So, you just posted on social media, and your content isn’t doing so well.
Or maybe it is performing well, and you want to give it a little more juice.
Here are five hacks—five genius hacks—that can help you get more engagement on your Instagram post after you’ve already posted.
#1 – The DM trick
Have you ever noticed that when you DM someone, their content always pops up at the top of your feed? That’s because Instagram values DMs as its most powerful indicator of communication.
So, after you post, go into your DMs and respond to people for five minutes after you post. Better yet, scroll through Stories and DM and react to people’s content. Do that, and that POS you just posted will start to show up first in people’s feeds.
#2 – Go live immediately after you post
When you go live on Instagram, you pop up at the top left of people’s feeds. It’s so rare for people to go live that this almost guarantees a click. People want to see why you’re broadcasting to the world like a complete psychopath.
So, go live for a few minutes after you post. Engage with some questions. Then let people know you just posted as a call to action when your live is about to finish.
Or go live for one second and then log off like it never happened. People active on the app will still probably click and then get fed your post, increasing its engagement.
#3 – Comment on your post as a secondary caption
Maybe your caption was part of a joke. Maybe it wasn’t good. Or maybe it was too long or had too many tags. Regardless, some people don’t even read the caption. They head straight to the comments. So, meet them there with another call to action.
Ask a question in your comment, and treat it as another caption. For example, if you post a listing video, and your caption is the property description, go to your comment section and say something like, “What’s your favorite part of the house?”
#4 – Switch up the caption
In one post, I changed the caption from an emoji to a question because I knew I could get people to comment with one perk they wanted in their brokerage.
View this post on Instagram
Caveat: You do not want to switch up your caption too much. Instagram will catch on and think, “What the hell is this person doing? They’re just trying to get more engagement.” Only do this if you think it will help boost your post. And don’t do it more than two or three times per post.
#5 – Comment back to everyone
This is obvious. It doubles your comments and encourages others to comment because they see you responding. Better yet, ask a question in your comment back to people so they have to comment again—tripling your comments.
After you post, always stick around Instagram for 15 minutes so you can respond to everyone quickly and give your post that initial engagement boost.
Bonus tip #1 – Plug your feed post in your Story
People scroll Stories more than feed posts nowadays, so if you want to give your post an extra boost, plug it in your own Story.
But don’t just share it. Give it another call to action in your Story. Say something like, “Comment your favorite room.” Think of it as a secondary caption in your Story. It’s a way to get more people to engage with it.
You can also hide your post with a sticker or an emoji and say something like, “Click here to see the post.” The mystery entices users to click on the post and go to the feed.
Bonus tip #2 – Bring out the troops
Finally, solicit your friends, other agents, or people in a text group, and have them comment on your post. Literally, send your Instagram link to your friends in a group text and say, “Please comment on this. I need some juice. It’s flopping.” And people will comment on it.
I don’t recommend doing this too much, but it’s a small, easy hack to get more eyes—and comments—on your post.
For more Instagram strategies, check out 2022 Instagram Hacks and Your Weekly Instagram Prescription.
And sign up to be one of the first to know when our full-blown BAM Instagram Course hits the market.
