Do you want to create more engagement with your Instagram followers? Here are some tips to get you started.

Photo by Monica HenriquezWith so many people noticing a drop in their overall reach, engagement on Instagram has become more important than ever. From authentic comments to engaging captions, boosting your engagement is a great way to also boost your posts in the algorithm. According to Brand Watch, engagement on Instagram is nearly 10x higher than Facebook and 54x higher than Pinterest. Here are some of our best tips to create more engagement on your Instagram:

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How To Create More Engagement With Your Instagram Followers

Use Instagram Stories Consistently

Since Instagram is no longer chronological, it’s become increasingly difficult to stay at the top of people’s feeds. One feature that has yet to be affected by this is Instagram Stories – which are continuously updated by posting time.

Related: How To Get More Likes on Instagram

When you post to your Stories consistently throughout the day, your videos will stay toward the front of the story feed for people to view and interact with. While you don’t want to go overboard with a 400-second story, we recommend posting an average of 4-6 stories throughout the day.

You can also boost engagement by utilizing the poll feature, adding a hashtag or tagging your story location.

Respond to Comments Quickly

Responding to comments is one of the quickest and easiest ways to increase your engagement. What better way to interact with your followers than to engage with them directly? This also helps you get to know your followers and have a conversation with them.

Make sure your comments are more personal by using their first name and complimenting them on something you saw on their own feeds too! We recommend responding to comments within the first hour. A quick response is also believed to help bump your post up in the algorithm, helping deliver your content to a wider audience.

Find Your Best Time to Post

If you want to create more engagement, you’re going to want to post when most of your followers are actually on the app. This gives you the chance to receive the most likes and comments possible, hopefully in a short amount of time. Instagram Insights gives us a quick glance by telling you when your followers are most active both by day and by the hour.

Some good general rules are to also post for your own timezone and during after-work hours when people are most likely to be on their phones. The ideal time to post can vary from each account.

For example, even if you manage three different Instagram accounts, your best time to post is likely different for each one.

Related: 4 Reasons Your Personal Brand is Falling Flat

Caption Game Strong

Crafting the perfect Instagram caption takes practice. Sometimes a quick caption with only two words and emoji can do the trick, but it won’t create much engagement with your followers.

Try writing out your caption as if you’re talking directly to your audience – tell them a story or encourage a discussion. One of the most important aspects of a perfect caption? Include a call to action! This can be anything from asking a question or driving traffic to the link in your bio.

Giving your followers a direct action improves the chances of them engaging back with you while also helping drive traffic at the same time.

Related: 8 Ways To Engage With Your Audience on Instagram Stories

Host a Giveaway

Giveaways and contests are some of the tried and true ways to garner engagement on your Instagram. Nearly everyone can find a great way to host their own giveaway. For example, if you’re a photographer, you can give away a print of one of your favorite photos.

Some of the easiest ways to create your own giveaway are to ask your followers to like and tag a few friends in your comments. You can even ask people to post photos using your own custom giveaway hashtag and choose a winner from that group of photos.

We recommend teaming up with another creative or brand to double your exposure and grow your audience further. While you might lose some of those followers once the giveaway ends, chances are a good chunk of them will stick around and continue engaging if they like your content.

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What tactics are you using to help boost your engagement on Instagram? Connect with us at @h_collective