Instagram is a social media used extensively for business and marketing. It is the fastest growing social platform and the center of attraction for marketers around the world. Instagram has over 1 Billion users, with around 500 million users accessing the platform daily. It is an active place to promote your brand. But how can you become an Instagram marketing expert? How can you reach out to strangers all over the globe and gain followers? Having good content is essential, but if no one sees it, then all your effort of content creation goes in vain. Half the work in increasing engagement on your posts lies in outsmarting Instagram algorithm. Another part of the process is paid promotions.

Understanding Instagram Algorithm in 2020.

Instagram Algorithm changes continuously from time to time. The recent amendments were one of the most important ones and changed the way marketers used the platform. At present, the algorithm uses three ranking signals to rank your posts in the user’s feed. The first is Relationship, which implies forming connections between two users based on comments and tags. The Second ranking factor is Interests. The algorithm recognizes the elements of images liked by the user and shows more of similar photos in the future. The third factor is the timing of posts. Instagram shows recent posts first followed by other relevant posts to users. Understanding the algorithm is essential to plan your marketing activities. Now that the three ranking signals are clear let us look at some Instagram tips to increase your engagements quickly.

Eight Ways to up Your Instagram Game

• Posting Video Content

As per algorithm, only the users who stop to watch videos see more of such posts. Now statistically, most users always stop to watch the first few seconds of videos. Instagram has turned into a video dominated platform over a few years. This is why posting videos is a quick way of increasing the amount of time a user spends on your posts. Increased time also means that the user will see more of your posts in the future, thanks to the Instagram algorithm. To unleash the full potential of Instagram marketing, go live, post videos on stories, and IGTV.

• Use Instagram Hashtags

Hashtags are useful tools to make your place in the Explore page and to show your post’s relevancy to the algorithm. Using Hashtags helps in getting new followers. The algorithm shows your uploads to people who like related products but not necessarily follow you. Thus your page receives a traffic hike by using correct hashtags. Do not misuse Instagram hashtags option by adding the hashtags that are not appropriate to your posts. It will make you look desperate and unprofessional.

• Run Instagram Contest

Running Contests on your page is one of the quickest ways to hike your engagements. Having an attractive prize reward for users will increase their enthusiasm and interaction. You can prepare contests like “Answer this question in the comments and @ your three friends in the comment section.” This will potentially bring three new followers on each comment. The comments will also increase your page value in the Instagram algorithm. You can organize simple giveaways with no terms and condition to give back to your community and increase your goodwill. It is an effective Instagram marketing technique used by many global brands.

• Ask Followers to Turn on Post Notifications

You may have heard YouTube creators say, “press the bell icon never to miss another video.” You can apply this idea to Instagram too. Once you are a famous brand and your content is loved by your followers, you can ask for subtle favors. Encourage your followers to turn on post notifications, and they will be happy to comply if you do it creatively. More and more followers turning on notifications will give you high engagements on every post.

• Write Creative Instagram Captions

Captions are essential for attracting the attention of your audience. You need to think your Instagram captions well before adding them. A witty and original caption with mild puns will amuse the viewers while a serious and well crafter caption will make them ponder on your topic. If you have excellent content creation skills, the chances are that your caption skills will be top of the class too. Add amusing captions consistently to form an intellectual image of your brand.

• Knowing the Time to Post

The third-ranking signal of the algorithm requires that firms need to post at the right time of the day. Posting when the audience is active will take your posts automatically to the top. There are several fees and paid tools online dedicated to Instagram marketing that show user trends. You can get the data about your target audience and then schedule your posts according to it. For instance, if the majority of your audience is from the US, then you need to check for the user trends in the United States. If most of the users are online in the evening after coming home from work, then reserve your quality content for that time.

• Make Good Relations with Instagram Influencers

Having the support of already successful brands and pages will help your page grow too. You can get successful Instagram tips from them and learn new techniques for Instagram marketing. Making good relationships with other influencers will let you promote your posts and products to their audiences. You can make small payments or offer a shoutout in return. “SFS” or “Shoutout for shoutout” is the new trend for increasing your engagements. You know the new audience that will come to your page when participating in an SFS.

• Promote Your Posts on All Channels

You can increase your engagement by promoting your Instagram accounts on other social platforms too. Most internet users have accounts in all major social platforms. You can add a link to your Instagram platform in your blogs, YouTube channels, and Facebook profile. This also means that you can contact independent bloggers and YouTube channels to promote your Instagram profile.

Growing engagements on your page is super important to survive in today’s Instagram algorithm. You do not have to be a digital marketing expert to promote your brand on Instagram. With some creative skills and promotion tips, you can tremendously increase posts engagements on your page.