with Instagram Stories, and really connect with who I'm following/my followers. It brings me joy and I know how nice it is to receive thoughtful comments or responses or DMs. I follow the 30/30 rule whenever possible (more on that another day). I always make my new followers feel welcome because I want to make sure they know they've arrived in a positive, fun, and supportive community.
I hope you found these strategies helpful. It does require a lot of effort and intention to build up a successful Instagram, but it's so worth it and if you do your best, you will start to see everything pay off. If you have any more questions, let me know in the comments. Like I said, I'm currently working on an eBook that goes even more in-depth and I'm excited to share it with you. If there's something you'd like to see me talk about in there, leave me a comment. See you soon!
Have a polished rest of your day,