We all know that the name of the game is engagement when it comes to Instagram. But it's not just that simple. I'm sure we've all had those times when you spend countless hours creating content, researching hashtags, and then posting at the busiest time of the day ...... and then your post flops. You check the analytics and the reach is approximately 10 people. 😐
Plus, it's a known fact that the algorithm likes engagement and the more engaging a post, the more people Instagram will show it to. There are all sorts of time consuming tips and tricks for engagement. The most popular tip that I've seen is spending more time engaging with your following so that they'll engage with you. While that is solid advice, who has the time to do that?! You're a busy person and you've got your own business to focus on. Plus, in order to leave insightful comments, it takes more than just a couple minutes a day!
Through my own research, I've come up with a simple "hack" that will take you no extra time at all - well except for the time it takes to post - but that's it! Also, I use the term "hack" very loosely and I didn't create this, but it's something very simple that I don't see a lot of people taking advantage of.
Are you ready for this life-changing hack to boost your engagement.... drum roll please.....
Polls in stories!
Now this might seem silly and not anything new, but hear me out.
Think about the last time you used polls in your stories. Was it something high-investment - such as "who is ready to sign up"? You'll notice that not a lot of people will engage with this type of poll because they think they're committing to something or it will be followed up with a sales pitch in the DMs. And no one likes those.
What I'm recommending is low-investment polls such as "this or that" or "agree or disagree". These questions can be related to your business or they can be off-the-wall questions just to get your followers used to engaging with you. When people start engaging with your stories, your profile photo will move up to the front of their stories list and they'll get used to regularly seeing your face and your content. And once people get into the habit of engaging with your low-investment polls, they'll be more inclined to engage with your other content.
Also, if you follow me on IG, you already saw this hack on my stories. So follow me there for more valuable info like this sooner - because who has time to blog these days?!
IG: @socialkrissy