Increase Your Instagram Engagement: 4 Ways To Do It (And Why It Matters!)
Engagement Is Key To Growing Your Business On Instagram.
Engagement is a key metric in any Instagram strategy. It measures how many people are liking, commenting, saving and sharing the content you create. And that’s kind of the whole point of posting on social, right? Connecting with people to build relationships, provide value and–ultimately–make sales! So, when you increase engagement on Instagram you’re helping to grow your business.
The good news is that boosting engagement on Instagram doesn’t have to be hard. All it takes is a little time, a willingness to get social and the creativity to make great content that inspires people to take action!
Want to know more?
I’ll walk you through the four ways I increase Instagram engagement strategically – without any “ick”.
Let’s go!
Before We Dive In, Let’s Talk About Why Instagram Engagement Matters.
When you boil it down, your engagement rate tells you how people are interacting with your content. It also gives you insight into what’s working…and what’s not. And that is important information!
Knowing what content inspires your audience to take action means you can
✅ Create smarter content
✅ Provide real value
✅ Save time and creative energy
✅ Build more trust and brand credibility
Having a healthy engagement rate also helps your content get seen by a wider audience. According to Later, “Engagement is key, especially when it comes to the Instagram algorithm.” In other words, Instagram prioritizes content that gets more likes, comments and shares.
Finally, when your content has good engagement, it serves as social proof (aka. “street cred”) that your brand and business are legitimate and worth getting to know.
What is a good engagement rate?
Before we dive in, you might want to know how an engagement rate is calculated. The ERR (Engagement Rate by Reach) measures the percentage of people who chose to interact with your content after seeing it. You can figure this percentage out for a specific post or a group of posts.
The formula to calculate the ERR for a single post looks like this:
ERR = total number of engagements per post/reach per post * 100
To calculate an average ERR for a group of posts, add all the ERRs from the posts you want to average, and divide by the number of posts.
Now that you know how to figure out your engagement rate, let’s get back to the original question: what is a good engagement rate?
The short answer is…it depends. The more followers an account has the harder it is to get a high engagement rate. Engagement rates also vary across industries. As the folks at Later explain:
“What is considered a “good engagement rate” for an account in the health and wellness industry with 10K followers may be different from what is considered “good” for a home decor account with 150K followers.”
That being said, the average engagement rate for an Instagram post is between 1% and 5% which means an engagement rate of 3% or higher is looking good!
Ok. Now that we’re on the same page about WHY we want to drive engagement on Instagram, let’s talk about how to do it.
4 Ways To Boost Your Instagram Engagement
Like anything you do on social, being strategic helps you see results faster. So let me share four things I do to help drive engagement on Instagram. (No gatekeeping here!)
1. Set Aside Time Each Week To Engage With Accounts
Like, comment and share! Part of inspiring engagement with your own content is getting out there and building those connections. Every week I set aside little pockets of time to follow new accounts that align with my business and to intentionally engage with posts and stories created by
➡️ Accounts I already follow
➡️ Accounts who follow me
➡️ Industry leaders
➡️ Local businesses
I also make time DAILY to thoughtfully respond to comments people leave on my posts and any DMs I receive. Community management is important for driving engagement and building lasting relationships with your audience.
Doing this is one of the ways I show up online! You never know who might be inspired to return the favour.
🚨 ATTENTION 🚨 I strongly suggest scheduling engagement time and being very intentional about it. Start with 5 or 10 minutes a few times each week. Keeping each engagement session short and focused will help you stay on track.
❌ Don’t like and run!
✔️ Do leave thoughtful comments and questions on posts you stop to check out.
❌ Don’t be a stories lurker!
✔️ Do respond to questions and poll stickers in stories to keep the conversation going!
❌ Don’t follow accounts on the fly.
✔️ Do take the time to seek out accounts that align with your business and brand.
Remember, outward engagement is only effective for your social strategy when it is done with purpose. #StopTheScroll
2. Use Calls To Action In Your Posts
A “call to action” or CTA is your chance to tell people how you want them to engage with your content. And, believe it or not, it works!
It’s easy for people to scroll passively through their Instagram feeds. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to stop them in their tracks with engaging content and a crystal clear CTA that spells out exactly what you want them to do.
So, before you write your caption think about what the goal is. Do you want people to like, comment, share, visit your site, shop or subscribe? Anything is possible–you just have to ask!
Here are some examples of CTAs that are fun and easy to use!
➡️ Drop a ❤️ if you’re with me
➡️ Book a time to chat today!
➡️ Comment with your favourite emoji.
➡️ Check out our stories for more.
➡️ Double tap if you agree.
➡️ Swipe to learn more.
➡️ Share so others can learn, too!
Don’t forget! You can Include a CTA in your photo, graphic or Reel, too! (Like this. ⬇️)
3. Swap Single Photos Or Graphics For Carousels
Did you know that over 65% of people are visual learners? Make the most of it by giving the people what they want. (aka. More visuals!)
According to Later and Hootsuite, carousel posts drive significantly more engagement than single-image posts.
Upgrading your single-image posts to carousels is easy! Get creative and try one of these strategies next time you’re creating content for your social.
Play with colours! 🎨
Create a simple two-slide carousel by changing up the text and background colours.
Experiment with continuous carousels. ♾️
When part of an image or graphic element carries over to the next slide in a carousel, it tempts people to keep swiping!
(Pssssst! Ready to try continuous carousels but not sure where to start? Never fear! Your intrepid social media enthusiast is here with a set of ready-to-customize continuous carousel templates. Get yours today!)
Continuous carousel templates? Yes, please!
Hop on the photo dump carousel trend. 📷
Manu from @yoursocialteam suggests creating a carousel by doing a “photo dump.” She explains, “When you post multiple photos at once, your post will show up in your followers’ scroll multiple times, giving them more chances to engage.” #WinWin
4. Show Up In Stories.
When was the last time you made an appearance in your stories? I believe stories are one of the best ways to create in-the-moment content that builds a personal connection with your audience–and stickers are THE best way to get more engagement in your stories!
TIP: It’s especially important to put those stickers to good use in your first story of the day. It gets people engaged and stay engaged as you post more stories throughout the day. 👌
Bonus: Every time someone engages with those stickers, it counts toward your account’s engagement rate.
Not sure what to do with stickers? Here are some ideas you can play with!
➡️ Invite people to ask questions about your life
➡️ Ask for recommendations about products or services you are interested in
➡️ Invite people to share their own experience with a product or service
➡️ Have fun with a game of True or False
➡️ Test your audience’s knowledge about your products or services
➡️ Be direct and ask people what they want to see in future stories or in your feed
➡️ Host a weekly “Ask me anything”
You get the idea! With the Question or Poll stickers, the opportunities to keep the conversation going are endless.
Combine Strategy And Creativity And Watch Your Instagram Engagement Rate Rise!
If you’re ready to give your engagement rate a boost, it’s time to think strategically, get creative and take action!
Give the people what they want by creating content that provides value and is TOTALLY clickable! And, remember, don’t be shy with your CTAs– it’s O.K. to ask for what you want.
What’s the first thing you’re going to do to boost engagement on Instagram?
