Instagram’s popularity has been growing steadily since it first debuted back in 2010. With more than 500 million active users, it’s currently the second most popular social media network in the world, behind only Facebook (unless you count YouTube), and marketers are falling more in love with the platform.
In fact, the number of advertisers on Instagram has doubled over the past six months or so, to more than one million, in part due to the fact that Instagram is now considered the best social media platform for customer engagement. But what is it that makes the platform so engaging to users, and how can marketers take advantage of it?
What the Metrics Say
“Engagement” is hard to measure, and involves several distinct factors, like post visibility, tendency to comment, and shareability. Put simply, it’s your ability to connect with your followers. In a survey of more than 2,500 micro-influencers (mid-sized social media users with a large following of daily engaged users), 60 percent thought Instagram was the best overall platform for engagement. The runner-up, Facebook, only gathered support of 18 percent.
The "Why"
So why is Instagram so good at engaging with audiences?
- Mobile functionality. Instagram is easy to use when you’re on the go. It’s a mobile-exclusive platform and can immediately edit images you take on the move to post on the platform. That makes it an in-the-moment experience, which naturally attracts more people. It’s also a very simple app to use, with only a handful of posting options and the lovable “infinite scroll” of new content.
- Visual nature. Human beings prefer to gather and interpret information through sight, which is why visual marketing has become so popular in recent years. Instagram appeals to that visual nature. Nearly the entire newsfeed is occupied by the horizontal span of images, and since they’re all reduced to the same square format, it gives a certain level of formality to the experience.
- Novelty. Instagram is also a departure from apps like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, mostly because of its simplicity. It’s done a phenomenal job of attracting younger audiences, with the majority of its users clocking in at under age 30, and has an energy that older social media brands have lost over the years.
- Function. Instagram also caters to an interesting audience. It offers publicly available posts like Twitter, but at the same time has greater control over spam and reasonably tight personal networks. It isn’t limited to just one social function, like LinkedIn is used for professional networking, and is approachable to a wide number of people. This maximizes Instagram’s potential user base, and naturally encourages people to interact more.
The Downsides
Unfortunately, Instagram isn’t a perfect platform. There are some downsides you’ll need to consider when developing your campaign:
- No links. For starters, you can’t publish links in your Instagram posts, so it’s harder to lead people back to your site. The usual workaround is to include a link to your homepage in your main profile, and reference that link in your post. Though it may be annoying, it’s part of what cuts down on spam—making audiences more engaged.
- Text trickery. People don’t jump on Instagram to read posts; they want to see images. If you have a written message to share, you may not reach as much of your audience as you’d like (unless you use the text as the image, meme style).
- Conversation limits. Instagram also wasn’t created for extended back-and-forth conversations. If you’re looking for debates or dialogue, you may need to find another platform.
Tips for More Engagement
If you’re looking to get more engagement from your posts, you can try these strategies:
- Image first. You don’t have to be a master photographer to build a successful Instagram following, but it doesn’t hurt to learn some photography basics. The stronger your image is, the more it will stand out in users’ newsfeeds, and the more they’re going to engage with it. It helps if your image is dominated by a single color (or group of colors), and if your subject matter is clear and in focus.
- Keep it light. Again, Instagram isn’t the place for extended or heavy engagements. In your image, posts, and comments, your goal should be to keep things as concise and light as possible. Get in and get out.
- Always have a call to action. It’s nice to make your followers happy and keep your audience large, but if your followers aren’t actively doing something, you aren’t going to make your campaign profitable. Every post you make should have some kind of call to action, whether it’s leading people back to your site or having them compete in a contest.
- Reward your followers. If you want your audience of followers to stick around, you need to make it worth their while. Reward your followers by giving them exclusive content, discounts, or freebies on occasion. Even a simple thank-you message can be enough to keep users around.
There’s plenty of love for Instagram to go around, so there’s no indication that the popularity of the platform will decrease anytime soon. If you aren’t already on the network in some capacity, now’s the time to join. So long as you keep your users’ interests and needs in mind, refine your photography skills, and stay active, you’ll reap the rewards of a more active, engaged following. For help growing your Instagram following, see my article here.
