Instagram is one of the most used social media platforms across many demographics and is also one of the most successful for content marketing. One of the main reasons that Instagram is so popular is its simplicity – users are simply scrolling through a timeline where the images are the star of the show, and captions and comments simply help further the story. Instagram doesn’t inundate users with links to click – in fact, links don’t function at all within the caption and the only clickable link on a users profile is in their bio. For many people scrolling through their Instagram feed can be a mindless activity that they use to pass the time, but more often than not when brands are using the platform strategically they can grow an excellent follower base that will help them to propel their growth.
There are many great ways to increase engagement on Instagram, however, here are the 5 we think are the most important to start building your profile and increasing engagement.
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Focus on the Graphic
This is by far the most important part – a great graphic/image or video/GIF will capture the attention of the person scrolling. Since the goal with content marketing is for the person to stop scrolling when coming across your post on their timeline, choosing a great graphic component is the best way to pull people in. While you can always post photos you’ve taken or stock photos you’ve purchased, using a program like Canva or Photoshop is a great way to help with originality and staying current because it gives you the flexibility to create images that are specific to your business.
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Be Strategic with your Hashtags
Using hashtags can be extremely helpful, but if implemented incorrectly it can actually be harmful to your account’s success. Instagram recently instituted a shadowban, meaning that certain behaviors will cause a user’s posts to not show up in hashtag searches, and their posts won’t be visible to anyone who doesn’t already follow them. For that reason, it’s essential to ensure that when you’re using hashtags you’re doing so in a strategic way that is relevant to your business and not “spammy.” When used in the correct way, hashtags can really drive engagement, especially if your post gets put under the top post section for that hashtag.
Credit: @RossMichaelsSalon
Regarding the hashtag placement, it’s best to include them under each post. For example, if you post about a hair salon, use hashtags that have any relation to a hair salon like #hair #besthair #hairstyles #blondes. (You get the point). It is recommended to do about 10-15 hashtags per post. You can do more, however, it can be a little overwhelming when looking at the post and seeing tons of hashtags. If you do choose to do more, make sure your caption is strong and there is space in between the caption and the hashtags.
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Stay Current
Staying current with content is IDEAL. We all get busy with our businesses, but keeping our feeds up to date is what makes followers continue to follow the account, as well as brings new followers into the fold. Being current is also what makes followers want to engage with your content by liking, commenting, and sharing which is – essentially – the entire goal of content marketing.
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Create Themes
Themes on Instagram feeds have become more and more popular. This is when you choose a specific color palette or pattern and coordinate all of your posts to follow suit. By doing so, you are creating an aesthetically pleasing view of your grid on your account that can help to increases engagement.
Here is an example of a theme from a lifestyle influencer and YouTuber, Brooke Miccio. She changes themes every so often, so it goes from one theme to the next but still looks pleasing to the eye. As you can see below, in the first set of posts, her grid follows the blue tones, and in the second her grid follows earthy tones. It can be as simple as that!
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Schedule Posts
Using a program like Hootsuite or Tailwind is essential to scheduling and posting your content. By automating the process you can eliminate the need to manually post every day. Additionally, when using programs that help automate your scheduling, you can more easily review your posting data after the first few posts and monitor the analytics to see what time of day has the most engagement on your profile and continue to post at that time of day! (Pro Tip: Typically, we find that around 10 or 11 AM on weekdays is best for many industries – however, this isn’t at all a certainty.)