If you have a business then you probably already know how effective it is to use social media to promote your products or services. According to Hootsuite.com, “200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile daily.” Those numbers are wild, right? This makes Instagram one of the best free marketing tools but I know mastering it to work in your favor can be a bit frustrating. This is why I am giving you the rundown on Instagram engagement. But before we dive in, let me first explain to you what exactly engagement means on Instagram and why it matters.

Instagram engagement has to do with the number of likes, shares, and comments you receive based on the number of followers you have. So to calculate your engagement rate you would take the total number of comments and likes and divide that number by your follower count. You then would multiply that number by 100 to convert your engagement rate to a percentage. The average engagement rate is about 4.7% according to iconosquare.com. Having a decent engagement rate lets you know that your followers value your content and are engaged with what you are posting. 

Now that you know what engagement is, how to calculate it, and why it’s important, let’s get into these 5 ways to increase your engagement on Instagram.

• Post in your stories every day. Ever since Instagram launched the stories feature, the engagement game has never been the same. Stories pop up first when you open the Instagram app, right on top of your feed posts. So naturally, your followers first start with viewing stories and then make their way to their feed. Stories only stay up for 24 hours and then they disappear to your archive (you have to have this enabled.) Your engagement can spike with stories due to all of the interactive stickers you can use. You can run polls, post quizzes, and have your followers ask questions. The possibilities are endless with stories so I highly recommend utilizing them if you aren’t already!
• Use 20 to 30 relevant hashtags in each post. Ah, hashtags. On Instagram, hashtags are searchable and clickable keywords. The key to getting high engagement from hashtags is to use highly relevant ones related to the content being posted. Each set of hashtags you use should be slightly different so that they directly relate to your content. It is best to create several hashtag banks so that you can easily rotate through them. Finding success with hashtags will take some testing, but if you stay consistent, you should see a significant increase in engagement.
• Leave meaningful comments. This one may seem like a no-brainer. But a lot of business owners are not doing this. By leaving meaningful comments, you are showing that you paid attention to the post, which is a great way to make an impression online. When you do this, you will also gain the attention of other industry leaders and potential clients. So, the next time you go to leave an emoji, try typing out a comment and add the emoji for an extra pop 
• Set aside time daily for engagement. Listen, I don’t care if it’s 10 minutes a day. 10 minutes is 10 minutes! Let’s face it, you won’t get very far by showing up on Instagram only to promote and sell your products or services. You have to put yourself out there socially and mingle. If you are super busy and find yourself forgetting to log in some days, utilize the alarm feature on your phone. By any means necessary, right? 
• Use a call to action whenever possible. Think about it like this: Your followers are following you to be lead… So lead them directly where you want them to go. You want your followers to vote on your poll, tell them. You want your followers to comment on their thoughts, tell them to do exactly that. Remember that a call to action can not only be used in captions, but also can be used in stories, live videos, on your website, and even in your bio.

As a business owner using Instagram to grow your business, focusing on engagement is vital. Engagement is just as important as the content you post. Keep in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day. It takes time and consistency when it comes to increasing your engagement on social media. I guarantee you will see results if you start implementing these tactics into your engagement strategy.