Let’s talk engagement! It’s no secret there’s millions of businesses on Instagram competing for the A word…Attention.

The platform is home to a sea of content and it is hard to stand out in the 95 million photos and videos that are shared Every. Single. Day.

Instagram basically gives businesses a channel to be able to speak directly to their audience. It does not need to be all work and no play. 

The business-only paradigm of Instagram went to the grave a few years ago and has since heavily shifted towards a more personal approach.

Your audience wants to feel as though they are part of the conversation so you need to produce content that invites genuine conversation with your followers.

One of the best ways to create genuine conversation is by taking your followers behind the scenes. It’s so simple as it’s basically sharing what you’re doing anyway.

Types of ‘BTS’ content:

  • Photos of you (don’t be shy)
  • Photos of your employees
  • Tour of your work space
  • What you ate for lunch
  • Meetings (on the way, during, after)

This type of content doesn’t need to leave a mark on the aesthetic of your profile and can instead be left for the Instagram Stories and converted into highlights.

Calls to action are also very important and can be done through many types of posts.

You could share an industry statistic and provide an opportunity for your followers to engage with the post in a meaningful way through a question like “Does this sound like you?”

Another way to create meaningful calls to action is through sneak peeks.

By letting people in on a secret you’re creating anticipation and building momentum before introducing something new like a project, product or service. Your call to action here would be asking followers to guess and comment their thoughts.

This organic engagement also works well when asking people to share their favourite part of the day or their favourite meal . For example, you could do this on a business related post of your coffee where followers would be invited to share their coffee preferences also.

Some more engaging content tips:

  • Share a short video

Video content gets the most engagement on Instagram. There are many ways to incorporate videos. You could share instructional videos, tips, reviews and personal thank yous.

  • Share a quote

Followers love quotes, poems and proverbs and these are often engaged with if they resonate with the follower. They also help reinforce business or personal values and are highly shareable. Often, people share a quote from a business to their own social media if the quote resonates with them.

  • Feature someone else

You can highlight other Instagrammers and share the love to also create engaging content. By tagging other businesses (perhaps where you got your coffee from) and sharing, you’re creating a lasting connection with your audience and once again taking them inside your daily business life.

  • User-generated content

THIS IS A MUST! Your followers and customers will love the opportunity to be featured on your page or story. By sharing the content they’ve basically handed to you, you’re sharing the love and showing you care about the community. You can also invite people to the conversation by having your own hashtag and getting followers to tag you in their pictures for the chance to be featured/reposted.

The main thing with Instagram engagement is keeping it genuine. The Instagram community will spot a fake interaction, bot-like engagement and ‘doing it because I have to’ posts from a mile a way.

Create meaningful connections and your business will thank you for it later. 

Not sure where to start when it comes to content creation and engagement on your Instagram? Feel free to get in touch with us.