There’s nothing as disheartening as spending hours making the perfect reel, only for nobody to see it. We’ve all been there! Social media can be a funny place and just because an idea worked for someone else’s account, doesn’t mean it will go viral for you too. So, what Instagram engagement strategies can you incorporate going forward you ask?
In this blog, our experts discuss the best way for you to grow your social media accounts as we head into the festive period and share our tips on crafting a compelling campaign!
What is ‘Engagement’?
Engagement is all about how your audience reacts with your content. Likes, shares, comments, and follows all count as interactions, and the more of these you can gather, the better your posts will perform.
Do Likes Really Matter?
Yes! They really do!
Instagram has tailored their algorithms with one purpose in mind – keeping people on the platform for as long as possible. When you use platforms like Instagram, they’re constantly gathering data on what you like by monitoring your searches and engagements. They then keep you on the platform by showing you more of the types of content you’re engaging with, because they know you’re likely to enjoy it. It’s as a simple as that!
When you post something on Instagram, this is first pushed out to a smaller portion of your followers. If this performs particularly well in terms of likes, comments, and shares, they will then prioritise your post and push it out to even more people. When this happens on a larger scale, your content can end up on the Explore page for accounts who are engaged with a similar style of content, and so on. So yes, likes really do matter! And they can make a huge difference for small businesses, in particular.
3 High-Engagement Campaign Ideas
Naturally, some content styles receive more interactions than others. If you’re really looking to ramp things up as we near the end of 2024, here are 3 Instagram engagement strategies to incorporate in your upcoming content…
Giveaways
When companies share giveaways on their socials, to enter, brands usually ask their followers to engage with the post in a manner of ways. Liking, following, sharing, and commenting is the usual criteria. As you can imagine, these posts get a lot of engagement and in turn, the visibility of your account is temporarily boosted.
Whilst you shouldn’t post too many giveaways (this can look spammy) sharing these occasionally is a great way to boost your engagement and make your audience feel more valued.
Promotions
Everyone loves saving money and when you’re running promotions, social media is the best place to shout about it. Encourage people to set reminders for upcoming sales and create a buzz! You can even tease a discount period prior to its launch to encourage people to follow you so they know when it’s live.
Again, like giveaways, you should avoid running promotions too often. These can be a great way to boost sales, but when shared on a regular basis, your customers may come to expect discounted prices. This can lead to a drop in purchases during non-sale periods.
Behind the Scenes
People love supporting brands that show a bit of personality within their marketing. As such, ‘behind the scenes’ type content tends to perform well on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. From office days out to sharing the process behind new product launches, create content that you think people will have a genuine interest in. ‘Salesy’ content tends to get lost among the noise.
Why Organic Growth is the Best Growth
I’m sure we’ve all had offers on Instagram from companies that sell brands followers and if you’re struggling to grow your accounts, we can see why this might be tempting. Nevertheless, we’re here to tell you that this is one of the worst things you could do. In fact, it might just end up undoing all of your hard work thus far!
When brands purchase Instagram followers, these are usually inactive, bot accounts. This means your follower count will go up, but your engagement will stay where it is. This can affect the reach of your posts, as Instagram will see that a smaller portion of your followers are interacting with your content – making it look less engaging. What’s more, if you have many followers but your posts are receiving minimal likes, this can make your brand look disingenuous and can cause distrust. As such, organic Instagram engagement strategies really are the best way forward.
Working with an Agency
Social media marketing isn’t just about posting consistently. You also need to interact with your audience if you want to encourage engagement and interactions. All in all, it can be pretty time consuming and if you’re struggling, it might be time to consider reaching out to a professional agency.
When you enquire with VerriBerri, we will help you to ideate, build, and implement Instagram engagement strategies that generate tangible results. We know that every brand has different motivations, needs, and resources. As such, we’ll tailor our packages and approach to suit your individual circumstances.
VerriBerri is your one-stop-shop for everything marketing related, whether you’re looking for full management support with your social media or the addition of other techniques too. We’re also:
- Multi-award-winning: We’ve won numerous titles, such as ‘Best Social Media Support Service’ and ‘Best UK Marketing Agency’.
- Competitively priced: Based outside of London, we’re able to charge more competitive prices suited to businesses of all sizes.
- A fun, motivated, and talented team: We’ve fostered a great company culture where our staff feel motivated and supported every step of the way.
Contact Us
For more information on how we can help you build and implement Instagram engagement strategies, get in touch with our business development team today! Call our offices on 01376 386 850 or click here to fill in our contact form.