Low Engagement on Instagram: Possible Fixes To Apply

Experiencing low engagement on Instagram can be a frustrating experience that leads to slow growth. That’s because the Instagram algorithm pays attention to content engagement rates when determining what’s popular. 

We’ll share the top reasons for your Instagram engagement being down and the top ways to improve. You can beat your competitors by posting some of the most engaging content in your niche. Read on for strategies on how to solve your IG engagement issues.

Why are My Instagram Posts Not Getting Likes?

Is your Instagram engagement down? Your Instagram posts may receive low likes because the content quality is low, you don’t use the correct hashtags, and you have low follower counts. In this section, we’ll summarize the top reasons why your Instagram engagement is down: 

• Content quality: Low-quality or uninteresting content may fail to capture the attention of your audience. Therefore, ensure that your posts are visually appealing and well-composed and that your audience will find them interesting. This is an ongoing process, and it’s typically harder for new content creators. 
• Timing: Posting at times when your audience is most active can increase the visibility of your posts and engagement levels. However, if you post when your audience is offline, then you’ll experience a low number of likes. Hence, experiment with different posting times to determine when your followers are most active.
• Relevance: Make sure your content is relevant to your audience and aligns with their interests to get likes naturally. Otherwise, most viewers will back out of the content instead of watching to the end and leaving a like. You can improve the relevance of your content by attracting the correct Instagram target audience. 
• Slow growth: The number of post likes is usually related to your Instagram follower count. If your follower count is low, fewer people may see and engage with your posts. Therefore, focus on growing your audience organically by engaging with users, using hashtags, and posting valuable content. Consequently, you’ll see a natural progression of more likes. 
• Technical issues: Occasionally, technical issues, such as glitches or bugs in the Instagram app, may result in low engagement. Keep an eye on your analytics and reach out to Instagram support if you suspect any issues.

How To Increase Instagram Reach

Do you want to know how to increase Instagram reach? Firstly, you must understand that reach refers to the unique number of Instagram users who see your content. Therefore, you cannot mix Instagram reach with views or impressions. 

Start by increasing your reach by expanding the list of topics you post. This means going into adjacent niches to your own. For instance, if you have an account about fitness, consider posting about fitness supplements. It’s important to maintain relevance for your audience to avoid having an Instagram engagement is low problem. 

Also, you can expand the use of Instagram hashtags in your posts. This may draw in a wider audience and increase your reach. However, don’t add hashtags that make no sense for the target post. This will dramatically reduce your content’s overall engagement rates. 

Finally, you can increase your Instagram reach by collaborating with Instagram influencers. This allows you to access new audiences other influencers have built up over time. It’s also one of the more fun and organic ways to grow your reach on Instagram.

How To Measure the Instagram Engagement Rate

Measuring the Instagram engagement rate is important so you know when it’s low or high. Also, you can detect the results of your hard work when it’s improving. Therefore, we’ll share the top metrics that you must measure and review to understand your Instagram engagement rate:

• Likes and comments: These direct forms of engagement indicate the resonance of your content with your audience. Therefore, consistently monitoring likes and comments provides insight into which posts generate the most interest and interaction. You can also encourage more likes and comments by mentioning them in your content. 
• Follower growth: Monitoring follower growth allows you to evaluate the overall appeal of your Instagram profile. A steady increase in followers, particularly in response to engaging content, suggests positive brand perception and audience interest. There are many ways to grow followers, and exploring them all is a good idea. 
• Shares and saves: The number of shares and saves indicates the value and relevance of your content to your audience. Hence, tracking these metrics helps identify content that resonates deeply with users and prompts them to take action beyond mere engagement. 
• Profile visits: Observing the frequency of profile visits provides insight into the curiosity and interest sparked by your content. A higher rate of profile visits suggests compelling content that motivates users to learn more about your brand or offerings.
• Time spent on posts: Assessing the average time users spend viewing your posts provides valuable feedback on content engagement and interest levels. Generally, longer time indicates compelling content that captures and retains audience attention.

Instagram Engagement Tips for Businesses

As a business, you need to engage your audience to increase the number of sales you generate. Make sure to avoid going for a style that focuses only on marketing products to your audience. That’s because users will feel like your account is like one big advertisement. Instead, use the Instagram engagement tips below to enhance your strategy. 

