In this post, we take a deep dive into the art of social media listening for Instagram. We explain why it’s important, how it works and how to build an Instagram social listening strategy. Let’s get started.

What is Instagram social listening?

Instagram social listening is the process of tracking relevant conversations on the platform. It involves listening in on conversations about specific keywords, topics, hashtags and competitors. This helps you extract valuable insights to inform other aspects of your Instagram marketing strategy.

Not sure what to post? See what your followers are buzzing about to get inspiration for new content ideas. What memes are they sharing? What topics are they discussing?

Similarly, these conversations help you:

• Identify potential customers and influencers
• Assess your overall brand health and sentiment
• See what your competitors are doing
• Guide customers on their path to purchase
• Stay on top of the latest industry trends

Instagram social listening gives you firsthand, actual answers based on facts. So you’re no longer wasting your efforts and resources on guesswork.

Why Instagram social listening matters

Brands shouldn’t live in a bubble when it comes to their Instagram activity. Listening puts your mentions, interactions and comments into context. This helps you engage people and grow your account.

Below are some specific ways that Instagram empowers you to connect with customers.

Learning what your audience wants on a personal level

Social listening on Instagram lets you hone in on the needs and pain points of your target audience. It shows you what conversations people are having, even outside of your brand’s account. This gives you a better idea of what they want based on the posts they’re creating and the comments they’re leaving on a friend’s or influencer’s post.

These insights will then inform your social media content strategy and promotion strategy. Knowing what your audience wants can even guide your product development efforts.

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Providing more impactful Instagram customer service

“Good” service goes hand-in-hand with having a pulse on customer questions, comments and concerns.

This becomes challenging when people use Instagram to vent their frustrations instead of talking to you. Instagram social listening ensures that you never miss a @mention. It also helps you track posts containing branded keywords. So you can stay on top of customer service conversations beyond your direct call-outs.

That way, you can respond swiftly and step up your social media customer service efforts.

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This could be a game-changer, with 76% of consumers in our 2023 Sprout Social Index™ report valuing how quickly a brand responds to their needs. Our report found that consumers also equally appreciate it when a brand prioritizes customer support. 70% also expect to get a personalized response for their customer service needs.

Discovering meaningful customer content to promote your brand

Your customers are your best marketers. Listening can clue you in on valuable content and social proof you can promote yourself. This might include:

• Positive reviews, testimonials and customer success stories
• User-generated content (think: customer photos and videos)
• Shout-outs from potential co-marketing partners (think: brands, influencers and creators)

Rather than dig for these opportunities, listening ensures that they all come to you.

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Instagram social listening vs. social media monitoring

Quick side note! Let’s take a moment to break down what Instagram listening isn’t.

Listening is about more than @mentions, comments and #hashtags

Terms like “monitoring” and “listening” often get used interchangeably among marketers. They aren’t the same, though.

• Social media monitoring is the act of tracking @mentions, comments and hashtags. Monitoring is a crucial aspect of listening, but it’s only part of the process.
• Instagram social listening involves translating conversations and customer talking points into action.

Interactions matter, but so does context. Think about it. Someone tagging a fashion brand in their OOTD post versus calling out that brand’s products are apples and oranges.

A tag simply means, “This is what I’m wearing/using.” A call-out goes deeper into what they love about the product or why they chose it specifically. Also, not every mention of your business on Instagram involves a direct call-out or tag. This is likely to happen when people are complaining about your brand or expressing their frustration.

Social listening for Instagram is about deciphering the context behind those relevant conversations. This then empowers you to take appropriate action and make informed decisions.

The takeaway? If you’re only looking for mentions of your brand name or campaign key terms, you’re missing out on key conversations.

You’re also missing opportunities to intervene and take action to engage customers. That’s why it pays to be proactive via listening.

How does Instagram social listening work, though?

Good question! Instagram is a strange beast as far as listening to customer interactions goes.

For starters, you’re juggling a lot of different queries. Tags, mentions and branded keywords are just the beginning.

And although IG search has improved, you need to do some digging to find and pull together relevant conversations.

Instagram social listening involves the following three-step process:

• Creating queries based on your business, hashtags and terms relevant to your industry
• Monitoring mentions, tags, comments and interactions
• Assessing all of the above to take action

This action could be something as simple as responding to a post. Or it may involve a bit more complex process of solving a customer’s problem.

Starface uses brand tags and hashtags to find relevant customer content. The following Reel shows how a customer created a DIY bag charm using the brand’s star balm. Starface responds with a comment about how smart this is. Even a simple acknowledgment like this is enough to build a strong brand community.

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Features such as Instagram’s keyword search and tags can help you dig out content relevant to your brand. Coupled with your comments and brand tags, you have a decent idea of what people are saying about your business.

This is obviously a lot to sift through by hand. Again, Instagram doesn’t make listening particularly easy by default.

The good news is that there are tools out there to help. Sprout’s social media listening tool helps you hone in on relevant Instagram conversations. Brands can create their own listening queries for Instagram via Boolean syntax and rules logic.

Choose from existing templates to simplify your Instagram social listening efforts. Monitor brand health, discover industry insights and analyze your competition. Or check out how your campaign is performing and how people are responding to an event.

Sprout’s Query Builder is where you enter the words, phrases or hashtags you want to track. For Instagram, it’s crucial to include hashtags as a part of your Query since Sprout uses hashtags to collect data from the platform.

Not sure what words or phrases to track? Queries by AI Assist is a useful feature that automatically suggests additional words or phrases. Enter one keyword relevant to your industry and the capability comes up with other related keywords to add to your Query.

Optionally, exclude specific words and phrases and select industry themes to reduce noise in your social listening data. You can also configure your alerts and apply additional filters to streamline your search.

How to build an effective Instagram social listening strategy

Of course, understanding Instagram listening and how it works is only half the battle.

How do you turn all of these metrics and observations into action?

Your social listening strategy ultimately boils down to your goals. Below is how brands can use Instagram social listening to level up their marketing efforts.

Conduct competitive analysis to find ways to stand out

One of the best uses of social listening is competitive analysis.

Consider ultra-competitive markets such as the beauty industry, for example. New products are constantly popping up every day, with new brands adding to the competition. Tracking tags and trending discussions will show you which brands are dominating the space and why. So you can better position yourself in the face of stiff competition.

Meanwhile, direct mentions and branded hashtags highlight conversations specific to your brand. This helps you uncover what makes your brand different.

Uncover opportunities to improve your products

If you want to know how to improve your own products and services, who better to ask than your own customers? Prompted or not, followers can clue you in on new ideas.

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Of course, not all feedback from your followers is going to be direct. People might create posts or Stories complaining about your products without tagging you. Using an Instagram social listening tool will help you zero in on those relevant discussions.

Likes, comments and shares also help you measure how customers are responding to certain products. Look at an influx of interactions to see which products are a customer favorite. Alternatively, posts with a lower engagement can show you which items are falling flat.

Make valuable customer touchpoints on the path to purchase

The latest Instagram stats show that 70% of shoppers look to the platform for their next purchase. And over 60% research brands and products on the app. So if you take the opportunity to engage these potential customers, you could effectively grow your sales.

Instagram comments are a goldmine for finding folks interested in your products. This rings true for people who don’t know about you yet or might be looking for a new spot in your space.

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Listening makes it easier to maintain relationships with satisfied customers, too. This includes check-ins and opportunities to earn more UGC.

Discover industry and content trends relevant to your followers

Social listening is invaluable for tracking industry trends. For starters, you should know the tags your audience follows. But are how they responding to such trends? What’s the context behind those trends? How can you apply them to your own campaigns?

On a related note, Instagram listening can keep you from accidentally copying your competition.

For example, brands need to differentiate their tone, content calendar and captions if they want to stand out on Instagram. Effective listening can help you uncover tags and trends that your competitors might be missing out on and how you can fill the void.

Monitor your customer sentiment and keep people happy

Let’s say you’ve launched a new product or campaign.

You obviously want to know how your audience feels about it, right? Are you building the kind of buzz you expect? Or is the campaign falling flat with your audience?

Again, you may not always get those answers from direct mentions. Chances are there are users out there who can provide a concrete answer, though. You need to keep track of the posts people are creating about the product or campaign to get an idea of its impact.

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This is where sentiment analysis comes in, helping you gauge how folks are reacting to your brand on Instagram. Track the sentiment around specific campaign tags and products. Whether it’s “yay,” “nay” or “meh,” sentiment analysis can inform you to better serve customers and score more love from your Instagram followers.

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What Instagram social listening tools are available to brands?

Native Instagram search tools allow basic brand listening. But the process is manual and taxing, especially if you’re going all in with Instagram social listening.

After all, brands need to track multiple tags and competitors. That’s not even considering your own mentions and branded keywords. Given the sheer amount of content posted to Instagram daily, sifting through it all is no small feat.

Investing in a proper Instagram social listening tool saves you the trouble of digging through thousands of posts each day.

Sprout’s robust suite of social listening features is a game-changer for brands looking to step up their Instagram presence. Businesses can track dozens of queries beyond simple hashtags with the help of our Query Builder. This gives you a holistic understanding of your brand and industry to inform your larger marketing efforts.

Reporting and analytics provide a quantitative look at your listening so you can make data-driven decisions. Second-guessing a campaign or your next move on Instagram? Look no further than your numbers for peace of mind.

Listen, learn and grow with Instagram social listening

Social listening on Instagram helps you tap into the pulse of industry trends and conversations. These insights inform various aspects of your business—from your content to your product development.

Stay on top of those critical conversations with Sprout’s robust social media listening solution. Try it for free for 30 days to see how it can power your Instagram social listening efforts.

The post Instagram social listening: Transform your brand’s strategy appeared first on Sprout Social.

The answer: Edutainment social media.

Blending education with entertainment is more than a trend—it’s a powerful method that’s reshaping how businesses connect with their audiences and develop their brand stories. The 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report found 66% of social users find edutainment to be the most engaging of all brand content, even more than skits, memes or serialized content.

In this article, we’ll explore how to create your own edutainment content and the best social media networks for those types of posts, using data from the report.

What is edutainment content?

Edutainment is a portmanteau of “education,” and “entertainment.” Edutainment social media content is designed to educate audiences while entertaining them. Edutainment content can include videos, podcasts, webinars, live streams, games and more. This content type typically uses eye-catching images, stories‌ and interactive or immersive elements like audio or virtual reality (VR). It’s also one way businesses can combat social media saturation—edutainment interrupts feed scrolling and makes your brand memorable.

Why edutainment content is the perfect formula for social

We found across all social networks, social media consumers are seeking entertaining content from brands. If brands balance highlighting their products and services with amusing content, consumers are more likely to buy from them.

When we asked consumers which platforms brands should avoid, the #1 answer was none. You can use edutainment social media content on almost every platform, so the opportunity is limitless. Take an intentional approach to social media content creation by tailoring your edutainment by network.

What are the best networks for edutainment content?

Each network offers the opportunity to connect with your audience through edutainment content. But let’s review some stats you should be aware of, by network.

Instagram

Instagram is used by 84% of social media users, the most of all networks. The main reason for scrolling on Instagram is to connect with friends and family and alleviate boredom. You can use this wide appeal to incorporate edutainment content on Instagram. Static images and short-form videos under 15 seconds tend to perform the best. Instagram is also the top social media channel for product discovery.

YouTube

Over three-quarters (78%) of all social users have a YouTube profile. We found that entertainment content is the #1 thing social media users want brands to prioritize on YouTube, followed by educational product information.

Although short-form videos are popular across networks, long-form thrives on YouTube with

51% of users saying they’re most likely to engage with brands’ long-form videos. However, YouTube Shorts shouldn’t be ignored as consumers say 31-60 second videos are their second choice when consuming brand content.

TikTok

It’d be remiss to write an article about edutainment social media content and not include TikTok. It’s more than a social network—it’s an amalgamation of a search engine, culture driver, news source and online shopping platform. TikTok is a top channel for news and product discovery, with 54% of users engaging with branded content at least once per day. In terms of entertaining content, they’re most interested in influencer partnerships and contests and giveaways.

