4 Tips To Improve Instagram Engagement

With the constant updates from Instagram, our engagement can often feel like an upside-down rollercoaster. Due to Instagram updating and adding new features, the app can often experience a handful of glitches. The moment you feel like you understood or nailed down the app, it will change once more and you take a few steps back. So how do keep our engagement up without getting lost in the shuffle of constant updates? Below are a few easy tips that you can add to your Instagram strategy that will help increase your engagement on Instagram.

Tip 1: Be Yourself

Being authentic is the number 1 way to boost engagement on any social media platform. Embrace your uniqueness, share your testimony, and teach others how to excel at finding their potential. Share content that relates to your audience and builds a trusted community. Life isn’t perfect and Instagram shouldn’t be either so share the failed recipes or the messy house, you’ll be surprised how many others relate to you.

Once I started to show a bit of vulnerability on my Instagram feed, it allowed others to share their stories and they felt less alone. Putting yourself out there for the world to see is scary but also exciting, freeing, and in some ways healing. A reel that I posted showed my followers a side of me and opened up great conversations in the comments. Ah, comments…cue the next tip!

Tip 2: Comments

Respond to comments after you post throughout the day, especially reels! It’s good to respond to a couple of comments after posting but space them out so you do not get shadow-banned or flagged by Instagram! Another tip to increase genuine engagement in your community is to ask a question within your comment like, how has your week been? Asking your followers questions about their week, struggles, etc., creates a personal connection to them resulting in more comments, more engagement, and a community that trusts you.

Throughout the day, engage with your followers by responding to comments, visiting their profiles and interacting with your posts, watching their reels, and viewing their stories! Adding this strategy to your day not only increases your engagement but also helps your follower’s engagement and gives them a boost in the algorithm. We all need a boost!

Tip 3: Respond to DMs

Direct messages on Instagram are a way for your followers to privately message you (or a group) with questions, start conversations, and network. With direct messages, you also have the opportunity to pitch products and enable automatic responses with prompts so your followers can interact with you.

One of my pain points is responding to DMs. I often get a lot of DMs due to reactions, questions, and responses and they add up. Often times I miss important DMs with questions unless someone messages me. If I was honest, I struggle with texting as well so maybe there is a common issue that I have…gotta work on that! Responding to DMs is a great way to boost your engagement, build your community and get to know your audience.

Tip 4: Instagram Tools

Have you noticed a pattern yet? The algorithm favors users who use all the features that Instagram provides. Whether that be posts, reels, stories, audio, editing tools, filters, stickers, polls, and more. Instagram wants you to stay on the platform and provide you will all the tools you need to create content, build relationships, and spend your time on Instagram. Here is a list of some tools to use on Instagram that will increase your views, bring in traffic and grow your followers:

• Direct messages
• Stories
• Posts (static, carousels, reels, IG TV, guides, videos)
• Stickers (polls, questions, time, etc)
• Editing tools (filters, video editing in reels) – check out one of my reels tutorials here
• Highlights
• Event or Live reminders

Maintaining an Instagram schedule and strategy is important for growth and utilizing some of the tips listed above. Engagement is important but not important enough to risk your mental health so don’t stress over it. If the above is a lot, space your tasks out and give yourself grace. If you need a break, take one. Instagram will always be there cause ya know…sometimes, life happens!

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