If you are a business owner, social media influencer, marketer, or simply interested in boosting your online profile, it’s important to know how to increase social media engagement. Growing an organic following through engagement has been tried and tested, but it doesn’t happen overnight. If you lack the time necessary to maintain consistent social engagement, contact 813 Media Lab, and let’s discuss how we can support your social media marketing strategy.

Check out these 3 simple ways to boost online engagement!

1. Consistency
   One of the best ways to attract and retain a loyal following on Instagram is to keep your community engaged regularly. It’s not enough to just set up social media accounts for your brand – they need to remain active and regularly updated. Whether posting twice per week or twice per day, consistency is vital. Posting 5 images one day and nothing for the next 5 weeks should be avoided at all costs. A social media calendar is a great way to plan and stay on track with maintaining consistency throughout the year
2. Hashtags
   With over 1 billion active Instagram accounts, getting your brand the attention it needs to be successful can be challenging. While some brands turn to paid advertising, the use of hashtags is a more cost-effective way to have your content shared with a broader audience. Though the Instagram platform allows users to include up to 30 hashtags per post, managing hashtags can be very tedious and confusing. Here we’ve provided a few tips to help you out!

• • Use a mix of local and more general hashtags
    As often as possible, keep the hashtag user number under the 1 million mark; otherwise, your post will get lost
  • Post them in the comments instead (this way, they are hidden from your audience)
  • Don’t use following boosting hashtags (e.g., #followforfollow) as Instagram will think you are spamming followers and may shadow ban you
  • Mix it up! Don’t copy and paste your hashtags every time, or you won’t be added to any new news feeds
  • Use hashtags on stories (you can make them small and mirror the background color to hide them)
  • Hashtags will only work if you do them on your page posts
  • Check out your competitor’s hashtag, and use some of them too!

3. Stories‍
Regularly posting a series of stories will keep your content fresh and ensure customers are consistently engaged. Don’t feel limited to posting only about your products or service. Share interesting articles that are relevant to your brand’s spirit and style. Tag other brands because they could re-share your posts, putting your brand in front of their followers, furthering your reach!

‍By incorporating interactive stories into your brand’s social media strategy, the Instagram algorithm will boost your future posts higher into the feeds of those who react or engage with your account. Some of our favorite ideas include weekly ‘Would you rather’ polls, or an informative brand-related quiz.

If you apply these ideas effectively, your audience will continue to interact with your stories, increasing engagement as a result.

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