Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, and it’s a goldmine for marketers,
businesses, and entrepreneurs alike.
In fact, around 1 billion people use Instagram every single month, and 80 percent of Instagram users follow one or more businesses.
Plenty of people want to follow brands on Instagram, but getting attention on Instagram isn’t always easy.
Likes, comments, followers… they’re the things that everybody is craving.
So, how do you get more eyeballs onto your Instagram content and improve your engagement rates?
Well, your focus when you’re posting on Instagram should always be to produce the highest quality content for your brand.
But there are proven tactics that you can use to broaden the reach of your brand and increase your engagement rates.
Timing is everything.
To have the best chance at getting high engagement from your Instagram posts, you need to get your posts in front of the
largest number of people possible.
And the timing of your posts is key. You need to know two things; when to post, and how often to post.
Our research shows that the best time to post on Instagram if you want to receive high engagement is midday from Monday to Friday.
This is because most users browse Instagram on their phones, and they’ll likely be unable to check the app while they’re working.
So hit them with some content during their lunch hours and you’ll increase your chances of them seeing and engaging with it.
If you’re only going to post once a week, Wednesday is the best day to post, and Sunday is the day with the lowest engagement rates.
But, we don’t recommend posting just once per week. If you can, try to post at least once per day – a steady stream of content will really
help you to build your engagement rates.
Don’t forget your hashtags.
Instagram hashtags can help you to get more likes, more followers, and reach a broader audience.
That is, if you find the right hashtags to add to your Instagram posts. And finding the right hashtags requires research.
Find what your audience, competitors, and influencers in your space are posting, and check which hashtags they’re using.
If, for example, you were selling sunglasses – your first task would be to use Instagram’s explore function and check out #sunglasses.
You can then take a look through the recent top posts, and check which hashtags are being used to generate posts with high engagement.
And remember, while you can use up to 30 hashtags per Instagram post, you don’t always need to fill your Instagram captions to the brim with hashtags. Stick to highly relevant ones, because sometimes less is more.
Take advantage of Instagram Stories.
Every day more than 500 million people use Instagram Stories.
That’s a huge number, and it’s evidence that Instagram Stories are a must-have when it comes to running your brand’s account.
Instagram Stories are great because they can help you to retain the attention of your existing followers, even if they’re not
always engaging with the more permanent content that you’re posting, and if a user is engaging with your stories, they’ll be more likely to see the content that you post, which can help you to increase
your engagement rates.
Also, it’s important to remember that Instagram Stories can help new followers to signal to the Instagram algorithm that they’re
interested in your content, which will create a snowball effect and help them to see more of the content you post.
Hold contests and giveaways.
If there’s one thing in life I can say with total confidence, it’s this: people love free stuff.
Running contests or giveaways from your Instagram account will allow you to generate a ton of engagement and allow your
audience to tap into that joyous feeling of winning something.
Think about it – if you’ve already garnered an audience which is engaged with your content then all you need to do next is find a
prize that they’re interested in, and promote it to them in exchange for Instagram engagement.
Common tactics that brands use include asking people to like their post, tag their friends, or follow their account to enter.
And all of these are going to work wonders for your Instagram engagement rates.
