Ways To Engage With Your Instagram Followers To Help Increase The Popularity Of Your Startup

In recent years, the world has seen several startups become successful. While a lot of their success is down to the quality of the products and services they offer, some of it is also due to their marketing efforts on social media platforms like Instagram.

Marketing strategies on Instagram don’t just consist of promotional efforts but also efforts to engage with followers. This article will take you through all the top Instagram engagement tips to help your startup get more Instagram followers. On a side note, if you want quick and easy growth, you can always buy Instagram followers. But first, let’s understand what engagement is on Instagram and why it matters.

What does Instagram engagement mean and why is it important?

Instagram engagement can be defined as the interaction between your target audience and your content on Instagram. There’s a variety of metrics offered by Instagram, which allow businesses to measure their engagement, such as:

• Shares
• Comments
• Followers
• Saves
• Click-throughs
• DMs
• Branded hashtags
• Mentions (both tagged and untagged)

These metrics offer insights into how your target audience interacts with your content. Simply put, when the numbers are high, it proves that your audience is genuinely interested in your content and actively engaging with it, and not just seeing it.

Instagram’s algorithm also boosts pages that have high engagement. So, if you want your startup’s Instagram page to be viewed by more people, you’ve got to start paying attention to the engagement aspect.

Now that you know what Instagram engagement means and its importance, let’s get into some of the ways you can engage with your Instagram followers to increase your startup’s popularity.

1. Know who you’re creating content for

Before you start creating and posting content on Instagram, it’s essential to know your target audience. You can get to learn more about your target audience’s demographics by conducting audience research. This is an elaborate process that involves:

• Compiling data on existing social media audience and customers
• Using social listening for finding conversations related to your brand
• Researching the social channels used by your target audience
• Checking out your competitors
• Understanding what your audience wants from your Instagram page

2. Be authentic while engaging

There was once a time when businesses relied on slick marketing campaigns devoid of authenticity. Those days are long gone. Nowadays, if you want to see your startup be more prevalent on Instagram, you’ve got to be authentic.

Being authentic on Instagram means sharing content that offers your target audience glimpses into the real people who make your startup tick. For instance, behind-the-scenes photos and videos of your team working will allow audiences to trust your brand. Remember, honesty is more appreciated than perfection.

3. Write captions and use hashtags to bring your brand’s personality to the fore

Captions and hashtags play crucial roles in bringing out your brand’s personality before your target audience on Instagram. So, make sure you use them well. Instagram allows users to compose captions 2,200 characters long, which is more than what you need for telling captivating stories. Simply put, the more compelling your stories are, the more likely it is for your Instagram followers to comment on your posts.

You can also include a maximum of 30 hashtags for each post. Hashtags play a vital role on Instagram, as they allow pages and relevant content to be found by audiences. However, remember not to cram all your posts with hashtags. Ideally, you should use 3 – 5 hashtags per post. Also, it’s essential to use relevant hashtags, as irrelevant hashtags might lead to users reporting your content.

4. Videos bring more engagement than photos

When Instagram first emerged, it was predominantly a photo-sharing app. However, as time has passed, it has evolved into something more. Nowadays, Instagram users prefer engaging with video content more than images. So, make it a point to post videos frequently.

If you’re worried about imperfections in your videos, don’t be! A little bit of imperfection will bring out the authenticity of your brand to the fore. There’s a wide variety of video editing tools out there that you can use to add that extra polish to your videos as well. For instance, you could add music to your videos and combine different scenes.

5. Use the Carousels feature

Instagram’s Carousels feature allows users to post multiple images within a single post. If you want your photo-based posts to be eye-catching, there’s nothing better than the Carousels feature. The feature also generates a lot of user engagement (on average, more than three times the engagement generated by regular posts).

There’s also a lot of help available online, which will guide you to creating Carousels posts for greater user engagement. You can also pick from free templates that make it easy to develop Carousels posts if you’re a beginner. So, make the most of all the resources out there to maximize user engagement for your startup’s Instagram page.

6. High-quality images are mandatory

Even though videos and Carousels posts generate more user engagement than regular photo-based posts, it doesn’t mean that you won’t pay any attention to the latter. Remember, the old-school photo-based post is still the simplest to compose and access, and whatever engagement it generates, it’ll contribute to the overall numbers.

However, you can’t expect users to engage with a post that consists of a low-quality image. So, before uploading a photo on Instagram, ensure that it’s a high-quality one. You can even use Insta’s built-in filters or a third-party photo-editing application to embellish those photos before you post them.

7. Generate real-time user engagement with Instagram Live

Over the last 2 – 3 years, live videos have become incredibly popular. This has led to all major social media platforms adding live video features, allowing users to connect to their audiences in real-time. The best thing about live videos is that they’re very effective in getting more intimate with audiences.

Instagram has recently added a Live Shopping feature, allowing businesses to sell their products and host live videos. Feel free to welcome all the viewers to your live videos by their names. This will lead to a greater emotional connection between you and your Instagram followers.

8. Share user-generated content

Social media platforms allow followers on Instagram and startups to engage in conversations, not just through words. For instance, if a user tags your brand in a post, you can post that content as a story—the trend of sharing user-generated content results in unique ways for brands to connect with their audiences.

Your audience will appreciate that you’re keen to share their content, which will increase the chances of them sharing yours. New audiences will also notice how you share your audience’s content, encouraging them to follow your startup.

9. Be responsive to DMs and comments

However, just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean you should skip it. Not responding to your followers’ messages can make them feel like you don’t care about them. As a result, they may unfollow your Instagram page.

Ideally, it would help if you spared a few hours each week for responding to all the comments and DMs. You don’t have to be overelaborate in your responses. Simply saying ‘thanks’ to an appreciative comment is sometimes all a follower wants to hear from you.

10. Stick to strategic posting times

So you just composed a fascinating post, and I can’t wait to publish it. However, you received a lukewarm response from your Instagram followers after publishing it. What could the reason be?

In all likelihood, you published the post at a time when the majority of your target audience was asleep. That’s why posting at strategic times is vital for ensuring that your posts are visible to your audiences. After all, if your followers can’t see your posts, there’s no real chance for them to engage with your content.

11. Include calls-to-action across every post

No matter what kind of post you share, it’s essential that you include calls to action across all of them. Sure, some of your followers may engage with your posts irrespective of whether or not you have CTAs. However, many will need a nudge to interact with your posts.

Also, make sure that the calls to action reflect your brand’s personality. Simply put, get creative, and find new ways of encouraging your followers to do what you want and need them to do.

Conclusion

So that’s almost it for this Instagram and startups post. Before we sign off, we’d like to tell you about the services of MrInsta. At MrInsta, you can buy Instagram likes to grow your startup’s Instagram page rapidly. MrInsta also offers likes and comments to boost engagement stats.

The best thing about MrInsta is that it’s not a bot-driven tool. You’ll get real followers that will help your page grow organically. So, grow your Instagram page with MrInsta.