Who hates the Instagram algorithm with a passion because it feels like NOTHING you do gives you the traction you are wanting? Do you feel like Instagram is slowly sucking the life out of you because you’re just LOST on how to get more engagement? Do you feel like IG is out to get you?

Is your hand raised? GOOD. This episode is for you!

Today we are giving you some tough love mixed with some tangible strategies and tips all about HOW to practically increase your engagement on Instagram. These are the exact strategies that we’ve used for 5+ years to grow our accounts organically (we’ve NEVER used paid ads to increase our follower count and we’ve NEVER bought fake likes or followers,  seriously do NOT do that. It’s scammy, gross, and will hurt you in the long run). These are the exact strategies we’ve used to get a TON of engagement, how we’ve turned followers into fans into paying clients, AND how we actually have FUN on the gram. In today’s show, we’re dropping a little sprinkle of strategies straight from the Instagram season of our Heart University online course for photographers. 

If you’ve struggled for what feels like forever with Instagram, don’t you dare go anywhere, my friend. This episode is about to blow your mind. Let’s do it. 

Stop sitting on your butt complaining in Facebook groups that the algorithm is against you. What are you doing to actively make the engagement happen for yourself?

If you feel like your struggle with the algorithm is going to change once you hit “x” number, that’s not true. It’s constantly changing and you are always going to have to adjust, shift, and try new things. But, today we are going to drop the most tangible takeaways so you can begin to kick the algorithms butt. We have used these over and over and they work, regardless of how the algorithm changes. 

Naturally, your follower account will grow with these strategies, but what is more important is that it is going to grow your connection with your current followers, which is way more important. We’d rather have 10 die-hard fans that stick by us and are hard and fast friends, versus a thousand people who only kind of like us. We are going to teach you how to grow your current follower account into raving fans and by doing this you are going to grow your follower count. 

 

1. Respond to every comment

Set aside 20 mins within the first hour of posting. If we can’t post and sit down to engage and respond, we don’t post. This is why we recommend NOT using an app that posts for you automatically or having someone else post for you. 

Reply to comments yourself, in your own voice, as much as you possibly can. It’s so important to build that connection and engagement. You want to invite people into a conversation and you want to engage in the conversation with them. Imagine walking up to someone at a party and asking them how their family is, and as soon as they start to reply, you turn and walk away.

If you have to do something else, you can finish replying later, but be sure to reply to each one if you can. 

When you respond, don’t just leave an emoji, respond with a genuine comment. Treat your followers like human beings.

As much as you can, try to get to know your follower’s names that are engaging with you and call them by name. One of the best ways to do this is to click on their name and double-check their first name! (Side note: If you do not have your name anywhere on your own account, you need to fix that!)

 

2. Post consistently

It doesn’t have to be every single day, although that’s great. But show up regularly so they know when to expect you! You get to pick the consistency for whatever workflow works for you. 

Every day is ideal. Every other day is great. Just pick what works for you and stick to it.

If you don’t post consistently and actively put yourself in front of your followers, they are going to forget about you. You are showing that you are not reliable. You want to show up and show that you are both consistent and reliable.  

 

3. Give the engagement you want to receive

Are YOU consistently commenting, DM’ing, and engaging with your followers in the way that you’re expecting them to engage with you? This will make all the difference in the world. 

You can’t just complain that no one is engaging when you’re doing zero work to do the same. We are not just talking about engaging with people YOU follow, but going to YOUR followers (the people who follow you) and engaging with THEM. When you build that relationship and relatability with people who already follow you, they are going to become brand evangelists and bring friends. Don’t do it in a slimy way to grow your following. Do it to connect with human beings and to actually make a difference and impact in people’s lives. 

We all want to grow our follower count, but why? Why do you want so many eyes on you? You have to know the heart behind your business. Is it just a goal and are you seeking success? Or, do you actually want to impact lives and have more opportunities to serve people?

Use engagement tools on your stories (polls, question boxes, etc.) and INVITE people into conversation with you and then respond back to them. You giving them an opportunity to interact with you tells Instagram that they like your content and it will show up in their feed. 

Be the FIRST to go out of your way to DM someone. Don’t wait for engagement to come to you.

 

4. Rotate between content that offers VALUE

Always give value! You can’t expect to show up on Instagram, post a cute photo of yourself, and call it a day. You need to be consistently giving your audience value. 

Entertainment. Tell a story.

Education. In your field of expertise, educate your ideal client. Give tools and advice. 

Encouragement. Inspire others and get personal. Show your heart and vulnerability and remind people that you are a human being. 

Everyone’s values they can offer is going to be different. Don’t compare yourself to others. Focus on the way you want to impact others’ lives. 

 

5. Calls to action

Invite people into conversation with EVERYTHING you post, this includes stories as well as posts.

Have a CTA at the end of every caption you make. If possible, have one to two CTAs in your stories every day. This can be a poll, slider bar, DMs, question box, etc. 

“What about you?” “Anyone else struggled with this?” “What do you want to see from me next?”

Rather than just making a statement, tell a story and invite people to engage with it. 

If you haven’t used CTAs before, it will probably be awkward at first. People may not know at first whether or not to engage, but they will eventually catch on. 

 

6. Use a hook at the beginning of everything

As important as storytelling and CTAs are, if you don’t make a catchy hook in the first sentence of your caption, no one is going to click to read more. No one is clicking “read more” unless you give them a reason to. 

If your hook doesn’t encourage them to click “read more” they’re not even going to click to read your caption, CTA, and leave a comment. Unless the photo itself encourages a comment, you have to have a catchy hook.

 

Examples:

“I was really constipated yesterday…” (LOOLL real-life Evie caption hook)

“I almost quit…” (again, real-life Evie example)

“If you struggle with….”

“You know what drives me crazy?”

“You’ve NEVER believe what happened yesterday…”

“This is for {photographers… the woman who is dealing with blank…, etc…}

Capture their attention EARLY so they stay and then engage with your CTA. Do not be clickbaity in any way. You don’t want people to feel like they were scammed into clicking “read more”.

 

The Heart University Course

www.theheartuniversity.com/photography