I asked one of my friends to share some of her social media questions the other day. She responded with a question that I have heard hundreds of times from friends, business owners, and influencers: How do I increase my own engagement authentically on Instagram?

There isn’t one correct answer and you can read thousands of blog articles that will give you varying responses but here is what I have found to work well for me.

Have a clear message and vision: if you want to engage with your tribe, then you need to know who your tribe is and who you are trying to attract. For instance, if you are a foodie, be sure to mention that in your bio. Let people know immediately who they are going to be seeing from your account. My account says I showcase food, fashion, and travel and that is the exact content I provide my followers. If you say you are a book reviewing account and then post pictures of food you will find a dip in engagement. So when creating your account be sure to know your niche and make it very clear to a brand new follower (in 140 characters or less).

Have good content: there is nothing more frustrating than people who say “I just can’t grow” or “the algorithm is preventing me from growing” and then you go to their account and they have no content or sub-par content. The camera on your phone can take amazing pictures if you know what you are doing with lighting and composition. Take the time to think through the photos you need and what you want to say about them. There are millions of people on Instagram these days which means you have to compete with a lot of great content. Don’t let this idea stress you out, instead, let it inspire you to create the best that you can create.

Engage with your people: in order to grow, you are going to need to be actively engaging all the time. It is an impossible standard but here are some tactics that have worked for me. I post new content when I have an hour or two to respond to any comments that might come my way. The other thing I do is set aside thirty minutes a day (at least) to go find accounts that are similar or have the same passions I do and I engage with them! This means I go through and like some of their photos or comment on a post. The best way to grow engagement is to give it to others! I know a lot of companies who outsource this engagement and hire a virtual assistant to help and that is a great option BUT if you are just starting out I recommend setting aside a couple hours a day to chat with people on Instagram while you watch your Netflix show.

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