7 Habits to Boost Your Instagram Engagement: A Guide for Small Business Owners
I’m not sure about you all, but this last quarter has been rough regarding engagement.
Almost everyone—and their moms—are struggling to increase their Instagram engagement, even after following all the golden rules. They’re posting consistently, creating original content, and pairing it with trending audio…but nothing seems to be working.
I’ve noticed that when my engagement gets stale, it’s because I stopped doing certain things consistently. Social media marketing is a game of compounding effort—the better daily actions you take, the greater your results. It’s like going to the gym: if you skip too many workouts, you’ll lose progress. If you don’t adopt certain habits when it comes to your social media management, the content will eventually fall flat.
This article serves to give you 7 social media management habits you can adopt today to refresh your engagement.
1. Perform Audience Audits Once a Month
Our content can get stale when we stop paying attention to who we’re talking to. Consumer interests change over time and so does the make-up of our audience.
For example, when I first started managing my client’s Instagram for their online clothing store - the first people to follow them were friends, family, and peers. They were so eager to support them, that engagement was through the roof. Once we scaled the audience to include their target customer, a noticeable drop took place.
Action Step: Start a folder in your saved collections and name it after an audience segment. Create as many as applicable to your account. Once a month, review your followers and separate them by saving one of their posts into the relevant folder. Depending on the size of your account, it’d be enough to start with 10 to 15 per folder.. Next, go through those folders and answer the following questions:
Who are they following?
What hashtags are they following?
What sort of content do they post?
What sort of content do they repost?
What are they interested in?
Once I’ve noticed 2 to 3 patterns within each group, I then use the insight to refresh content.
Pro Hack: If you’re not a marketer and want to spend the least amount of time performing marketing tasks - use ChatGPT. Provide it with information about your customer persona and ask for a list of their top pain points, favorite types of content, and common interests.
2. Mark Each Piece of Content with An Objective
Instagram is no longer a linear-format medium. The way audiences move through your content and how Instagram shows content has changed. Due to this, you want to make sure you’re attaching a specific goal to each piece of content so you can measure performance accurately.
Initially, I was only posting my photography on my account, attracting an audience solely interested in those services. To expand my reach to small business owners interested in social media management and content creation, I created a reel targeting this new audience. Though the post didn’t garner many likes and comments, it reached over 500 people and received 750 plays. It continues to attract new viewers, introducing them to my broader content.
In sales, there’s a rule that it takes 7 touchpoints for someone to purchase from you. On Instagram, it’s important to be aware of the average customer journey and build content that reaches people at each stage. There are 4 common goals that a piece of content can accomplish:
Nurtures the relationship with your current audience
Reaches into new segments to increase reach and audience count
Converts warm audiences (guiding people who have interacted or purchased from your brand to take action)
Converts cold audiences (guiding those who haven’t interacted or purchased from your brand to take action)
Action Step: Next time you’re scheduling your content, label each post with one of these goals:
Nurture Current Audience: 40%
Engage New Audiences: 25%
Convert Warm Audiences: 20%
Convert Cold Audiences: 15%
This breakdown helps ensure a balanced strategy that maintains relationships with your current followers while also attracting and converting new ones.
Pro Tip: Strong campaigning is essential. Every post should align with a specific business goal. For example, a client of mine is preparing for a Q4 workshop, so we started promoting it early. When creating content, I ensure each piece that’s meant to support the workshop goal also has a content goal. This approach appeals to various audience segments, helping us attract a diverse and engaged group of attendees.
3. Create One Reel Each Week
Instagram is a for-profit company in the business of capturing attention. They’re competing for market share against companies like TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and X (which I will forever call Twitter). Adam Mosseri made it clear in a recent post that they will be prioritizing original video content.
It also makes sense from a consumer perspective. Consider how you consume content. Most of us have fallen prey to the black hole of the explore page - spending hours on cooking and cat videos. Your consumer engages with content the same way.
I created a reel that reached over 500 people organically. I would’ve paid $5 to $10 for the same reach. Reels are a great way to reach new audiences and reengage your current audience by giving them something different to consume.
Action Step: When I’m working with small businesses with a tight budget, their dollars don’t always include me coming out to capture content. I give them a checklist to record 15-second videos every day while they’re at work. By the end of the week, they have 4 to 7 reels that can be created. Best case scenario - they’re creating a cache of B-Roll that can be repurposed for future posts.
ProTip: Don’t forget your CTA’s and Hooks. Oglivy famously said, “When you have written your headline, you’ve spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” A compelling hook can transform an average post into a standout one.
4. Start Conversations
Digital platforms are like brick-and-mortar stores where customers can engage with your brand. They browse, get a sense of your tone, and interact with customer service. Unlike traditional marketing, digital marketing offers real-time feedback.
In the real world, you wouldn't ignore everyone, plop down a sign, and hide. That’d be weird so don't do that on Instagram. Mingle, start conversations, and create content that encourages responses.
