Launching Soon
Menu
Every day I get DM’s from people telling me that their Instagram engagement rate is dropping! Likes are fewer and comments are near non-existent. So what can you do to increase that engagement rate?
Whislt carousels might not get you very much reach when it comes to hashtags they are a goldmine for boosting your Instagram engagement with your current followers. So if your engagement has dopped its your current followers you need to focus on.
Here’s the deal. If your followers skip over the first image without engaging on it they will see the second/third (up to 10) following images further down their feed giving them multiple opportunities to engage which is why you tend to get a higher Instagram engagement from your current audience.
Posting daily helps keep you front of mind with your audience. The life cycle of an Instagram post tends to be about 24 hours so if you aren’t posting daily you aren’t giving your audience new content to engage with it’s only natural your engagement will be lower.
Video content is dominating all social media platforms and by the end of 2021 the average person is expected to watch 100 minutes of social media video content if you aren’t creating video content you are missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with your audience in a more intimate and engaging way.
Where it is important to use smaller more niche hashtags on your feed as there is always more competition on your feed. Hashtags in stories is an underutilised feature! So use 1-2 huge generic hashtags and it will improve your story reach.
This might sound obvious but if you aren’t replying to the 3 comments you currently receive you are a) indicating to your followers you don’t care, so why should they bother commenting again. And b) missing out on some valuable Instagram engagement! Your own comments count as engagement so if you get 3 comments and reply to all of them that now means you have 6 comments. This is a strategy that will just compound over time!
Do not EVER purchase followers it is hugely detrimental to your engagement as the majority of the accounts you purchase are not real accounts and so will never engage on your content. And what this means is the more followers you have that do not engage on your content the lower your Instagram engagement rate will be.
This is the same rule for follow loops and follow for follow – these kinds of tactics do not get your true engaged followers. The followers you receive from loops are only following you in the hopes of receiving a reciprocated follow. And so chances are they do not enjoy your content and will not engage with it.
You can read more about the follow unfollow tactic here
While it can be fun to create the content you love you need to think about what your audience gets from it. Check out your statistics and see what the most popular content you have created in the past month is and recreate it.
But also study it – what was it that made it a more popular piece of content was it your caption, the time you posted, the hashtags you used or the way you styled your image? Is there a theme across your most popular images that you can pick up on?
Consider this like networking withing your niche, build relationships and support and encourage those that are on a similar level to you. They will be your cheerleaders and support you when things are getting a little disheartening. Which they will because like everything in life there is ups and downs, but having friends on the platform can really help lift you up.
It has been proven time and time again that accounts with a cohesive feed attract more followers and a higher Instagram engagement rate. This is because when someone hits your page for the first time an account that has a strong personal brand is instantly communicating the type of content a potential follower is going to consume should they chose to follow your account.
Reels is a new feature Instagram has just released similar to TikTok – early adopters to Instagrams new features tend to be prioritised in the algorithm since instagram is eager for people to use and share the new features. Find a way to create content for reels it could be as simple as sharing a collection of images or a short video sharing behind the scenes to music.
Do not tell me you have tried all of the above and it isn’t working if you haven’t been doing it consistently for at least 3 months. There is a reason you will see the phrase ‘consistency is key’ when it comes to just about anything in life!! These methods pay off!
The White Thistle was founded by Abi Hugo an influencer who has a grown a following of over 100k on Instagram. She shares creative DIY and upcycling tips and tricks by rescuing furniture and transforming it into a lovable and modern addition to a home’s décor. Abi also offers courses, resources, and downloads for creative entrepreneurs looking to grow an organic Instagram following.
Bring inspiration to your inbox with my newsletter and get updates about my project’s upcoming course, styling inspiration, and more.
Your basket is currently empty.
