How To Grow Authentic Engagement on Instagram (a.k.a. How I Get So Many Comments)
In my experience with Instagram blogging, brands and individuals look for three main things when they are searching for new accounts to follow and begin partnerships with: quality content, value added, and authentic engagement.
Within this post, I wanted to specifically address the topic of authentic engagement— which may manifest as high engagement with posts in terms of likes, comments, and saves. While I have previously written about engagement in this post, I noticed that I was getting a lot of DMs asking about how I manage to get so many comments on my Instagram posts. As a result, I thought that I would write a more detailed blog post on the matter.
At the beginning of the year, my Instagram posts would usually receive anywhere between 400 to 600 comments (which included my own replies to comments). However, I’ve noticed seven months later that some of my posts now receive almost double that number of comments— anywhere between 800 to 1,100+ comments.
While I do reply to many of the longer comments, this still means that I receive anywhere between 450 to 700+ unique comments on each post. How did I manage to accumulate so many more comments over this relatively short period of time? Read below for some of my most effective strategies.
Warning: None of these tips are easy ways to gain more engagement— all of them require hard work, perseverance, and strong commitment.
How To Comment
While commenting on Instagram isn’t rocket science, I believe that there are certain best practices by which many people do not abide. For instance, there is the basic rule that you should always comment more than four words (emojis don’t count). Another one is that you should try to write something actually related to the post.
While those aforementioned rules don’t seem that difficult to me, you would be blown away by the amount of people who apparently struggle to write comments that are over four words long and aren’t generic fragments like “Love this look” or, even better, four emojis in a row.
When I comment on posts, I try to slow down enough to: 1) take a look at the image, 2) write something positive about that image, 3) read the caption, and 4) add something thoughtful about the caption if possible. (Nothing is worse than writing “What a gorgeous outfit on you” when the caption is about losing an important family member or something equally as saddening.) As a result of these practices, I have had many, many people shout me out for writing lovely, genuine comments— something that I don’t often see being praised on Instagram.
The only exceptions I make to the steps above occur when I consistently receive terrible comments from certain users and I am forced to return their comments. While I still return the ‘favour’ of commenting back on their posts, I certainly don’t make a big effort to write anything extraordinarily profound on their posts.
Frequency
While writing quality comments is important, it’s equally as important to build up good habits with regard to how often you comment. On regular posting days, I try to comment about 15 to 30 minutes before I post my own content; following that, I will continuing commenting on others’ posts for the first hour after my post has been made. In this way, I can ensure that I’m getting the best engagement possible for my post.
When I’m done with my work day, I usually begin responding to comments on previous posts or that day’s post. Since I prefer to wind down in the evenings, I usually post in the mornings, comment as much as I can, and then relax at night.
Note: It’s important for me to take note of how posts I’m commenting on as I’ve been blocked on numerous occasions for apparently commenting too much. As a result, I am obliged to roughly count how many comments I make in a day—approximately 300 to a maximum of 500 comments daily.
Consistency Is Key
Over time, I’ve made a habit of replying to almost every comment I receive. This is a good and bad thing—brands have told me that they love how genuine I am in terms of replying to my comments. However, it also means that I feel bad if I don’t manage to reply to every comment—and that has led to spending hours and hours on Instagram. As well, spending too much time commenting has resulted in being blocked way too often.
In general, I set daily commenting goals for myself—for instance, I’ll tell myself that I’ll get one hour of engagement done before and after I make my own post. Following that, I’ll set a goal to reply to a minimum of 200 to a maximum of 400 comments on my own posts. Furthermore, I break my goals down even further by setting mini-goals of replying to a 100 comments in one sitting. As you can tell, I’ve made it quite the regimented process!
Overall, I am happy that my habit of consistently commenting has had the positive effects of receiving more thoughtful and regular comments from many of my wonderful followers. Over time, building new engaged relationships with other Instagram users has had a snowball effect on the amount of comments I receive. Nowadays, an especially popular outfit post can generate anywhere between 150-180 unique comments within the first hour of posting!
