With over 4.2 billion likes every day, Instagram is a great platform to showcase the best of your business. Whether that be projects you’ve undertaken, your great team or customer feedback your business needs to be using Instagram. But, how do you create and upload effective content that will engage your audience and create an impressive ROI? Here are our top tips for creating engaging, entertaining and informative content that beats those tricky Instagram algorithms;

1. Use Video

A recent report by Quintly found that video generates up to 21.15% more interactions than static image posts. However, only 16.74% of all content published is video. Therefore, if you want your content to generate traction on the site you have to consider in creating engaging videos. Start off with simple boomerangs of behind the scenes content. Try filming members of your team or a new product on the shop floor. With these easier, shorter clips you will soon be able to build up to original content such as product views or interviews to establish yourself as industry experts in your field.

Furthermore, use Instagram stories to add to your profile and static posts. A third of all Instagram users view and update their stories daily, so it’s a feature that you need to consider using. With such a large audience we’re going to explore more Instagram stories tips and tricks in a blog post soon.  These tips could include using stickers to create an interactive marketing resource.

2. Consider your captions

Instagram users have 2,000 characters to use up in their captions, but on average only use around 300 per post. But is this length of caption effective?

Another finding from the Quintly study discovered that captions with 1-50 characters saw the most engagement. So, use your characters wisely. Try to write concise and interesting captions and reference blog posts where your longer descriptions can be found.

Make sure that you include a call to action in your posts asking followers to tag friends, adding a question they can reply to in the comments or inviting them to ask you something. The aim is to make your posts as interactive and engaging as possible.

3. How many hashtags

Much like caption length, Instagram users prefer minimal hashtags. It would seem that profiles that used between 1-3 hashtags per post gained the most engagement.

However, hashtag use depends on the size of your audience. The study also found that a profile with over 10 million followers had the best engagement when they included more than 10 hashtags per post. Therefore, it seems as though Instagram favours profile popularity when using the hashtags to promote posts on the Explore section. Ensure that your posts get seen by using consistent and relevant hashtags that will garner potential customers. Try to create a hashtag that you use consistently and encourage your followers to use it to, creating a conversation surrounding your posts and brand.

4. What time do you post? (change to show what time of day)

Although around 77% of updates occur on weekdays, better engagement levels are seen at weekends. Evidently, weekends are when most followers have time to reply to posts, click on links and share posts that interest them, so why not include scheduled weekend posts, as well as daily updates, in your digital marketing strategy?

As well as considering the day of the week you post you must also ensure that there is also some theory behind the timing of your posts. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if you have the most engaging, informative and creative content, especially if you’re posting at times when you know your audience won’t be around to see it. Keep an eye on when you, as well as other brands, have the most engagement then schedule posts to suit this.

Unfortunately, there is no universal time of day that sees the most posts, it depends on your type of customers, the day and what type of business you are. So, our Instagram top tip is to consider factors such as school times (if you have a young audience) or what time commuters will most likely be looking for distracting Instagram posts to keep them entertained on their way to work.

5.  Engage with your followers

Instagram is an interesting platform as it is a place where relationships can be built between accounts. So, our Instagram top tip is to utilise the platform’s interactivity by proactively engaging with your followers. Use captions to create a call to action for followers. Or simply ask a question that encourages likes and responses in the comments.

The most important thing is to experiment with different medium and techniques. Find out what works for your followers and what will bring in more of them. And remember, nothing really beats posting consistently to your followers. Instagram will reward you for your consistency, prioritizing your content on your followers feeds.

If you need help creating content or promoting your brand on Instagram get in touch with our team of experts here.