10 Hacks for Increasing Instagram Post Engagement
For starters, have a consistent, honest brand voice, and be sure to respond to your audience when they reach out. No one likes to be left hanging!
HACK #1 Add Links in Story Highlights
You can only put one link in your bio, but you can put unlimited links in your Instagram Story highlights right below your bio. Try linking to specific pages on your website, podcast episodes, or current promotions using story highlights. HACK #1 Add Links in Story Highlights.
Disclaimer this feature is only available to accounts with 10,000+ followers or verified accounts.
HACK #2 Comment & Respond
Be the first to comment on influencers’ photos and you’ll drive traffic to your own page and posts. This concept applies for anyone with lots of followers. As with most content algorithms, Instagram’s favors organic engagement and will show your posts more if you have comments and responses within the first hour of posting.
HACK #3 Share the Story Love
Add a story you were mentioned in to your story. When someone mentions you or your brand in their story, you can capitalize on the free mention and show your appreciation by reposting their story to your own. You’ll see a notification appear when your brand is tagged in someone else’s story. Just go to the notification and click “Add This to Your Story,” then you can customize and add GIFs, stickers, and text to their story in your story. It’s story-ception.
HACK #4 Find Your Time of Day
Test out posting at different times of the day. Each brand’s audience is unique so you can start with benchmarks for Instagram use, then get even more tailored by experimenting and creating an individualized posting schedule for your followers.
HACK #5 Discover New Audiences with Hashtags
After you’ve tried adding hashtags in your Stories, you can analyze their reach in “Insights” and see how many people discovered your page from a given story.
HACK #6 Use Stories to Promote Posts
With users consistently watching Instagram Stories, you have a captive audience to direct to your amazing content on your page. Try using GIFs or stickers to draw attention to your post announcements, or use the simple “Text” tool in Stories. You can publish your post directly to Stories by clicking “Share” on your post (the little paper airplane) and clicking “Add post to your story.”
HACK #7 Use Your Audience
When looking for this content, search people who have tagged you in posts or used your brand as a hashtag. You can also encourage people to tag you in posts by adding “tag us in your photos” to your Instagram bio.
HACK #8 Location, Location, Location
Be the first to comment on influencers’ photos and you’ll drive traffic to your own page and posts. This concept applies for anyone with lots of followers. As with most content algorithms, Instagram’s favors organic engagement and will show your posts more if you have comments and responses within the first hour of posting.
HACK #9 Take a Shortcut
Maybe you have a list in Notes that you copy and paste from or if you’re super hacky, you’ve added shortcuts on your iPhone. Instagram actually added a feature so you can do this right from the app. Go to “Options,” scroll down to “Business Settings” and click “Quick Replies.”
HACK #10 Use Your Email Signature
Try to get as many people at your company to include it in their email signature as well. It’s a small, unobtrusive ask that could lead to more followers and ultimately customers for your company