How I Find Accounts
In order to have authentic, genuine engagement with your own posts, you must first find accounts that you want to genuinely engage with as well. My favourite ways to find these accounts are as follows:
Top Hashtags:
When you have found your niche, it will be easier to find the hashtags that suit your account best. For instance, I follow the hashtag #dailyhivestyle as it is usually used by Vancouver fashion bloggers. Once you have found the best hashtags for you, search the “Top” or “Recent” posts and engage with the top 9 posts that catch your eye.
By engage, I mean visit their profile page, like 6-9 of the account’s most recent posts, and leave 2-3 comments showing that you are interested in their content. If all goes well, they will follow you back and start commenting on your page as well. Following that, a beautiful new relationship of engagement might blossom as you both begin to regularly comment on each other’s content.
Engage With Accounts On Your Feed:
While I have been trying to clear out my Following list lately, I still follow over 7000 people on Instagram. Obviously, this will mean that I cannot physically keep up with all of the content posted by these individuals.
Nevertheless, the best way to keep engaged with as many accounts as possible is to scroll down your feed and comment on the posts there. When I hit an account I am unfamiliar with, I take the time to visit their profile page, check if they are still following me, and then engage with with their most recent posts. In the best case scenario, this results in them rediscovering my account as well and restarting a partnership of engagement with each other.
Another way to find accounts you’ve lost track of is to visit your “Following” list and select the category of “Least Interacted With” Accounts. This will allow you to revisit the accounts that you might want to start engaging with again or unfollow— it’s up to you!
Suggested Accounts:
If you find that you’re in need of new inspiration or content to engage with, it’s a good idea to work with Instagram’s algorithm. I usually go to the profile of an account I love, check their “Following List” and find the “Suggested” Accounts category. From there, it’s easy to find more accounts that I love!
You can also find more accounts by selecting the options menu on your own profile and selecting the “Discover People” option. The more accounts you find that you genuinely love, the more you will want to genuinely engage with their content (and write really nice comments to them)!
Be Authentic Part I: No Follow-Unfollows
A major pet peeve of mine is when other Instagram users practice the uncouth tactic of following and unfollowing accounts. If you want to be authentic and genuine, this is not the way to do it! I only try to follow accounts that I truly admire and am inspired by; as well, I only unfollow accounts that become irritating in some way or have unfollowed me.
If you’re practicing this “strategy” and are wondering why you have never made any genuine relationships on Instagram, I hope that you listen to this advice and STOP.
Be Authentic Part II: Believe In What You Post
In the beginning of my Instagram ‘career,’ I used to take on many unpaid collaborations of questionable suitability (i.e. random skincare brands, restaurant promotions, cheap accessories from untrustworthy companies, etc.). In my mind, all of these ‘opportunities’ were ways to build my portfolio and gain experience.
However, as time went by, I started realizing that there were people out there who are actually influenced by what I promote. As a result, I’ve become much more discerning about the companies I agree to work with. In general, I try to pick well-known companies or companies with great values (i.e. local small businesses or ones that are sustainable and/or donate to good causes).
Also, I almost always demand to be paid fair rates for partnerships these days— a good company will know that your work, skills, and voice are valuable assets and that you should be compensated well for quality content. As well, being confident of your content will allow your followers to better trust you and want to genuinely engage with your posts.
Take Breaks When You Need Them
While building strong engagement on Instagram is a great goal, mental health is more important than maintaining your social media habits. While I generally enjoy replying to the lovely comments I receive on my posts, sometimes I feel like half my life is spent on Instagram replying to comments.
Whenever I feel that it’s too much, I take a break from posting and only do a few short commenting sessions if I really feel like it (usually on the weekends). Instead, I’ll spend quality time with my family, hubby, friends, or myself—hiking the whole day, hanging out with friends, or reading a good book are my favourite ways to recharge after too much time on Instagram.
Once I feel like I’ve spent enough time away and need to plug myself back into Instagram, I usually feel refreshed and more likely to leave thoughtful and genuine comments on other’s posts. Main lesson? Taking breaks from any sort of task is necessary as you risk burning yourself out if you never take breaks. Always remember to take care of yourself first—the quality of your work will greatly decrease if you don’t!
Well, that’s all I have to say about Instagram engagement with regard to commenting—what did you guys think? Did you find it useful or do you have further questions about this matter? Feel free to leave a message below to let me know!