10 Things You can do to Increase Your Instagram Engagement

Are you looking to boost your engagement on Instagram? Well, I am going to share 10 things that I have done that have allowed me to grow my Instagram account to more than 550,000 followers.

If you are trying to grow your account for business purposes, it is definitely important to increase your engagement and viewers on your posts.

A good engagement rate will always beat the amount of followers someone has. If someone with 100,000 followers gets the same amount of engagement as someone with 20,000… well which person do you think may provide them a better value?

I do want to say that there is nothing that is guaranteed to work. You can do everything “right” and still may struggle to grow. I promise if you keep at it though, it will begin to pay off!

Here are 10 things I have done to increase my engagement and grow my Instagram account:

1. Post on your Instagram Feed

Now, this should be a given, it’s important to post on Instagram 4-5 days a week, once a day is even better!

Ever since Instagram gave up the chronological feed, it’s harder to get discovered and grow your account. However, Instagram tends to push accounts that post and share more content.

Share high-quality photos when you can because low-quality pictures usually don’t perform as well. Try to avoid grainy or blurry photos.

2. Make AT LEAST 3-5 Instagram Stories Each Day

Instagram stories are a great way to engage your followers and help build a relationship with them.

Show them behind the scenes or other parts of your life – or just jump on and chat. An additional tip is to post stories your followers can engage with such as polls or questions.

When I share some fun parts of my day in my stories I feel like my audience can relate to me more because I am more than just a picture on their feed.

3. Engage with Hashtags in your niche

I like to spend 15-20 minutes each day going through relevent hashtags and interacting with accounts with similar interests to mine.

Interact by leaving a comment or liking their photos!

It helps get your account noticed by people who may share the same interests as you, and hopefully, they will check out your account as well.

4. Use the BEST Hashtags you can find

Instagram allows you to add 30 hashtags to each picture and you want to make sure you use all 30!

Hashtags allow new people to see your content and drive up your engagement, as well as help people find new accounts to follow.

It’s incredibly important that you use hashtags that are relevant to the content you post, that will help with your reach and lead people who are interested in that subject to your profile.

5. Use the Location Tag on your Photos and Stories

Make sure you are using the geotag option on all of your posts and in your Instagram stories.

When I am planning a trip I tend to look up locations on Instagram and browse through them for fun ideas and even cool restaurants to check out!

I know a ton of people are searching location hashtags too, so be sure to use them to help people find you!

6. Engage with similar accounts

I love to follow and interact with accounts that are similar to mine. By commenting and engaging with similar posts, you will likely drive new people to your page!

I don’t know about you, but I have definitely found new profiles to follow from the comments on other profiles.

7. Find the Best Time to Post

For awhile I didn’t think the time you posted mattered, but I learned that I get better engagement at different times of the day.

If you go into your Instagram insights you can see some data of when your followers are most active on Instagram.

Play around with different times and figure out when you get the most engagement!

8. Respond to Comments

The Instagram algorithm tends to boost posts that have more engagement from followers.

I believe it’s important to respond to comments on your posts shortly after someone leaves a comment.

Hopefully the more engagement on your post, the more people who will see it!

9. Tag Brands that are in Your Photos

I always tag any brands that happen to be in my photos.

This allows brands to not only see that you are using and loving their product, but they may even repost your content too! That means more people will see your content!

Tagging brands repeatedly have actually turned into brand deals for me, so that is also something that can happen too! They knew I used and loved their products so they reached out to work with me.

10. Write Captions that Engage your Audience

Make sure when you write your captions you are using YOUR voice!

Try to stray away from generic captions and write something that people will want to read and engage in the comments.

Ask your viewers questions, their thoughts on topics, or even their favorite foods. I love to ask questions and interact with those who respond.

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In conclusion, increasing the engagement on your Instagram account is not an overnight thing.

Increasing engagement and followers on your account is a slow and steady thing. There is no surefire method to instagram success.

I will say DO. NOT. EVER. PAY. FOR. LIKES. OR. FOLLOWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As someone who has worked on both sides of influencer marketing, it’s so easy to see through fake engagement and it ruins any chance of a brand working with that person.

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At the end of the day, create and post content that you enjoy creating and don’t try to be something your not!

Keep up with me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Pinterest!