How to engage on instagram
A pillar of our social media management is engagement. It’s vital to the organic growth of a page, but is often the one step business owners don’t take when managing their own social media. It can be the one action that makes all the content planning and creation work.
But what is engagement, anyway?
Think of engagement like a professional networking event. You’ve prepared for the event well; you got your hair done, you bought a new outfit, your makeup is flawless. You have a ton of business cards and your elevator pitch ready to help introduce yourself to others. You feel confident and ready to make some connections!
But then you get to the event, and all you do is stand in the corner alone. You look great, you have meaningful things to say, so why aren’t people walking up to talk to you?
Because you need to ENGAGE!
You have to be prepared to walk up to total strangers and start a conversation. You can’t just nod along, either. You need to have something to say back when the person is chatting with you!
Engagement on Instagram is the exact same concept. Even if your content is brilliant, the graphics are intriguing and what you have to say is impactful, no will care if you don’t show interest in them FIRST.
Here’s how we perform engagement at AHM:
Create a hashtag foundation. Research various hashtags related to your brand, business and core values and follow them. Use them every time you post so your content will begin to show up repeatedly in this category.
On your feed, you’ll see accounts that also follow these hashtags appear. If the content is good and aligns with your brand, like the post and comment on it (and have something meaningful to say). We also reply to other comment’s and start conversations within the thread! Then, share the post to your Story.
Follow the accounts that have good content within your hashtags. If the account has a lot of followers or post likes/comments, see what hashtags they are using and consider using them as well.
Spend 15 minutes a day going through your feed and liking, commenting and sharing. Twice a day is even better, as you’ll be reaching two separate audiences. Do this in your feed as well as in Stories.
By doing this consistently, you’ll begin to notice that others are taking note of your presence. They’ll begin to talk back, follow your page, and look forward to your content. (Just don’t forget to plan, create and schedule it so you don’t lose their interest!) You are creating a digital community!
Just like at the networking event, if you keep showing up with good things to say and actually listen to what others are saying, you’ll begin to make genuine, authentic connections. Yes, your reach analytics may go down, but it’s because you are reaching the RIGHT people; people who will engage, who recognize your brand. This number may be smaller, but the relationships are deeper. Would you rather have 50 shallow leads, or 5 solid, deep ones?
AHM is here to help mental health practitioners reach their digital audience and grow their business. If you need help with your social media, email marketing and blogging, contact us soon!
