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Engaging Instagram Content

How to Create Engaging Instagram Content

VWB Blog 2 years ago 28

Are you looking to create more engaging Instagram content for your brand? Instagram is one of the most influential social media platforms. It is the world’s fourth most popular social media platform, and over 1 billion people use the app each month.

While Instagram can certainly feel overwhelming, there are plenty of simple tricks you can employ to better engage your followers. Read this guide to learn how to create engaging Instagram content.

Create a Content Calendar

While some good ideas come to you on a whim, most good ideas require some planning and strategizing to implement. If you’re thinking of all of your Instagram posts on the cuff, you will have a harder time engaging your followers, as your content will likely come across as rushed and incomplete.

Creating a content calendar is the best way to ensure your Instagram account is cohesive and tells your brand’s story. Ideally, you should have content planned out for the next month or so.

By creating a content calendar, you can ensure that your posts have variety. For example, you can plan three “spotlight” posts per month that feature customers engaging with your product or service. You may also want to include one promotional post per month, a few product explainer posts, and possibly a post about community engagement.

Additionally, we recommend categorizing your posts as “timely” or “evergreen.” Timely posts need to be posted within a certain window, whereas evergreen posts work any time of the year.

Also, keep in mind that there are tools that allow you to schedule your posts, so you never have to worry about missing one. Tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite allow you to schedule posts down to the exact minute weeks ahead of time.

Track Your Analytics

One of the great things about Instagram is that it comes with a built-in analytics tool that allows you to see how your posts are performing.

Going beyond how many “likes” a post gets, the analytics tool tells you which posts are performing the best, how many times a post has been shared or saved, and more. By checking out the analytics tool, you can figure out how to improve upon your future posts.

Use High-Quality Photos

Ever hours trying to figure out the perfect quippy caption for your Instagram, only for that post to get just a few likes? If this has happened to you before, it’s likely because you didn’t pair your genius with a high-quality photo.

Instagram is a very visual social media platform, and humans are very visual creatures. Therefore, if you’re using low-quality photos for your Instagram posts, you’re going to struggle with engagement.

But don’t sweat it if you don’t have fancy photography equipment. There are many cheap (and in some cases, free) photo editing apps that help you turn a bland smartphone pic into a high-quality image.

Post Regularly

If you go dark on Instagram for a month or even a week, your engagement is going to drop. To remain at the top of your audience’s mind (and feeds), you need to establish a posting cadence.

Ideally, you should post to your main feed at least a few times a week. However, remember that quality is always more important than quantity, so you shouldn’t just post for the sake of it. As discussed above, creating a content calendar will ensure that you’re posting quality material that’s entertaining and informative.

In conjunction with posts on your main feed, we also suggest adding stories as often as possible. Instagram stories can help people learn about your brand in a more interactive, personal way.

Here are some great ideas for Instagram stories:

  • Show a tour of your company headquarters
  • Post a video of your product being used by a customer or brand ambassador
  • Post a story explaining your company’s values and philanthropic initiatives
  • Post employee spotlight stories, where you highlight a team member who is doing well

And, if for some reason you can’t post for a few days or more, let your followers know so they don’t think you’re ghosting them! You can also click here to get likes while you’re away.

Interact With Your Followers

It’s not enough to simply post photos and captions. Make sure you’re interacting with followers in your comments and DMs. While you certainly can’t respond to every comment, make a habit of liking, pinning, and responding to a few comments.

If someone posts a complaint about your company in the comments section, direct them to the appropriate customer service channel. Responding to complaints will help you build trust with your followers.

It can also be helpful to pose a question under your post, as this can boost engagement. For example, if you run a clothing company, you can post a slideshow of a few different outfits. Then, ask your followers to respond in the comments section with which outfit they like best.

Use and Follow Hashtags

Hashtags are a great way to attract more followers to your page. Recently, Instagram updated its app to allow users to follow hashtags. This means you can follow anything from #OOTD to #vanlife to #coffee.

Throwing in some applicable hashtags at the end of each post is an easy way to reach a wider audience. We also recommend following hashtags related to your brand so you can find inspiration for future posts.

Instagram Content: Time to Up Your Game

Now that you’ve read this guide on Instagram content, it’s time to kick your posting game up a notch. With the above tips, you should see more followers, likes, and shares.

Be sure to check back in with our site for more Instagram and social media tips!

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