How to increase your engagement on Instagram

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If you want to use an influential social media platform in 2025, Instagram is ready and waiting for you. Influential, in today’s terms, means a social media platform that is easy to use and offers marketing opportunities for businesses, brands, and influencers. 

Instagram ticks all of these boxes. The app is about more than trying to outdo the next user with images and words. It is about creating content that your audience cannot wait to see. 

If you can achieve this, you are well on your way to Instagram success. Without engagement, you will never taste this type of success. 

Keep reading to discover how to increase engagement around your Instagram content. You will also learn how to boost your Instagram presence so more users search for your content. 

What does engagement even mean?

If you want Instagram users to view, like, comment, and share your content, you must first understand what this means. You don’t want only the numbers. It is a great feeling to watch your audience grow, but if it is hollow growth, it won’t mean much. 

Generally speaking, increased engagement means your followers like your content and want to see more of it. They may actively search for your content on the Instagram app or follow your page. 

Increased engagement is important for visibility

The more Instagram users do this, the more visible your page and content will become. You will also steadily grow your Instagram presence over time. 

Furthermore, you can use Instagram’s features to engage your audience even more. Depending on your content type, your followers may prefer Reels to Stories. They may even prefer you to go live so you can do real-time presentations or demonstrations. 

Getting feedback from your followers is important so you know what content to create for them. 

What if I don’t get engagement?

Instagram engagement is not easy because so many content creators are already on the platform. For this reason, you need all the help you can get. 

While there are many organic strategies you can and should use, you can also use online tools to give you an instant audience. 

Blastup, for example, offers you growth services based on views, likes, and followers. The website’s services aim to boost engagement without giving you only bots and spam. 

You can focus on your creative process and organic growth when you have a solid foundation to work with. Blastup easily provides you with this foundation.

What does engagement rate mean? 

So, if engagement means activity around your content, what does an engagement rate mean? Simply put, an engagement rate is a metric you need to use to measure the level of interaction with your content. Moreover, you must measure this level according to the number of followers you have. 

Your engagement rate easily establishes whether you connect with your audience. There is a straightforward formula you can use, and it looks like this:

The sum of likes, comments, and shares is divided by the number of followers and multiplied by 100. The result is your engagement rate in percentage format. 

For instance, say you have 1,000 followers. If you get 100 interactions (likes, comments, etc.), your engagement rate is 10%. 

It is important to know your engagement rate to see whether your content activates the Instagram algorithm.

Why engagement rate matters

If you have a high engagement rate on Instagram, it may indicate that your audience trusts you and your content. A high engagement rate will make your posts more likely to appear on the Explore page. The Explore page lets new users find and interact with your content. 

Your engagement rate can also:

• Increase your reach on Instagram. Your reach is about more than users watching your content. It is also about how likely they are to share your posts. Shared content extends your Instagram reach to new audiences.
• Help build better relationships on social media. It is difficult to keep things human on social media, so to speak. Everything is pretty much automated, if not AI.

  If your engagement rate is high, you connect with your followers on a human level. Doing this is the only way to build a community on Instagram.

• Improve your content’s algorithm performance. The more engagement you get around your content, the more the algorithm will suggest your posts to new users.

  When you buy an instant audience, the algorithm can help you expand it organically. 

It is especially important to track your engagement rate if you are just starting on Instagram. This will help you set the tone for the rest of your Instagram growth efforts. 

What counts as engagement?

You must know exactly what you are measuring when you track your Instagram engagement. The following metrics should be monitored: 

• Likes. Likes are the simplest form of engagement. The number of times people tap on the like button indicates how popular or valuable your content is.
• Comments. When people leave comments on your posts, it suggests that you are forming a connection with your audience. Your followers will only take the time to leave feedback or ask questions if they are interested in what your content offers.
• Shares. It is not easy to get people to share your content on Instagram. If you get to this level, it will quickly broaden your audience.
• Saves. Keep an eye on the number of followers who save your posts. Saves are a good sign of valuable content users want to refer back to later.
• Story interactions. Instagram users love stories. If you use this feature right, the interaction around your stories will continue to increase. Signs of increasing engagement include replies, sticker interactions, and things like poll responses. 

Engagement on Instagram goes beyond the numbers

So far, we’ve focused a lot on numbers. But, as noted above, engagement on Instagram is not all about numbers. 

Consider this: You reach new demographics if you get comments that spark a long conversation or a thousand shares. You cannot reach these new audiences simply by posting content every day. Your followers must engage or act first. 

As mentioned, Blastup can make a real difference here. By establishing an instant audience (comprised of real Instagram users), you already have the potential to get your content shared or commented on. 

Blastup can provide instant social proof your page needs to build an organic following. All you need is a kickstart to let your content gain momentum on Instagram. 

How does engagement rate change when you get more followers

You must keep in mind that increasing your follower count does not automatically improve your engagement rate. 

Your interactions will likely be concentrated if you have a small, niche audience. When your audience grows, your percentage of active followers is likely to decrease. 

Some call this the engagement dilution effect. For instance, a celebrity’s Instagram page usually has millions of followers. But, the engagement rate will only be around 2%.

A niche influencer may only have a few thousand followers but an engagement rate of more than 10%. 

The discrepancy is due to the wide variety of followers on larger accounts. They are not all actively engaged so that the engagement rate won’t be very high. 

How to maintain engagement as you grow your audience

Fortunately, there are several steps you can implement to maintain your engagement rate even as your audience expands. 

Growing your account organically will always be important, but pairing your strategy with an engagement booster can help prevent a drop in your engagement rate. 

Monitoring and increasing your engagement rate

To summarize, you can monitor your engagement rate on Instagram by doing the following:

• Using Instagram’s built-in analytics
• Installing third-party analytics tools
• Reviewing the difference a growth service makes in your engagement rate

You can also steadily increase your engagement rate by:

• Always creating quality content.
• Engaging with your audience first.
• Using hashtags that make it easier for users to find your content.
• Posting your content when your followers are active on the app.
• Collaborating with other content creators.
• Integrating growth tools like Blastup into your engagement strategy.

Holistic strategies work well to increase engagement on Instagram

If you want to improve your Instagram engagement rate, you cannot focus on one strategy only. Combining great content with smart scheduling and a growth tool, you can continue to increase the activity around your content. 

Ongoing activity will boost your Instagram success, which is ultimately what your goal should be.