Unlike the common idea, the number of likes or followers isn’t the main lever for popularity on Insta. These metrics are only a part of a bigger complex that drives viral and trendy content. The algorithm that regulates suggested content operates not only the numbers, as it is quite easy to buy Instagram likes for multiple pictures.
The engagement rate is what really matters when it comes to promoting your materials and pushing them to the current trends. But the thing is that this is harder to measure because it is a complex of metrics and analytics that you should check.
In this article, we shall concentrate your attention on the importance of stats and explain the main principles of measuring the engagement rate of your profile. Here you will also find a few effective tips for increasing it on IG.
Why Engagement On Instagram Matters So Much?
To be honest, engagement rate would be equally important for any social platform that you choose. The reason for that is:
- It’s an indicator of activity on your account.
- It demonstrates the value of your profile.
- The more interaction you have, the better would be your chances to achieve sponsorship and good advertising contracts.
- Brands are interested in pushing their products with influencer marketing, so they are searching for bloggers with the best activity rating, rather than users who simply have big numbers of fans, who are passive.
So, as it becomes obvious, engagement rate is what shows how active your audience is, and this metric is far more important than grossing more subscribers. For your value on the influencer market, it would be better to have a smaller, but active audience that leaves likes or acts on your profile somehow, and reacts to your posts lively and quickly.
Having engaged public means better visibility on your profile and higher priority for IG algorithms, because the platform is interested in keeping users within the app as long as possible. Hence, your profile becomes valuable for Instagram as well, giving you a bigger chance to appear as trendy content in the Explore section and grow as a business or personal brand.
How To Measure Instagram Engagement Rate?
1. Calculate the average number of likes
First of all, you have to calculate your average number of likes. Sum up all likes that you have achieved on posts from fourth to tenth, and then divide this number by seven. This will be the actual average result for the past week or two – and the most true and accurate. The first three posts on your page are considered uploaded recently, so their potential isn’t at its fullest yet. But the posts from four to ten will indicate how many likes you were able to gross in the short period, considering the industry, trends, and the mood of the society.
Tip: if you upload more than one post per day, you should take posts 4-15 for calculatio, and divide the number by 12.
2. Divide the average likes number by the total number of your followers
The result that you got from the previous point will be helpful for you once more to see the average number of active users who are subscribed to your content. Divide the likes number by the total follower amount. The result indicates how many users among your audience are reacting to your content and how visible it is. This is the real engagement rate percentage, which is vital for your existence as a content creator on Instagram.
3. Analyzing the result
After you have got the result from the calculations described above, how to understand what value you have as a creator:
- Less than 1%: critically low
- 1-6%: low
- 6-12%: average rating
- 11-20%: acceptable rating
- 20% and more: high level of engagement.
As you can see, it is enough to have the fifth part of your audience active on your profile to begin gaining popularity and profit on Instagram. For beginners, it would be better to orient on the acceptable level of engagement first, because along with popularity coming upon you, the workload will increase, and you must be ready to get busy with your IG. Only gradual and continuous posting of highly useful and interesting content provides the required rate, and this work takes a lot of time and resources.
How To Increase Engagement Rate On Instagram?
Here are gathered effective ways to raise your engagement percentage and become a known and valuable influencer.
Create carousels
This type of post requires users to do more actions with your post, driving the possibility to get a higher reaction. When you set something exciting and useful in your carousel, people will spend more time watching this post. Hence they will be able to consume more content and put their likes and save your post, which is good for your rating.
Mind the timing
Having a steady schedule is important for your progress on Instagram, but it is also vital to post during the peak activity of your audience. This factor depends on the characteristics of your target group – when they have the most time to spend online. This period is conditioned by things like profession, age, and occupation of the target audience.
Create various content
Instagram is wonderful primarily because of the range of content formats it offers to users. Here, you can address your audience through many channels and get a reaction and likes for many different ideas. Here are the main content formats on Insta:
- In-feed posts. Classic Instagram post that appears in the feed of your followers and is stored in your profile as the accurate grid.
- The type of vanishing content that provides the possibility to entertain and communicate with your audience through videos and photos on the spur of the moment.
- IG Live. Live sessions that are aimed to make a connection between the influencer and their viewers stronger through direct communication.
- Recently introduced as a form of vanishing feed content that also provides an instant interest boost on your content.
- A place for uploading videos that are longer than a minute. It has its specific folder in your profile and can serve for duplication of video content from your other social media like YouTube.
Engage your audience with captions
The option for in-feed content, which brings a lot of reaction is texts. Instagram offers the possibility to post long texts, which can be one of the most effective tools in your range for more likes, for example. Take effort in writing good and interesting captions for your posts and use carousels to make it more comfortable to read.
Use proper hashtags
To make your account more discoverable in the network, use the right hashtags for your materials. Research to find out what tags are most associated with your industry and which ones are followed actively because this is how you can increase the follower number and thus improve your engagement rate. Try to mix in personalized hashtags that would make your account distinct from the others in the niche.
Be active online
To gain engagement on Instagram, you have to be a user yourself. Become an active member of the community whose opinion is important for others.
- Interact with other influencers from your niche
- Repost curated content which is interesting and valuable to you for more likes
- Reply to the comments you get
- Enter the conversations under the posts of other bloggers
- Answer your Direct Messages actively
- Organize your communication with the audience, revealing your personality and interests that may resonate with the public’s preferences.
Conclusion
Engagement rate is the most important factor that determines how valuable your business account or personal profile is as a content creator. By having a high percentage of it, you can grow your profile and get revenue from your account, becoming a known and respected person.