Boost Instagram engagement organically
There were days when Instagram was used to post photos of food, pets and selfies. But that is all very much in the past. Today, Instagram plays a crucial role as a social media platform for the purpose of marketing. As many as 7% of all U.S. companies use Instagram for the promotion of their brands.
What is also important to note is that almost 60% of Instagram followers have discovered brands on this social media platform. This is what makes Instagram so popular with brand marketers. However, there is no sense in posting content if no one is going to see it. Here’s how you can increase Instagram engagement organically on your account.
The regular use of Instagram stories
Among all the Instagram audiences, short-lived content is highly popular, as it lets users share videos and photos that are not really important without congesting your profile. Instagram stories have proved to be a very successful Instagram feature.
With the help of this feature, more and more users have started posting stories and where brands are concerned, this can give a much needed boost to engagement on Instagram.
Here are pointers that explain why sharing Instagram stories is such a big deal:
- A sense of urgency can be created
- Where Instagram story feed is concerned, it gives better visibility
- It personalises your profile
- Increases traffic to your website
If you are not using Instagram stories as a strategy, this will affect your Instagram engagement negatively.
The frequency of posting content
In order to attract organic Instagram followers and boost engagement, brands need to be active on Instagram. The question is, how active should you be? As per studies, the ideal figure is 1-2 posts a day. Instagram management will ensure that you know the best time to post your content using Instagram’s algorithmic timeline.
Depending on the expert you are listening to, the recommended post times can vary drastically. There are some experts and Instagram marketing services that advocate 8AM –9AM for the first post and then 12 noon for the second post.
Make sure your Instagram branding really matters
The main factors that are to be considered when promoting your brand on Instagram are creativity, consistency and clarity. An approach that is at best haphazard and somewhat erratic doesn’t really work. Concentrating on the core areas such as creating style patterns, presenting an impressive profile, mastering the use of hashtags and keeping your images looking lively and fresh is important for Instagram growth.
To build engagement and loyalty, you should regularly interact with your Instagram followers. You can chart out your brand’s processes and practices on Instagram in a manner that is consistent and positive to attract your target audience.
GIFs are important too
Research shows that most of the people watch videos that are 15 seconds long or less to the end. As such, educating yourself about the process of posting GIF should be a must for Instagram marketing departments. There is no doubt that the GIF format is much more appealing than the ordinary photos as GIFs are shared either as JPEG or PNG formats.
Where cost is concerned they are more effective than producing videos that can get costly. The medium is so effective that Instagram created its own riff; the Boomerang which is a short series of stills that loop back and forth. For brands that want to increase their Instagram engagement GIFs are the way to go.
With recent rate in engagement decreasing, it means that you need to put much more effort into running your Instagram business account. The year 2018 is proving to be a big year where Instagrammers are concerned.
The key to gaining more Instagram followers and increasing engagement is to post engaging stories, posting frequently and making use of GIFs. You will need to experiment a bit to find out what suits you best as there is no one-size-fits-all method present.