One Thing That will Increase Your Instagram Engagement Today

When I review Instagram Accounts for my clients, the main question everyone has is: how do I get more likes and comments? How do I increase Instagram engagement?

It’s simple!!

You guys know that you need to write a great caption to jump-start the conversation on your post. But a lot of people are writing great captions but forgetting one simple thing:

Conversation is a two-way street.

One-sided convos don’t work friends! What happens when you try to start a convo and the other person either responds with a one-word answer or doesn’t answer at all? You feel some type of way right? And then you lose interest, and THEN you stop trying to engage at all because..what ‘s the point?

Remember your followers/potential followers are REAL people. So keep the conversation going and they will keep coming back.

The key to an engaged Instagram community is making them feel like they matter and that their opinions and thoughts matter.

So how do you do this?

ANSWER THE COMMENTS.

I don’t know how many times and ways I can state this simple fact. Unless you are someone like Beyonce, you need to respond to everyone who takes the time to comment on your posts. Not only is it simple courtesy, it is also good community relations.

Even if you get an emoji or an ” Awesome”, respond to it because every comment counts, including yours. Also, most people are more comfortable leaving a comment when they see others already have, so answer the comments!!!

Don’t know what to say? Here are a few ideas:

• If they answered a question you asked in your caption, continue the convo by starting your next comment with How or When or Why? Basically, ask them another question.
• Respond back with a comment about them ( ie by the way, I love your profile photo, did you ever read the book you said you were in the last post? Etc)
• Share a funny story about what you posted. or something that happened after you posted.
• Say thank you and then tell them more about the post. It doesn’t have to be long.

One more thing:

When I give this advice, I have a lot of people push back with: I don’t have time to do all of this.

But…you have time to watch that cat video or answer that meme about which food you would eliminate, or watch endless Instagram Stories…

Ask yourself, am I really invested in finding ways to increase Instagram engagement? Do you want to build an engaged community or not?

I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again, the era of post it and they will come is over. And unless you have a big account, you are not automatically going to get comments and engagement( unless you are buying that engagement and that’s another story for another day).

You have to WORK FOR IT. Be the behavior you want to see. USE Instagram like a user and not just like a business.

So once again, that one thing you can do to increase Instagram engagement? Engage!

It’s just that simple.

If you are tired of spinning your wheels when it comes to Instagram and want a personalized plan to help you grow your community, let me help you!  Get a plan today to help you increase Instagram engagement and build an authentic Instagram community! Click HERE to learn more!