Buckle up friend, today we’re getting into the topic that everyone loves to rant about – low engagement on Instagram.

I get it – you put a lot of time into recording a Reel, adding the right words for your hook, writing a baller caption, and paired it with a banger that still gets you hyped, only to post it and hear … crickets.

At best you’re getting about 3 likes and 200 views.

It’s frustrating but before you give up, I’m going to give you actionable tips to help you boost your engagement: from going live, showing love to the people you follow, and creating scroll-stopping content, I got you covered.

But before we get into it, we have to talk about this first…

How Instagram distributes content ⤵

When you post a piece of content, it gets shown to a small amount of your followers and IF that post gets good engagement like shares, comments, saves, etc. the algorithm will push it out to more people.

So it’s really important that your content speaks directly to your followers in a way that will make them want to comment and share – if that’s not happening then you’ll need to deep dive into your followers’ desires and see where the disconnect is with your messaging.

Blaming the algorithm is not the vibe – instead, consider user behavior.

Observing and adapting to your followers’ behaviors on the app is going to help you tremendously when it comes to creating content.

What type of content are they resonating with currently: Reels? Static posts? Humor? Empathic? Quick tips?

If you’re not sure, Instagram rolled out a new feature under the “Professional Dashboard” called “Inspiration” where you can see the types of content that your followers are engaging the most with.

Another thing to consider when it comes to followers is what’s happening in their world, we are bussyyyyy people who are consuming so much content that our brains are overloaded. Not to mention things like kid activities, holidays, and current events that pull us away from our phones.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about how to boost engagement.

3 Simple Strategies to Boost Your Instagram Engagement

🌟 Go Live! Instagram loves it when you use their tools.

Find someone who you can collab with, preferably someone who has a similar following to you. You’ll get in front of a whole new audience who will most likely check out your profile and follow!

Pro Tip: Don’t start a Live and then wait for more people to join. Just start! Introduce the topic the live will be about and introduce who will be speaking and you’re good to go!

💭 Increase your outbound engagement – because Instagram is about being social!

TBH, too many times people focus too much on receiving engagement that they forget to GIVE it!

And I’ve been around for over 10 years in this space (aka a 🦕) and I’m telling you straight up, I would not be where I am without outbound engagement. PERIOD!

When you send DMs and comment on other’s content, it shows the algorithm that you and that account are friends and that they need to show your content to them more.

So engaging should be a no-brainer.

And I get it, sometimes our feeds get pretty crowded and we forget about some accounts that we followed way back or you just don’t where to start with engaging which is why I’m obsessed with the 10-10-10 method and will never shut up about it.

This is how it works:

✓ 10 Minutes – commenting on posts in your feed

✓ 10 Minutes – sending DMs on stories (start at the end of the “bubbles” to engage with accounts you haven’t been in contact with in a while)

✓ 10 Minutes – commenting on posts in hashtags or accounts your target market is following

Add this into your weekly routine and you’ll see growth not only that but you’ll be able to grow relationships with your followers and you never know where those connections can lead.

📱 Create Good Content – Test & Observe

Good content comes down to this – creating content that makes your followers feel heard and seen and/or makes their lives easier somehow.

The goal is to have your account be someone’s happy place, the account they can turn to when they want to learn more about ___ , where they find relief, laugh, etc.

I have a whole post diving deeper into my 4H Strategy – highly suggest you read and bookmark it because it’s loaded with tips that you can implement right away.

Once you have a good understanding of your messaging and your client’s desires, observe and study what types of content are working on Instagram. Take note of the hook and caption and think about how you can tailor it to fit your niche and brand voice.

If you don’t have time or desire to do the research and no time for guesswork, you’ll LOVE the Reels Lab where I take it off of your hands and every week you’ll have 4 industry-specific Reel prompts with scroll-stopping hooks, caption template, and a weekly video loaded with recording and messaging tips.

To wrap it up – You can take control of your engagement and see it take off 🚀.

Focus on these three strategies: go live, engage with others, and create content that’s tailored to your audience and you’ll see your numbers grow.

Oh, and one last thing—don’t forget to have fun with it! Instagram should be a place for connection because, at the end of the day, that’s what keeps your followers coming back for more.

You’ve got this friend!