Over the last few months, Instagram engagement has experienced a decline. If you’ve experienced this, just know you’re not alone. This is a great opportunity to rethink your posting strategy on Instagram to improve your engagement! Here are some tactics we recommend:
1. Post high-quality photos and videos
It may seem somewhat obvious, but the higher quality your photos are, the more likely you are to get more engagement. High-quality photos and videos stand out. Typically, the brighter the photos are, the better. You want to post photos that will encourage people to stop mid-scroll. This could also mean using unique filters to highlight your photos as well. Always ask yourself, “Would this make me stop and look?”
2. Use local hashtags
The hashtag game can be very tricky. Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags, and we’re of the opinion that you should use all that space, because, why not? However, you don’t want to overpopulate your hashtag space by using hashtags that 30 million other people have used. Stick with as many local hashtags as you can, as well as smaller hashtags that aren’t as popular, but still have some traction. Stuck on which hashtags to use? Let’s say you’re posting a photo of restaurant food in San Francisco. You can start by looking up the hashtag #sffoodie. Once you do that, you’ll find other relevant hashtags that could amplify your post, such as #sffood, #infatuationsf, #bayareaeats, etc.
3. Use popular hashtags minimally and strategically
Now of course, that doesn’t mean you SHOULDN’T ever use popular hashtags, because you never know when you might show up in the hashtag feed of one of those popular hashtags! Just make sure you use them strategically and aren’t taking up all of your hashtag real estate on highly popular hashtags.
4. Use the location tag
You really shouldn’t ever post a photo without using the location tag. You can always mix up the location tag to get eyes in front of other audiences, but it’s important to use it every time. For example, you can tag the restaurant in San Francisco itself, or you can also tag San Francisco. You can go even more broad and say Bay Area if you want, as well. However, even if you use a specific location tag, you may end up in one of the broader location feeds!
5. Post multiple photos and videos in a carousel
One of the great things about making carousel posts is that it will keep coming up in a user’s feed if they haven’t engaged with it yet. If someone scrolls past your first photo or video from your carousel without engaging with it, there’s a possibility your post will show up in their feed again, but this time showing a different post from the carousel. It will keep cycling through until the person engages with the post, or if Instagram decides your post is no longer relevant. This gives you a better chance of getting those coveted hearts!
6. Share your post to Instagram Stories
We will write an entirely different article about best practices for Instagram Stories, but for the sake of this post, we’ll just say that you should almost always share a new feed post on your Instagram Stories. When you do that, you double your chances of your post being seen and liked, because you can use the same location tag and hashtags in your Instagram Stories. This means your post can not only show up on the feed for that location or those hashtags, but also in the Instagram Story. Use fun stickers like “tap here” or an arrow to entice people to click on your post, and then ultimately engage with it.
7. Tag influential accounts
It’s not ideal when people spam dozens of influential accounts on their page, but when done strategically, this could be a very useful way to get more likes and get in front of more people. For example, let’s say a new restaurant in San Francisco just released a hot new menu item that’s definitely Instagram-worthy. In the photo, it would be a good idea to tag accounts like @eatersf or @sfchronicle_food or even local foodie influencers. DO NOT do this every time you post, because then you could get blocked for spamming, but if you do this during times of big announcements or events, it could lead to more likes.
8. Like and comment on other user’s photos
Social media is about being SOCIAL, and that’s an important thing to remember. Make sure you’re liking and commenting on other posts as well. Scroll through your feed and like and comment on posts from people you’re following. Look up photos in the hashtags that you use the most and like and comment on those, too. You can follow Gary Vee’s $1.80 rule to keep yourself organized when going through your own engagement.
9. Post during popular times
When we say post during popular times, we don’t mean go and Google “most popular time to post on Instagram.” Head into your settings in your Instagram account and see which days and times are most popular to post. If your audience isn’t on Instagram on Sundays at 6 a.m., don’t post during that time. However, if they are online Thursdays around noon, post around then and give yourself a 15-minute buffer to post.
10. Capitalize on trending or relevant topics/events
Some of the most popular posts we’ve made for our clients were around popular topics or events that were happening. Remember when Pokémon Go first came out? We turned it into a challenge for one of our clients and it became some of the most popular posts we made. People are always looking at the hashtags or location tags when things are happening, so any time you can capitalize on that (in a way that is fun and authentic to your brand) do it!