8 Simple Steps to Organically Increase Your Social Media Engagement

Social media culture can be exhausting. We're constantly comparing ourselves/accounts to our friends and favorite influencers. SO many times have I sat there pondering "how do I get more likes? How can increase comments on my posts? How do their accounts grow like that?"

I've been doing brand partnerships and sponsored posts for 6 years. Throughout this time (and as the influencer realm has grown exponentially), I have picked up on a few key steps to organically promoting growth and engagement on Instagram.

Obviously there are cheat ways to mimic Instagram growth. You can buy followers, like, and comments for pretty dang cheap. The problem is that these accounts and likes aren't real people. Because they aren't legit, your engagement rate is likely to plummet. You can also lose your credibility, as people can click on who follows you and see hundreds of fake accounts. So although it's tempting, try to stay away from paying for followers.

Here's some steps you can take instead:

1. Bio

First things first: Your bio is so important! It's the very first thing people will see/read when they click to your page. Here are some things to include:

• Your job/student status/Hobbies

• Location

• Degree

• Email for inquiries

• Website Link (Portfolio if no business)

It is also a good idea to consider switching to a business or creator account. This allows you to access many other features, such as post/audience insights, profile buttons, and a title in your bio.

2. Photos

Pictures are what Instagram was created to showcase. Your feed/profile is a gallery of whatever you choose to share. For an aesthetically pleasing feed (unless that's not your thing), here are some tips:

• Have standards for yourself

• Don't just post anything/make sure it fits your feed

  • Use a planning app (A Color Story) to help visualize your grid

  • Stay away from grainy/unfocused photos

  • Try not to use borders or image-square apps

  • Keep images professional

3. Editing

Along the same lines as making the most of your photos, here are some editing notes:

• Use Adobe Lightroom (or VSCO) to create your perfect preset for your photos

• Stay away from (at all costs) Instagram filters

• Lightly edited filters draw in more real and organic growth

4. Following

The people you choose to follow effect what kind of accounts are going to follow you as well. You likely follow family, friends, maybe people from your college, and some accounts similar to yours/that inspire you. Remember that when someone goes a profile, they are given more reccomendations of who to follow related to that account. Based on Instagram's algorithm, hopefully you'll be getting reccomended to people related to you or your interests. I have just two points here:

• Don't follow/unfollow for personal gain (follow a bunch of people and then immediately unfollow them)

• Follow accounts similar to yours (people in your area, industry)

  • Utilize and look through hashtags to find these similar accounts

5. Connecting

Upping your engagement does take a little bit of time and effort on your side:

• Follow hashtags and accounts related to your own (EX: #SeattleBlogger, #SeattleFashion, #Igers_Seattle)

• Like and comment on accounts that you admire or are similar to yours

• Like and respond to comments on your own pictures. Return follows if applicable

6. Activity

Staying active is crucial to staying relevant. If you aren't posting regularly, you'll can get lost in Instagram's algorithm. Here are some general rules:

• Be active

• Post regularly (3-7 times per week)

• Don't be afraid of using hashtags!

• Like and comment on posts of those you follow

• Check notifications routinely

7. Highlights

If you use Instagram's story feature, it's a great idea to utilize highlights. What most people lack in the highlights department is creating visually pleasing covers for each group as to not make your profile look to messy:

• If you haven't yet, get started using the story highlights feature

• Create relative categories and matching covers for each

• Use to engage people quickly and direct them to the type of content they are looking for

8. Brand Partnership Sites

If you're looking to dive in even further, and get started with sponsored posts, here are some websites to check out that I have personally used myself:

• BrandMavrck

• Social Native

• Influenster

• InfluenceHer

• Heartbeat

That's it! It's likely that you've already put most of these things into practice to some extent. I know my weakest area is engaging with new accounts and taking the time to like and comment on other people's accounts.

I hope these little tidbits gave you some insight and inspired you to crush your Insta game! See you on the 'Gram! 💜

xoxo,

Carissa