LinkedIn

Even LinkedIn, also known as “The Briefcase App,” (a term coined by creator Jayde Powell) can provide edutainment content. The network’s user base consists of professionals in the corporate workforce, making it a great place for you to share educational product information, customer support and community management. Sharing educational product information is the #1 thing social users want from brands on LinkedIn. And there’s an opportunity to stand out by blending entertainment with the educational content you share. The most engaging content types include text posts, static images, short-form video and user-generated content.

Threads

Threads is an emerging platform that’s seen massive growth since its launch in late 2024. Only 15% of our survey respondents currently have a Threads profile, but they are coming to the platform for edutainment. Entertaining content and educational product information are the top two items social media users want to see from brands on Threads.

How to create edutainment content

The best edutainment social media content captivates audiences and delivers valuable information in a digestible way. Here are actionable tips for creating compelling edutainment content across networks.

Understand Your Audience

Before diving straight into content creation, consider who your audience is and what they’re interested in. Conduct a social media audit to identify their pain points, interests and preferred content formats. This will help you tailor your edutainment content to resonate with your target audience.

Explore tactics for blending education with amusement

Striking the right balance between learning and enjoyment is easier said than done. Incorporate these tips to help you:

• Keep it simple: Break down complex topics into digestible information by focusing on key points. Use clear language so your message is easy to understand. Incorporate language your audience is familiar with so the information resonates.
• Use storytelling: Incorporate storytelling techniques to connect with audiences on an emotional level and make the information more memorable.
• Use visuals: Get creative with visuals by using photos, videos, animations, infographics and GIFs to make your content more visually appealing. ​​Visuals can also cater to different learning styles, ensuring that everyone can understand the information.
• Use humor: ​​Inject humor and relatable anecdotes into your content if it makes sense for your brand. This can help lighten the mood and make the educational material more approachable, helping to maintain interest.
• Gamification: Evoke the fun of games by implementing gamification elements like choose-your-own-adventure, points, badges or leaderboards. These can motivate learners to engage more deeply with the content and provide a sense of achievement.

Measure performance data and iterate your strategy

Creating effective edutainment social media content is an ongoing process. Empower your creativity and decision-making by being data-driven. Use analytics tools to monitor engagement metrics such as likes, shares, comments and views. Tracking the performance of your edutainment content will enable you to make adjustments based on the insights you find. Analysis will help you understand what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to improve your strategy over time.

3 examples of edutainment content

Let’s explore three brands who have great examples of edutainment content on social media.

Jackson’s Art Supplies

Jackson’s Art Supplies is an online retailer of fine art materials in the United Kingdom. They lean heavily on storytelling and sophisticated visuals to showcase products and elevate artists’ works. For example, on Instagram one of their series uses art history to tell the story behind specific colors. Below, Studio and Materials Specialist Evie Hatch describes the creation of brat green and its connection to popular culture.

Apple

Apple is known for their captivating ads that incorporate simple, yet effective messaging. In the YouTube video below, they anthropomorphize their new Mac mini. Instead of giving a product-heavy tagline from a narrator, we learn about the innovation from the Mac mini’s perspective. Using a different point-of-view and personifying a product makes the video compelling and educational.

Atlassian

Atlassian provides a great model for B2B brands who want to tap into edutainment social media content by activating influencers and celebrities. The software company ran a campaign with Zach Woods using TikTok Ads. The content was launched on YouTube as well. By collaborating with an influencer, the brand incorporates humor while sharing key product messaging like “Jira projects are highly customizable, which we’re typically proud of.”

Want more inspiration for edutainment social media? Take a look at the brands featured in the Post Performance Report, a monthly series where we analyze social posts and campaigns inspiring us—plus we break down the business impact so you can spark your own scroll-stopping ideas, build awareness, nurture community and support your bottom line.

Edutainment social media captivates audiences

Using edutainment on social media platforms is a powerful way to connect with audiences and deliver meaningful information. By seamlessly blending education and entertainment, you can build your community while highlighting your product and services, ultimately creating increased revenue. To learn more about edutainment and other consumer trends across networks, download The 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report.

The post Perfecting your edutainment social media content strategy appeared first on Sprout Social.

The answer, as with many marketing questions, is a bit more complex than a simple yes or no. While EMV is a great tool for understanding your brand’s social presence, it’s just that—a tool.

This blog post will explain in detail, explaining its benefits and its limits. It will also help you understand why a complete approach to measurement is important for showing social media ROI.

What is earned media value?

Earned media is any content that mentions your brand that your business didn’t paid for. In simple terms: Earned media means earned engagement by your “digital word of mouth,” not engagement from your own media channel or bought through paid promotions or advertising of content.

Earned media value, or EMV, is a way to value the different actions people take when they interact with different social media content. These engagement actions include comments, likes, shares and mentions. These actions are then projected to be worth a numerical dollar value to your business.

So, for example, if a creator receives 1,000 likes on an Instagram post, using a customized EMV benchmark of $0.10 per like, that post would provide an estimated value of $100.

Is it worth measuring EMV for your brand?

The answer to that question depends on your specific social media marketing goals and objectives.

While earned media value can provide valuable insights into the impact of your social media efforts, it isn’t the only metric that should be considered. It’s important to also track other key performance indicators, such as reach, engagement rate and conversion rate. This will help you to get a more comprehensive understanding of your social media success.

Ultimately, using EMV as a tool together with other metrics can still help guide you in guaging the effectiveness of your social media strategy.

Earned media value can be a useful metric for:

• Benchmarking: Track your brand’s performance over time and compare it to competitors.
• Identifying trends: Spot spikes in EMV that might indicate successful campaigns or viral content.
• Reporting to stakeholders: Provide a high-level overview of your social media impact.

However, keep in mind that EMV has its limitations. It doesn’t directly correlate to business outcomes like sales or leads, and it can be influenced by factors outside your control (like changes in platform algorithms).

What to look out for when earned media value is calculated

When reporting to stakeholders about your social media impact, it’s valuable to include a high-level overview of your earned media value.

While earned media value can be a useful measure for evaluating the success of your social media efforts, it’s important to keep in mind common challenges around earned media value formulas.

Here are a few key things to watch out for around how earned media value is calculated:

• Common calculation inconsistencies: The challenge with EMV calculations is that there is no standard way to assign a monetary value to social media engagements. Some methods rely on advertising equivalents, like cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-engagement (CPE), while others use arbitrary multipliers based on perceived value. Not to mention, the calculation of earned media value can vary significantly between different social media platforms and partners. This can lead to inconsistencies and make it difficult to compare results across platforms.
• Lack of transparency: Be wary of partners who are vague about their approach to calculating EMV. Some may claim their calculations are based on a “proprietary algorithm” or a “trade secret.” This lack of transparency makes it difficult to determine the accuracy and reliability of their results.
• Misaligned KPIs: Ensure the EMV calculation aligns with your specific goals. Misalignment can lead to skewed earned media value figures and make it challenging to accurately measure the success of a campaign. It’s crucial for companies to carefully choose and align their KPIs with their EMV calculations to get a more accurate understanding of their campaign’s effectiveness.
• Over-reliance on EMV: Don’t fall into the trap of relying solely on earned media value. In today’s sophisticated marketing landscape, we have access to far more granular data and attribution models that can paint a bigger picture on ROI than this one calculation.

Looking for the best way to capture your social media data across various social platforms accurately for calculating your social ROI and overall EMV?

Enter: Sprout Social, the all-in-one social media management platform.

Under Sprout Social’s Premium Analytics, Sprout seamlessly integrates reporting across various social media platforms for you. This integration ensures that you have a comprehensive view of your social media engagements for your various accounts across multiple social media networks. It enables you to analyze accurate data for seamless EMV calculations. Additionally, with Sprout Social’s reporting, you will find a repertoire of invaluable data tracking and visualization to present your social media ROI to stakeholders.

Curious to explore Sprout Social? Get started with a 30-day free trial today.

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How to calculate earned media value

As previously mentioned, calculating earned media value does not look the same for everyone. A common approach we can easily recommend, however, is as follows:

1. Determining your average cost-per-engagement (CPE) for paid social media. This provides a baseline for valuing organic engagement.
2. Assigning weights to different types of engagement. For example, a share might be weighted more heavily than a like.
3. Multiplying the number of engagements by their respective weights and your CPE.

Let’s give you an example. We’ve decided that our average CPE is $0.50.

You receive 100 likes, 50 comments and 20 shares on a post.

You assign weights of 1 to likes, 2 to comments and 3 to shares.

• Likes: 100 likes x 1 x $0.50 = $50
• Comments: 50 comments x 2 x $0.50 = $50
• Shares: 20 shares x 3 x $0.50 = $30

Total EMV for the post: $50 + $50 + $30 = $130

Important Note: This is a simplified example. More complex calculations might factor in reach, content type and other variables.

Leverage powerful social media analytics to prove ROI

To sum up, earned media value is a useful metric for benchmarking, identifying trends and reporting to stakeholders. However, it isn’t the be-all and end-all of social media measurement. To truly maximize your social media strategy, it’s essential to integrate EMV with other metrics that provide a more complete picture of your efforts. By understanding the nuances of EMV calculations and leveraging tools like Sprout Social’s reporting tool, you can ensure that your social media strategy is data-driven and aligned with your business goals.

The post Earned media value: How to calculate it and what to look out for in the calculating process appeared first on Sprout Social.

SOV illustrates your place in the market. It puts all of your other social media metrics into context so you can understand where your brand stands.

Is your brand present in relevant product conversations? Do people consider your company a leader in the industry? If not, you might have a problem with your brand’s share of voice.

But here’s a crucial point: It’s not about dominating every conversation. True SOV comes from strategically placing yourself in the discussions that resonate with your target audience and contribute meaningfully to an industry narrative. Think quality over quantity.

In this post, we explore this metric in depth and show you ways you can build up your share of voice on social media and other channels—the right way.

Bonus resource: Keep executives informed of the impact of your social strategy and position your brand’s share of voice with the right competitive context using Sprout’s social media scorecard template.

Get the template

What is share of voice?

Share of voice (SOV) is a measure of the market conversation your brand owns compared to your competitors. It measures your brand’s visibility and influence within industry conversations. The more market share you have, the greater popularity and authority you likely have among users and prospective customers. SOV isn’t a static metric; it’s constantly evolving alongside consumer interests and competitive dynamics.

While SOV sometimes refers to a brand’s share of paid advertising in a competitive marketplace, it also has a broader definition that can include various elements of digital marketing and advertising, including mentions on social media and traffic for certain keywords.

Understanding your SOV provides insight into your brand’s position within the current market, illuminating opportunities for growth.

Why you need to measure share of voice

 Measuring your brand’s share of voice helps you see the bigger picture and where your brand fits into it. It adds context to your performance data, allowing you to pinpoint opportunities for growth and improvement.

Calculating your share of voice benefits your business in several key ways:

Audience insights

Share of voice can act as a barometer for how effectively your brand messaging is landing with your target audience. A strong share of voice often indicates that your messaging is aligned with your audience’s and values. Conversely, a low SOV might suggest a need to re-evaluate your messaging or content strategy.

Share of voice data can reveal why customers choose your brand (or your competitors), and even highlight untapped market segments.

For example, imagine you manage social media for a pet supply store. You’re analyzing your share of voice and notice a trend: customers are constantly asking about a particular type of treat that none of your competitors seem to carry. This unmet need represents a potential goldmine—an untapped market just waiting for you to offer that sought-after treat.

Competitor research

Share of voice data is your secret weapon to uncover competitive intelligence. It provides insight into competitor strategies, strengths, weaknesses and everything in between. Regular SOV analysis clarifies your competitive landscape, providing data-driven insights for success.

With SOV data, you can:

• Identify industry leaders in relevant market conversations.
• Track your SOV to measure market share growth.
• Analyze the sentiment within conversations around your competitors to identify opportunities to gain market share.

By analyzing this data, you can identify opportunities to improve and differentiate your brand. For a truly comprehensive view of your competitive landscape, combine SOV data with other forms of analysis, such as SWOT analysis and market research. This holistic approach will enable you to make more informed decisions and develop winning strategies.

Brand management

Share of voice data reveals the volume and sentiment of conversations surrounding your brand, allowing you to monitor and benchmark your brand reputation against competitors.

Additionally, this data serves as an essential safeguard. By gaining visibility into the entire landscape of brand conversations, you can proactively address emerging issues and minimize potential risks that might otherwise go unnoticed.

