We need to stop trying to “figure out the algorithm”. I think Instagram has made it frustrating and unsolvable for a reason! Think about it: How much time have you spent stressed out, frustrated, and focused on “figuring Instagram out” vs. the amount of time you’ve spent reflecting on your own work and testing what works for you?

I think we need to calm down, take a breather and tell ourselves “its okay to not know everything” when it comes to the wizardry of this ever-changing algorithm and go back to the basics.

In this post I’m going to focus on the most common questions I receive when it comes to engagement: How do I increase my engagement? How do I build an engaged audience? How do I get in front of new people without the “follow-unfollow” method?

Let’s focus on what we do know and use that to our advantage.

What does “engagement” on Instagram mean?

 If we take a look at the definition of “engage” we have this:

• To occupy, attract, or involve someone’s interest or attention

So when I talk about ‘engaging with others’ or ‘receiving engagement’ in this post, I’m not talking about mindlessly scrolling and liking photos. I’m talking about grabbing someones attention by leaving them a thoughtful comment, following the accounts that peak your interest, reaching out to someone who inspires you to grab coffee. The difference here? Being INTENTIONAL, not “going through the motions”.

What do we know about Instagram?

“Instagram is a social media app that allows users to share photos and videos from their lives, add captions, edit filters, tweak settings, engage with others, explore and creep, and so, so much more” 

Let’s keep in mind these two key points.

1. “Instagram is a social media app”

2. “allows users to…engage with others”

What do we know about the algorithm?

• The order posts show up in ones feed is not chronological anymore

• Instagram is pushing the most relevant ones towards the top and giving them the most visibility

• Hashtags have the potential to allow our posts to be seen by people who wouldn’t normally see our posts

Now this may not seem like a ton of information but it’s everything we need to move forward and answer the top two questions I received about increasing engagement.

“How the heck can I get in front of people without just following thousands of people?” – Question from @sipsandsojourn:  

“How do you encourage people to actually engage with your posts? I tried asking questions but that doesn’t seem to work. And emojis are great but I want to have a conversation and build friendships!  How do you build an engaged audience? ” – Question from @ashvedo

I chose to combine these questions because they have similar answers.

We learned above that Instagram is a SOCIAL media app created for us to ENGAGE with others. Meaning it was intended for us to be social. Duh.

Let’s use our every-day life as an example. When you want attention from others, what do you do? Do you stay quiet? When you have a cute outfit that you want people to notice, do you stay in your room and just wait for someone to walk in and notice? Do you stalk people from afar until they notice you? When you walk down the street do you expect someone to come up to you and give you a compliment? If you said yes to any of those, I highly suggest you reconsider your answer because none of those are smart efficient ways to capture attention.

The same thing goes with Instagram. TALK TO PEOPLE. Speak up, go out, build relationships. Etc. Find people who are liking similar photos you do, who have similar interests and like their photos, shoot them a DM, comment on their photos with something more than “nice pic”. If someone comments on your photo, comment on one of theirs. The more people you intentionally engage with like this, the more eyes you’ll be in front of and they will engage with you. Instagram is basically implementing the #1 mom rule around the world “treat others how you want to be treated”.

I won’t lie to you and say it’s easy. It can be a lot of work, and be very time consuming. BUT if growing engagement and being seen are your goals, it’s worth you investing time into.

How do you find “the right” people who are more likely to engage back?  How do you “target” (for lack of a better word) Instagrammers that will stick around?

The answer is easier than you think and I’ll break it down for you

• Find 3 Influencers with a similar style and niche as you, who have great engagement rates and active audiences. One influencer with 500k+, one with 100k+ and one with 10k+ followers (of course you can have a list of multiple but this is to keep it simple).

• Use these Influencers followers and supporters as your target people because, after all, if you chose Influencers with a similar style as yours, you KNOW their audience is going to be interested in you!

• Engage with their recent followers and people who are commenting on their photos. Why? Because if you want people who will follow you and comment on your posts then you need to find people who you know are already doing that on other accounts!

Easy peasy.

Next week we’re going to dive into the specifics of increasing our engagement, using hashtags, when to promote your photos if you have a business account etc. Feel free to screenshot your favorite part about this post and send it to me on Instagram (@itsmodernmillie) for a shoutout! I love to hear from you on what you enjoyed and what you’d like to read more of.

Follow your joy,
Millie