How Big Instagram Influencers Build Engagement
Social Corner family,
Today I’m going to show you three simple ways to sky-rocket your engagement on Instagram.
Instagram currently boasts 1.4bn users globally, and even with the rise of TikTok and YouTube Shorts, it’s still one of the best platforms for brand discovery.
If your goal is to sell more products, book more calls or just build more brand awareness, you need to know the ins and outs of Instagram.
The honest truth is that most brands suck at Instagram. Like, really suck. New brands spend more time posting their products and services without ever building any meaningful engagement or conversation. If you just want to post for the sake of posting, go ahead. But if you want to build raving fans around your brand, read this newsletter.
1: Algorithms Love Captions.
When I first started out on social media, I entirely dismissed writing captions. I’d either write a brief explanation of what was already in the post, or throw in something I thought people might like – all in about 1-2 sentences.
Here’s the thing, captions are one of the most important pieces of metadata tied to an Instagram post.
People’s eyes go from the post content to the caption, and then to the comment section. That’s valuable digital real estate you’re either doubling down on or ignoring.
In addition, valuable captions encourage people to comment, like, and share a post. And if there’s one thing that drives IG’s algorithm, it’s engagement. Good engagement on your content makes it likely for IG to suggest your content to other people via the explore page.
Keys to writing great captions:
a) Treat the first line like digital gold – The first line or so of a caption is what’s immediately visible to scrollers. Use it to direct attention to whatever you want, e.g. “This is what I wish I knew when starting X 👇”, “Click the link in my bio to book a session with me 🔗”.
b) Use questions to drive comments – Writing about yourself is great, but asking people to chime in with their own $0.02c? Priceless. Use your captions to ask questions related to your post, for example, “How long did it take you to realize X?”, “What are some tools you use to do X?”, “Does anyone know how to help me do X in less time?”.
c) Tell Stories – One of the best ways to drive a great community is by being authentic. Creator Morgan Stewart, a mother and medical student does this so well. Every single caption she writes is a unique story for other students and mothers – and people love it.
2: Stories For Authenticity
Think of your Instagram feed as the polished, tidy version of yourself. It’s where all of your carefully curated content lives, and doesn’t change once it’s posted. Of course you should care about content that’ll live on the internet forever.
But what about less tidy content? What about content that shares who YOU are?
That’s where stories come in. IG Stories are vertical images/videos that stay live for 24 hours, after which they’re hidden from public view.
Now tell me, if you could post untidy content knowing it wouldn’t be around a day from now, wouldn’t you care a whole lot less about how polished your feed is? That’s why Stories are so powerful.
Keys to sharing great stories:
a) Your personal life – share as much or as little as you want to. Share what you’re up to today, what projects you’re working on, or even little insights into things you love or that drive you crazy in your personal life. For example, say you’re a stay at home mom and do graphic design on the side, you could post a short video of your kids making a mess with the caption, “When you need to submit a design for a review in an hour but your kids have given you an hour of clean up work to do 🥲”.
b) Your thoughts – On social media, individual thoughts are priceless. Especially with the amount of gurus posting the SAME old thing, every single day. Got a view on some recent industry news you like/dislike? Share it as a story. Wish “X” design tool would work in a different way? Share it as a story. Your. Thoughts. Are. Authentic. People love that sh*t.
c) Services/announcements – Back to the point here – you’re building a brand. Suppose you don’t want a quick Halloween or Summer sale to cramp your feed layout. In that case, stories are a great way to share news on your latest product release, updates to your product, or even announcements and testimonials related to your product. Testimonials are one of my favourites here.
3: Let Your Audience Guide Your Content
When brands start on social media, they often confine themselves to their own strategy that they can NEVER sway away from. Now I get it, swaying too far is sub-optimal, but pivoting is key.
I recommend brands stick to quarterly content strategies for this reason. Times change, and social media changes even faster. New tools, new algorithms, new content styles – it’s ever-changing, and so should your brand be.
When I say, “let your audience guide your content”, I simply mean listening to what you get asked about. If you make habit-tracking content and you constantly get asked what habits you love to track – don’t ignore those people. That’s free content ready to execute on.
A simple question or DM from a fan can be turned into an article, long-form and short-form video with little planning. I personally love short-form video for community engagement as it’s usually <60s, and shows people you’re actively listening to them. The more you engage with them, the more likely they are to become raving fans.
Keys To Showing People You Listen.
a) Repurpose questions - Turn them into articles, tweets, short-form and long-form videos. Go a step further by tagging those who asked you the question if they’re okay with it.
b) Note down content ideas - When people rush to your DM’s or comments to ask you about “X” trend or thing, it’s a signal that the market wants your expert input on said topic. Note down what you’re asked about and keep it as a potential content idea for future reference.
That’s all for this week, SocialCorner. If you’re not subscribed to this newsletter, why not? It’s FREE. Hit the button below to subscribe. Each week I send one email with valuable social media marketing and productivity tips.