With Instagram changing what seems like every week, a primary concern that a lot of people ask us is about their suffering engagement.  Well you’re not alone, since Instagram has been implementing their new algorithm everyone has been taken a dive in their engagement, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get it back, so we’ve created a short list of tips and tricks you can use to improve and maintain your engagement on Instagram.

1. 1. Upload quality content on a consistent basis.  Now this might seem obvious to many but its something that often gets overlooked.  What is ‘quality content’?  Well to start, don’t post blurry photos, if you’re selling a product, make sure you’re using a DSLR camera to take photos of your product.  Create a story with your images, remember you’re competing with millions of others on Instagram, if you’re not creative with your posts, you’re a dime a dozen in the world of Instagram and it will be a lot harder to retain a follower.
   2. Engage with your followers!  Just because you’ve already gained their follow doesn’t mean you should stop paying attention to them.  Spend a few minutes a day to appreciate your fans, drop them a few likes, comment, send them a silly photo or even a coupon code in the DM’s.  Ever heard of the social exchange theory?  It’s the theory that as individuals interact over time, they experience the need to reciprocate the support and assistance of the other person, called the norm of reciprocity.  In other words, if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.  By using this tactic you have a higher probability of increasing your engagement and have longer lasting community that loves your content.
   3. Avoid the spammy sales pitch.  We get it, you have an awesome product/service you are selling, however there are more clever ways to sell things these days and a lot of users get turned off if you try to pitch them right off the bat.  Provide value and quality content for your followers.  They will learn to trust you and appreciate the knowledge.
   4. Create contests and collaborations to cross promote your page.  Everyone loves free stuff!  If you can afford it, give away something.  This method is one of the most effective ways to get people engaged with your page and opens the doors to having your content be shared many among other profiles.
   5. Create polls in your Instagram stories!  Did you know Instagram now allows you to host polls in your stories?  It’s one of the most overlooked recent features but by asking a simple question and having an interactive poll is a simple way to get feedback and engage your community.