7 Tips for Creating More Engagement With Your Posts

Instagram is still the most prominent visual social media platform in the world. As of 2024, the social media giant has more than 2.4 billion users, and its focus remains on photo and video content.

Because Instagram is so popular, global businesses use it to drive brand awareness, increase sales, and engage with their audience. Relatable stories and compelling reels are some of the most popular methods these businesses use to grow their engagement.

If you’re trying to engage with your audience on Instagram, do what the big companies do and follow these foolproof steps:

1. Ensure Your Posts Are Relevant and Timely

Actress Jenna Ortega is a big deal in 2023 because of her successful Netflix series, Wednesday. The Adidas Women brand capitalized on this when it started a campaign on Instagram featuring Ortega. By doing this, the brand ensured its campaign posts were relevant and timely.

The posts were relevant because of the massive public interest in Ortega, which earned Adidas Women nearly 4 million engagements. This Adidas brand focuses on women, while Ortega advocates for women’s rights. It was a partnership waiting to burst onto the Instagram scene.

And these posts were timely because the campaign saw the light right after it was announced that Ortega was the No. 1 choice for the sequel to Beetlejuice.

Adidas Women increased engagement on its Instagram page by leveraging Ortega’s natural influencer power.

2. Be Consistent

Once you experience successful engagement with a once-off campaign, don’t let it slip through your fingers again. Build on the success by consistently posting relevant content. You could even copy your best-performing posts for future engagement. For instance, if you notice that your audience responds best to chaotic stories with a funny conclusion, use that to your advantage.

If your audience prefers reels with pop music in the background, create more music reels. Of course, it all depends on what you’re trying to promote, but music is generally a good idea.

3. Make the Most of Reels

Instagram reels are one of the most effective ways to draw new visitors to your page. Remember the following when you’re trying out the different reel features for your next post:

• Reels won’t work unless you use them to provide valuable information. For instance, if you own a beauty salon, use reels to explain the benefits of treatments. Focus on new trends, and highlight what your audience will gain from using them.

• If you’re using audio in your reels, choose original audio videos with an existing view rate of more than 1 million.

• Don’t go overboard with the reels. Ensure that each one is under 8 seconds to keep your audience interested.

• Don’t forget about hashtags. Hashtags may seem outdated in 2024, but they offer immeasurable value when used correctly. When you add targeted hashtags to your reels, try to stick to two or three at a time. Often, you’ll get a better response if you brand a hashtag and include it in all reels linked to your brand.

4. Use Story Stickers

Story stickers made a splash on Instagram when they debuted. Stickers are graphics that you can use in your videos or photographs. There are several types of stickers, including clickable ones that you can add to the top of your post (not regular Instagram posts).

Instagram story stickers create interest in brand stories, and they can even help increase sales when used properly. The most popular sticker is the question sticker, which is often used in AMA-type posts. You can add this sticker to a particular post to allow your audience to vote on the questions you submit or let users add questions they want you to answer.

Other stickers that drive engagement include quiz stickers and gift card stickers. If your audience loves polls and quizzes, you can use a quiz sticker to direct them to a page where they can complete them.

You can use a variety of stickers and link them to different pages. If you have an online booking or order system, an animated sticker can drive traffic to it.

5. Create Informative Carousels

Along with reels and Instagram stories, carousels are excellent for driving engagement. A carousel allows you to add up to 10 images in one post. The average successful carousel can achieve an engagement rate of nearly 2%.

Make use of all the image slots if you decide to include carousels in your Instagram campaign. Whether you choose photos or videos, your carousel will perform better if you have 10 slides.

Be creative with your carousels by following these steps:

• Choose an unforgettable opening image. If your first photo or video is dull, your audience won’t bother swiping through the rest of the carousel.

• Use carousels to create how-to tutorials or a before-and-after effect.

• Link your carousel to your Instagram shop if you have one.

• Don’t forget to add a CTA to the last image or video.

6. Don’t Neglect Captions

Don’t forget to add captions, even if you’re loading an ordinary text-and-image post to your page.

Even better, create a caption that asks a question. It doesn’t have to be a philosophical question. The best captions simply ask about users’ favorite foods or vacation spots.

If you’re in the food industry, you could ask your audience about their favorite takeout food. Or healthy food, depending on which way your brand leans.

Asking questions is a proven method to improve engagement on Instagram and several other social media platforms.

7. Build Engagement Using Your Website

Don’t orphan your content on the Instagram platform. Instead, build links to it by adding an Instagram widget to your website. WordPress, in particular, makes it easy to embed a widget on your homepage where it will attract even more viewers.

In addition to driving engagement, the ease of use of a widget will help grow the number of followers on your Instagram page. It is a win-win situation because it will also increase the time users spend on your website.

Conclusion

Make the most of Instagram’s incredible features to drive engagement with your audience and increase the value of your brand. Higher engagement leads to prioritized content and an ongoing conversation with your valued customers.