The Engagement Game.
Wearing Princess Polly top and Aritzia biker shorts; purse and shoes from Zara.
It’s not just about posting pretty pictures and punny captions.
In the Instagram world, the actions of liking, commenting, and saving posts are incredibly important as they boost the profile and content of that account. If one’s post is popular enough, Instagram’s algorithm can push it to the “Explore” page where it can be discovered by many new accounts (and potentially gain many more likes, comment, and follows). In the post below, I’ve outlined my thoughts on using hashtags, likes, and commenting based on my personal experiences.
#Hashtagging
The hashtag game is very intricate one as it requires a certain amount of research, balance, and persistence. Once you have created your post, you must think about the content or theme and find hashtags that best relate to it. However, not just any old hashtag will do—you must find one that is popular enough but not too popular. For instance, you will be more likely to gain decent exposure from a hashtag with 30,000 posts as opposed to one with 200,000 posts; in the latter, your posts would be lost amidst the sea of other posts immediately and would be unlikely to receive any attention. For instance, if I was posting a style post, I would tag it #DailyHiveStyle (which is a Vancouver specific style tag with about 86,000 posts) as opposed to #Fashion (which currently has 770 MILLION posts). When hashtagging, your goal is to become a “Top” post for that hashtag—this means that people who view that hashtag (or even follow it) will see your post first and for a longer period of time.
As well, the number of tags is important: you are only permitted to post a maximum of 30 hashtags per post. However, after lots of experimentation, I have discovered that posting less than 30 hashtags is usually a more successful technique. Additionally, you cannot repeatedly post the same hashtags too many times in a row, or you will risk being “shadow-banned” by Instagram (which means your posts will be hidden from anyone who does not already follow you). Furthermore, such hashtags must actually relate to your post or you will also risk losing exposure. As you already can see, there are a million and one rules to follow on Instagram. To worsen things, these rules are never concrete; rather, they are an ever-changing labyrinth of regulations to navigate.
Overall, the key is to regularly rotate hashtags and research new tags that seem to be popular and fit within your branding or niche. To be practical, many bloggers save these groups of hashtags in their notes so that they can be easily accessed, copied, and pasted for later dates.
Liking
When Instagram first announced that it was experimenting with “taking away likes,” it took the blogging world (and world in general) by storm. To be clear, Instagram was not really taking away likes—it was merely stopping you from viewing the amount of likes on others’ posts. As well, you can still see your “like count” on your own posts. While Instagram claims that this change will help to promote quality content over a large “like” count, “likes” still remain an important factor in calculating your engagement rate (more on that later). Not surprisingly, there was a large debate over whether this was a positive or negative move for bloggers and entrepreneurs who heavily rely upon Instagram for their business promotions or a living. In my personal opinion, I think that this change was largely cosmetic in nature—brands still ask for your engagement rates and insights. Therefore, the need to obtain a large number of likes is still an important goal for bloggers.
Technically speaking, the first hour of posting is a crucial time for obtaining a decent number of likes as it determines whether or not the post will do well. Your post will only be visible on others’ feeds for a short period of time (usually within the first 24 hours or so). Following that, it will be harder and harder for your post to be made visible to both your followers or new accounts (unless you manage to do well on the Explore page or on a popular hashtag). Therefore, engaging with other posts by liking and commenting within the first hour of posting is very important as it can boost your own post’s popularity.
Commenting
While I have struggled for quite a long time with obtaining a decent amount of likes, I have been regularly asked about something I excel at—obtaining quality comments on my posts. At the moment, the most amount of comments I’ve received on a post stands at about 900+. Mind you—a good number of these comments are my responses to quality comments I have received. Nevertheless, I’ve found that this number exceeds the number received by many other bloggers within my follower bracket. While comments are my strong-point in the engagement game, they are also my curse— receiving and giving out too many comments within the same day has led me to be repeatedly blocked on Instagram (apparently, it appears like I am using a third party service to obtain and write so many). More on that later…
The key factor to receiving quality comments (and a good number of them) is that you get what you give. If you do not comment on others’ posts (or leave poor quality ones like “Love this” or, worse, a bunch of emojis), do not expect to receive many good comments in return. The general rule for commenting is that you write at least four words (which do not include emojis). As well, try to comment on something related to either the image or the caption—demonstrate that you actually took at least a few seconds to look or read their post. If you do this enough, your fellow bloggers receiving your comments will begin to notice. Many will reciprocate in turn and will give you great comments back. Do this frequently enough and you will start to build up a following of other bloggers who will immediately leave you a lovely comment as soon as they see your post.
Since comments require more time and effort than a simple like, they are also a prime way to obtain the attention of new followers and brands. When I am looking for new accounts with which to engage, I usually find them through other accounts that I already follow. Often, I look for accounts that leave thoughtful comments and I check out that profile. If I like that individual’s style and feed, I will proceed to like at least 6-9 of their posts and leave a sprinkling of 2-3 comments throughout those posts. Usually, this will result in that individual at least checking out my profile—following that, we might also mutually decide to follow each other.
Since brands look for influencer accounts that actually have an influence on their followers, quality comments are a key indicator as to your engagement rates. Currently, I receive about 10-20+ emails (not including direct messages) a week from brands regarding potential collaborations.
Following
Many influencers struggle with obtaining a steady flow of new followers—especially after reaching a certain following size. Other than depending upon somehow becoming famous or being constantly featured on popular Instagram pages (both of which can be quite unlikely), your aim should be to obtain a range of 10-20 new followers per day. Other than liking and commenting, following new accounts is a key component to receiving that regular growth.