For example, I audited a boutique gym's Instagram. They had over 2,000 followers but only a 0.25% engagement rate because their posts were purely one-sided advertisements. We created a shared Spotify playlist and encouraged members to add their music. This post became the top performer of the month due to excitement around sharing their playlists and seeing what others were listening to during their workouts.
Action Step: Create one post each week that invites feedback. You can use prompts that relate to your services or occasionally ask personal questions outside your scope. For instance, during a Detroit heatwave, I posted a poll about how people were spending their day. Engagement doubled, and I got to connect with my audience on an emotional level.
Pro Tip: Engage with others' posts and stories. Spend 10 minutes at the start and end of your day replying to comments and messages, and commenting on other accounts. Also, engage 10 minutes before and after posting your content.
Use Stories More
The Power of Stories in Social Media Strategy
Stories are often underrated in social media strategy. Unlike regular posts or carousels, there's less pressure to create something perfect, allowing for more authentic and spontaneous content. Plus, stories tend to reach a wider audience and offer fantastic opportunities for engagement and interaction.
I've noticed that consistently posting stories keeps my audience engaged over time. When I share content on the main grid, the same people who interact with my stories are often the first to engage with those posts. This consistent interaction fosters a stronger sense of community and loyalty among your followers.
Action Tip: Integrate stories into your content plan. If you haven't built the habit of posting them regularly, schedule it to ensure you always have something up. As a rule of thumb, aim to post at least twice a day on your stories. This regular engagement can significantly boost your visibility and connection with your audience. Remember, the key is consistency—staying present in your followers' feeds helps maintain and grow your audience.
ProTip: Repurposed content also works great for those moments don’t have anything original. It gives a chance for audiences to see what else you’re interested in and what you associate with. As a bonus, you start fostering relationships with other creators. Who doesn’t love having their work or ideas shared?
Run Small Paid Ads
There's a lot of talk about organic marketing, but as someone who spent six years in corporate sales, I believe in a diversified approach for all content marketing efforts. While organic content has the potential to reach a broad audience, the only way to guarantee your content reaches new and targeted viewers is through paid advertising. This approach is particularly effective for small businesses looking to maximize their social media campaigns.
Relying solely on organic reach can be limiting due to changing algorithms and market saturation. While organic content is crucial for authenticity and building a loyal audience, combining it with strategic paid ads ensures your message consistently reaches the desired audience. Paid ads provide the precision and scalability that organic efforts alone might lack.
I was managing an account for a client and noticed a significant dip in engagement. Like record-creakingly low. I put $5 dollars on a post and not only did the engagement increase by 10%, but it also drove people to her entire profile engaging with older content.
Action Step: Boost your top-performing posts, At the end of each week, identify it then allocate $10 to boost it. I usually set a budget of $2 to $3 per day over 4 to 5 days. This strategy maintains a steady stream of traffic to my profile, enhancing overall engagement and visibility. By consistently posting new content and boosting high-performing posts, you create a cycle of increased traffic and interaction.
Pro Tip: Develop Targeted Personas. To maximize the effectiveness of your paid content, create specific personas aligned with your content and business goals. I use multiple personas to ensure that the content I share aligns with different aspects of my marketing strategy. By tailoring your content to these personas, you can more effectively achieve both your content marketing and business objectives.
Be Patient, Not Critical, and Stay Consistent
Across all forms of media, summertime tends to be one of the slowest seasons for many businesses, especially on Instagram. Consider your own lifestyle changes—you’d much rather be engaged in the real world, taking advantage of the nice weather.
One of the most valuable lessons I've learned is that when things aren't at their best, it's the best time to double down. Tomorrow is the official first day of summer, marking a turning point in the year. It's a great time to reflect, reassess, and reinvigorate marketing efforts.
While it may seem like a season to slow down, it's actually a prime moment to push forward. Continue posting, experimenting, and engaging with your audience. You never know which post or strategy will be the one that turns the tide or the important lessons you'll learn. Best case scenario, when things begin to pick back up - you’ve demonstrated to your audience your ability to withstand and grow despite challenges; increasing your authority and credibility. When they do decide to reengage with your brand, you’ll be right there ready for them.
Success often comes to those who are persistent and adaptable. The breakthrough you're seeking might be just around the corner. Whether through strategic paid ads or consistent organic efforts, keep pushing forward.
Keep going—you don't know how close you are!
These strategies have helped me regain engagement, and I’m confident they can do the same for you. However, every business is unique, and it’s impossible to address your specific challenges without a closer look. Hiring a social media manager for your small business to create a tailored approach can make all the difference.
If you’re ready to take your social media presence to the next level, I’d love to help. Schedule a free consultation with me, and I’ll provide a comprehensive audit of your social media channels. Together, we can identify your pain points and create a customized strategy to boost your engagement and drive real results.
Don’t let your social media efforts go to waste. Reach out today to book your free consultation and start seeing the growth your business deserves.