With Sprout Social’s Listening capabilities, you’re equipped to keep a pulse on brand conversations and boost your share of voice with relevance and positivity. Use it to monitor fluctuations in brand sentiment, helping you decode the factors driving these changes and respond effectively.

How to calculate share of voice

Now that we’ve explored the benefits of measuring share of voice, let’s dive into how to measure it. Use the following formula to calculate share of voice:

Share of voice = Your brand metrics / Total market metrics

This formula applies across all marketing channels, with slight variations in specific metrics. For example, you might track brand mentions across Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) and more, for social SOV, while the volume of brand mentions across media channels determines media SOV. In this formula, “brand metrics” refers to the data points you’re tracking for your own brand, while “total market metrics” includes the same data points for all relevant competitors in your industry.

While this formula provides a basic understanding of SOV, it’s important to remember that it doesn’t capture everything. Qualitative factors, such as the impact and relevance of mentions, also play a crucial role.

Generally, there are four major areas to focus on when calculating share of voice:

Social media share of voice

Let’s zoom in on a crucial aspect of share of voice: social media. Your social media share of voice reflects consumer conversations across platforms, making it a valuable metric for understanding audience sentiment and brand perception.

Social listening tools simplify the process of tracking social media SOV by identifying all your brand or product mentions across platforms. Compare your brand’s performance to competitors to understand your position.

Sprout’s Listening tools help you visualize and analyze this data, providing a breakdown based on engagements, impressions, unique authors‌ and sentiment. You can also filter results by network, keywords‌ and other criteria.

Media share of voice

Media share of voice reveals which publications mention your brand, the context of those mentions, and your overall popularity among reputable sources.

By comparing your media SOV to your competitors, you can identify key publications for outreach and PR. This data can also inform your content strategy and help you tailor your messaging to resonate with specific media outlets.

While social listening tools like Sprout’s are excellent for tracking social media conversations, you’ll need specialized public relations and earned media software to effectively measure media share of voice. At Sprout, our social media team combines social media share of voice and media share of voice for a more accurate measure of our brand performance.

PPC share of voice

Your PPC share of voice measures your ad’s visibility compared to its potential reach.

Google Ads calculates this using Impression Share, factoring in your campaign and keyword settings. To find this data in your Google Ads account:

1. Go to the Campaigns tab.
2. Click the columns icon.
3. Select Modify columns.
4. Click on Competitive metrics.
5. Choose the Impression Share columns you want to track.

By analyzing your Impression Share, you can gain valuable insights into your PPC performance and identify opportunities to improve your visibility. For example, a low Impression Share might indicate that your bids are too low or your targeting is too narrow.

SEO share of voice

Beyond paid advertising, understanding your share of voice in organic search is crucial. Measuring SEO share of voice requires specialized tools that analyze your search visibility compared to competitors.

To measure this, you’ll need specialized search optimization (SEO) tools that analyze your rankings for relevant keywords. These tools provide insights into how much of the organic search traffic for those keywords is going to your site versus your competitors.

By analyzing this data, you can identify opportunities to improve your SEO strategy, target valuable keywords that you might be missing‌ and ultimately drive more organic traffic to your website.

What you can measure with share of voice

Share of voice measures your brand’s presence in broader market conversations. Marketers can use SOV data to track general brand awareness, identify industry trends and benchmark their performance against the competition. A strong overall SOV often indicates a healthy level of brand awareness and engagement.

To gain even deeper insights from SOV data, consider segmenting it by key brand priorities. This allows you to tailor your analysis to specific business goals and uncover nuanced audience insights. For instance, an automotive company measuring its presence among electric car enthusiasts should focus on the specific conversations within that segment to extract meaningful takeaways.

At Sprout, we use custom Listening Topic Themes to understand how our message resonates across key brand priorities. If you’re unfamiliar with Themes, here’s a quick explanation:

Drilling down into this segmented data allows us to tell a more nuanced story about our brand’s market share to senior leadership. This granular level of analysis also supports more data-driven decisions, so we can optimize our content for maximum impact.

How to increase your share of voice on social media

Social media is a great channel to actively increase your brand’s share of voice for quicker results that you can measure and refine.

It can take time to analyze the impact of your SEO and PPC campaigns, which delays your SOV measurement. And you have a little less control over your media SOV since it involves working with third-party publications.

Meanwhile, social media SOV is easier to control and adjust. Plus, you can measure performance in real-time and make changes to optimize your efforts.

Try out these five tips to boost your social media SOV, specifically.

Develop your content calendar around key brand priorities

Trying to keep up with the saturated state of social media by constantly churning out new content is exhausting and unsustainable. Content’s life span is shorter than ever, and this approach can quickly lead to burnout. Instead of chasing fleeting trends, align with your leadership team to understand your company’s key focus areas.

Once you’ve identified those priorities, use share of voice data to establish a data feedback loop. Analyze which topics are generating the most buzz and how sentiment varies across those topics, and optimize from there.

This data-driven approach may not be as splashy as achieving virality, but you can’t control virality. What you can control is creating specific, value-driven content tailored to the platforms where your audience spends their time. 

Tap into trends strategically

While you don’t have to jump onto every single trend, you should harness the right ones to increase your share of voice. Trends are informal, but they can be impactful. According to the 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report, social users primarily want entertaining content from brands.

However, jumping on a trend without considering your brand identity and target audience can dilute your brand, alienate your audience‌ and erode trust with your customers. To avoid this pitfall, use your SOV data to understand if and why certain trends resonate with your audience.

Strategic trend analysis is key. By analyzing which trends are gaining traction and aligning with your brand values, you can participate authentically and connect with your audience in a meaningful way. Use what you learn to spot relevant trends faster and more accurately in the future, allowing you to proactively engage in conversations and beat your competitors to the punch. 

Create share-worthy social media content

One of the best ways to get people talking about your brand is to create share-worthy content.

When your audience finds your content valuable, they’re more likely to share it with their own networks, expanding your reach and amplifying your message.

Great social content entertains and educates, motivating action and sparking conversations. Think about the types of content that resonate most with your audience. This could include practical tips and how-to guides, the latest industry news or even relevant memes and jokes.

For example, instead of simply posting game highlights, the Chicago White Sox create share-worthy content during baseball’s off-season by tapping into other local events, like the start of the basketball season, and connecting them to their brand in a creative way.

This approach not only keeps their audience engaged but also increases their brand’s visibility during a typically quiet period.

Partner with relevant influencers

Brand and influencer collaborations are increasingly generating earned media attention. As consumer-influencer relationships evolve, influencer activations are becoming more newsworthy, often rivaling traditional celebrity campaigns.

This shift is fueled by the trust consumers place in influencers and how that trust influences their online behavior. The 2024 Influencer Marketing Report confirms that trust in influencers remains strong and is even growing in some demographics.

When done well, influencer campaigns can prompt algorithms to favor your brand, organically increasing the visibility of your content. This increased visibility can lead to greater engagement, brand advocacy and ultimately, a stronger share of voice.

Invest in an employee advocacy program

Employee advocacy programs can significantly boost a brand’s share of voice. By encouraging employees to share company content, you can tap into their networks to expand your reach and increase brand visibility. This introduces your brand to new audiences and creates a more authentic presence online.

Employee advocacy fosters consistent brand conversations and helps maintain visibility. Content shared by employees often drives higher engagement, as people are more likely to trust and interact with posts from individuals they know.

Ultimately, employee advocacy turns your workforce into brand ambassadors, amplifying your message and building trust.

Benefits of measuring share of voice

Some of the benefits of measuring share of voice include:

• Perform competitive analysis on a market-wide scale. Get the big picture of how competitive the market is and whether you’re an up-and-comer or the dominant player in the industry.
• Use SOV as a way to segment your target audience. Calculating SOV is a powerful way to analyze your audience, but you can take further steps to organize this data into segments for more insight into your strengths and weaknesses. Look at your SOV within crucial regional markets, demographics and more.
• Evaluate the success of your marketing campaigns. If you launched a campaign recently, determine whether you made gains in your SOV that indicate your marketing message and tactics were effective.
• Improve future campaigns based on findings in SOV reports. Use the insight from your analytical reports to expand your reach, get involved in social conversations and ensure your voice is amplified across marketing channels. 

Tap into your share of voice data

Your social data holds a wealth of knowledge about your brand’s share of voice and how to increase it.  Capitalize on this valuable intelligence to expand your reach, strengthen your brand and uncover rich customer insights.

But don’t keep these insights to yourself! Effectively communicate your social media performance to your leadership team with this social media scorecard template. This presentation-ready resource provides a clear framework for showcasing your progress, highlighting your successes‌ and demonstrating the value of your social strategy

The post Share of voice: What it is and how to measure it appeared first on Sprout Social.

Social media listening tools let you monitor and track social media conversations related to a specific brand or topic. This gives you insights that will inform your marketing decisions.

Let’s break down 15 of the top social listening platforms to consider for your brand.

Best all-in-one social listening tool

Some tools provide deep listening for one specific platform. Meanwhile, some may specialize in certain functions. While one tool gives you an in-depth sentiment analysis, another may be much better at predicting trends.

To get the most out of your social listening efforts, however, you need a tool that does it all.

1. Sprout Social

Sprout Social’s social listening tools give you a comprehensive look into conversations that are relevant to your brand. Track conversations related to your brand across all major social networks and other online sources. Sprout’s tools automatically sift through millions of data points to uncover insights relevant to your brand.

You can learn about audience preferences and how they feel about specific products, campaigns or topics. This helps you stay on top of the latest industry trends and identify untapped business opportunities. Discover key influencers and thought leaders who are leading the conversation so you know whom to engage.

Brand-specific conversations give you more visibility into customer experiences and brand sentiment. Set up custom alerts to anticipate an upcoming brand crisis, giving you ample time to fix it before it gets out of hand. Plus, with powerful social media management tools built in, you can easily manage these issues all in one place.

Sprout’s AI features further streamline your social listening efforts. Summarizing with AI Assist saves you the trouble of having to read through lengthy messages. It creates a summary of Listening messages with over 800 characters, allowing you to quickly zero in on essential insights.

Meanwhile, Analyze by AI Assist takes the guesswork out of social listening. It automatically analyzes your Listening messages to find the insights that matter. This includes metrics related to words, phrases, emojis and hashtags. So you can easily forecast trends if certain topics see increased engagement.

It even helps you gauge the sentiment behind specific conversations. This simplifies how you anticipate possible brand crises or monitor how people feel about your latest campaigns.

Sprout offers a 30-day free trial so you can test out its publishing and analytics capabilities. The social listening tools are part of a custom-built plan for enterprise users.

General social listening tools

If your brand maintains a presence across a variety of social networks, you need a tool that’s appropriate for all major platforms. Let’s look at the top social listening tools that are suitable for general use.

2. Brandwatch

Brandwatch extracts valuable conversational insights from millions of sources. It analyzes both historical and real-time conversations to identify current trends and how they change over time. This gives you a better understanding of your market and audience, so you know what’s trending and popular. You’ll be able to see the top topics they’re talking about and identify relevant brand mentions.

3. Brand24

Brand24 is a powerful tool for measuring brand awareness and reach. It lets you track conversations from 25 million online sources to gather valuable consumer insights. This gives you a better understanding of what people like or dislike, especially when it comes to your brand. You can even measure brand sentiment and quickly identify reputational risks.

4. BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a comprehensive listening tool that specializes in content discovery and research. The platform lets you track trending topics and popular content to inspire you. You can use the monitoring features to track mentions and trends across leading social networks. It lets you set up alerts for brands, topics and keywords to help you stay on top of the latest conversations.

5. Keyhole

Keyhole offers enterprise-grade social listening to gain a deeper understanding of your audience. It provides insights to identify who they are and get a better sense of what they like. You can use the platform to track specific hashtags and keywords as well as identify relevant influencers. The volume predictions feature lets you anticipate when your posts are going viral, allowing you to come up with a game plan.

6. Meltwater

Meltwater helps you cut through the noise and uncover the conversational insights that matter to your brand. It provides you with a full picture by capturing historical data to help you research changes in trends over time. The platform gives you a better understanding of your audience and allows you to analyze their sentiment. This helps you monitor brand mentions in real time and stay on top of upcoming crises to quell them on time.

