You might probably be one of the many people who use Instagram to promote a brand and are continually learning how to have better reach and engagement.
Instagram is a staple for social media marketers, and knowing how to increase exposure in this platform requires constant learning and adaptation.
In the early months of this year, we have seen recent changes on Instagram that we need to understand and make certain adjustments on. Let’s start with the key to it all: Improving Your Engagement.
Engagement
Instagram is currently prioritizing posts based on engagement. Meaning, the higher the engagement in your posts, the more it will be rewarded by the new algorithm through better exposure. Thus, for social media marketers, it would be best to respond to comments quickly to keep the engagement going and maintain your visibility.
Below are more insights from thepigeonletters.com to help you increase your exposure before your posts get buried and unseen:
- When you post something on Instagram, it may only be exposed to 10% of your audience. This could mean that it gauges the interest of your audience to determine whether or not it should be shown to the rest of your followers. If your brand new post gets enough engagement right off the bat, it would then be released and shown to the remaining 90%. So if you’ve been wondering why one post gets 1/10 of the engagement of another post, this could be why.
- Last year people started forming “pods“. These pods are groups of people who have agreed to boost engagement for the group by liking and commenting when a member of the group announces that they have a new post. Well, guess what? This might not be a loophole. This could actually be one of the reasons so many people were getting shadowbanned.
- Business Accounts: If you’re promoting your business in any way and represent yourself as such, rumor has it that the best thing you can do now to ensure your work is seen is to switch over to a business account if you’re not already on one. This is another rumor from people are “in the loop” on Instagram’s new algorithm game. The plus is that with a business account, you will also be able to check additional stats, which can be very helpful when determining your audience’s prime times.
Source: Peggy Dean, https://www.thepigeonletters.com/single-post/2018/01/14/New-Instagram-Algorithm-Changes-in-January-2018
Here are a few other tips on how to increase your engagement:
- Know when your audience is most active and post during active hours
- Maximize your use of Instagram Stories
- Skip joining comment pods to prevent from being shadow-banned
- Write comments that are four words or more
- Switch up your hashtags
- Start following hashtags
- Tag locations
- Tag other bloggers or businesses to spur engagement
- Use Instagram Live Videos
- Include a link in your profile and drive your audience to your website
- Invest in quality content such as photos and videos
- Give promos and freebies
- Hold an Instagram contest
- Use engaging captions with call-to-action
- Take advantage of current trends
With these quick tips in mind, you can start implementing them one by one to improve your engagement game. Remember, Instagram loves and rewards those who use its features, so keep yourself updated on all the new features Instagram will roll out in the coming months.
