Are you working hard to create content on Instagram, but just feeling like it isn’t going where you want it to go? We’re gonna look at various components to optimise Instagram posts for more engagement. We’ll also be sharing with you some of our top tips for creating consistently branded content that your audience will immediately recognise as yours!
#1. Post Format
So the first thing let’s look at is post format. Photos, videos, carousels. What works best? Algorithmically, Instagram doesn’t have a preference over photos versus videos. If your audience prefers videos, you’re gonna wanna create more videos. So if you have to, look at your metrics to determine that!
However, carousels are our first tip that you should try out. We’re not saying to use carousels all the time because it can be overwhelming to your audience. But a carousel post allows you to do two to 10 photos/videos in a post that they can swipe through for more content. Why do we love this tip? Because it’s double the chance for exposure! If someone sees your first image post and they don’t react to it, Instagram will show it to them again the next time they log in with most likely the second image. Sometimes, the algorithm will also determine another image in the sequence to show to the person that it thinks he/she is more likely to engage with.
#2. Post Content
The next component we wanna look at is your actual post content and the creative that you put in there. Here’s a few things to think about! The colour blue is proven to get about 20 to 30% more engagement. People react to blue. So have a blue sky, a blue product, a blue label, blue clothing. Something in your image with a pop of blue can help boost engagement!
People also connect with other people. So rather than putting your product on a shelf, have somebody holding that product and using that product. You can shoot the image over their shoulder. It can be just their hand. Maybe just them sitting in a chair. The moment you add a human component to your creative, your engagement goes up.
Another favourite hack of ours is to have a very minimal background and a light background, such as white or grey. Something that is very muted and then a bold pop of colour that really stands out in the feed! That will make viewers slow their scroll and pay more attention to that content.
Animals are also some of our favourite things! Everybody loves cute animals – puppies, kittens, sheep, pigs, you name it. If you can put an animal component into your image, you’re probably gonna get more engagement.
Another hack you can use is to have your image with two or three simple words overlaid on that post. It helps to tell people exactly what is gonna be in that caption! This is great for announcing new features, products and updates. It immediately gets people to stop, pay attention and read that caption, generating more engagement and more impressions!
#3. Caption
The next thing you wanna look at when you optimise your Instagram posts is the caption. This is super important in driving conversions, so we wanna make sure you’re doing it really well! Our first tip is to have a really good, strong first sentence of your caption. Long captions get truncated with […] so people are really only reading the first two lines of your caption. If that doesn’t grab their attention, then they’re going to scroll past!
Think of your first sentence like a great blog post title or a great email subject header. Use capital letters or add emojis. Do something to really get people’s attention into that caption so they click on […] and read the whole caption. Additionally, in your caption, you might wanna consider adding hashtags. They’re incredibly powerful – check out our post on how to use hashtags to get more exposure on your content!
#4: Engagement
Another simple but sneaky hack we have for you is to be more engaged on Instagram. Instagram will reward you with more reach if you are actively involved on the platform. Make sure to log in at least once a day to like, comment, scroll, watch a couple of stories because your time on the platform will actually result in more reach and exposure for your content! So don’t post and ghost. Instead, show up regularly for your audience. It’s gonna help everybody in the long run!
#5: Branded Content
Let’s talk about how to create well-branded and consistently branded content that your audience will immediately recognise as your own. One of our favourite tips is to pick only two or three filters when creating your content. You want them to be very similar and consistent across the colour spectrum. For example, if you pick a yellow tone filter, keep all your filters in that tone. If you’re creating food content, look at filters that have high saturation, brighter tones to really pull out the contrast in food. If your brand is more vintage-style, filters that impart an antique look can help you stay true across your different content.
One we hear people ask about is adding a watermark or a logo. Honestly? We don’t recommend this. It can be very off-putting for most people to see your logo splashed across all your content! So try not to do this. Instead, look for creative ways to create consistency across your content!
Another trick you may like to explore is to be unique with your camera angles. Get down low, shoot on a slight angle, stand up higher. If you’re always shooting from a certain perspective that is aesthetically your own, it will create an immediate subliminal connection when people are viewing your content! So if you’re ready to optimise your Instagram posts for more engagement, make sure to bookmark this page so you can return to it. Otherwise, check out more posts here to find out more about using Instagram for business!