7. YouScan

YouScan is one of the top social listening tools that comes with image recognition capabilities. It gives you access to AI-powered visual insights to gain a better understanding of your buyer persona. The platform identifies upcoming trends so you can align your marketing strategy accordingly. It tracks brand sentiment and consumer perceptions to show you how people feel about your brand. It even detects possible threats to your brand reputation in real time.

8. HubSpot Social Media Management Software

HubSpot’s social media management software lets you create custom keyword monitoring streams. This makes it easy to surface interactions that could turn critical and manage them on time. You can also set up email alerts, allowing your sales team to follow up when prospects mention specific keywords. It even provides AI-generated recommended actions to speed up your analysis.

Social listening tools for Twitter (X)

X is a place where all the trending conversations take place. It’s where people go when they want to complain about a brand or discuss a trending topic. As such, Twitter listening can uncover valuable insights into your target market.

So let’s take a look at the social media listening tools that specifically focus on X.

9. X advanced search

X’s built-in advanced search tool is highly robust for listening in on relevant conversations. You can track conversations containing specific words, phrases and hashtags. It even lets you narrow your search by excluding certain words.

To get even more specific, look for posts from one specific account to another. The tool gives you plenty of additional filters to help you narrow your search by engagement, date range and so on.

10. X Pro (formerly TweetDeck)

X Pro is a paid tool that offers the same features as the formerly free TweetDeck. Pull up hundreds of conversations across the platform and display them in several columns. This makes it easier to look out for posts around specific topics and news stories as they come in. X Pro even lets you pull up X posts from the dedicated lists you’ve created. This makes it easier to narrow down conversations from accounts that are most interesting to you.

11. Awario

Awario provides real-time insights on specific brand and keyword mentions in any language. This makes it a great social media listening software for brands that want to grow an international customer base. It even helps you identify top influencers and brand advocates leading the conversation.

Awario supports your social selling efforts with a feature that identifies hot leads. It tracks X posts and zeroes in on ones that are looking for a product similar to yours.

Social listening tools for TikTok

TikTok’s reach and influence are rapidly expanding. Now it’s the hub for all the latest social media trends and conversations. So being able to tap into the conversations happening on the platform gives you leverage to stand apart.

Let’s take a look at a couple of TikTok tools to conduct social listening on the platform.

12. Exolyt

Exolyt gives you comprehensive insights into TikTok conversations and trends. You can use the tool to monitor what people are saying about your brand and how they feel about it. It lets you track specific TikTok accounts, hashtags and videos to gather granular insights. Also, discover trending sounds, hashtags, effects and accounts to inform your content strategy.

13. All Ears

All Ears is an AI-powered social listening platform that focuses on voice and video conversations. It analyzes millions of TikTok videos to identify relevant brand or topic mentions. The platform automatically transcribes these mentions, saving you hours of time having to comb through the noise. All Ears also provides relevant metrics like reach, PR value and net sentiment to streamline your listening analytics.

Free social listening tools

If you’re not ready to invest in a paid tool just yet, there are a few free social listening tools that come with basic listening capabilities.

14. Answer the Public

Answer the Public pulls up search volumes and trends for a given topic, brand or product. It gives you a breakdown of the associated search terms. So it shows you what questions people are asking about it and what comparisons they’re making. This gives you a better understanding of their needs and pain points as well as their interests.

15. Google Alerts

Google Alerts is another free option that lets you set up alerts for conversations taking place across the web. Use it to monitor specific keywords and topics or even brand names. The tool lets you filter your results based on sources, language and region. Customize the frequency of alerts and choose to show only the best results.

The benefits of social listening tools

Social media listening software helps you track and analyze millions of social media posts. This makes it easy to narrow down the conversations that matter without hours of manual research. As a result, social media listening tools offer a number of benefits for your brand:

Spot emerging trends

Social listening platforms detect patterns in conversations around specific keywords and hashtags. This helps you see when certain topics are starting to gain traction. So you can get in on trends way ahead of your competitors.

Understand customer interests and pain points

Listening in on social media conversations helps you understand what topics people like to engage with. It also reveals their concerns and complaints to help you zero in on their pain points.

Monitor and manage brand reputation

Social listening tools keep track of every relevant brand mention, even if you’re not tagged. This helps you identify conversations that could harm your brand reputation. Then come up with an appropriate and timely response to mitigate the issue.

Identify sales opportunities

Social listening platforms help you identify conversations that seek a solution you can provide. So you can jump in with a relevant suggestion and turn them into valuable leads.

Listen, learn and grow on social

Social listening tools empower you to learn what makes your audience tick. They give you actionable insights to inform what content you create and how you engage with your audience.

But the challenge lies in finding a social listening platform that meets your unique needs. If you’re looking for a well-rounded tool that does everything, Sprout’s the answer you need. Try it free for 30 days to see if it’s the right match for your brand.

The post 15 social listening tools for your brand in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.

But trying to identify relevant content for multiple social networks all the time is exhausting—and costly. And, frankly, some days you don’t have the time to create fresh social content from scratch.

When it comes to social content creation, it pays to work smarter, not harder. Instead of constantly coming up with new ideas, social marketers should look at what they already have and repurpose their top-performing blog posts, videos, reports, white papers and more.

In this article, we’ll discuss repurposing content for social media and how to make your content work for you, instead of the other way around.

Why it pays to repurpose content for social media

There are many strategic benefits to repurposing content for social media.

What does this process look like in practice? The Sprout Social Index™ is our annual data report that speaks to the entire marketing industry. But we also include data points that are specific to certain disciplines and can be used to capture the attention of niche audiences.

With this in mind, we create new articles inspired by data from the Index to dive deeper into those industry insights. Plus, we consistently pull graphics from the report to include in our social media content.

Here are the key benefits of having a content repurposing strategy:

Saves time, money and effort

Social media content creation for multiple networks is time-consuming. However, it’s an effort brands need to take if they want to remain relevant with consumers. According to Sprout Social’s 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report, social media users connect and consume content differently across social platforms. To reach your target audience, you’ve got to post relevant, entertaining and educational content in multiple places.

However, with tighter budgets and lower head counts, brands have to figure out how to make the most out of every marketing resource they have available.

When you have a content repurposing strategy in place, you optimize your efforts and spend. Of course, you should avoid sharing the same content everywhere, all the time. It’s important to take into account each social network’s unique features and demographics so the content you share aligns with what your target audience is looking for.

Reinforces the brand message

Sharing consistent messaging across different formats strengthens your brand’s identity on social, reminding followers who you are and what you stand for. Remember the “Rule of Seven”? Prospects need to see or hear a brand’s message at least seven times before taking any action to make a purchase.

When you repurpose content for social media, you double down on key brand messaging. According to the 2024 Content Benchmarks Report, brands published 10 posts per day across social networks in 2023. In some industries, the number doubled or even quadrupled. That’s a lot of opportunities to find creative ways to repurpose content and remind social followers about your unique value proposition.

Builds share of voice on a topic

Share of voice is a metric for how much your brand dominates a conversation in your industry compared to your competitors. For example, Sprout is a frontrunner in conversations about social media influencers. Repurposing content allows brands to maintain steady content production volume, so they can maintain and grow share of voice on social without having to create a bunch of net new content.

The next time your target audience searches for that topic on social or in a search engine, your brand may be at the top of their search results—proving to your audience why you’re the authority in this area. (We’re always on the front page of search results for social media influencers, for example).

When you repurpose content for social media, you play the long game. It’s not just about saving time and money, it’s also about increasing visibility and authority over time.

What to consider: Best practices for repurposing content for social media

If you don’t have a strategy for repurposing content for social media, it can feel a bit overwhelming to start. Where do you begin? What workflow is right for your team? How much repurposing is too much? Don’t worry—the following best practices will answer your questions so you feel confident when getting started.

Identify high-performing content

Before you dive into recycling your content, you should know that not all content lends itself to this particular art form. For content repurposing success, you’ve got to select the right content to reuse in the first place.

Put your best foot forward, as the saying goes: Prioritize content that performs well, resonates with your audience and will meet your needs and goals. Having a goal in mind makes it easier to determine which content to include in your curation strategy. Goals can include:

• Raising brand awareness in a certain industry
• Connecting with your audience
• Driving organic traffic back to your website
• Supporting leads or trials

Consider which social media metrics you’ll use to determine your best-performing content. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement across networks, repurpose content that has a high number of likes, shares and comments. If your goal is to increase follower growth, consider repurposing content that has previously had the most mentions, comments and shares. For brands that want to drive organic traffic back to a landing page or website, repurposing content that has a high click-through rate makes the most sense.

Check if the content you want to repurpose is evergreen or time-constrained. An article that performs well year-round may be easier to repurpose right now, while event-specific or seasonal content may need to be carefully scheduled before posting.

Choose the right channels

Repurposing content for social media also means you need to consider where it’ll be posted. The right channel makes all the difference—how you tell the story is equally as valuable as the story itself. Your repurposing strategy needs to consider audience network preferences, along with your social goals for the year.

For example, if your audience is largely active on LinkedIn and one of your goals is to increase visibility on that network, then you’ll want to consider how best to repurpose content that’ll get more eyes on your feed.

While LinkedIn is a great space for sharing thought leadership content, be sure to think about what else social media users want to see on that channel. This will help you increase visibility on that network and improve social follower retention as well.

In addition to considering which of your networks are most active, focus on what types of content consumers are looking for as a whole across networks. Industry trends can shift and fade quickly for each network, so it’s also important to have a pulse on where social is going. For example, short-form video is currently king, which means that social networks that support and promote that format will likely continue to see growth.

Tailor content to each platform

Know your audience. Think about what your audience on each network expects to see from you. For example, if your Instagram followers consistently react well to short-form videos from your brand, repurpose more content into that format. Be sure to surprise and delight your audience with something unexpected every now and then too, such as a GIF or meme, so that your social network feed isn’t all the same.

Considering the right format for each social network is key because what works for one network isn’t going to be right for another. For example, a three-minute video based on an eBook may work well for YouTube, but is likely too long for X (formerly Twitter). Instead, users want to see shorter videos under a minute on X, along with static images, text-only posts, GIFs and memes.

Don’t overlook emerging networks you’ve recently started using. Repurposing content may provide an opportunity to increase your visibility on those networks and establish your brand as a leading voice in the space. Take Threads, for example. While only 15% of our survey respondents have a Threads profile, there’s significant potential for growth.

Use AI to save time

If you’re thinking about how to repurpose content for social media in less time, consider the many AI tools available that can help.

AI tools can enhance social media content creation by making new versions of tested formats. For example, marketers using Sprout Social can use our Suggestions by AI Assist tool to generate custom copy that aligns with their brand’s voice and audience preferences, supporting their copywriting efforts.

To enhance your repurposing strategy with Suggestions by AI Assist, try using the tool to rework top-performing posts. This allows you to create three fresh versions of a proven format in no time.

How to repurpose high-performing content into a social media post

After compiling a list of your best pieces and determining the social networks to focus on, it’s time to repurpose your content for social media. But, beware of social media saturation—social media users are sifting through a ton of social media content, so it’s best to offer quality over quantity. Here are some ideas to help kickstart your creativity, stand out from the crowd and turn any piece of content into an engaging post for your networks:

Post X threads

While one X post is only 280 characters, you can expand your content by posting threads instead. Use X threads to share detailed and complex information that doesn’t lend itself well to a single post, such as blog content. It’s also a good way to share resources, lists and tips and tricks with followers.

Cross-post your livestream

Extend the life of your livestream event by saving and uploading videos to YouTube, sharing snippets to X or trimming clips for an Instagram post or TikTok. You can also use screenshots and quotes for non-video posts to capture your audience’s attention or tease what’s to come. The possibilities for repurposing livestreams are endless. You can even turn memorable moments into GIFs and memes for more shareability.

Make it a GIF

Have a video clip or animation that brings a smile? Turn it into a GIF. Plenty of free tools exist to do this, and GIFs make for eye-catching posts that can be used to promote a piece of content or a new product. Starbucks, for example, created a simple GIF that showcases the cold foam in their new product in a fun way.

