Getting your followers to engage with your brand on social media, particularly on Instagram, is one of the best things you can aim for in your small business. After all, sharing videos and images published on your responsive website can boost your brand awareness among your followers.
Note, however, that it can be a tricky one to pull off. Perhaps you don’t know exactly how to get started or maybe you are not sure what type of content belongs to your Instagram feed. You must always know the kind of visual content you have to offer, which aims to engage your target audience through sharing, commenting, or liking.
If you are struggling to get the maximum engagement you want for your brand, if it seems that your posts get such little percentage of shares, comments, and likes, then you must learn strategies to captivate your audience more.
Here are some tips to help you capture the attention of your customers on your Instagram page for maximum engagement.
1. It isn’t easy to encourage users to fully interact with branded content
If you think encouraging users to interact with your branded content on Instagram is not an easy task, you are not alone! Many marketers, small business owners, and entrepreneurs have had problems building up an actively engaged audience on this video and image-sharing platform.
According to researchers, it is just not easy for brands to organically break into conversations on social networks. Always keep in mind that people don’t necessarily engage with branded social content.
But what about the other business profiles on the platform that have so many followers? Bear in mind that some big accounts are not playing by the rules; they buy their followers.
Many businesses have opted to paying for their Instagram followers through various outside sources. These high numbers of followers are little more than just an illusion. In fact, the significant increase in numbers of followers does not do much good on social networks like Instagram, since several of these big accounts are not genuine.
Even if they are real and active, they have little genuine interest particularly on the accounts they follow.
2. It pays off to build an engaged Instagram audience
Connecting with your target audience on this platform can bring many benefits for your online brand. With over 300 million users, Instagram is one of the best social networking platforms you should never dismiss.
According to Forrester research, top brands on this platform have been able to get a per-follower engagement rate of approx. 4.21%. When compared to Facebook and Twitter with a rate of 0.07% and 0.03% respectively, that means Instagram offers 58 times more engagement than any other platform.
Because big businesses see potential for great success through Instagram, it’s probably one of the reasons why 85% of major brands have opted to use this platform as part of their most effective social marketing strategy.
3. Getting more followers isn’t the only secret to Instagram success
So if it’s very difficult for brands to engage with their target audience on social networks, how have some of them managed to leverage Instagram’s power to generate leads, engagements, and sales?
You should determine what makes the difference between your business profile and others’ feeds. The key to your small business success is very simple: captivate a well-defined target audience and understand what they are looking for on Instagram.
Before you start creating any video or image, define your target well. You should know the audience you are trying to attract because without knowing them, it’s going to be very difficult for you to create and post unique content that they will be interested in.
By focusing on who your target audience is and what they are interested in, it will be much easier to grow your Instagram follower count organically, as well as expect good engagement rates, rather than simply posting without a clear focus.
With a responsive website, a well-thought out social media marketing strategy, and by getting to know your audience well — e.g., their gender, age, location, income, and occupation — the faster you will grow your Instagram account and the more your brand awareness will increase.
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Originally published at www.bookmark.com on June 20, 2016.
