How to Increase Engagement Rate on Instagram?

Instagram offers business owners and influencers an unmatched opportunity to grow their brands and build their communities. But posting high-quality content alone isn't enough to heighten your online presence. You need people to engage with your posts, or your efforts might quickly fall through the cracks. 

While there're many strategies to scale your Instagram marketing efforts, it's impossible to put them to work without first understanding Instagram's engagement rate. This metric highlights key insights to help fine-tune your Instagram strategy. 

Not to mention, it's the very factor that determines how connected you're with your audience. As an essential ranking factor for the Instagram algorithm, a good engagement rate can boost your visibility and credibility and expand your reach. So, how can you achieve that?

In this article, you will discover how to increase your engagement rate on Instagram in order to safeguard your long-term Instagram marketing tactics. 

What is a Good Engagement Rate on Instagram? 

Instagram engagement rate measures the number of interactions your content gets based on your followers, reach, or audience size. It's a key indicator of how frequently your followers stop to interact with your content rather than scroll by.

Knowing your Instagram engagement rate helps you determine the kind of content that will help you connect with your audience and boost your engagement. And going by the latest Statistics, the average engagement rate on Instagram for all types of Instagram posts on business accounts is 0.54%.

But keep in mind that your follower counts predominantly affects your engagement rate. The more followers you have, the more likely you'll have a lower engagement rate. That's why brands lean more towards small influencers with higher engagement rates for their social media marketing efforts. 

How to Calculate Instagram Engagement Rate? 

Depending on your goals as a brand or influencer, there are various ways to calculate your Instagram engagement rate. You can get that number by reach, followers, posts, or impressions. However, the simplest way to determine your engagement rate is; 

Engagement Rate= ((Total Interactions)/Audience) × 100

For instance, if your Instagram page has 5,000 followers and your posts get a total of 195 likes and comments, your average engagement rate would be; 

Engagement Rate= (195/5000) × 100

Engagement Rate=3.9%

8 Proven Ways to Increase Your Instagram Engagement Rate 

Are you interested in boosting your engagement on Instagram but unsure where to start? Don't worry! Below are proven strategies that will help you increase your engagement rate, and in no time, you can watch your metrics take off. 

1) Optimize Your Bio

Your Instagram bio gives Insta users a quick glance at who you are and what your profile is all about. It's the ideal opportunity to showcase your brand personality, establish your identity and build a strong image. 

And since you only get a small space on your profile for the bio, you have to get creative with it. Your bio should entice people to explore and engage with more of your profile's content and drive traffic to your website or other social media accounts. 

That said, to create a compelling bio that grabs attention and boosts engagement, you should;

• Use target keywords in your field to improve your profile's discoverability 
• Add a link to your website, blog, or other social media accounts
• Include contact details to give your audience a way to contact you directly
• Add a call to action to guide your audience toward taking a specific action, e.g., signing up for your newsletter

2) Create High-Quality Content 

We can all agree that losing a follower on Instagram is much easier than gaining one. That's because the platform relies on current Instagram content to build engagement. For that reason, besides creating visually appealing content, it should be inspirational, endearing, and relatable. 

On top of that, ensure your content is relevant and valuable to your audience. Ultimately, you should create content worthy of being saved or shared by your audience. That will encourage more people to engage with your brand and follow your profile. 

Make use of carousel posts, as these are an engagement goldmine. Carousels encourage you to have up to 10 graphics, photos, or videos in a single post. Since they tend to appear on the user's feed more than once, they can double your opportunity for likes, comments, and shares. 

3) Post Consistently at the Right Time 

Posting consistently and at the right time gives your followers more opportunities to engage with your content. To boost your engagement, you must commit to a consistent posting schedule. That will keep your feed fresh and your followers always intrigued. 

Besides, you must be aware of the right times to post. After all, if you post when your followers are offline, there won't be much early engagement. As more of a general guideline, the best time to post on Instagram is 10 am on Wednesdays, 2 pm-3 pm on Thursdays, and 10 am on Fridays.

Tuesday generally stands out as the best overall day for posting on Insta. While these are the recommended posting times, it's crucial that you still consider your brand's audience and explore different options to find what best suits you. 

4) Share User Generated Content 

Instagram is set up to promote conversations and encourage trust building. Therefore, it's crucial to engage with your audience. And one of the best ways to do that is by reposting or sharing content from your audience. 

If your audience tags your clothing brand wearing a dress they bought from your store, share the post on your Insta story. Your followers will be thrilled that you like their content; others may feel compelled to tag you in future posts. 

However, if you want to post user-generated content on your main feed, you should first get permission from the creator. Also, properly credit the original creator when reposting their content. 

5) Create Stories and Reels 

Instagram stories and reels are the most engaging in-feed social media content. Much of that comes from a change in Instagram's algorithm, which keeps stories on top of everyone's feed. That means your content strategy should shift more towards stories and reels.  

And since stories last only 24 hours, they allow you to be more relaxed and personal and post exclusive content. That level of authenticity will appeal more to your users. You can also post quizzes on your stories and make them sharable for other users. 

On top of that, you can utilize Instagram reels to engage your audience with short creative clips. The best part is that Insta lets you get creative with different effects like music, adding text, stickers, hashtags, and location tags to make your content more engaging. 

6) Engage Your Followers 

After putting up your content, ensure you engage your followers and target audience alike. That comes down to replying to their comments on your posts, asking for feedback, and responding to DMs. Also, you can host Q&A sessions on your stories where users can ask you questions, and you answer them. 

To keep your users engaged, you must take actions that will entice your audience to interact with your content. Also, you can share user-generated content on your website. Your followers will be excited that you interact with them, and that will foster a personal relationship and increase brand loyalty. 

7) Use Instagram Analytics 

While taking action to improve your engagement on Instagram, you also need to understand if your strategies are working. Since the Instagram algorithm is ever-changing, failure to analyze your performance is a recipe for failure. 

Take advantage of Instagram statistics to discover audience insights to help you improve your Instagram marketing strategy. Some metrics to track include; impressions, reach, and content interactions. 

These insights will help you know the best times to post your content to gain the most engagement. Also, you will adjust your content based on demographics and performance. Generally, you can tell which content is performing better so that you can make data-driven decisions. 

8) Buy Instagram Engagements 

A high follower count and engagement is the key to some of the most lucrative brand sponsorships and better brand awareness. Unfortunately, gaining a large following and achieving a high engagement rate doesn't come easy. 

Even with savvy strategies, it can take years to see results. Not to mention, it can be very time-consuming. But all hope is not lost. You can gain an edge over your competitors if you buy real Instagram likes and followers from Media Mister.

This has proven to be the fastest and easiest way to increase your engagement rates on Instagram. And since you'll be working with a reputable platform, you can rest assured that you'll receive high-quality likes and followers that will help raise your engagement rate exponentially. 

Conclusion 

Now there you have it- actionable strategies to boost your Instagram engagement rate. Follow these tips to encourage more people to interact with your content, ultimately leading to your brand's success. But while on it, remember that these tips won't give you overnight results. You must remain consistent and continue exploring growth strategies that align best with your audience and goals.