Ask a question

The same questions used to spark comments at the ends of videos and blog posts can be repurposed on other platforms. Create a static image with the big question, for example, or take the poll route. LinkedIn Q&As and Facebook and X Polls all create opportunities to engage your audience with existing content or tease a new report that’s on the way.

We asked a question on an Instagram carousel which pointed followers to our LinkedIn live event on the same topic.

Provide an answer

Search your Facebook and LinkedIn communities for questions you can answer with an existing article. By repurposing content and/or linking to it in your response to queries, you build relationships and increase the chances of being found by others asking the same question. This approach also shows social followers you’re paying attention to their questions, preferences and needs.

Amazon answers a question in the video below, engaging followers with a subject matter expert. Similar content is used in a blog post by Amazon as well.

Rework written content for Instagram

Even written content can find a home on a visual platform like Instagram. But don’t just copy and paste a paragraph as your Instagram post; consider pulling out salient data points or quotes to build a visual social narrative around. A lengthy report also works as fodder for a series of short videos sharing key information. Instagram carousels are great ways to share text-based content—just be sure to implement design best practices to tell the story visually.

We noticed an increase in interest in building an executive social media presence, so we wrote a guide on it and created an Instagram carousel featuring three compelling reasons for executives to focus on their social media presence.

Turn a webinar into a video

Webinars offer informative and educational content for social followers, but often, followers need to watch them live. Why not turn a webinar recording into a social video, similar to what SAP has done below. In this case, they’ve used the whole webinar as a video, but you can also slice and dice the recording into bite-sized pieces for different social channels.

Focus on the numbers

Stats on social media tend to capture a lot of attention, especially in industries where building credibility and expertise matter. Create stat-based static graphics or short videos that use your brand’s research from reports and white papers to showcase your authority in the space.

Use the power of a memorable quote

Looking to spark conversation, build authority‌ or drive engagement? A powerful quote can make your content stand out.  Comb through your blogs, reports, interviews and other text-based content for a quote that’ll capture your audience’s attention. Share it as a static graphic on your networks.

Smart content repurposing generates exponential returns

If you already have high-performing content, it’s time to use it across channels. With a little creative reformatting and thoughtful placement, social media marketers can make the most of all their brand’s greatest content and reduce the content generation workload. It’s a win-win.

Want more tips to make a lasting business impact with your content strategy? Download the 2024 Social Media Content Strategy and get findings to help you prioritize your budget and bandwidth to deliver the greatest return on investment from your social efforts.

The post The greatest hits: Repurposing your best content for social media appeared first on Sprout Social.

Why? Because the more eyes on your TikTok content, the better your chances of growing your reach and engagement.

Building a TikTok marketing strategy means experimenting with new ways to get views.

However, getting those views isn’t a one-size-fits-all affair. You need options based on your brand and audience. Below we dig into 16 different strategies to get more TikTok views.

What is considered a view on TikTok?

Views on TikTok are counted after someone watches at least one second of a video. Even if they scroll away immediately after that, it’s still counted as a view.

For creators monetizing their videos through the TikTok Creator Fund, views only count when someone has watched a video for five seconds or longer. These types of views on TikTok are referred to as “qualified views.”

How much does TikTok pay for each view?

There’s no set rate that TikTok pays per view.

However, TikTok’s own Creator Academy has stated in the past that creators can earn between two and four cents per 1,000 views.

As of this post, the minimum payment threshold for revenue earned through the TikTok Creator Fund is $50.

Should you buy views on TikTok?

Under no circumstances should you ever buy likes, views, followers or any other type of social media metric. TikTok views are no exception.

The numbers might look nice on paper but inflated metrics won’t translate to long-term success. In the end, this may actually harm your business as you violate TikTok’s Terms of Services and Community Guidelines.

Instead, try advertising your content using TikTok Promote or follow our tips for getting more views on TikTok organically. And put that wallet away!

Why views matter on TikTok

Views are a crucial TikTok metric. Views highlight how many times people have seen your videos and signal interest in your content. The more views you get, the more your videos are shown, suggested and shared.

More views on TikTok translates to more opportunities to receive other types of engagement. This includes comments, follows and shares. While your follower count is the most straightforward way to measure an account’s size, your view count—the people actually seeing your videos—matters just as much.

Simply put, you need to learn how to increase TikTok views in order to grow your account, reach a wider audience and positively impact your business’s bottom line.

How to get more views on TikTok: 16 essential strategies

If you’re looking for ways to increase your views on TikTok, we’ve got you covered! Below are sixteen strategies to get more eyes on your videos.

1. Add hashtags to your content

Hashtags exist on nearly every social media platform as a way to categorize, tag and search for content.

Well, TikTok is no different. TikTok hashtags are used similarly—but can also be used for trends and challenges.

Using hashtags in TikTok captions can help even more users discover your content and boost your view count.

However, you need to be strategic about your hashtag use. Make sure you’re using hashtags that are both relevant to your content and are popular, ensuring you can generate some reach from your hashtags.

Here are a few key ways to find the best hashtags for more TikTok views:

• Pay attention to the hashtags your competitors are using
• Use a third-party tool like TikTok Hashtags to find popular tags
• Take advantage of TikTok’s autocomplete features to find hashtags
• Browse through the For You Page to discover trending hashtags
• Search TikTok’s Creative Center to find product-related tags in your industry

Here’s an example of how you can incorporate hashtags into your caption to help boost your videos:

Three to five hashtags seems to be the sweet spot with TikTok hashtags and getting relevant reach. Experiment with different tags and try to keep them consistent with similar topics. This will help the TikTok algorithm understand what you’re posting about and get your content in front of the right audience.

2. Create a multi-part series

If you’ve created a video that’s performed well, use that to your advantage.

Make it a multi-part series by coming up with more content of a similar nature.

For example, the Morning Brew team created a single video translating words into corporate speak. Their audience loved it, so they started creating more of the same types of videos with the same theme and format. The TikTok videos below are part of a series that they were able to build on.

TikTok allows users to create playlists that are perfect for putting together a video series. You can even add all of the parts of each series to a list, making it easy for users to view all similar videos within one single feed.

A few ideas for different playlists and content themes include:

• Customer showcases and testimonials
• Product demos and how-tos
• Reaction videos
• Reply videos
• Q&A videos featuring your audience
• “Tip of the week” videos

All of the above provide opportunities to both educate and entertain viewers. Given how much TikTok leans into the concept of “edutainment,” this strategy can be an effective way to get more TikTok views. If you find that a series gets traction, it makes sense to continue your momentum and make similar content.

3. Include popular music and trending audio

When in doubt, use popular music and sound clips within your video content. If someone likes the music clip, they can click on the spinning album in the bottom right corner to view more videos that use it, potentially leading them to discover your content.

TikTok now makes it easy to search for trending audio for your videos, including royalty-free songs and audio that’s cleared for commercial use.

Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to do a TikTok dance or anything controversial. Just a bit of creativity can help you incorporate trending sound bytes into your videos to get more TikTok views.

Leveraging trending music and audio is an easy way for brands to boost their reach and potentially get picked up on the TikTok FYP. The key is using music that makes sense for your content and not forcing yourself onto a trend.

4. Follow viral TikTok trends

Speaking of trends!

TikTok is all about following viral trends and they’re a great way to get more reach. Thankfully, there are many different types of trends to choose from. This includes dances, challenges, memes and more.

There are also truly organic events like the “Demure” trend that took over TikTok a few months back. Brands, influencers and everyday creators alike got in on it and got massive reach as a result. This example highlights again how you can use trending TikTok audio to get more views.

One of the best ways to gain an understanding of viral trends on TikTok is to spend a good bit of time simply consuming content on the platform.

Take a look at competitors and other brand accounts, but simply scroll for a bit each week as well to make sure you stay up-to-date on new TikTok content ideas. Also, pay close attention to the FYP and what’s trending among your target audience.

Note that content and trends move extremely quickly on TikTok. If you want to integrate these sorts of trendy ideas into your content calendar to get more views, you need to act on them quickly. Think days, not weeks or months.

5. Know your target audience

If you’re wondering why your views are low on TikTok, maybe it’s time to think about why your content isn’t hitting.

Pop quiz: who’s your target audience? Knowing your customers and who you’re trying to reach on TikTok can help you to create content that they want to see.

When you create content that your target audience actually enjoys, they’re going to be more likely to engage with it, share it with their friends and follow your account.

And all of the above leads to even more views.

Start by creating a customer persona. Put together a profile of exactly who you’re trying to reach—especially when you use social media data to do so. This can give you an understanding of which types of content each persona would be interested in consuming.

For example, are your customers looking at reviews? Are they looking up answers to questions or specific pain points? This is where doing research related to TikTok keywords can be a huge help, especially as the platform leans more and more into its search features.

TikTok’s keyphrase autocomplete can give you a ton of ideas related to your industry and customer pain points to create content that not only gets views but also ranks for keywords.

Next, analyze your competitors. What are they posting? Better yet, which of their posts gets the most views and engagement? How can you incorporate similar strategies with your audiences?

Then, start creating! Cater your content to your specific audience. And adjust your content strategy based on their reception.

6. Find the best times to post on TikTok

Posting at the right times can also ensure better odds of your audience seeing your content. According to our data, the best times to post on TikTok include:

• Tuesdays from 4 to 6 p.m.
• Wednesdays from 9 to 11 a.m., noon, and 2 to 6 p.m.
• Thursdays from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m.
• Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m.

However, these times can change by industry and by brand. Consider also that other variables impact TikTok views and whether the algorithm picks up your content. Rather than stick to one-size-fits-all advice, it’s important to experiment with different publishing frequencies and schedules.

To find your own best times to post, pay attention to your TikTok analytics and when your audience is most likely to be online. Then, schedule your TikTok posts accordingly.

7. Cross-promote your videos

Rather than look for some sort of TikTok view trick, consider how a bit of cross-promotion can go a long way.

For starters, share your TikTok videos on other platforms to further spread the word. You can easily share them on Instagram Stories, or you can repurpose TikTok videos as Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts.

Consider also sharing links to your TikTok videos on X (formerly known as Twitter) to cast a wider net.

Beyond that, don’t be shy about promoting your TikTok presence across additional channels. Consider where else you can promote your TikTok presence and videos, such as your marketing emails or even product pages.

8. Create videos from TikTok comments

If someone comments on a video with a question, you can reply to it as a text comment or respond with a new TikTok video. Doing the latter creates a link from the new video to the old.

Those interested in seeing what the comment stemmed from will then go watch the original video, netting you even more views.

As you can see in this brand example, you can use this tactic as a way to announce or highlight products you’re promoting. The social team used this comment to showcase the product’s aesthetics in a way that got solid views and was likewise entertaining to the brand’s audience.

Note that you can couple this strategy with other tactics to get more views on TikTok. For example, you could make a full-blown series where you reply to customers or answer questions regularly. The bonus of using comments as content is that it naturally drives discussion and therefore more engagement and interactions, which drive views on your TikTok content.

9. Duet and stitch popular videos

Another way to create new TikTok videos is by dueting or stitching an existing TikTok video. A stitch plays part of an existing video before you take over with your own recorded video. It’s a great way to add additional context or commentary to someone else’s video.

A duet places your video alongside an existing video. This is perfect for reacting to another video, like OREO did by reacting to a creator’s video featuring their cookies.

Incorporating duet and stitch videos into your strategy can be a great way to generate more views—especially if you use videos from well-known creators. Like other tactics, it’s important to make sure you’re replying to relevant videos and not just trying to piggyback on trends for the sake of it.

10. Work with influencers and UGC creators

Speaking of well-known creators, partnering with them as part of your influencer marketing strategy can be a great way to reach an even wider audience on TikTok.

If users see a familiar face, such as a social media influencer, athlete or celebrity, they’re likely to stick around and watch, share and follow your content.

Similarly, if you have influencers create content featuring your brand on their own channels, their viewers may tap over to your profile and start watching some of your videos.

If you already incorporate influencer or user-generated content into your TikTok strategy, you’re on the right track. Pro-tip: you can drive engagement and views further by tagging creators in your content like in the post below. This goes goes hand-in-hand with permitting creators to promote their videos but also increases the chances for creators to cross-promote your content to their own audiences. It’s a win-win!

Consider that simply featuring real people in your content is a proven way to boost views as content with people gets more engagement, especially on TikTok. This is why many brands incorporate in-house employees or UGC creators to produce content for their TikTok accounts.