However, I make a point of only following accounts that I truly enjoy and would like to engage with in the future. Many new Instagram users use sketchy tactics to increase their following—the most common is the “follow-unfollow” strategy. When I first began using Instagram more seriously, I was baffled at how often accounts would follow you, only to unfollow you a day (or even less) later. I found (and still find) this tactic to be very inauthentic and off-putting; if I see someone follow, unfollow, and then follow me again, I will often unfollow them for good.
Another common tactic is using a third-party app to mass-follow and mass-unfollow groups of accounts at a time. While this strategy apparently can work to greatly increase your following over a shorter period of time, Instagram has thankfully caught on and started blocking Instagram users who utilize such apps. (Unfortunately, Instagram has also begun to over-zealously block accounts that do not use such third party services.)
After a few years of experience, I have found that the most successful (and ethical) ways to use the following “tool” in order to receive more followers are: 1) only follow accounts that you genuinely wish to engage with and 2) don’t unfollow more accounts that you follow. Also, keep in mind that Instagram recently implemented a strange rule that users can only follow a maximum of 7,500 other accounts; once I reached that limit, I found myself constantly blocked from following new accounts until I figured out the cause.
Furthermore, I have found that many accounts that reached the following size of 10,000 to 15,000 tend to become stagnant in terms of follower growth if they do not continue following new accounts regularly (or unfollow too many accounts at a time). As a result, the balancing act of following on Instagram can be considered to be almost an art (or at least a skill)!
Blocks & Bans
Ahhh, we have reached my favourite topic! Honestly, this is a source of constant angst and confusion amidst the Instagram influencer community. On one hand, Instagram wants you to spend more time liking, commenting, and generally engaging with other accounts. On the other, Instagram will punish you if you “over-do” it.
My first experience with the infamous “action block” lasted for almost a week. Currently, I am suffering from a week-long block on liking, commenting, and following (see screenshot below). I also know many other users have been similarly blocked. The most frustrating aspect of being blocked is how arbitrary and random it feels—especially when you’ve been doing things “organically” and have not been using any shady third-party apps to increase your growth. While many blog posts speculate on the exact limits that Instagram places upon liking, commenting, and following, Instagram never has given these rules out to the public. Therefore, it is all a big guessing game.
When I was first blocked from commenting, it came after a minor epiphany that “more engagement leads to more engagement.” Following this, I began scrolling through my feed to find more and more posts to engage on. Initially, this had the happy effect of greatly increasing exposure for my own page and posts. However, a short period later, I found myself “temporarily blocked” from commenting. Luckily, these were my first brushes with being blocked and I was only blocked for a period of 24 hours. As well, I was still able to like and follow other accounts. Unfortunately, as soon as the 24 hour block expired, I would comment 5-10 times and become blocked once again. I also tried to post while blocked and discovered that my post caption could not be posted.
After becoming blocked 2-3 more times in a row (which resulted in almost a week of being blocked), I desperately scoured the internet in search of helpful blog posts that would help me to escape the clutches of this action block. Finally, I chanced upon a helpful post that advised one to comment very slowly after the block expires. Within the first 24 hours of being unblocked, it’s best to not comment at all if possible. Within the next week, one should still practice extreme caution. Following that, one’s ability to practice any of those actions should be returned to normal limits.
At the time of writing this post, I have been blocked from liking, commenting, and following for the period of a week. I believe that this occurred after I was initially blocked from commenting “too much.” As a panicked reaction, I tried logging into my Instagram account on my desktop in order to see if I was still blocked. Unfortunately, Instagram saw this as a sign that I was using a third party service to gain likes and followers.
I also have noticed that I only have been so brutally punished when my posts receive a jump in engagement. Recently, I noticed that my posts were receiving a great deal more likes and comments than in previous times. As a result, I was trying to reciprocate and return as many comments as possible. This turned out to be my downfall as I was blocked once for about 12 hours and then again for the week-long period. After creating the habit of replying to all of my comments, it was very hard to stop myself from commenting… This is an urge I will now need to curb until my commenting privileges have been fully restored.
Engagement Rates
If you intend to work with brands on sponsored posts (either paid or unpaid), you will have to understand engagement rates. This rate is determined from the amount of likes, comments, saves, and impressions that you receive on your posts on an average. For larger accounts (50,000 followers or more) , it is common to have an engagement rate of only 1% or so (unless they are celebrities or exceptionally popular bloggers). However, smaller bloggers tend to have a higher engagement rate as they usually are engaging more with their followers’ posts. When I last checked, my engagement rate (with about 15,900+ followers) was about 9.71% (which is pretty decent for an account of my following size).
Brands also will often ask for your statistics of demographics and reach (see below for a screenshot example). For instance, the general age, gender, and geographic area in which your audience live will often be considered by a brand. If you plan to regularly collaborate and reach out to brands, it is also a good idea to amalgamate these details into a media kit. This kit will contain your current stats, as well as a brief description of your brand and your most successful past collaborations.
While I have learned much about the engagement game over the past few years, Instagram is always ready to mess up your carefully-set rules by regularly changing its algorithm. While there are some solid rules that everyone can safely follow, much of our “knowledge” about engagement is still largely speculation and constant experimentation.
Do you have any questions about engagement on Instagram? Or do you have any tips that I didn’t share above? Put one down in the comments below!
Cheers, Debbie (aka The Stylish Wordsmith)
