It’s no secret that Instagram is a valuable resource for businesses, but navigating the algorithm can be tricky! I will be sharing a few tips I’ve learned to be very helpful for growing my business on Instagram.
I’ve been researching this topic a lot since Mark Zuckerberg’s recent announcement of the next Facebook algorithm. In the last 7 days, I’ve have +5,636 impressions, +16 followers, +25 website clicks, and +70 profile views… and it’s only been 5 or 6 days since I’ve ben implementing some of these tricks. I am excited to see what these stats will look like in a month from now!
Engagement:
I’m sure by now you’ve noticed that Instagram is no longer in chronological order. Posts that Instagram thinks are more interesting will be at the top of your feed. How does Instagram know if a post is interesting? By the engagement. Posts with few likes or little to no comments appear boring (according to the algorithm), while posts with lots of likes and comments look more interesting; therefore the more interesting looking posts are what shows up in your followers feed.
How to get more engagement:
Utilize Insta stories. A great case study done by The Identité Collectivefound that 60% of people said they mainly watch stories and no longer spend time scrolling through their Instagram news feed. They also found not to post earlier than 3pm, unless you want quick engagement, then post first thing in the morning between 8:30-9:30am. Another way to utilize Insta stories is to post a story letting viewers know you have a new post. This allows people to see your post even if it doesn’t pop up in their feed.
My favorite tip for engagement comes from a webinar by Jasmine Star where she explained a 5-step questionnaire for the perfect Instagram caption that will bring you more engagement. It is industry standard for 8-10% of your followers to engage on your posts, a great way to get engagement is by comments. Instagram only picks up on comments 4 words or more, a heart emoji won’t cut it! Here are the 5 questions to ask when crafting an Instagram caption:
Impress your followers:
On average, your Instagram feed has 2-5 seconds to make an impression on the viewer. When someone clicks on your profile, they see the last 9 photos you posted. While it’s important that each post is strong content, it is also important to think how each of those posts look when in your profile as a grid. It’s all about aesthetics! Go to your favorite Instagram page, and I bet their grid is gorgeous! How to achieve gorgeousness?
Cohesiveness. Posting images with similar color and lighting will ensure your grid to impress a potential client, and hopefully get them to tap that follow button. I’m sure I’m not the only one who will smash that follow button just because I like their aesthetics… then I go explore who they are and what they do! I want a pretty feed, what can I say?
A great way to put this together is to use a template and plan your next few posts. I use an awesome one from Marina. If you’re reading this, you get a sneak peek to what my next 6 posts will be! Shhh!
Content:
Know what your followers want to see! Make sure your photos are worthy. Posts with a purpose will have higher engagement than something you posted just to post. Remember your band ideology when posting as well.
Statistics are great to know as well. Photos with people do better than ones without, videos are 3-4 times more likely to be shared than a photo, and quotes often do well. Don’t forget to put a call to action in your story right after posting “new post, go check it out”.
Lastly, posting regularly will improve your feed, while posting on your story through out the day as well. Original content is key!
I hope this information will help you and your Instagram! I’ll have to post an update a month from now to see the dramatic difference.
❤︎Tara T