4 Strategies to Increase Your Instagram Engagement
If your goal is to monetize your Instagram, one of the most important metrics is engagement rate. Engagement rate is a measurement of how involved your audience is with your content. A high engagement rate is valuable to brands because it means more of people will see ad posts and indicates a level of trust with your audience.
How exactly do you calculate engagement rate? The widely accepted method is to divide the number of likes, or likes and comments, by the number of followers you have, then multiple the number by 100 to convert it to a percentage.
I prefer a more recent method that divides the number of post interactions ( likes and comments, but feel free to include shares and saves as well!) by the total number of impressions the post received, then multiply it by 100 to convert the number to a percentage. The reasoning behind this method is that Instagram does not show your posts to all of your followers, so a more accurate engagement rate uses your impressions in the calculate instead.
No matter which calculation you receive, you can calculate this for individual posts or for your most recent 12 posts, your posts for the last 30 days, etc. collectively.
Ultimately, social media is social, so building genuine relationships is the key to improving your engagement rate. However, there are a few strategies that can help improve your Instagram engagement rate:
1. Post vertical photos in a 4:5 crop ratio.
The 4:5 crop is often frustratingly referred to as the “Instagram crop.” I’ll admit, it is not the most flattering crop ratio. But regardless of our artistic opinions, it is the Instagram crop! I recommend cropping an Instagram version of your photo in this ratio while editing so you don’t have to make any crop decisions when you post.
Why vertical? This is simple visual psychology: vertical photos take up more space in the feed. When scrolling the feed, a vertical photo and caption takes up far more space, often a person’s entire feed.
Because vertical photos are not visually competing with other’s posts, vertical photos will generally perform better and receive higher engagement.
2. Write longer captions.
Try writing longer captions occasionally! Make sure you aren’t writing a bunch of nonsense – only write longer captions if you can do so without sacrificing the value and quality of the content you are sharing. But if you are able to share longer, valuable captions, your posts will perform better.
Longer captions take longer to read, meaning people spend more time on your post. If there’s one thing to know about Instagram and other social media apps, its that their goal is to keep users on the app. If your content keeps users engaged for longer, it signals to the algorithm that your post is accomplishing Instagram’s goal – meaning your content will be pushed out to more users and perform better over time.
3. Post carousels.
Again, think about Instagram’s goal: keep people on the app longer and reward content that accomplishes that goal. Engaging carousels that encourage users to keep swiping through the panels take users more time to consume, keeping them on the app longer.
Again, do not post carousels without purpose. The most important factor in the success of any post is whether the content resonates with your audience. But if a carousel will enhance the content of your post, definitely go for it! Perhaps you have a series of related photos or informational graphics that will keep your audience swiping through?
4. Plan your content ahead of time.
Content planning is easier said than done, but if it is sustainable for you, it is a great strategy for improving the value of your content, which will increase your overall engagement rate.
Content planning is beneficial for many reasons: it helps you build a cohesive feed, reduces stress for days when you don’t have any caption inspiration, and provides you with more time to edit your captions and writing to improve their value.
I like to write a bunch of caption drafts in. A Word doc when I am feeling inspired and then go through later to edit and optimize the captions for Instagram. Sometimes I plan as much as 2-3 weeks of content in advance, but usually only a few days’ worth.
But don’t forget, content is king! Content strategies will only improve the performance of your content if your content is already engaging. If your content isn’t resonating with others, no amount of strategy will improve your engagement rate. Focus on strengthening your content, then add in strategy to your social media game plan.
And please remember, the most important thing is that you enjoy your time on social media. Monetizing and improving engagement rate is not everyone’s Instagram goal and THAT. IS. OK. While these strategies will improve your engagement rate, please ensure that your social media strategy is sustainable for you!
