These days all we seem to care about is growing our audience. More eyes on your account, more followers, more notoriety, more brand deals. We always need more. engaged instagram community

When I say we, I group myself in right there with ya, because from a business viewpoint, my growth is critical to the survival of my brand. engaged instagram community

Social media, Instagram in particular, has become one of the pillars of owning and operating a successful brand. We’re always looking to others wondering, What’s the secret? How is he/she bringing in 1k new followers per day and I am barely breaking even? Why has my engagement dropped? I wonder if anyone else’s IG story views have been cut in half.

We ask ourselves the same questions day in and day out. Every once in a while, we’ll read a news article or a blog post titled “Instagram’s Algorithm, Explained” and get that butterfly of hope that someone has it all figured out and is about to share a gold mine of life-changing information. From shadowbanning to hashtag strategies, loop giveaways and engagement groups, sometimes the answer is simpler than we think, and we just have to take it back to basics.

In today’s installment of Behind the Blog, I’m sharing my tips for creating an engaged community on Instagram; how to keep your followers invested in what you have to offer, and how to seek out new members of your community.

Shift the Focus Off of You +
On to Your Followers

Here's a thought...ask your followers to engage!

Being a one-woman show can often feel very egocentric. We're talking about ourselves - our lives, our careers, our favorite things all.the.time. Of course, that's all part of being a blogger. We're opening the doors to our lives for everyone to see and our audience follows along because of that.

But part of building loyal readership is to get to know your readers, and a great way to do that is to turn the tables and let them have a chance to share with you.

+ Ask questions in your post captions. This is such a fool-proof way to build engagement and get to know your followers. News flash...there are a lot of people out there who like to share...so let them! I try to pose a question in my posts 1-2x a week and find that people are much more likely to respond organically to post captions with a question as opposed to captions with a statement.

+ Utilize Instagram Story polls. Polls are the perfect way for your followers to participate as a part of your community with the click of a button, and if there's one thing I've learned from my Instagram Story analytics, it's that people love polls.

Tip: Every once in a while, direct your polls at your audience to get to know them better. For example, instead of asking what pair of shoes you should wear, ask your followers if they prefer flats or heels. 

Create Something Special Just for Your Community

Set yourself apart by giving your followers a reason to come back. Creating something of value that your followers know they can come to you and only you for is a great way to keep your community engaged.

Maybe it's a daily motivational quote or a weekly Q+A. Whatever it may be, create something special and implement it consistently so it becomes something your followers expect and look forward to.

For example, I started sharing quick "Behind the 'Gram" snippets on stories to give my followers a look into the behind the scenes reality of my posts. Another example is my Blogging Resource Library, where I've built a community of bloggers who all have a shared space to access free blogging tips and resources for building a brand.

Seek Out New Potential Followers

If you have a clear picture of your target audience and your ideal reader, you should be able to look at any given Instagram account, and know within seconds if they are a potential follower.

Think about how many billions of Instagram users are out there, and how many of the billions would find value in following along with your account, but simply don't know it exists.

There are plenty of ways you can seek out new potential followers, but the most foolproof way I have found is to pick out a few accounts that are similar to yours (style, aesthetic, voice - they can be any of these things) and to engage with their followers. You can do this by going down their follower list or by heading to their most recent post and going through their likes and/or comments. As I mentioned earlier, you should be able to determine if someone is a potential follower at first glance. Chances are though, if you're utilizing the audience of an account similar to yours, the majority of accounts you are engaging with will be a great fit as a potential reader!

When you seek out these accounts by liking or commenting on a post, most commonly (especially with smaller accounts), that person will see your notification and our of natural curiosity, head to your account to check it out. From there, it's out of your hands and up to them to decide if they want to follow along.

Remember, while it's important to cater to your existing community, it's just as important to continue to build it by getting new eyes on your account. 

Would love to hear any tips of your own for creating an engaged Instagram community the comments below!
Sign up for the Blogging Resource Library for access to tips, tricks, chats and more here!