Instead, focus on delivering high-quality content that’s interesting, funny, or newsworthy. Once you build up trust with your audience, you can then sprinkle in a few sales-oriented posts. Monitor the engagement rates to understand your ability to walk this fine line better. 

You’ll also need to understand what kind of content your Instagram target audience likes to consume. Consider conducting customer research via polls and questionnaires to understand customers on social media better. 

How To Increase Engagement on Instagram

Do you want to know how to increase engagement on Instagram? This will help you overcome the problem of low engagement and improve your rate of growth. Combining these strategies can give your account the edge against competitors. 

1. Encourage Engagement

Prompt your followers to engage with your content by asking questions, soliciting opinions, or inviting them to share their experiences. Furthermore, use engaging captions, polls, quizzes, and interactive features to spark conversation and interaction.

It’s a good idea to be proactive about increasing engagement with your content. Some users forget to leave a like or don’t think about leaving a comment. However, you can nudge users in the correct direction. For instance, you can leave comments and ask users questions. 

2. Utilize Instagram Stories and Reels

Instagram Reels and Stories are a great way to boost engagement in any niche. For example, story engagement can be a creative process. Ask the users to respond to the story in the comments section with a caption. This is an organic way to encourage users to interact with your content. However, you must make the content interesting to achieve a high response rate. 

You can look at accounts that regularly get high social media engagement to see how it’s done by the best. You may notice patterns that you can implement into your content. Furthermore, don’t fall into the trap of seeking engagement from spam accounts. This can do more harm than good since the Instagram algorithm may suspect you have broken the rules.

3. Use the Right Instagram Hashtags

Improving the quality of your Instagram hashtags will lead to more traffic, and that increases engagement. Therefore, you need to follow the following hashtag advice for different types of content:

• Research relevant hashtags: Find hashtags relevant to your content, audience, and industry. You can use tools like the search bar, Explore page, or third-party apps. You may need to get creative to expand the scope of your hashtags while ensuring relevancy. 
• Popular hashtags: Uncover the popular hashtags that the majority of your Instagram audiences search for. This will dramatically increase your incoming post traffic, leading to higher engagement rates. 
• Add location-based hashtags: If your content is location-specific, include relevant location-based hashtags to reach users in that area. This is especially useful for local businesses or events targeting a specific location.
• Branded hashtags: Create a unique branded hashtag for your business or campaign to encourage user-generated content and foster community engagement. Promote your branded hashtag in your blog posts, bio, and marketing materials to encourage followers to use it.
• Create hashtag collections: Organize your hashtags into groups or collections based on themes, topics, or content types. This makes adding relevant hashtags to your posts easier and ensures consistency across your content.
• Monitor hashtag performance: Track the performance of your hashtags using Instagram Insights or third-party analytics tools. Then, pay attention to which hashtags drive the most engagement, reach, and follower growth. Use this information to adjust your hashtag strategy accordingly.

4. Run Contests and Giveaways

Organize contests or giveaways to incentivize engagement and reward your followers for their participation. Furthermore, encourage likes, comments, shares, or user-generated content submissions to increase interaction and reach.

This is a natural way of increasing engagement metrics since you’re rewarding the audience in return. Therefore, you don’t need to nudge users too much for those engagement actions. In fact, you may reach record engagement metrics by making them part of the contest or giveaway. 

Low Engagement on Instagram: Can You Fix the Problem Quickly?

With the right approach, you can quickly fix your low engagement problems on Instagram. Use the strategies in this article to tilt the odds of success in your favor. 

For example, start by monitoring your engagement metrics to spot weaknesses. Then, you can increase your overall follower count to boost traffic and engagement rates. 

Now that you have a few ideas for overcoming low engagement on Instagram, try the strategies yourself. Start with the tips that overlap with your skills and interests. This will ensure you can increase the speed at which you fix your low engagement problems. 

Are you looking for ways to increase engagement rates through more followers? Then, Plixi is the right service to help you gain more followers and boost your account performance. We understand how to target relevant followers who help meet your objectives. So what are you waiting for? Start growing and gaining Instagram followers today.