These days you cannot ignore the Instagram buzz and the hashtag craze! Instagram is slowly catching up with Facebook as the most popular social media site in the world. It is also an excellent platform for brands to market themselves and create effective promotional strategies.
However, many brands are still facing challenges when it comes to increasing customer engagement. While the number of followers does matter, it is not as significant as customer engagement. You gotta talk with your partners to create long-lasting brand connectivity. Some people are after instant Instagram likes. However, if you want to successfully market your brand on Instagram, you will need good customer engagement.
The good news is that improving engagement on Instagram is easier than you think. Here are some hacks to increase Instagram engagement and get customers hooked onto your brand:
- Create content that speaks to your followers
The one thing that separates influencers from other users is that they create exciting content. You should post content that matters to your audience. This requires a good understanding of your audience’s interests.
- Update your stories
If a user misses your post in their feed, you can still catch them in the stories section. Instagram stories are more engaging and can attract more customers to like your brand. Keep your stories short and divide it into subsections for better engagement.
- Create and share videos
Research shows that video content is much more engaging than images. Post short clips that entertain the viewer and send a small message as well. Try and post a video that will get likes and comments. Instagram video features have a few different options to use to your advantage, with shorter videos in the story option, longer ones in IGTV, and a live feature.
- Have a timetable
Scheduling your posts and Instagram stories is one of the best ways to get more engagement. Customers will start anticipating the stories, which will get you more views. You can even send out a message to tell viewers what time they can expect your posts.
- Tell stories that lure your clients
No, this is not a reference to the story section on Instagram. Try and be lighthearted and tell a few stories about your brand. Customers love to know more about the brand they are buying from. Instagram stories may only be available for 24 hours. Still, they have a far-reaching effect on customer engagement rates, as they make brands seem more authentic, approachable, and create a sense of urgency that makes customers take action.
- Share brand “failure” moments
You can share funny moments where your brand failed so that customers see you as human. This may seem quite unconventional, but it works like a charm.
- Crack a Joke
This is one of the best marketing tactics and a sure way to increase Instagram engagement. If you feel like you are not getting engagement from customers, then share a joke or two. You’ll see the comments brighten up.
- Create unique hashtags
Instagram users will always be attracted to unique hashtags. It is one of the best ways to ‘brand’ any occasion or incident. When the users share your post, they will be sharing your hashtag as well. Choosing the right hashtag will allow you to attract many new potential customers who were probably unaware of you or your business.
- Ask questions
There’s no better way to increase engagement than by asking questions. When a user answers your question in the comments, always try to reply. This is an interesting hack to get some instant Instagram likes.
- Share Data figures
It’s exciting for customers when you share data and figures that matter and are important to them. Data and charts add the ‘scientific touch’ to the mix.
- Grow a strong brand
Growing a strong brand slowly but steadily is the right way to go if you want good customer engagement. For that, you need fantastic pictures too! Having an authentic Instagram feed is a great bonus and extremely attractive to customers if kept consistent. It is the tactic that many big brands use nowadays. A good way to get started can be with the help of Instagram marketing services such as this where likes, even followers, comments and views which are very much real.
- Posting consistently with quality
Posting good, consistent photos every day (even a few times a day) ensures customer engagement and anticipates the next post.
- Give GIFs a shot
Researchers have proven that more than 75 percent of viewers watched to the end of a video that was less than 15 seconds long. If you want more customer engagement, then you’ve got to give GIFs a try.
- User-generated content
User-generated content is the best way to market your product on Instagram. This is the key to successful customer engagement with customer-created and approved content.
- Extended captions work like a charm
The trend of using long captions with eye-catching pictures is being used by many influencers and brands to stop strollers in their tracks and build stronger connections with the target audience.
- Partner with an influencer
Partnering with a micro-influencer can give you significant reach and customer engagement if the right influencer is chosen with the right message.
- Schedule stories for maximum views
Posting your Instagram stories at the right time can significantly increase your views and vice versa. To find the best time for you to be posting, you’ll need to monitor your Instagram statistics through the Instagram insights feature available on your account.
- Create ‘savable’ content for your feed
Creating unique content that encourages your viewers to save it is crucial today as likes are now hidden in posts in some parts of the world. Customers will only save posts that matter to them. That means that you need to have an entire customer approach when creating Instagram content for your brand.
- Get more comments
Getting as many comments as possible is vital for your brand’s customer engagement. The way to do this is to take your content to another level.
