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Engagement is a crucial metric for measuring the effectiveness of a social media campaign. Whether you are new to Instagram or have been working on building your account, engagement is a key factor. Instagram has over 110 million users in the U.S and is useful for both B2C and B2C businesses.
The measurement of likes, comments, and shares is often overlooked by many businesses that are looking to broaden their reach and increase their likes and followers. While a large follower count is valuable, an engaged user base means even more. Are you using Instagram to promote your business? Follow our tips on how you can increase your engagement and the best practices for building your brand and fostering a strong online presence.
Tip #1: Should your business be posting consistently on Instagram? Yes!
Your business needs to be active to attract an engaged audience. One powerful tip for increasing engagement is to create a consistent and regular posting schedule for your business. This will help to keep your content new and fresh. By posting a static image at least twice a week and posting regular stories, you will likely increase your reach. With 13% of the world on Instagram (with 80% following brands), there isn’t a better platform to market your business.
Tip #2: When used effectively, hashtags can improve your social media marketing strategy.
Choosing the right hashtags for your brand is another way to help target the right audience and drive more traffic to your page. One helpful tip when choosing the right hashtags is to search the hashtag you are looking to use, click on the top nine photos under that hashtag and see when they were posted. If they are older posts, it’s safe to say that particular hashtag may not be the most active and is less likely to be a driving force of traffic to your post.
Tip #3: Connect & engage with your audience by using user-generated content.
User-generated content, or UGC, is important for not only increasing your Instagram engagement, but for connecting with users and building trust among followers and prospective customers. Allowing your audience to feel like they have a deeper relationship with your brand is a wonderful way to connect with them. Sharing out photos of your customers enjoying your product turns customers into advocates for your brand.
As consumers, we enjoy seeing how other people use the products we’re considering purchasing. User-generated content not only helps with reaching new customers and audiences, but it helps to build the authenticity of your brand. It will improve SEO, create buzz and attention around your brand, and of course, increase your engagement.
Tip #4: Reach a larger audience with Instagram Reels.
Have you had a chance to dive into the power of Instagram Reels? Using all the functions that social media has to offer is another way to expand engagement. Reels are short, fun videos that you can share with your followers, along with the wider audience on Instagram.
Creating reels offers your brand better visibility and allows you another way to reach your target audience. The main difference between a Reel and an Instagram Story is that your Reels live on your page permanently. Your Stories will disappear after 24 hours of being posted (unless you save them to your Story highlights). This means that users can share your Reels and engage with them even after 24 hours pass. With 91% of Instagram users watching Instagram videos each day, this increases your potential audience much more than Instagram Stories!
Tip #5: Pay attention to analytics & web metrics.
High engagement on social platforms often translates to an increase in website traffic. It’s important to pay attention to key insights such as optimal posting times and days that drive the most users to your posts and your page. You can find this data under your accounts insights. Use this information to adjust your social media content and engagement approach!
Tip #6: Grow your brand and cross-post your social media content.
Cross-posting can save you a lot of time when trying to decide what to post on each of your social media channels. Repurposing your content can help you streamline your posting schedule and save resources. How can you keep it feeling fresh without it feeling repetitive? You should take into account the platform requirements. Consider text parameters, hashtags, and captions. Switch it up a little for each social media channel! You can adjust captions and hashtags to fit that specific platform, or you can share an image to Pinterest and link it back to say, Instagram or Facebook. This is a great way to drive traffic to your other social accounts.
Need a little support elevating your brand? Contact Stellaractive for your website and marketing needs!
Stellaractive is a strategy-driven creative agency in Portland, Oregon. We help companies elevate their brand through websites, print, branding, and digital marketing solutions that connect, engage, inform, and inspire. We’ve been helping clients across the U.S. build their online presence for more than 15 years, and we can help you, too. Request a quote or call us at 503-384-2413 today!