How to Grow an Engaged Instagram
Instagram is NOT about posting pretty pictures. Great visuals can help, but the best way to grow an ENGAGED Instagram following is to build a community.
Here’s the thing – it’s not that hard to get followers – but you don’t want just ANY followers. You want engaged followers who care about your content, your business, and could be customers/clients/friends.
FOLLOWERS ARE A VANITY NUMBER UNLESS THEY ARE ENGAGING WITH YOUR CONTENT.
So if you want engaged followers, you need to engage with other people. Common sense, right? But how should you do it?
1. Understand Your Audience
The first step is knowing who your audience is. Beautiful photos and clever captions don’t help if you don’t know who you’re talking to. It’s much easier to engage with your audience when you understand who they are. What do they like, what time are they online, what are their interests? With more than 500 million Instagram users, your dream clients are on Instagram – you just need to find them.
2. Engage and Interact
People like to feel like their thoughts and opinions are valued. If someone asked you a question in person, would you ignore them? The same rules apply for social media. So, the best way to build an engaged community is to, you know, engage!
If your followers are going to take time to connect with you, you need to reciprocate! If people ask you a question, whether it’s in a comment or sliding into your DMs, answer it! When you take the time to respond to each person, you show how much you value them and your relationship with them. Now, you’ll create an even stronger connection and more engagement. Woo!
3. Make New Connections
Building community is more than engaging with your current followers. It’s about seeking out and engaging with like-minded people. Focus on building genuine relationships, which means leaving comments that say more than “love this!” or a generic emoji. Try to CONNECT with other people and their content in a meaningful way!
If you have trouble making time for engagement, I’ve found that it’s easier if I carve out specific blocks of time for it. Rather than try to keep up throughout the day, I usually designate a few blocks of time to engage with others and respond to comments.
4. Create Calls To Action
Want your followers to comment? Make it easy and tell them you want them to! Ask them a question. Ask them to tag a friend. Tell them to click the link in your profile to get something VALUABLE. Anything to get them talking. It might feel a awkward, but go for it, friend! You’ll be surprised at how many people will respond.
Related Post: What is a CTA?
5. Embrace what makes you YOU
There are billions of awesome Instagram accounts, so you need to stand out from the crowd. What makes you different? Set yourself apart and offer your audience VALUE. Are you knowledgeable about a specific industry? Why not share a quick insider tip or rising trend on your account? Give your audience content that makes them excited to return to your account.
Are you having trouble finding something that makes you unique? Get down to the nitty-gritty. It’s challenging to find something that will set you apart if you focus on broad terms. Instead, brainstorm ONE awesome thing you can offer and go at it full force.
