You are or aspire to be an influencer, you want your work to be appreciated and noticed, you want a large follower base and you want more likes on your Instagram posts. For that, you click pictures every day and diligently post them with a large number of hashtags but the end result is a far cry from what you imagined it to be. Your follower count does not budge (you probably also lose a few everyday), the number of likes on your post is minimal and there is hardly any engagement. What happens next? You get depressed and wonder where you are going wrong. Familiar scenario? Anyone who is on Instagram has or is going through this phase (unless of course that person is a celebrity). I have gone through it and while I definitely do not count myself to be anywhere close to being a popular Instagrammer/influencer (I have 5160 organic followers as of today with around 30-40 following everyday. The number would have been around 8k but I’ve blocked a huge number of fake accounts and male followers!), certain tips and tricks have helped me to reach that number and I thought I’ll share those tips with you. I have written the post from the point of view of a blogger/influencer but these tips should work for everyone. And if I may add, I have not spent a single paisa to get my followers 🙂
So how do you increase engagement (likes and comments) on your posts? Before employing any strategy, the first step is to take a good look at your Instagram content. Would you like the pictures and comment on them if they were on someone else’s profile? If your answer is no then you need to get the basics right. Instagram is a visual medium and people will only engage with images that appeal to them visually. Keep in mind always – there is no substitute for posting good quality, creative images that can engage your audience.
We got the most important thing sorted so now let’s talk about ten simple tips that can help to get you an engaging audience. These tips have worked for me and I think they will help you out too.
Mix your content – Would you like to follow someone whose feed consists of only pouting selfies taken at various angles? I’ve seen quite a few beauty bloggers doing this and honestly, it completely turns me off. I don’t really want to see five pictures of your face in one day. I follow you so that I get an interesting feed. If what you offer is monotonous, I will just click Unfollow and move on. That’s why it is so important to mix up your content. Not saying that you should not post selfies but space them out. Put up other pictures as well. Offer a glimpse into your life, put up candid pics, travel pics, pet pics, food pics, if you are going to an event/party, post pics of that. Connect with your audience and offer them variety in what they see.
Post good quality pictures – By good quality, I don’t mean uploading pictures taken by a DSLR (although these do get more engagement). By good quality, I mean uploading pictures that are again, visually appealing. Just don’t point, shoot and upload. Think through what and how you want to capture images and post them. Please do not upload dark and blurry pictures. Post clear pictures and use natural lighting as much as possible. Avoid putting up phone pictures taken with the flash on. Avoid busy backgrounds if you want to focus on a particular object and use interesting perspectives. You can also put up a collage if you want to post several related shots together. For example, instead of putting up individual images of dishes that were part of your meal, make a collage. Some good photo editing apps are Fotor, Lightroom, VSCOcam, InstaCollage, Picstitch etc
Follow, Like and Comment on Other’s Photos – If you don’t follow other accounts or like and comment on other’s posts, then don’t expect other’s to do the same on yours. It is as simple as that. I’ve heard a lot of bloggers complaining that people don’t like their pictures. Do you like theirs? Remember, this is the most natural way to gain more followers.
Use interesting captions and involve your followers – Try telling a story through your image and caption. Ask for some kind of engagement from your followers for example “Let me know what you think in your comments” or “Share with me your eye makeup looks using my hashtag” etc.
Use popular hashtags – Use hashtags like #cute, #FF (Follow Friday), #instafollow, #l4l (Like for like), #tagforlikes, #followback, #instalike, #love, #instagood, #tbt, #photooftheday, #followme #likeforlike, #blogger #bblogger. Don’t use too many hashtags in a single post though. It looks extremely cluttered and kinda desperate!
Promote your Instagram account – Regularly promote your Instagram account on your other social media accounts, add it to your email signature, business card, media kit, connect your account with your contact list and facebook friend list . Another easy way to promote is to host a contest on Instagram. Ask people to like, tag and repost the contest image. This will get you more followers.
Post regularly but not too often – To keep your followers engaged, try and post atleast one picture everyday. I personally think that at a max, two per day is a good number. More than that will be an overkill for your followers unless you are live posting from an event. Don’t clog up your followers’ news feed because that will lead to many of them clicking Unfollow.
Complete your bio – Make your bio interesting so that it catches attention and people follow you. Also include a link back to your blog and add in details of your other social media accounts. This will also increase your blog traffic and get you followers.
Limit the use of filters – Research says that #nofilter images get more engagement so try and limit the use of filters. Research also says that amongst all the Instagram filters, Willow and Mayfair get the most engagement. I personally prefer Valencia.
Tag the right people – If you are a blogger/influencer and want to get the attention of brands, tag them in your posts. For example, if you’ve just posted an image of your new lipstick, tag the brand in your image. That way you can catch their attention and if they like your post, they might share from their account. This will not only lead to new followers but also a chance at working with the brand if they like your work.
Hopefully this post was useful and I’d love to get your feedback. Do share in the comments below and also let me know your best tip for increasing Instagram followers? And follow @poutpretty too 😀
Sonali says
Great post Dolon 🙂 this is a very.helpful article. I agree on the pont that we.need yo engage with other people so that they engage with.our account.
Sonali recently posted…The Nature’s Co.: Women’s Day Offer – FLAT 50% off – Press Release
Dolon says
Thank you Sonali for finding the post useful 🙂
Sonali Saxena says
I will follow d suggestions
Request u to pls sugfest d same fr twitter too
Dolon says
Thanks Sonali and I hope the tips work for you. Will post about Twitter soon 🙂