How I’ve Increased Engagement on My IG Content in 2021
Since becoming a full time content creator, it’s become a bigger priority for me to increase engagement on the various forms of content I post on Instagram. However, on this often fickle and never-transparent social media platform, the matter of engagement is a constant source of speculation, experimentation, and rollercoaster-like progress.
In the past, obtaining lots of likes and comments were the most important goals you could accomplish. However, many have been speculating lately that “saves” and “shares” are now the most important types of engagement you can obtain (in order for the infamous Instagram algorithm to favour your content). Regarding “likes,” I find that I agree with that notion as Instagram probably stopped letting most people see these numbers for a reason.
At this time, you cannot see who has saved or shared your posts— therefore, would this anonymity be why these engagement types are the most important? Does Instagram perceive such engagement (that can’t be traced back to its owners) as being more “genuine”? As an Instagram influencer, I often am forced to contemplate these type of questions and it often feels like we are playing a never-ending guessing game.
Regardless of whether the above assertions are true, I have taken certain measures in order to increase engagement on all four engagement measures: saves, shares, comments, and likes.
Table of Contents
This post will cover the following sections:
Instagram Feed Posts
Now if there is one thing we know about Instagram, it favours content that encourages its users to stay on the platform for longer. In this section, I will be going over the strategies that have worked best for my content.
In the past, I used to garner maybe about 15-20 saves a post; nowadays, I usually average anywhere between 30-60 saves. Although I am aiming for higher numbers, I am happy to be seeing some degree of progress! As well, I still carefully watch my posts for how well they do in terms of likes, comments, and shares.
Carousel Posts
For some reason or another, carousel posts (in-feed posts containing multiple images) invariably do better on my Instagram feed than single posts. This is most likely because users are taking a longer length of time to look through the various images you’ve posted. However, it is interesting to note that only my “home” reach does very well when posting carousels— “hashtags” reach usually suffers greatly and my overall post reach ends up being quite low.
CAROUSEL POST: EXHIBIT A
As you can see here, this carousel post got a lot of impressions from the “Home” feed, as well as a decent amount from “Profile” and “Explore.” However, “Hashtags” are nowhere to be seen!
CAROUSEL POST: EXHIBIT B
Similarly, you can see that only “Home” and “Profile” did well for this carousel post. As a result, both posts did not have great overall “Reach”— only around 4k for each.
Once again, “Hashtags” impressions are nowhere to be found!
SINGLE IMAGE POST: EXHIBIT A
In general, I’ve been finding it difficult to get my reach to exceed 7,000 lately. In the past, I have gotten as high as 15,000 views on a post. Gone are those days!
Nevertheless, as you can see from here, single image posts will get a lot more “Hashtags” impressions than carousel posts.
SINGLE IMAGE POST: EXHIBIT B
Similarly to Exhibit A, you can see that “Hashtags” were the source of most impressions for this single image post. In contrast to carousel posts, “Explore” impressions do not even show up.
Consequently, it seems that Instagram will promote carousel posts to people who follow you; however, it does not promote your posts as strongly on hashtags. On the other hand, when I post single image posts, I will usually see much greater reach in terms of hashtag impressions. However, since the post is being exposed to strangers viewing hashtags (as opposed to people who actually follow me and engage with my content), the overall engagement in terms of likes, comments, saves, and shares is greatly reduced.
As a result, I usually try to balance things out by posting a mix of carousel posts (usually my outfit posts) and single image posts (usually my “filler” posts) to get both higher engagement and higher reach.
Captions
As mentioned previously in this post, captions should be enticing so that your audience will feel inclined to engage with your posts. When writing captions, I try to fulfill one of the following categories:
Inspire: During difficult times like this, inspiration and positivity are always welcome. I personally don’t think you can go wrong with writing an uplifting caption that might brighten the day of someone going through a tough situation. For instance, share an inspiring quote (and what it means to you), meaningful things you have accomplished, or your future goals and intentions. Self-care tips are also a great idea!
Educate: Give tips or write informative captions that teach your audience something of value. For example, I enjoy reading well-written posts about important social justice issues or intriguing historical facts that you wouldn’t normally know. However, I’ve found that sharing Instagram or productivity tips works very well!
