Why Engagement Is Important!
When it’s nice we do it twice! Last month we had a fantastic webinar on Engagement. Our attendees called for an encore. Long story short, we had to oblige. However, a little birdie told us that you missed it…. again. Shame, Shame!
Don’t feel too bad because you’re in luck. We love what we do and are always willing to share. We’re happy to give you a recap on everything you missed.
Did you know that Instagram doesn’t have just one algorithm? Over the years, there has been an increase in users and content. This caused all users to be missing out on around 70% of the content shared.
Instagram used feed ranking to help solve this problem. Its purpose is to showcase the content you want to see the most. A variety of algorithms, classifiers and processes is now used to help with this.
Different parts of Instagram each use a different algorithm. These include the feed, reels, explore and stories.
We know you’re wondering what exactly engagement is and why it’s important. It’s all the actions that users take. The likes, comments, shares, saves, DMs and mentions are all described as engagement.
Business owners aren’t just on social media to lime or have a good time with people. They want to get their content out there. The higher their visibility, the more their business flourishes.
Three things start to happen when followers are engaging
1. The algorithm realizes that persons are very interested in what you have to say. It pushes out more content to your audience on a daily basis.
2. You’ll be able to optimize future posts. When your content resonates with your audience, they become more invested in what you have to say. They’ll begin to ask questions or state what they’ll like to see. You can then produce content and answer any questions, comments or concerns they may have. In other words, you now produce relevant content without wasting time.
3. You can track your performance: Over time, you’ll be able to track how well your business is performing. You can then use this information to put in place things that can increase sales.
Now how do you even check your engagement? No, it does not involve remembering a bent knee, a beautiful diamond ring and those four words. You don’t need to check your finger for a ring but you must check that:
You must have a professional Instagram or creator-type account. This allows you to see the insights or statistics on your engagement. This account can be linked to your professional Facebook account. You’ll have access to the Meta Business Suite. It streamlines and shows all your engagement on your posts.
Be wary of vanity metrics. These are surface level statistics that show number of followers, likes and comments. You can’t act on this information alone. If you want to grow your business, look more into actionable metrics. These statistics tie into specific and repeatable tasks that you can improve. You can optimize the type of content you produce based on these metrics. Improve your content and track what people love or don’t love.
What gets measured, gets done. The most popular way to calculate engagement is using the Engagement Rate metric. This metric demonstrates how many people are connecting with your brand.
Across all industries, the median rate is 0.98%. The higher your engagement rate, the higher your reach. This translates into higher profits for your business. You can make use of any free engagement rate calculator online.
On Instagram, engagement is vital to businesses, influencers and marketers. Increased followers, likes, shares or comments mean that your business is becoming discoverable.
Some tips to improve Instagram engagement
a. Post consistently: Yes, we know that this is easier said than done. This is a difficult habit to develop. It’s a great one to have discipline in. When you post consistently your followers become accustomed to seeing your content. When they engage, your content will be more visible. You can use Facebook Meta Business Suite to help you batch your content on a schedule. This allows content to be posted automatically. The great thing is that this is 100% free.
b. Post to Instagram Stories on a regular basis: If you want to develop a relationship with your audience you must post daily. Post authentic content on your stories. They’ll get to know your brand more and eagerly check to see if you have posted. If you miss a day, they’ll let you know one way or another that you’re dropping the ball.
c. Use Stickers: When I say stickers, I mean polls or “Ask me anything”. These are great for engagement and feedback. Your followers are able to select, give advice and comment. This improves your engagement ratings.
d. Call to Action: Always end your captions with strong Calls to Action. These are a way of encouraging your audience to enjoy your content and to take any action you desire from them. People like instructions. Instruct them to “like”, “comment”, “share” or “shop now”.
e. Create content to save: Useful content with strong CTAs will always encourage saves or shares. If you’re not sure remember that what they share with you provides insight into what they want from you.
Bonus: Increasing Engagement on Websites!
We always speak on the importance of having a business website. You’ll want your audience to engage with your content here too. After all, this is your homebase.
Website engagement looks at how website visitors interact with your website. It looks at any type of action that they take.
Always provide high quality content to the right audience. You need customers to be engaging. The bottom-line is you can’t have sales without customers.
Some tips to improve website engagement:
1. High quality content: Create content that you know your audience would want to see. When you do this, they’ll keep coming back for more.
2. Keep it simple: A simple website layout should be easy to navigate and easy to read.
3. Place your Calls to Action in convenient locations: Use words to encourage your audience to take action. Example “Sign up now”
4. Use media elements: Make your webpage more inviting. Use high quality videos, gifs and photos
5. Be social: When you link your social media pages to your website it creates a level of trust with your audience. They can interact with you on a more personal level.
Follow us on Instagram and our other social media platforms to engage with us. We look forward to your comments and would be happy to chat on a more personal level.
Cheers!