11. Participate in TikTok challenges

There are many different types of TikTok challenges, but the main two types are branded challenges and community challenges. Branded challenges are challenges that relate back to your product or service and that your brand creates to engage your audience. Community challenges are started by creators and TikTok users.

Try creating a unique branded challenge for your audience to participate in to see how much reach you can generate. Or, keep an eye out for community challenges that make sense for your brand or product to join. TikTok challenges can do wonders for your reach.

12. Create a lot of content

TikTok still says to post 1-4 times/day. If you want to keep up the momentum and grow your account, it’s a good idea to share as much content as often as you can.

Consider batch-creating content so that you have a lot to share for a week or two before you need to create more. Post daily at a minimum—more, if you can—to increase the number of views your TikTok account can get. In fact, it may be worth creating a social media content calendar to help plan your TikTok content in advance.

However, keeping up with this sort of content demand can be daunting which speaks to the importance of having a diverse content calendar. While some videos should be planned carefully, not all of them need to be.

By incorporating creators and customers into your strategy and posting off-the-cuff content, you can post more content without doing as much editing. Many of the best brands on TikTok have a wide variety of content on their feeds for a reason.

13. Engage with your community through comments and live streams

TikTok has leaned heavily into its live-streaming features lately. Chances are you’ve seen your share of TikTok LIVE presentations popping up on your feed as a result.

Check out how Stratia Skin does a TikTok LIVE to promote products and engage customers in real time:

Filming a TikTok Live is no small feat and requires a lot of legwork and prep to do effectively. That said, it’s a prime way to make connections with your audience and get closer to them.

Even not doing that, you can use comments to engage people as well. Brands that frequently reply to creators can drive engagement and get more views as a result. Showing customers that you care builds loyalty and long-term viewership.

14. Experiment with new video formats and styles

Experimenting is crucial on TikTok, especially as the algorithm and what ranks in the FYP changes rapidly.

You can’t post the exact same types of content over and over and expect more views. There are plenty of details big and small to play around with for any given video, including:

• Video lengths (sub-15 second vs 30+ seconds vs 1+ minute videos)
• Voiceovers vs no voiceovers
• Music versus trending audio
• Content featuring customers vs brand-generated videos

Another big detail to experiment with is less polished content. Many brands make the mistake of going overboard with editing and making their content feel too produced. Notice that most of the viral TikTok content is raw and off-the-cuff like this example. That’s no coincidence. This detail is even more important for branded accounts that generally get less reach.

You may be surprised at what works and what doesn’t. You’ll never know until you create it. This relates to our previous tip on keeping up a good posting frequency with diverse content.

15. Collaborate with other accounts to reach new audiences

Collaborating with other creators can be a great way to reach a wider audience. This could include people in your industry, other brands, or anyone else who might be a good fit. For example, if you’re attending an event or doing a cross-promotion, it makes sense to get the most out of that partnership.

Check out this celebrity crossover with Airbnb’s TikTok account for inspiration:

Successful collaborations require planning. Think about your partnerships, events, product launches and other opportunities. Then, figure out how to align them with your TikTok content strategy.

16. Leverage TikTok analytics to understand your audience

Your TikTok analytics are a treasure trove of insights to help you understand what videos get the most engagement so you can do more of what works.

You can use hard data to see if long or short videos are more popular, if people watch your videos all the way through, and if hashtags are helping you reach new viewers.

By analyzing all of this information, you can identify trends and optimize your content strategy to get more views. If you find that a specific video-length, topic or format is really successful, it makes sense to keep doing more of it.

Start getting more views on TikTok

Getting more views on TikTok doesn’t happen by accident. You need a strategy and consistency. By following the tips in this article, you can start to see results, especially since many of these strategies complement each other.

And if you need more help, check out our full guide to building and improving your TikTok marketing efforts so you can boost your view count sooner rather than later.

The post How to get more views on TikTok: 16 essential strategies appeared first on Sprout Social.

But if you’re not thrilled with your Instagram growth and engagement, you’re not alone.

Competition on the platform is fierce. And cracking the code of Instagram’s algorithm can be tricky.

However, taking steps to grow your audience is absolutely worth it. That’s because the bigger your audience, the more opportunities to delight your customers.

In this post, you’ll learn about five powerful strategies to tweak your presence and get more followers on Instagram. Let’s break them down.

5 key strategies to get followers on Instagram (for free)

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, this post is about building an organic following.

And yes, the distinction matters!

Some brands want to take shortcuts when it comes to trying to get more Instagram followers. We don’t pretend these pay-for-play sites don’t exist.

But these services aren’t worth it for brands long-term. The Instagram algorithm weeds out low-quality accounts and faux engagement from paid bots.

Growing your audience authentically gets you results that actually matter to your business: brand awareness, revenue and loyal customers.

Read or watch the video below for our best tips on getting more Instagram followers (the right way).

1. Optimize your Instagram account

Before you worry about how to get followers, consider how your Instagram business profile is set up first. Ask yourself:

• Does your profile “look the part?”
• Can your audience easily find it?
• Does it encourage them to take action?

Here’s how you can optimize your Instagram profile for maximum impact.

Choose a professional profile photo

Your profile photo is part of your brand identity on Instagram.

For businesses, a high-quality and appropriately-sized logo is ideal. Any text in your profile picture should be legible on a smartphone screen.

Place keywords in your name, handle and bio

If you want more followers, your profile needs to be discoverable by your target audience.

For starters, add the right keywords to your account. There are three places to focus on here:

• Your username (or handle)
• Your profile name
• Your bio (description)

To have a search-friendly username, stick to either your brand name or whatever’s closest to your existing social handles.

If your name is too long, shorten it to a variation your audience would recognize (ex: Cold Stone Creamery’s account is @coldstone). You can always write the full version in your profile name.

Next is your bio. You can use this space to add keywords related to your niche, industry, products or services. Check out Peach Slices’ Instagram bio as an example.

With these keywords naturally weaved into the description, their account is more likely to pop up for search terms like “k beauty”, “skincare” and “acne”.

Organize stories as highlights

Ever created a killer story that you wish could live on your profile forever? With story highlights, it can.

Highlights are groups of select old (expired) stories. You can organize them by theme or topic, such as Q&As, tips or events — making it easier for people to find relevant stories.

Story highlights are also located at the top of your profile, which makes users more likely to check them first before scrolling down to your posts. Think of them as a curated portfolio that showcases the best of your brand.

Add your location and relevant links

Adding location info pushes your profile higher up in search results for local audiences.

This is especially important for businesses targeting nearby audiences or those wanting to drive more foot traffic to their physical store (e.g. restaurants).

Business accounts can also add multiple links in their bio. This is crucial for turning your followers into meaningful traffic or customers. On Instagram, bio links are your only way to funnel social traffic to your site and promotions.

Linking to your homepage is fine but not always ideal. To encourage more meaningful interactions, add links to specific product pages or even a social landing page that points to multiple links.

This gives your audience total control of how they engage your business next. That means a better experience for your followers.

Showcase your Instagram wherever you can

Don’t be shy about promoting your Instagram if more followers are your goal.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to promoting your ‘gram, either. Here are a few ideas:

• Add social media icons to your website and emails. Social media icons make it easier for people to find your business and help you connect with customers.
• Feature an Instagram feed on your homepage or product pages. Many e-commerce and consumer brands have dedicated UGC feeds on-site (see Sony’s example below).
• Re-share Instagram-specific content or announcements on other social channels. For example, you could talk about an upcoming IG Live via TikTok or Facebook.

Pro tip: Use Sprout Social’s social media scheduling and publishing features to easily plan posts across multiple social media platforms from one dashboard.

2. Develop a solid content strategy

Instagram success doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a clear strategy — one that shows off your brand’s unique side and helps you create content that clicks. When you nail that, engagement goes up, your community gets stronger and new followers roll in.

Let’s dive into the tactics that make this strategy work.

Schedule Instagram posts in advance

There’s no denying that brands are at the mercy of the Instagram algorithm for reach. Still, posting at the right times can still give your posts more visibility. Anything you can do to maximize engagement is a plus.

This speaks to the value of scheduling Instagram content. With Sprout’s newest tools, brands can schedule Stories, Carousels, Reels and Posts.

Scheduling content in advance ensures control and organization. Instagram scheduling tools ultimately help you hit that cadence we mentioned earlier. The ability to crosspost content from other networks helps here, too.

You can also use Sprout’s ViralPost feature to nail down your timing, too. Our platform analyzes your engagement history and identifies the best times to post.

Keep a consistent content calendar

Momentum matters on Instagram. In other words, you likely won’t get followers on Instagram if you post at random.

Creating content and providing value is what builds your audience. Doing so consistently is what helps you keep them.

That’s why sticking to a regular posting schedule is crucial.  In terms of when and how much to post, you don’t have to stick to a set-in-stone number. Most brands post daily or near daily. This tracks our own research on how often to post as well.

For reference, below is a breakdown of the best times to post to Instagram.  “Optimal” engagement is during the mid-to-late morning and early afternoons during the week.

If you’re worried about your posts not getting seen enough, we get it. Consider how features like Stories can get more eyes on your content if it wasn’t seen the first time.

Have a strong brand and Instagram aesthetic

Instagram is home to over 200 million businesses. That’s a lot of competition. To stand out, you need to have a strong, distinguishable brand on the platform.

Maintaining consistency in things like colors, aesthetics and post style can help users remember your brand and recognize your content at a glance. Here’s how Canva does it.

Notice how their story highlights and posts follow a similar, consistent style.

Why does strong branding matter? Because it directly impacts your bottom line. Research from Marq (formerly Lucidchart) shows brand consistency can increase revenue by 10-20%.

Leverage short-form video content

Sprout’s data shows that 66% of consumers want to see more short-form videos from brands. This means Reels should be on your radar.

Reels are fun, snappy and they’re algorithm gold. Think tutorials, product highlights or even quick behind-the-scenes peeks.

And since you only have a few seconds to grab attention, get creative. Use the built-in tools like stickers, cuts, filters, music, voice-overs and transitions to craft trendy, eye-catching Reels.

Cherry on top? These bite-sized videos can easily be cross-promoted on platforms like TikTok, helping you reach new audiences and attract more followers.

Post content that followers actually want to see

Easier said than done, we know.

Filters. Captions. Content types. Post times. That doesn’t even scratch the surface.

There are so many variables to consider, right? It doesn’t help that Instagram’s algorithm is fickle. What works for one brand might not work for the next in terms of format and timing.

For example, some brands swear by Carousels. Others are all-in on Reels. Both approaches can work. You’ll quickly find on Instagram that some content gets more likes than others. This is why testing is so important.

Instagram’s native analytics are surprisingly powerful. That said, investing in Instagram analytics tools will take things to the next level.

For example, Sprout makes it easy to benchmark and analyze Instagram content across accounts. Rather than second-guess what’s working and what’s not, our reporting spells it out for you.

Be confident in your content strategy by analyzing those variables we mentioned earlier.

And if you’re unsure where to start, try analyzing your competitors. A staggering 90% of brands say that social media data helps them keep up with competing social accounts.

You obviously shouldn’t copycat your competitors. That said, you can take notes on what they’re doing or posting that drives engagement.  Sprout’s Instagram Competitors report can provide a breakdown of what’s working in your industry. A little competitive research can go a long way.

Oh, and keep your ear to the ground with new Instagram trends. That way you won’t miss out on platform-wide opportunities to hop on trending content formats.

Go live on Instagram

Host Instagram Live sessions to interact with your audience directly. This helps foster real-time engagement and build a sense of community.

For example, you could host virtual events like product launches, show quick tutorials or simply have candid chats and Q&A sessions. If you’re an e-commerce store, users can even shop your products in real-time.

Plus, you can share these Live streams as stories that last for 24 hours, allowing followers who missed out to catch up later.

3. Engage with your audience and build relationships

When you make your Instagram followers happy, you’ll see the payoff in audience growth. The best Instagram accounts have fans and communities (hint: not just followers).

For many accounts, this means building customer relationships.

Here are some ways to engage with your audience and build relationships.