Promote: Write about products or services that you truly love and value. In general, I try to partner with brands that align with my values and principles— i.e. BIPOC, female-owned, ethical, sustainable, and socially conscious. If you are a newer content creator and don’t have many collaborations yet, I suggest that you share about products that you already enjoy using. Other than providing valuable information to your audience, this content might lead to actual collaborations— brands might see your posts, like your content creation style, and want you to promote their products.
Share: Allow your audience to get to know you better by sharing some interesting facts about yourself or what you’ve been up to lately. While it’s up to your own discretion with regard to how much you want to share on social media, your followers will generally appreciate if you share genuinely and authentically.
Amuse: A lighthearted caption is always welcome— just make sure that it’s not tone-deaf in light of current global circumstances or not a recycled joke that everyone and their mother has been posting.
While the categories above provide a general guideline for writing captions, don’t ever feel like you have to stick to them! Personally, I find that I sometimes mix categories together.
Formatting: Proofread and format your captions ahead of time— brands appreciate proper grammar and visually-pleasing spacing. Big blocks of poorly written texts can be extremely off-putting to both your readers and potential sponsorships.
To be transparent, I used most of the above text in an Instagram post and it gained a decent amount of saves (about 40). To conclude, when writing captions, think of what type of captions have captivated your attention and what exactly caused you to save them.
Images: Sizing and Attractiveness
Be forewarned that this particular section is quite subjective and purely based on my own observations from my own account. As you might be able to tell, I carefully analyze my post insights for potential patterns on a daily basis. In particular, I try to determine what types of content resonate the best with my audience. The following are some possible trends that may or may not work for your account (since every account is unique):
Image Size: When sizing images for outfits, I have found that full body outfits should not be too far away— but also not too close up. In particular, when you preview the post on your general feed, you should be able to see the full outfit but also be able to see the general details of the outfit. I find that when I don’t crop the outfits in this manner, they don’t seem to be as successful— possibly because they were not as eye-catching to people scrolling through their feeds. As a result, I highly recommend using a planner app so that you can preview how posts will look on your feed in terms of sizing.
Close Ups: In relation to the previous section, I find that it’s a good idea to change things up with close ups and half body images. Specifically, I have noticed that half body outfit shots are particularly popular in terms of saves and other engagement statistics. Now, I’m not entirely sure why this is the case— it’s just something I have been noticing over the last while.
Colour: Now I am aware that this section might not apply for content creators who have a darker, moodier aesthetic. However, I have noticed that the more colourful my posts are, the better they seem to do in terms of overall engagement. For instance, if I’m wearing an outfit that is super bright (usually one of my favourite pastel shades), I find that it attracts the attention of my audience quicker than a darker outfit would.
To make the above observations applicable for any content creator, I would say that you should think about the aesthetic that works best for your own audience and lean into it. If you have a particular aesthetic, make sure to stick to it as your audience will be expecting and looking forward to such content. Since my account is known for being bright and colourful, it would make sense that my audience would like my most colourful content best.
On the flip side, you should also not be afraid to experiment and try new styles— even if it might mean a dip in engagement. Creativity and innovation should be more important than getting great engagement on every single post. As a content creator, you should be more afraid of being stagnant in terms of originality and style rather than being afraid of getting less likes or follows.
Instagram Stories
I remember the good ol’ days when you could post whatever on IG stories and still get a decent number of views. However, as with everything else, Instagram now makes sure that you sweat and toil for those views and engagement! To be honest, it wasn’t until recently that I started putting a lot of effort and brainpower into improving my story views (probably just a few months ago in late 2020). Prior to that, I was focusing more on increasing engagement for my Instagram feed posts and growing my following.
However, when the dreaded algorithm caused my story views to dip to an atrocious low of 250-ish views (with a following of over 19,000), I knew that something had to be done! While most paid campaigns do not require you to reach a certain amount of views on sponsored stories, I found it incredibly embarrassing to hand over story insights containing such low engagement (especially when my feed post engagement was so high in comparison).
