People tend to flock to Instagram to discover the latest and greatest in everything. No matter what your interest, you’ll probably be able to find it on this photo sharing app. That’s because Instagram offers the perfect platform for sharing. Users seem to love scrolling through their feeds to view what’s new with their favorite brands, influencers and friends.
But Instagram isn’t just for showing pretty pictures. The platform offers lots of ways for users to give input. If you truly want to connect with and gain fans, you need to discover how to engage with your Instagram followers. Continue reading for some creative tips.
1. Recognize Your Followers
People truly appreciate recognition. Nothing will encourage followers to feel connected to your brand like simply acknowledging them. It’s easy to do, really. There are lots of ways to interact with your fans. First, be sure to reply to any comments that are left on your posts. Whether the initial comment is positive or negative, it’s crucial you acknowledge it with a reply.
Say thank you. Answer questions. Apologize for errors or misunderstandings, and offer to make things right. Doing so adds authenticity to your brand, improves your business and encourages loyalty among your followers.
2. Give Shout Outs When Possible
Not only can you subtly recognize your followers by responding to their actions, you can highlight your biggest fans and feature them in your posts. This is a grand way of engaging users and building relationships.
A concept known as regramming is a good way to accomplish such a shout out. Regramming simply involves reposting an image from another user’s feed and then tagging them in it with a caption as to why you loved their photo. Giving this type of recognition lets followers know you appreciate what they’re doing and provides exposure for them.
3. Set Yourself Apart from the Crowd
There are approximately a billion monthly users on Instagram. It can be tough to get your stuff seen in such a vast sea of great content. Find a way to set yourself apart or offer something unique, and more people are apt to connect with you. One way to do this is to show your personal side. People love to see real life moments.
Another method is to narrow down your niche. Find something ultra-specific that you’re interested in or that you have to offer. Then post about that. Don’t be afraid to get creative. Consider coming up with a fun hashtag surrounding your topic or create a series of posts on this one thing. Setting yourself apart as an expert or an innovator will take you far toward genuine engagement with your followers.
4. Give Followers an Exclusive
Another way to engage people is to make them feel special. Along with recognition, try giving them something they can’t get anywhere else and that’s available only to fans on Instagram. For example, offer a special promotional code only on the platform. Give the next 100 followers a small trial size item or other freebie. You can really get creative with these offerings and get noticed.
5. Encourage Conversations
Engagement relies on human tendencies. We’ve already talked about the importance of recognizing people and making them feel special. You also want to remember that Instagram is a social network.
Focus on that by encouraging your followers to engage in social behaviors like having conversations. There are lots of ways to do this. One is by taking advantage of your post captions to craft narratives that people respond to. All too often, brands will just add a simple one-sentence caption to their image and then move on.
They’re missing a fantastic opportunity to engage a captive audience. Instead, be prepared to write a paragraph and make it meaningful. You can experiment to discover your own style. Try telling a story about what’s going on in the photo. Give some background about the shot. Ask users a direct question or give a call to action inviting them to share their own experiences. This is how you get people to engage. It’s also fun to add special hashtags and cute emojis to the mix.
6. Make Use of All of Instagram’s Features
Instagram has evolved tons over the years. They’ve added a bunch of interactive and useful features beyond the simple ability to share your pretty pictures.
In fact, many of these tools are built for engagement. It doesn’t make sense not to take advantage of them. Instagram’s algorithm will even reward you with more views as you utilize more of their features. Try creating a poll or using the emoji slider in your Instagram Stories to gauge user feedback and opinion. Further, you’re using Instagram Stories, right?
This feature and its highlights allow you to expand upon your posts and showcase them prominently. Another way to present multiple posts is through the carousel posts feature. As an Instagram business account holder, you have access to a wide array of tools not available on regular accounts. There’s Instagram Insights for viewing your analytics, shopping on Instagram, the ability to add links to your stories, schedule posts and more. Experiment to see which features get the most engagement from your audience.
Engaging with your Instagram followers is truly all about forging relationships. Think of it as making friends. People will want to interact with your posts when you help them to feel involved and invested. Start with these tips, and you’re sure to see more users joining the ranks of your followers.
