It is essential to understand how to increase Instagram engagement to grow your followers and generate traffic for your business. In the past, Instagram decided to phase out Like counts, which prompted protests among members of the Instagram community. Now that it’s all settled and it’s becoming apparent that the decision wasn’t the catastrophe it initially appeared to be.
Creatives who know how to use their arsenal of strategies can benefit from the change to a different approach from Like counts by utilizing various features created to monitor and increase engagement. If you’re trying to get started with Instagram, take a look at our extensive post regarding earning money with Instagram and the Instagram Fonts article.
Are disappearing like counts an issue?
The designers we have spoken with have a unanimous vote supporting Instagram’s decision not to allow visibility of Like counts. They’re all already using other methods to interact and interact with followers who follow Instagram. Some even are relieved from the Like anxiety will be gone, and some even feel more creative since they’ll have the freedom to experiment more with their posts.
Stefan Sagmeister is “unconcerned” about Instagram’s decision and can see some positives in the choice. A well-known artist, Sagmeister has 394,000 followers and is the co-founder of the design company Sagmeister&Walsh. The designer isn’t the only one who sees the benefits of living a life that doesn’t include Like is the case, as will be apparent through the tips within this piece.
Sagmeister mentions the mutability of social media, stating that Sagmeister is “pretty sure that if it proves to be a terrible idea, the Likes will be reinstated.”
Printmaker, graphic artist, and graphic designer Anthony Burrill has 90,500 followers and hasn’t ever focused on Like numbers. “For me, it’s never been about how many ‘likes’ a post gets; it’s about how it engages with people.”
“Likes don’t pay the bills,” He says.
If it does not like what can be the trigger to generate interest in and engagement in Instagram? To learn how to accomplish this, we’ve consulted professionals in the industry who have had great success with Instagram to learn their secrets. Also, you can buy Instagram followers at Mrinsta to increase your like count.
01. Please share your method
Content is the most crucial factor in terms of engagement with Instagram. Sagmeister suspects that “any account that people find helpful will be able to create a fairly large following.” But what kind of content appeals to followers?
For designers, Instagram isn’t meant to be utilized to replace the shop’s display, so don’t be in a rush to showcase only yourfinal result. Although a carefully-curated collection of completed projects can be beautiful to view, it’s not the most effective way to generate engagement with your account – there’s more you could do.
“My advice is to share more of your creative process… Your sketching process, your display screen when you work on it, until the final result” Designer/illustrator AlfreyDavilla who has 72,900 followers.
Utilize the platform’s features to provide viewers with a unique perspective on the process of designing. The information you share will inspire to educate, entertain, and educate your followers and keep them engaged in you as a designer. And, more importantly, keep them entertained.
02. Provide behind-the-scenes access by using Stories
500 million users use Instagram Stories every day. Stories are the most effective method to showcase behind-scenes action without interrupting your carefully planned feed. Stories’ discontinuity keeps followers returning for more and, properly executed, can let them feel that they’ve had an authentic personal experience. Additionally, the growing desire of customers to know more about the company’s story makes Stories the perfect way to share your background.
Burrill shares the “behind the scenes stuff on Stories is good… you can give your followers a glimpse of what’s happening in the studio or workshop and let them in on your working process”.
Designers, stories are a unique opportunity since there’s so much effort to create a story that your followers could be a part of. “It’s always fascinating to see how people put their work together; it gives you a real insight into how things get made and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes,” Burrill says. Burrill.
Make sure to keep your brand’s message in mind when making this content. As Burrill recommends, “keep it personal and relatable, but always with your slant on things, reinforcing your message constantly, [keeping] it consistent and interesting.”
Giving your followers an insight into your life can allow people to feel connected to the person you areas. It’s not like we’re advocating 3 am kebab shots, of course, but Stories are a great way to showcase a piece about the person who is behind the brand. It is also important to note that adding a tag to your place of residence in the Story provides another means for followers to discover and interact with your profile.
03. Start a conversation
The conversation shouldn’t be limited to comments or DMs. Artist and letterer Belinda Kou has over 19,000 followers and uses her Stories to spark conversations. “I like to use my Stories to share what I’m working on, what it’s like behind the scenes, and what I’m learning,” she shares. “I also use polls and ask questions to get to know my audience better, and I love it when it starts a convo in DMs.”