In response to this disastrous situation, I started doing serious research and conducting a series of experiments in order to see what would and wouldn’t work. As I’ve mentioned before, the world of Instagram is never clear-cut and therefore it can be very hard to obtain quality advice on these matters. Consequently, many of the below methods resulted from the careful observation of others’ stories and the thorough analysis of my own story insights. While I certainly haven’t mastered this area quite yet, I have managed to improve my general story views and even obtain incredible results on a few occasions!
Be Selective
In my experience, if you wish to get more views on stories, less is definitely more. Think about your own viewing experiences while clicking through someone’s stories. Do you feel inclined towards viewing every story post if that person has posted 50 slides? I definitely don’t! Personally, I would not recommend posting more than 10-15 slides if you are specifically trying to gain more views.
Other than limiting the number of stories you post in a day, you want to analyze your stories for the content that is most preferred by your audience. For my account, I’ve noticed that the following content seems to do best on stories:
home decor updates
outfit details (with the various brands tagged)
my dog doing funny things
home cooking recipes
favourite restaurants or coffee shops
personal (sometimes slightly controversial) options on relevant topics
fun and easy story polls/quizzes
On the other hand, if you are having an amazing day and just want to snap every detail— go for it! I usually only care deeply about this matter if I have sponsored stories and I want them to do very well.
Interactive and Informative
Detail or Information: In general, I’ve found that stories that contain more detail tend to do better than images with little or no context. Since story impressions are counted only if viewers have looked it for a certain number of seconds (I forgot how long exactly), you want your audience to look at each story slide for as long as possible. Therefore, it makes sense that most people would look longer at a story with more text as opposed to stories that are just pictures (or just have one line of text). Otherwise, viewers will be tempted to tap through your stories as quickly as possible without pausing.
Engagement Tools: Other than writing more details in your stories, you should try your best to integrate the tools given to you by Instagram— i.e. story polls, story quizzes, questions, etc. These tools encourage your viewers to take a few more seconds to answer your questions (and generally gain more interactions) than stories without those items. At one point, I received almost 1,800 views on a story quiz I posted on the topic of home decor— which the highest view count I could ever recall!
STORY POLL: EXHIBIT A
Make sure that your story polls are relevant to your actual content. This poll was about home decor preferences after I had brought home some new pieces.
STORY POLL: EXHIBIT B
Also, make sure that your story polls are easy to answer— your viewers should be able to vote within a few seconds of seeing your story.
Hashtags: Personally, I’ve only had middling success with this strategy; however, it’s been widely encouraged that you use hashtags in your stories in order to reach a wider audience. Stories permit a maximum of ten hashtags and it is suggested that you make these tags as discreet as possible.
Note: While I believe it’s great to use the above techniques, I also believe that those same tools can be overused and abused. For instance, I’ve noticed that some people post story quizzes and polls constantly on topics that have no relation whatsoever to their actual content. At that point, you’re clearly just trying to get engagement and not giving your viewers much value in terms of content. For example, I once came across a story poll that asked its viewers: “Would you rather have diarrhea in the car or measles?” Call me crazy but I don’t think that person usually posts about that topic on a regular basis.
When I create such story quizzes and polls, I try to make sure that they are at least somewhat related to things I am doing that day or content I am posting. As an example, if I was buying home decor, I might create a short quiz asking my audience which types of home decor they prefer.
Engage with Others
Another way you encourage engagement on your stories is to ensure that you’re engaging regularly with others’ stories. When I’m commenting on someone’s posts, I usually try to also view their stories and interact with them if possible. If I really like a story, I usually try to comment on it (or, at the very least, react to it). As well, I will try to interact with their story polls and quizzes (as long as they are not too excessively long).
Keep Updated on the Latest Trends
Other than ensuring that my stories are engaging, I try to keep updated with the latest story fads (and these usually change FAST) in terms of font styles, story templates, etc. The best way to stay on trend is to regularly view others’ stories and ensure that you taking note of story aesthetics that you like.
As well, using apps for templates and different fonts is a great (and easy) way to set your stories apart from the rest of the pack. Currently, my favourite apps to create aesthetic stories are:
Prepare in Advance
If you are creating sponsored stories, you are usually required to create these stories ahead of time for brand approval. As a result, I usually make these ahead of time on the “Over” app as it allows me to save the stories in project folders, use more interesting fonts, and offers a wide variety of visually-pleasing story templates. While this app requires you to pay a subscription fee, I have found that its services have been well worth the price tag. As well, if I am asked to make edits, I don’t have to create the stories all over again— I just access the project folder on Over and make the required tweaks.
