Instagram Engagement Rate: What It Is And Why It Matters

Instagram can be a great tool to increase brand awareness and promote your products. Having an understanding of how to use Instagram is essential for success on the app, and much of that comes back to your Instagram engagement rate. Learning about, and tracking, your engagement rate helps you make your account the best it can be.

What Is An Instagram Engagement Rate?

Your Instagram engagement rate is the quantitative measurement of how users interact with your profile. This takes into account followers, comments, shares, and likes. Typically this number is determined by taking likes and comments, and dividing the total by the number of followers. 1% to 3% is considered to be a good, standard engagement rate. 3% to 5% is high, and anything above 6% is considered very high. Anything under 1% is considered low, and might be an indicator that your account could use a refresh.

Why Is Your Instagram Engagement Rate Important?

Your Instagram engagement rate can help show you what you are doing right and wrong with your account. Chances are, if your audience likes your posts and your messages, your engagement and following will grow. If you post something that they do not like your agree with, your engagement and following will decrease.

Social authority and relevancy can have a big effect on your engagement rate moving forward. Although this varies by industry, an Instagram account with a low following and engagement can look suspicious. Users who are trying to find more information about your company want to see that others like and trust your brand. Keep track of what your current audience likes, and find new ways to engage with them to help keep your rate up.

Audience interest helps you boost your engagement rate. Take a look at what your audience is responding to, and what posts they did not interact with. Is there anything that you have posted that have made you gain or lose followers? How is the amount your are posting- is it too much, too little, or just right? There is a fine line between overwhelming your audience’s feed with content, and not posting enough so that they forget about you. Find that middle ground to keep their attention without overwhelming them.

How To Improve Your Engagement Rate:

There are many ways that you can improve your engagement rate, and they all circle back to listening to your audience. Consistency is one of the biggest things you can work on to boost your rate. Make sure that you are posting consistently, but also that your page has an aesthetic that matches the brand image you are trying to project. Don’t get too monotonous, but choosing a color scheme, keeping the same tone, and only post quality images and videos. If you have a team working on your Instagram account, host meetings as often as you feel necessary to make sure that everyone is on the same page to keep an organized profile.

Look at popular hashtags or trends and join in on the conversation! One of the best things about many social media trends is how everyone puts their own unique spin on them. This shows that you pay attention to what they like, and you want to have fun with them.

Make your Instagram interactive and start conversations. You can run polls or do a “this or that” on your stories, create a spin on popular memes, or write captions encouraging them to interact with you. Choosing a day of the week to post specific content, such as “Tip Tuesday” or “Fashion Friday” keeps your audience looking forward to your content when done correctly. Think about what you can create that is relevant to your industry, and see how you can make it fun!

Consistent, creative content is the best way to have a good Instagram engagement rate. Your engagement rate is a way to track how your customers are responding to you, and can be extremely beneficial in growing your Instagram presence and overall brand image. Do you track your Instagram engagement rate? What are some Instagram accounts that you love to follow? While you’re on the app, be sure to connect with us!