Create content that highlights your brand’s personality

Content that highlights your personality and the humans behind your brand can help you connect with your audience on a deeper level. This includes:

• Inspirational content
• Humorous content
• Re-sharing UGC with unique captions
• Storytelling posts
• Behind-the-scenes photos and videos
• Posts that raise awareness for social causes

Also, make sure your content aligns with your brand voice and values. Avoid coming across as needy, solely sales-driven or robotic at all costs.

Make meaningful conversation with your audience

Food for thought: 60% of marketers use Instagram as a service channel.

The platform is perfect for going back and forth with followers. Likewise, many popular Instagram post ideas center around asking questions and engaging in a dialogue for a reason.

Off-the-cuff questions, shipping concerns or praise for products are all fair game from followers. Check out how Cometeer responds to all of the above on their Instagram posts:

Being supportive and responding promptly shows people that you care. This also applies to any brand mentions or direct messages (DMs) you get.

You’d be surprised at how your Instagram followers increase once you start acting more personable. Our Index research shows that 89% of consumers will buy from a brand after following them on social media. Every interaction counts.

Again, try to respond to as many questions, messages, mentions or comments as possible. Doing so could make or break someone becoming a long-term follower or a customer.

Engage with customers and brand advocates

Figuring out how to get more Instagram followers means engaging your audience.

And one of the best ways to do that is through responding to and republishing their posts.

Enter the power of user-generated content. UGC campaigns build social proof by showing followers you’re invested in them. For example, Drunk Elephant regularly regrams their followers’ posts. They gather content with their #BareWithUs and #DrunkBreak hashtags.

But don’t just wait for UGC to happen — spark it yourself! Encourage your customers to create content by giving them a reason to share.

For example, you could run a Reels contest where followers show off your product in action. Winners could get free merch and a feature on your page.

4. Utilize tags and hashtags

Location tags and hashtags are powerful tools on Instagram. They can help your target audience discover your posts (and profile) faster.

Here’s how to utilize tags to grow your following.

Find hashtags where your followers hang out

Instagram hashtags have been a staple of the platform, like, forever.

That said, they don’t hold as much weight as they used to.

Dumping hashtags into your posts isn’t going to get you any new followers. Especially when there’s so much noise on the platform.

Be proactive by focusing on industry-specific hashtags relevant to your customers. For example, Lashify regularly posts content to the #LashEducation hashtag. Tags are less general and competitive than #beauty. Becoming more visible within these types of tags is meaningful for brands in the right niche.

Understanding how your hashtags perform on Instagram is critical. With Sprout Social’s hashtag analytics tools, you have direct access to in-depth performance and usage data. Figuring out which hashtags to use is just a few taps away.

Use geo-tagging to attract local followers

Instagram brought back location stories last year. But now, users can find them on a map. This feature helps people search for top posts and stories in specific locations, such as a coffee shop or a shopping mall.

And how do you get your content to show up on the map? By tagging the location, of course. Geo-tagging your posts and stories makes your content visible to people in the vicinity or users checking out the place where your photo or video was taken.

Wondering how to tag the location in your Instagram story? Simply use the location sticker and type in the location you want to tag.

5. Collaborate with influencers and other brands

If you want more Instagram followers, consider teaming up with others. Collaborations open doors to new audiences and help you build trust quickly.

Below are two ways to expand your reach with partnerships.

Find and work with influencers in your niche

Influencers have a loyal network of followers who trust their word.

Collaborating with influencers in your niche, especially those with small but highly engaged followings, can amplify your brand’s reach and build credibility.

That said, finding the right influencers to work with can be challenging. There are millions of creators on Instagram, and not everyone aligns with your brand or has an authentic following (hint: they might be bots).

Good news: Tagger by Sprout Social makes this task easy for you. Use smart filters to sort through vetted influencers that match your brand.

You can also check out our free influencer database by industry full of insights to help you plan your next influencer marketing campaign.

Partner with brands that are similar to yours

Strategic brand partnerships can significantly boost your Instagram reach and engagement.

It also gives your content a fresh perspective, making the entire experience fun for everyone involved, including your audience.

Think about what your customers like beyond your products to guide your partnerships. Look for brands that fit those interests but don’t compete directly with you.

Ubereats, for example, partnered up with Blueland (a sustainable home essentials brand) to let people buy the eco-friendly company’s products directly from the Ubereats app.

They created this Instagram Reel as part of their campaign.

When you reach out to potential partners, focus on mutual benefits. Suggest ideas that would help both brands grow.

Ideally, you should start small, like co-hosting an Instagram Live or sharing each other’s content. As you see results, you can build bigger campaigns together (like Ubereats did above).

How to get more Instagram followers (the wrong way!)

Disclaimer: Sprout Social does not endorse purchasing Instagram followers. We don’t recommend services that sell followings or “Likes.”

As the social space becomes more crowded and competitive, brands are willing to take risks for the sake of instant results.

We’ll say it again: brands shouldn’t buy Instagram followers. Nobody should!

Why you shouldn’t buy followers on Instagram

Here are some reasons why buying followers to grow your account is a serious mistake.

Your real followers know what fake followers look like

Social consumers are getting savvier. Privacy concerns and social scammers have made people hyper-aware of weird activity. In short, people today are spam-detectors.

A sudden follower spike is a red flag. Not to mention having bots stink up your account with endless spam followers. This all damages your reputation and keeps you from growing an authentic Instagram following.

Fake followers bring nothing to the table

You’re probably worried about your Instagram metrics and understandably so.

That said, your follower count doesn’t mean much if your “followers” don’t drive engagement. You might look “bigger” at a glance but who cares? Consider how your engagement rate on the platform will suffer if your follower count is inflated.

If nothing else, buying Instagram followers violates TOS

No surprises here.

Consider how Meta has taken direct action against buying engagement in the past. They’ve gone as far as to shut down companies that sell likes. That’s because this practice violates the platform’s terms of service.

How are you growing your Instagram following?

Listen: getting more followers on Instagram isn’t going to happen by accident.

And despite what you might have heard, there’s no silver bullet solution for making it happen.

The strategies above can help you build the foundation for an organic following that actually engages with you. Putting these tips into action is so much easier with a powerful publishing and analytics tool like Sprout.

Want to see our suite of tools in action? Start a free trial today and see for yourself!

The post How to get more followers on Instagram: 5 strategies to grow your audience appeared first on Sprout Social.

The good news is you can add Instagram hashtags to Reels the same way you add hashtags to posts to boost visibility, reach and engagement.

In this post, you’ll find a curated list of the top Instagram Reel hashtags for travel, fitness, food, fashion and other categories. We’ll also talk about the value of using Reel hashtags for Instagram and share tips for finding the best hashtags for your brand.

Why use hashtags with your Instagram Reels

Using hashtags can do more than just get more eyes on your content. Hashtags are also excellent targeting and analytics tools. Here are three benefits of using Instagram Reel hashtags for your business:

Make your content easier to find

Hashtags can put your content in front of a larger audience, including users who don’t follow you on Instagram. Adding them to Reels offers the same benefits as adding hashtags to posts. It helps people interested in your topics or themes easily find your videos.

This, in turn, gets your content more engagement in the form of likes, comments and shares—the holy grail of social media success. Take it a step further and engage with users who interact with your hashtags to strengthen your brand’s relationship with its audience.

Finally, by monitoring trending hashtags and incorporating them into your posts, you can help your content ride the wave of current events, conversations and Instagram trends. This not only gets you more exposure, but also positions your brand as relevant and up-to-date.

Target your niche demographics and audiences

Your videos might go viral, but not everyone on Instagram is a potential customer. Adding hashtags to Reels lets you target niche communities and specific demographics with your content—people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services.

As a result, you’ll attract more qualified leads and boost visibility among your target audience, ultimately translating into higher ROI for your business.

Use hashtag analytics to refine your Instagram content strategy

Analyzing the performance of different hashtags can provide valuable insights into what resonates most with your audience.

By tracking Instagram metrics like reach and engagement for Reels with specific hashtags, you can refine your strategy and better understand consumer preferences and behavior.

Sprout Social’s Hashtag Tracking tools can help you pinpoint exactly which hashtags work best for your Instagram strategy. Track your most-used and top hashtags or manually add hashtags that are important to your brand to keep tabs on performance.

Tips for finding the right Instagram Reel hashtags for your brand

You know the value of using Reel hashtags on Instagram—but how do you find the right ones? Follow the best practices below to add hashtags that are relevant to your brand and resonate deeply with your audience.

Know your buyer personas

Before you start writing down hashtags, you need to truly understand your target audience. What does your ideal buyer look like? Which accounts do they follow on Instagram? What type of content do they like to engage with?

Dig into original research and analytics to find out key characteristics of your potential customers. Note the hashtags used in Reels these people are interacting with the most.

Then, use these insights to guide your own hashtag strategy. Incorporate relevant hashtags in your Reels that align with the niches and interests of your target audience.

Remember—you are a business creating content to achieve certain goals, whether that’s brand awareness, lead generation or sales. Targeting everyone and anyone is not going to get you results. Focusing on users who match your buyer personas will.

Analyze your competitors

Keeping an eye on your competitors’ content can give you ideas for hashtags you can use in your own Reels. Watch for videos that get the most engagement or views. What hashtags are they using? How many hashtags are they adding to their videos? Are they going after niche keywords or broader hashtags?

Streamline this process with Instagram competitor reports.

Sprout’s competitive analysis features can help you with that. Our tool allows you to track competitor posts, engagement rates, the hashtags they’re using and more. Better yet, compare their metrics with your own to benchmark performance and set realistic goals.

Use competitor analysis to inspire your own content and hashtags. But don’t always copy hashtags off other accounts and Reels—keep experimenting. You might stumble upon some highly engaging hashtags your competitors might be neglecting.

Use branded hashtags on Reels and other content

Capitalizing on existing hashtags is great—but what about creating your own hashtag?

Using branded hashtags in Reels and posts can help you build brand awareness and instill a sense of community in your followers. Branded hashtags are also one of the best ways to encourage user-generated content.

For example, Canva launched a branded hashtag challenge to encourage creators to use the software and share their designs:

Best Instagram Reel hashtags for 2024

Looking for inspiration? Below is a list of 250+ top hashtags for various industries like fashion, travel, fitness and food. We’ve also added popular hashtags for viral and funny Reels—all relevant to brands and marketers.

Remember, rends can change quickly, so always be on the lookout for new and emerging hashtags.

• Top 30 trending Instagram Reel hashtags
• Top 45 fitness hashtags for Instagram Reels
• Top 45 travel hashtags for Instagram Reels
• Top 45 food hashtags for Instagram Reels
• Top 45 fashion hashtags for Instagram Reels
• Top 45 funny hashtags for Instagram Reels

Top 30 trending Instagram Reel hashtags

1. #reels
2. #reelsinstagram
3. #instagramreels
4. #reelsvideo
5. #instareels
6. #reelitfeelit
7. #viral
8. #viralvideos
9. #explore
10. #explorepage
11. #foryou
12. #foryoupage
13. #trending
14. #trend
15. #instagood
16. #love
17. #like
18. #follow
19. #photography
20. #trendy
21. #reel
22. #viralreel
23. #viralreels
24. #trendingsound
25. #fyp
26. #reeloftheday
27. #trendingreels
28. #trendingnow
29. #feature
30. #repost

Top 45 fitness hashtags for Instagram Reels

1. #fitness
2. #fitnessmotivation
3. #workout
4. #gym
5. #fitfam
6. #gymlife
7. #training
8. #health
9. #fitnessjourney
10. #fit
11. #healthylifestyle
12. #motivation
13. #bodybuilding
14. #lifestyle
15. #weightloss
16. #exercise
17. #personaltrainer
18. #healthy
19. #fitlife
20. #gymmotivation
21. #strong
22. #fitspo
23. #healthandfitness
24. #muscle
25. #crossfit
26. #nutrition
27. #homeworkout
28. #wellness
29. #yoga
30. #cardio
31. #fitnesscommunity
32. #pilates
33. #zumba
34. #running
35. #cycling
36. #swimming
37. #legday
38. #armday
39. #absworkout
40. #glutes
41. #strengthtraining
42. #bodybuilding
43. #fitnessgoals
44. #getfit
45. #instafit

