Increase Customer Engagement On Instagram

Instagram is one of the undisputed rulers of social media.  This social network has over one billion monthly active users and 500 million-plus active daily users.

The app’s large number of users have opened the floodgates for brands to connect and engage with their customers. When you think about a brand with an Instagram account, you can actively check the account for updates, new items, news, related content, as well as reach out to the business to address questions and concerns.

Businesses are reaching out to customers using Instagram

Big brands have taken the initiative and smaller businesses shouldn’t miss the opportunity to establish their social brand presence on Instagram. Internal data from Instagram shows that 80% of Instagram accounts follow a business on the app. Brands are learning how to utilize the different features of Instagram to increase customer engagement which involves sharing photos, videos and, stories.

Businesses have grown with the help of advertising on Instagram. Here are a few examples of businesses that have grown through Instagram:

• Payments company TransferWise had over 9000 new registrations from ads on Instagram Stories.
• Clothing company Clock and Colours increased their overall online revenue in Q4 2018 by 97% compared to Q4 2017 by running ads in different services owned by Facebook including Instagram.
• Nescafe increased brand awareness among people aged 35-44 by creating catchy videos on Instagram
• Indonesian e-commerce platform Tokopedia boosted customer engagement by using features such as Instagram Live to interact with customers on the spot along with ads on Instagram Stories. Tokopedia experienced a 67% increase in product page views.
• Video game company Capcom ran ads on Instagram to promote their Resident Evil 2 video game remake. The ads reached more video game owners on Facebook compared to running video game ads on tv. 82% of people reached on Facebook platforms owned a video game console compared to 49% of people reached on tv who did not own a video game console.

Brands utilize different strategies to increase user engagement. We’ve narrowed it down to five and here are strategies that your brand can implement on Instagram to increase engagement and get more eyes on your products and services:

1. Edit your photos with a third-party photo editing app

  Photo editing on VSCO

The current photo editing features of Instagram are plenty. However, the app does not provide as many features as third-party editing apps do. You will find posts with the hashtag (#) of VSCO. That isn’t just a hashtag. VSCO is a popular photo editing app that people use to edit photos before they upload the photo to Instagram.

Many users can’t achieve their ideal photo with the help of Instagram’s photo editing feature. In order to resolve the issue of creating the ideal photo, third-party photo editing apps provide more features to help users create their ideal photo.

Brands can benefit from a third-party photo editing app because you can share posts directly after editing your photo on mobile. You don’t have to go on a desktop, activate Photoshop, edit your photo, transfer the photo to mobile and share your post on Instagram.

All you must do is edit the photo you want to share on a mobile device and go back to Instagram and share your ideal photo.

Edited photos can look more appealing to customers when done right.

The next step is to write a description of your post.

• • Photo Ads
  • Video Ads
  • Stories Ads
  • Carousel Ads
  • Collection Ads

2. Create Captions that will capture a customer’s attention

Brands who share information with captions make it easy for customers to leave likes and comments on a post.

When you’re browsing through your Instagram feed, you will see photos and videos. Look at photos and videos with descriptions and compare them. If you were a brand, you should have captions on your posts to give customers information on your brand. Let’s say you’re promoting a product on your Instagram post. Customers won’t understand what your product is all about if you just posted a photo of your product.

Enter a description of the product. Put the price of your product so you can narrow down the buyers from window shoppers.

If you’re trying to increase awareness of your brand, talk about what your brand can offer the customer. Create a short write-up describing what your company is and what it does. Tell a story. Don’t limit yourself to short captions. Telling a full story is much better than a short phrase. Customers get a better idea of what the brand is all about and maybe convinced to learn more by visiting the brand’s Instagram account and go to the brand’s website.

Now that you have given customers an idea of what your brand is all about, it’s time to answer the customer’s queries.

3. Interact with your followers

Brands interact with followers to increase engagement.

After posting a photo or video of your brand with a description, customers will likely have inquiries about your brand that may not have been answered in the post.

Answer the customer’s questions as soon as you can. Responding to your customer’s concerns will show that you care for your customers and that is just as important as selling your product.

When your brand is on Instagram you are not just trying to sell a product. You are building rapport with your audience so you can build a relationship with them. The more you show that you care for your customers, the more loyal they can become to your brand. The customer will feel comfortable interacting with the brand account if the customer knows how the brand treats its customers online.

4. Interact with accounts who are in a similar industry as yours

Hashtags are a good way to find accounts that share similar interests

Your customers are the most important aspect of increasing engagement on Instagram. However, there are also other accounts you should look for on Instagram which are other brand accounts.

If you are a food brand, you should engage accounts that are all about food. Offer to give them a free item in exchange for promoting your product. Leave comments on their posts, respond to their stories.

Iconosquare mentions the phrase “engagement feeds engagement.” Any form of engagement with another account will help increase your brand’s visibility. Follow other brands who are in the same business as you. If you’re a sports brand based in Utah, follow and engage accounts that also focus on sports in Utah. You can also lookup features by online marketing companies in Utah who can help you learn how to increase customer engagement for your brand.

However, engaging doesn’t always mean engaging in every single post, video and, story of an account. You want to build an identity for your brand and you’re associating with similar brands so that customers know that you offer similar products or services to the same audience.

In order to find accounts that share similar interests, look for hashtags on the Instagram search bar and enter a commonly found tag on the brand accounts you follow. Try using the same hashtags on your posts and see similar accounts like your posts, leave a comment or maybe even follow your brand’s account.

5. Instagram Ads help get more eyes on your product

 

An Instagram ad with the Shop Now button

Using Instagram Ads is a great way to increase brand awareness. You pay Instagram a certain amount of money so that your ads will be seen by users you want to cater to. You can post advertisements on a person’s feed or stories.