Emoji sliders and polls are helpful features added to Stories to increase engagement and help you communicate with your followers. Davilla often utilizes comments to solicit opinions. However, he also develops Stories that incorporate polls and Emoji sliders. “I do appreciate every feedback,” Davilla states, “even if it comes from non-designers.”
The information you get from sliders and polls can tell you more than hitting Like never would.
04. and then, engage with it
“I think one of the easiest things one can do is have a conversation with your followers,” according to the lettering artist Scott Biersacker. He has 44,300 followers and has replied to nearly every comment made (as you can see on his post above).
“Whether that is replying to the comments on an in-feed post, sharing a Story about your day/work, any method to have a dialogue is beneficial. People are following along for a reason – having that connection can establish relationships and even friendships with those that support your work.”
Kou says that dialogue must work in both directions. You should be paying attention to your audience and also publishing content.
“My advice to creatives who want to increase Instagram engagement is to try to get to know the people behind the username and figure out what you can do to make your content valuable to others.”
If you listen to your followers and analyze their feedback, you can customize your content further and boost engagement. Be attentive to your DMs also. Many people use them to communicate with them. A lack of response can result in people being turned off.
05. Make sure you use the correct hashtags
Since hashtags were first introduced at the beginning of 2007, hashtags have been an integral part of social media’s success. They can help you stand out on social media platforms and can be used to make custom hashtags. If you are using them for business engagement, you must take care. There are strategies that you can use to implement.
Utilizing the correct hashtags changed how social media is used specifically for Fabian Oberhammer, an artist in 3D with 42,600 followers. “Once I started using them correctly,” he states, “I boosted from less than 100 followers to more than 1,000 in just a week.
“I have different sets of 30 hashtags saved on my phone, and I use them depending on what type/style of render I upload,” Oberhammer clarifies. “Look what hashtags similar IG accounts use and adapt your hashtags by that.”
You can then use your Instagram Search bar to see which other accounts are using them and choose the number you’d like to use.
“I found that having 10 specific (less than 500 posts), 10 normal (about 10,000 posts) and 10 general (100,000+ posts) hashtags works out quite well,” says Oberhammer.
Be sure to check each hashtag you’ll be using to ensure that the content aligns with your beliefs. Also, visit Instagram Insights to examine their impact and help you focus on the most effective ones.
06. Think about the upload time you will need to use.
Instagram is known for its peak engagement times; your success must determine the ideal moment to post your content. As per Sprout Social, the global engagement with Instagram is the highest on Wednesdays between 11 am and Friday between 10-11 am. The Instagram community is quiet on the weekend, too also.
Oberhammer suggests researching similar hashtags similar to yours to determine when will be the most effective upload time.
“My advice is be consistent with posting, also regarding upload times, analyse where the most engagement is from and when they engage, and post around that time (preferably a little earlier).”
You can plan your posts to coincide with those high-volume times (you’ll require an additional program for this). While creating them in advance, you can ensure your content is correct. All of which are well-known choices. If none of these work, there are many more which come with a variety of options to increase the reach of your Instagram presence.
07. Assess your performance
The strategies described within the post are all much better than the Like count. Despite the uproar, the moment that users began to see their Like counts diminish, they’re not an accurate measure of engagement with content since all they provide is a confirmation that the person who saw your post. Still, there’s plenty more to be measured beyond this.
Instagram Insights can be the ideal location to look into your stats. To access Insights, you need to have a company page. It is possible to switch your profile to a professional one with ease – click the settings wheel on your profile, then click the switch to a professional account, after which you can select the ‘Business.’
After this has been completed, you’ll see a brand new bar chart icon on the top of your page. Click this icon to access insights (divided into three categories called Account, Post, and Story). Instagram Account Insights cover five critical areas of data: Views (how many different screens your advertisements have been shown on) and Reach (how many people are viewing your posts), Clicks on websites profiles visits, and fluctuations in the numbers of followers.
Within Post Insights, you can explore the data produced by your posts by looking at the number of comments, likes, as well as shares your posts have received. In the Discovery section, you can learn the location where your content was seen by users – whether in the user’s feed or from your profile or if it was a result through a hashtag or a location tag.
