Instagram is one of the most-used apps of our time. The visual-centric platform is not only a picture-sharing app but it’s also known as a business booster in today’s time. Engagement is a crucial metric that must be measured if you want to track your progress and predict your success over time.

Thanks to technological advancements, data analytics software and apps allow marketers and brands to learn customer behavior and buying patterns through social media engagement. And being one of the most popular social media platforms of our time, Instagram has given brands a new way to form connections with customers.

Social Media Engagement – Does It Matter?

Many of us will define engagement or associate it with reach, number of followers, view count, etc. But it’s more than that. How you interact with your audience daily via content is also called engagement. But how do you measure the interactions? Through the following metrics:

• Comments
• Shares
• Likes
• Saves
• DMs
• Branded hashtags
• Number of followers
• Tagged mentions

Engagement directly reflects the interest your audience shows in your content and what you share, and these metrics measure the exact amount of interest and reactions towards your posts and stories. Every marketing class will teach you about the undeniable importance of engagement for businesses – regardless of size or type. The more you interact, the more importance you hold. On Instagram specifically, higher engagement leads to better chances of your content reaching more people.

But then again, the ever-changing Instagram algorithm keeps all the marketers on their toes. To ensure a successful marketing campaign, keeping up with it is crucial. Learn how the algorithm works and use it in your favor. Luckily, you have this brief little guide to help you here! While the Instagram algorithm will keep changing, one thing that shouldn’t is your understanding of how it works.

Whether you’re a new blogger on the block, an aspiring digital marketer, or a small business looking for a breakthrough in the market, this guide is all you need to kill it in the industry.

• Identify Your Audience

When you know who your audience is, you make things a lot easier for your brand. One of the basics of marketing is identifying your audience. Knowing who you’re creating content for, who you’re interacting with makes all the marketing efforts worth it because you’re on the right path to achieve your marketing goals. So, what should you know about your audience? Insight on the age, gender, social class, beliefs, the behavior of your audience will definitely help you understand what kind of content to create and boost lead conversion. It also enables you to decide the entire content creation schedule via social listening. It’s noteworthy to know that the audience on Instagram is always attracted to visual and graphical posts and stories, so experimenting in the creativity department will always score you brownie points!

• Rely On The Power Of Stories

Ever since Instagram brought on stories as a feature, brands have been benefitting from it the most. Posting regularly on the main feed using pictures and captions is a great way to interact with your audience, but using polls, stickers, questions, and countdowns on stories can be considered as a foolproof way of boosting one-on-one engagement. Interactive stories have a higher chance of reaching a wider audience. Plus stories are shareable as well, so as long as you make sure what you post on your stories is fun and interactive, the engagement will come through!

Use Instagram stories to cash out on what you can’t post on your regular feed. For instance, many brands stick to a certain aesthetic for their main feed, so they don’t want to disrupt it by posting unusual or unique content on the feed. That’s where Instagram stories come into play. Convert prospects into customers by sharing the behind-the-scenes, product reviews, web content of your brand, and products on stories. Plus, you can even switch it up by going live and doing fun Q&As, conducting polls, sharing customer feedback, etc.

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• Don’t Compromise On Content Quality

Being on a visual-centric platform inevitably means leveling up your photography game. Standing out with your content is important, and one thing that will help you do so is focusing on image quality. You don’t need to hire an image editor to improve your images, a few tools and a knack for creativity are all you need to transform your images. Incorporate graphical elements, use unique fonts, maintain aesthetics and ensure the quality of your videos and images remains top-notch post-edit. If you are the face of your brand, then you will need to make sure you come across as confident and assured in your posting. This may mean using a top boston headshot photographer or a photographer nearer to you, so you can look professional for your business on this platform.

• Focus On Video Content And Use Catchy Captions

Instagram users engage with videos more than they do with images and captions. Not everyone has the time to read blocks of text you post under an image. Uploading a short, fun, and interactive video does the trick. To make it even better, upload it with a short catchy caption with relevant hashtags.

To Wrap It Up

Establishing a strong presence on social media is crucial for brands, bloggers, and businesses to thrive in today’s time. But it’s nothing to worry about. As long as you keep these tips and tricks in your pocket, you’re solid!

Infographic created by Clover Network – A Restaurant POS Systems Company