Recently, Instagram has attracted a lot of negative attention from users, who feel that the app is becoming too much like TikTok. The general complaint amongst the user base is that Instagram is now showing people a much larger proportion of recommended content from accounts that they don’t follow, instead of the content from their friends that they want to see.
If you’ve been struggling with Instagram engagement recently, if your posts aren’t getting as much reach, or you’ve seen a drop in interactions, don’t worry, we’ve got 3 suggestions that’ll help get your Instagram account soaring again. Lets take a look…
Create More Reels
The first thing that you can do to improve Instagram engagement is to create more reels. Reels are your best friend at the moment. They have a lot of advantages over single image posts.
First of all, Instagram reels are short form videos, which as Tik Tok has proved, are highly engaging. Lots of people ideally scroll through the reels section of Instagram without thinking about it, and get exposed to all kinds of content.
Second of all, Instagram reels have the potential to spread out across the app and reach more users than a standard single image post. Instagram are prioritising reels, that’s no secret, so producing more of them means your content will get more reach and more eyeballs on it.
Use More Carousel Posts
While it is true that reels are becoming more popular every day, it is important to make sure that you use carousel posts to their full advantage too. Ideally, you want to make sure that your audience can see and interact with as much of your content as possible. Carousel posts are a good way to do just that.
By using the right type of carousel post, you can seamlessly create content which features a lot of images all in a single post. It creates variety and encourages users to click through each photo to get the full story – a good way to maximise engagement.
Post When Audiences Are Most Engaged
If you want to maximise the engagement that comes with your Instagram posts, then you need to make sure that you post when your audience is at it’s most engaged.
This isn’t the easiest thing to do, of course. You need to make sure that you pick the right moment, when your audience is online and more likely to interact with the posts you create.
Generally, this is around 5PM UK time – but the time for you will vary according to your audience. If you want to figure out the right time, use a scheduling platform like Later, which will provide guidance on the optimal posting times for your brand.
Why is Engagement Down?
Naturally, most businesses are wondering why engagement is down on Instagram.
The big problem is the reels themselves. In order to chase Tik Tok, Instagram are throwing everything at the feature, and in a lot of ways neglecting other types of posts. This came to a head in the summer with the ‘Make Instagram Instagram Again’ campaign, supported by the likes of the Kardashians. Since then Instagram has rolled back some of it’s proposed video focused updates, however, the app still sees short form video as the future, so a lot of it’s focus will remain on reels.
Final Thoughts
Recalibrating your Instagram strategy to take advantage of the current trend of using reels is very important. It means that you can successfully improve your engagement, because you are utilising a resource that everybody responds well to. Reels are the most effective way of communicating with an audience now, but carousel posts and picking the right moments to post are also very effective.