Optimizing for Instagram is all about getting your current followers, and people searching for hashtags to engage with your content. For this post I’m going to focus on how to increase Instagram engagement for your current fans and followers, with the goal of sending the right signals that your images and posts are high quality.
When your followers engage with your Instagram posts in a natural way, it should help you to get more exposure to new audiences in the hashtag search feature and for the people that already follow you. On Instagram there are multiple signals that can send a positive note to the algorithm.
Five Instagram Engagement Ranking Signals Include:
- Swipes
- Likes
- Comments
- Saves
- Shares
To get your fans and strangers to engage, you not only have to produce images your audience wants to see, but you have to be creative. That is where I come in and I help the partners in my affiliate marketing programs with this regularly. Here are a few Instagram optimization strategies by the type of account to try and help you get more swipes, comments, and saves.
Swipes
Swipes are when people swipe left and right to look at your photos when you have multiple images in the same post. If a user is scrolling through their feed and stops to look at your image, then also swipes through the series, there is a good chance the content is good. Aside from asking your followers to look through each image, here are a few ways to encourage more Instagram swipes by popular type of Instagram account.
Bonus tip: Add arrows that point right in the lower right hand corner as an additional signal if you have a series. You could also place “next” or “step two” over top of the arrow in the lower right corner of the image.
For Photography Instagram Accounts:
- Share a series of how you create your photos starting with the final version as the first image in the series. You could caption it, “how to create a photo like this”. You could also do a split picture with a before and after image that has a line dividing the image in half. Then make each image in the progression a major step in your editing process. Now your fans can follow along to see your process and replicate it. In order for them to create the same outcome, they’ll have to swipe through each image in your series.
- Teach a photography technique like “taking an XY shot in harsh light”, or “how to create XYZ effect with photo editing”. Each image in your series should be the next step to reach the end goal. If the fan or follower wants to learn the technique or skill, they’ll need to swipe through.
- Upload multiple shots with the same theme, and offer a discount on the last photo in the series that applies to each. This shows off your work and provides an incentive to look at the last image in the series.
Makeup and Beauty Instagrammers:
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