Another pet peeve of mine is when I post a story and there is an annoying little typo. Unlike feed posts (which you can edit after the fact), stories cannot be edited and you are obliged to delete them if something must really be fixed. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to proofread your story posts if they are sponsored or contain important information.
Lastly, in conjunction with the first subsection, planning your stories in advance will ensure that you are not posting too many stories in one day. While I usually post whatever I feel like, I do try to plan ahead when I’m trying to obtain as many views as possible on sponsored stories.
Instagram Reels and IGTVs: The Great Beyond (For Me)
To be honest, this section will not be very long as my expertise is very limited when it comes to Instagram reels and IGTVs. At this time, I’ve only posted a total of three reels and one IGTV with lukewarm success.
When Instagram first released reels, it was assumed that Instagram would reward users who tried their new features. At first, I could agree with this notion— my first reel was a cute little piece about aesthetic summer picnics and it gained 316k views, 2217 likes, and 900+ comments. Since Instagram strangely still does not allow its users to view insights for reels, I can only make educated guesses about how reels perform. From what I could tell, most of the likes and views were not from my home page— rather it gained momentum from the explore page from a lot of questionable accounts that didn’t follow me.
My second reel was a fun hiking reel from a beautiful hike to a gorgeous waterfall called Moul Falls. Luckily, this reel gained a respectable amount of views and likes (4.1k views and 1080 likes). However, my third and last reel (of another hike that perhaps wasn’t as exciting) bombed— it barely received more than 300 likes only 1.6k views. Following this, I will admit that I lost all motivation to continue making reels… Also, I wanted to focus on my energy on other content, such as writing blog posts.
Posting my first IGTV was also a humbling experience for me— I created my first video for a collaboration with Olay Canada and took away some important lessons from the experience. Thanks to a close friend, I was proud of the final product in terms of film quality and editing. However, I realized that if you do not post a certain type of content regularly, you cannot expect great engagement on that content when you first begin posting it. Therefore, as soon as I posted it, I noticed that it didn’t get even half the engagement I would have normally expected from a normal Instagram feed post.
Currently, I still trying to concentrate on posting quality feed posts, stories, and blog posts. However, as I am now a full-time content creator, I have set the goal to post more reels (and MAYBE IGTVs) this upcoming year. In fact, I am currently in the process of planning and creating a reel for an exciting upcoming paid campaign. Hopefully, by the end of this year, I will have much more insight to share with you all regarding these content types. Please stay tuned (and please share any tips that you might have for me)!
Encouraging Authentic Saves
Since saves are now considered to be most important for engagement, I’ve been noticing a new trend: people encouraging each other to save posts. Now there are at least two ways to accomplish this— 1) mention in your posts that it should be saved for future reference or 2) create an understanding with fellow content creators to save each other’s posts.
Personally, I prefer the second method over the first as it feels more authentic to me. For instance, I have an understanding with some of my close content creator acquaintances that we will save each other’s posts. Additionally, if I feel inspired to save someone’s post, I usually will tell them so in my comment on that post. In doing so, it’s my hope that the recipient of my saves will be encouraged to save some of my posts that they enjoyed.
Conclusion
As I have mentioned previously in this post, I cannot guarantee that the above techniques will work without any issue for others as they are by no means “official” strategies. Nevertheless, I hope that my readers can find some aspects to be applicable to their own content as they have seemed to work quite decently for myself.
Overall, the most important lesson I feel I can share with you is to keep making creative new content and keep going even when the algorithm is being frustrating. I’ve experienced many dips in the past (and even now); however, I’ve found that it has always gotten better if I just kept being consistent with content and trying new strategies.
As always, thank you all for taking the time to read my posts. I also feel extremely happy when people make the effort to leave me kind comments and messages— so, a big thank you to all of those kindhearted people!
Do you have any engagement tips that you find to work very well for yourself? If so, please do feel free to share them below in the comments!
Cheers,
Debbie (aka The Stylish Wordsmith)