Instagram Engagement Strategies that DON’T Work
We all know that engagement is an extremely important indicator of a successful Instagram strategy. An Instagram account that has a ton of followers, but no real community, isn’t actually going to be useful for marketing at all. Whether you’re growing your account in order to sell your own products, or because you want to be able to do brand collaborations and market products for other companies, having a high engagement rate is essential to making those goals happen.
But how do you generate real engagement on your Instagram content? There are so many resources online that provide tips and advice on this topic - some of them more helpful than others. In this post, we’re going to run through the top five Instagram engagement strategies that DO NOT work - and at the end of the post, we’ll give you a few hints about what might.
Follow for Follow / Like for Like
Ah, the classic follow for follow - if you’ve been on Instagram for more than five minutes then you have definitely come across this strategy. Whether you see it in your comments from random people you’ve never met before, or in otherwise kind DMs that end with an awkward pressure to follow them back - you’ve probably been on the receiving end of this strategy. And maybe, you’ve considered using it yourself.
I get it - it seems so simple. Exchange following someone for them following you back - such an easy way to grow, right? It might not be as effective as you think.
First of all, did you know this is actually against Instagram's terms of service and community guidelines? Each time you do this - you’re risking having your content or account removed. Sounds surprising for how common it is, right? But it’s true.
Secondly, even if you don’t ever run into trouble with Instagram and their guidelines, there are other downsides to this strategy. By constantly offering to follow for a follow back, you’re risking your credibility with both Instagram and your real audience. Are the folks you’re asking to follow you back really interested in the content you’re creating? Chances are, if someone is willing to exchange a follow for follow, they may just be trying to game the system for themselves in order to grow their following - not to build lasting relationships in which they engage authentically with others’ content.
In general, the quality of followers you receive from this method will be questionable - they won’t actually be invested in the content you’re making, and they will most likely never engage with it.
Buying Fake Instagram Followers and Likes
Just like exchanging follows for follows, exchanging money for followers is against Instagram's terms of service and community guidelines. So with this method as well - you’re risking having your content or account removed.
By purchasing followers, you’re getting quantity, sure … but over quality. Successful social media brands are ones that connect with real people, not bots.
If you’re considering buying followers (and let’s be real - many of us do think about it from time to time in our Instagram journey, because real growth can be painfully slow!) then try to think about why buying followers seems like an attractive strategy to you right now.
Often, as Instagram creators, we feel that we need to give ourselves authority or credibility with our numbers. How many times have you felt like you might just be taken a little bit more seriously if you had more followers? (I know I have) and so, many creators turn to buying followers because they think it will help them look “more legit” because they have an audience.
Unfortunately, this strategy has the opposite effect. When you buy a lot of fake followers, you’re unintentionally making your engagement rate plummet. And we all know how important a high engagement rate is - I would consider it a much more important measure of success than a high follower count. All of the bots that are now your followers are not going to like, share, save, and leave meaningful comments on your content.
If you’re worried that your account doesn’t “seem legit” because you have a lower number of followers, know that having a good engagement rate is much more important - and it’s something that you have more control over as a growing creator (more details on that later in the post).
Flooding your post with only hashtags and no real meaning
Hashtags are a great way for Instagram users to find your content through the explore page. Unfortunately, they’re also a great way for your content to look spammy.
The first step to using hashtags effectively, and not in a way that comes across as a bot account, is to make sure you’re providing REAL value in your visuals and captions. When you’re creating your content, remember that a real human being is going to be on the other end reading - not just an algorithm deciding who to serve your content to.
Even though a hashtag can help bring people to your post or page, it’s the content that will make them stay and engage. Therefore, it’s important that you when you do use hashtags, they are paired with high-quality content (since all your content should be high quality, that won’t be a problem 😘) and that they are relevant to that content. Using specific, relevant hashtags is the only effective way to use hashtags to grow on Instagram.
Sharing others’ content without giving credit
Sharing content from other accounts and other platforms on Instagram can be a great strategy for growth - and an awesome way to highlight other people you want to give a shout-out to.
However, it is so important that you very clearly give credit to the original creator of the content. Even better if you can ask them permission before sharing (not always possible, depending on the size of the account in question, for example if you wanted to reshare a photo of Lizzo).
Instagram is unfortunately full of compilation accounts that are constantly stealing amazing content from small creators, and growing because of it. When you’re using someone else’s content, you are gaining benefit from the work that they’ve done. So make sure that you provide some benefit back to them in the form of a shout-out. Tag them on the image, tag them in the caption, and provide them props for their hard work and information.
Using Engagement Pods
Just like follow for follow or buying followers - using Instagram Pods or engagement pods to generate inauthentic likes and comments also negatively impacts your long-term Instagram marketing strategy and really isn’t beneficial to your brand at all!
In case you’re not familiar with engagement pods (sometimes called engagement groups) this is how they generally work:
Instagram creators will form an Instagram DM group chat with other creators in their niche, and everyone in the group will message the group each time they publish a new post. Then,
You are required to like and comment on posts in the group, in order for others to do the same for you, regardless of whether the content is in line with your brand or views.
In most groups, there are time constraints, and if you don’t engage with others’ content fast enough, you may get kicked out.
And therefore, you get stuck worrying more about fulfilling the required tasks of the group versus creating meaningful content for your own brand.
While the idea of engagement pods, which emerged around 2015 or so, was somewhat effective at the time, the Instagram algorithm has developed since then - making it less effective because Instagram has gotten better at identifying meaningful engagement, vs spammy engagement.
Nonetheless, this type of engagement - even though it may temporarily boost your stats - is not going to lead to long-term success. This is because you are focusing on engaging with the other people in your group - rather than engaging with followers and potential followers who are genuinely interested in your content.
What to do instead…
So, if all of these strategies are not effective at increasing your engagement rate, and ultimately helping you grow on Instagram, then what strategies should you implement?
Unfortunately, there are not any quick tricks or hacks to a truly engaged Instagram community. While this might sound discouraging, it’s actually really liberating because it means that instead of spending time checking off a to-do list, you can focus your time on real relationship building - which is much more fun and fulfilling anyway.
The key is remembering that the people you are engaging with are real people. It sounds basic, but it’s surprising how easy it can be to lose sight of that. Focus on having real conversations, investing in getting to know your community, and just being honest and vulnerable with your people.
Approaching engagement on Instagram with an intention for relationship building will produce much more effective results than any of the strategies listed above - and you might just find yourself making a few friends along the way.