Top 45 travel hashtags for Instagram Reels

1. #travel
2. #travelgram
3. #travelphotography
4. #instatravel
5. #wanderlust
6. #traveltheworld
7. #travelblogger
8. #traveladdict
9. #travelgoals
10. #travelinspiration
11. #travellife
12. #traveldiaries
13. #globetrotter
14. #adventure
15. #vacation
16. #explore
17. #nature
18. #landscape
19. #photography
20. #beautifuldestinations
21. #travelreels
22. #travelvideo
23. #travelvlogger
24. #roadtrip
25. #cityscape
26. #solotravel
27. #travelcouple
28. #hiddengems
29. #travelling
30. #trip
31. #holiday
32. #travelholic
33. #worldtraveler
34. #tourist
35. #travelbug
36. #passportready
37. #exploremore
38. #seetheworld
39. #mytravelgram
40. #travelguide
41. #traveltips
42. #backpacking
43. #travelcommunity
44. #neverstopexploring
45. #staycation

Top 45 food hashtags for Instagram Reels

1. #food
2. #foodie
3. #foodporn
4. #foodphotography
5. #instafood
6. #foodlover
7. #foodblogger
8. #delicious
9. #foodgasm
10. #yummy
11. #foodstagram
12. #cooking
13. #recipe
14. #homemade
15. #healthyfood
16. #vegan
17. #vegetarian
18. #baking
19. #dessert
20. #breakfast
21. #lunch
22. #dinner
23. #brunch
24. #drinks
25. #cocktails
26. #coffee
27. #wine
28. #foodiegram
29. #foodreels
30. #eat
31. #foodpics
32. #glutenfree
33. #foodielife
34. #foodheaven
35. #foodgram
36. #fooddiary
37. #instaeat
38. #recipeoftheday
39. #plantbasedfood
40. #vegetarianrecipes
41. #eatyourveggies
42. #mealprepping
43. #mealprep
44. #recipeshare
45. #healthyeating

Top 45 fashion hashtags for Instagram Reels

1. #fashion
2. #fashionstyle
3. #style
4. #ootd (Outfit of the Day)
5. #fashionblogger
6. #fashionista
7. #instafashion
8. #fashionphotography
9. #fashionweek
10. #streetstyle
11. #fashiondiaries
12. #fashionlover
13. #fashioninspo
14. #outfitinspiration
15. #styleoftheday
16. #trendy
17. #fashionmodel
18. #menswear
19. #womenswear
20. #vintage
21. #sustainablefashion
22. #fashionreels
23. #fashiontrends
24. #slowfashion
25. #highfashion
26. #prelovedfashion
27. #secondhandfashion
28. #handmadeclothing
29. #vintagestyle
30. #vintagefashion
31. #vintageclothing
32. #unisexfashion
33. #unisexclothing
34. #styleinspiration
35. #lookoftheday
36. #thriftedfashion
37. #thriftedstyle
38. #inclusivefashion
39. #streetwear
40. #streetweardaily
41. #streetfashion
42. #howtostyle
43. #grwm
44. #getreadywithme
45. #capsulewardrobe

Top 45 funny hashtags for Instagram Reels

1. #funny
2. #funnyvideos
3. #funnyvideosdaily
4. #funnymemes
5. #funnymemesdaily
6. #memestagram
7. #funnyreels
8. #funnyisfunny
9. #funnymoments
10. #comedy
11. #comedyvideos
12. #comedyreels
13. #sketchcomedy
14. #dailyfluff
15. #dailylaugh
16. #dailydose
17. #standupcomedy
18. #relatablereels
19. #jokes
20. #hilarious
21. #funnyclips
22. #funnyvids
23. #justforlaughs
24. #humor
25. #humour
26. #laughoutloud
27. #laughing
28. #smile
29. #memes
30. #haha
31. #lol
32. #lmao
33. #comedian
34. #instafunny
35. #funnyposts
36. #satire
37. #parody
38. #comedymemes
39. #cantstoplaughing
40. #funnyanimals
41. #fails
42. #pranks
43. #funnydogs
44. #funnycats
45. #laugh

Use Instagram Reel hashtags to grow your brand

Adding hashtags to your Instagram Reels should be a no-brainer. Hashtags are the easiest way to categorize your content, drive visibility and boost engagement on your videos.

But what’s more important is using the right hashtags. You need keywords that align with your brand and match the needs and interests of your target audience. Only then can you expect to see business growth and results from your social media efforts.

This is where hashtag analytics can help. Track your most-used and top hashtags, competitor hashtags and trending keywords your audience is loving. Use the data to guide your Instagram strategy and watch views and engagement on your content skyrocket.

The post 250+ Instagram Reel hashtags to boost engagement for your brand appeared first on Sprout Social.

Even when looking at potential influencer partnerships, you’ll want to check if they’re driving good social media engagement. But what is a good engagement rate on Instagram? And how do you calculate it?

Let’s find out below.

What is an Instagram engagement rate?

An Instagram engagement rate is a metric that tells you how people are interacting with your content on the platform. It considers details such as your follower count along with interactions such as Likes, comments, saves and shares. This metric helps you gauge how well your content resonates with your target audience.

Why a good engagement rate matters on Instagram

A good engagement rate indicates that people are enjoying your content. This is a huge achievement as it shows that your Instagram marketing efforts are paying off. Besides this, there are other reasons to boost your Instagram engagement rate.

Improve platform visibility

The Instagram algorithm uses several factors to rank and display content. While relevance is one crucial element, engagement is another major consideration. Even among relevant content, posts that see tons of engagement are more likely to show up in a user’s Explore. So having a good engagement rate is essential to improve your visibility on Instagram.

Attract a new audience

With higher visibility comes an increased chance of attracting a new audience. Instagram will typically show your content to people who are most likely to be interested in it. If these users like your content enough, they may want to check out your profile and even follow you. In other words, a good engagement rate may help you grow your Instagram following.

Boost credibility

To the average Instagram user, a post that has tons of engagement means other people are enjoying it. As such, good engagement serves as social proof and reflects positively on your brand authenticity. People may feel more comfortable trusting your brand because so many others are engaging with it.

How to calculate your Instagram engagement rate

To calculate Instagram engagement rate, you need two details:

• Total interactions
• Total followers

The total follower count is easy to see on your Instagram profile. Follow the steps below to access your total interactions:

1. Go to your Instagram Insights.
2. Choose the date range you want to track.
3. Tap on “Interactions” from the overview section.
4. Scroll down to the “By interaction” section and add up the total interactions for your posts. You can also add the interactions in your Stories if you want to include them in your calculation.

Once you have these two numbers, here’s how to check engagement rate on Instagram:

Engagement rate = (Total interactions/Total followers) x 100

Alternatively, you can automatically calculate your Instagram engagement using an Instagram analytics tool.

What is the average engagement rate on Instagram?

RivalIQ puts the median engagement rate on Instagram at 0.43% across all industries.

The average engagement rate for Instagram varies depending on factors such as post type and industry. Industries like higher education and sports teams see a higher average engagement at 2.43% and 1.57% respectively.

Additionally, the latest Instagram stats show that Reels are the most engaging post type with an average engagement of 1.23%.

Instagram carousels have an average engagement rate of 0.99%, while image posts see 0.70% engagement on average.

What is a good engagement rate on Instagram?

The RivalIQ study found that the median Instagram engagement rate for the top 25% of brands is 1.02%. So anything around this number should be safe. That said, you’d ideally want to shoot for a higher engagement rate than the platform average.

Plus, you should consider the benchmarks in your industry to see what’s a good engagement rate for you. If you’re seeing a 2% engagement rate in higher education, this is slightly lower than the industry average of 2.43%.

This makes it crucial to look at the average Instagram engagement rate of your top competitors to see if you’re getting good engagement. Run an Instagram competitors report to get a better idea of typical engagement rates in your industry.

What is a good influencer engagement rate on Instagram?

Statista reports that the average influencer engagement rate on Instagram is 1.85%. So anything higher than this is a good engagement rate.

However, the average Instagram influencer engagement rate will vary by follower size and industry. Nano-influencers (having 1k to 10k followers) see the highest average engagement at 2.19%. Other influencer categories generally see an engagement rate between 0.80% and 1%. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

• Micro-influencers (10k to 50k followers) – 0.99%
• Macro-influencers (50k to 500k followers) – 0.86%
• Mega-influencers (500k to 1 million followers) – 0.87%
• Celebrity influencers (over 1 million followers) – 0.94%

It’s also good to note that some industries see a higher influencer engagement rate. So you need to consider the industry benchmarks to see if an influencer is seeing enough engagement. Travel influencers, for instance, saw an average post engagement rate of 1.22% as of May 2024. And beauty influencers had a 1.26% average engagement rate during this same period.

Meanwhile, influencer engagement in the fashion industry is slightly lower at 0.99%. Food influencers saw an average engagement of 0.63%, while engagement rates for health influencers dropped to 0.4%.

Check out the Sprout Social Influencer Directory to find influencer engagement rates in your industry.

Once you get this info, use Sprout’s influencer marketing platform to conduct your influencer search. Tagger by Sprout comes with 50+ search filters to help you narrow down the ideal influencers for your brand. You can easily check their engagement rates to see which influencers are best at engaging their Instagram followers.

Source

13 tips to improve your Instagram engagement rate

Now let’s get to the fun part. Here are some actionable tips to improve your engagement rate on Instagram.

1. Actually engage with your audience

We’re starting this list off easy. To drive more engagement from your followers, you need to interact with them. Social media isn’t a one-way street. If you want to build an engaged audience, you need to acknowledge your followers. Remember, every comment you get means someone took the time to stop, look at your post and share their thoughts. After all that, why wouldn’t you respond?

If you want to build up engagement, know that it takes time and you need to start conversations on posts other than your own. Asking questions, responding to comments and replying to Stories are some of the few ways to engage more with your audience.

With comment threading, it’s even easier to know which ones you’ve missed on your posts. Not to mention, Sprout Social’s Smart Inbox lets you easily check off comments you’ve already responded to.

As your account starts to grow and you get more comments, you might not be able to respond to everyone. But that doesn’t mean you should give up entirely. You can still Like comments or just try to reply to as many as possible.

For instance, GoPro has over 20 million followers on Instagram. The brand deals with hundreds of comments on its posts, so it’s not always viable to reply to every single comment. However, it takes time to respond to comments that ask questions or bring up an important feature.

Source: GoPro on Instagram

2. Replicate your top-performing posts

An excellent post idea may not drive the desired impact in the real world. It’s important to see what types of posts work with your audience and use this to inspire your Instagram content strategy.

Which posts are your followers engaging with the most? Review your Instagram analytics to see your past months’ best-performing posts. Is there a common theme among your top performers?

For example, you might find that photos with bright and bold colors get a ton of Likes. Or maybe people are engaging more with Reels that have music in the background. You might even find that people are saving your posts when they contain practical tips.

Use our Instagram dashboard to find your top-performing posts. Then look for commonalities between the posts and try to incorporate more of them in the future.

3. Make use of interactive features

Instagram is constantly improving to introduce new features that enhance user engagement. For instance, you can add interactive stickers to your Stories to conduct polls and quizzes. Question stickers and emoji sliders are also a great way to get people to interact with your Instagram Stories.

Glow Recipe shared a series of Stories with interactive stickers to engage its followers in a discussion about retinol. It started off with a poll asking people if they’ve tried retinol. The next two Stories included question stickers asking people to share their experience using it or why they haven’t tried it.

The next Story continued with a pop quiz and a poll where people could cast their votes. It encouraged followers to tap to the next Story to see the right answer. This all culminated to a Story explaining how retinol can be intimidating so the brand formulated it to be gentle and hydrating. This creative use of interactive Story stickers can give you an idea of how to use them to drive engagement for your brand.

One of the latest Instagram trends involves using the “Add Yours” sticker. Use this sticker to start a challenge and get people to engage with your brand. Share a prompt and encourage people to participate in your challenge by adding their own content. Alternatively, participate in trending “Add Yours” challenges to boost visibility.

4. Take advantage of your Instagram Stories

Speaking of Stories, make sure to use them to promote your latest posts. This is a great way to ensure better visibility for your Feed posts as Stories show up prominently at the top of the user’s Feed. So even if they don’t see your post initially, they might discover it through your Stories and engage with it.

Penguin Books regularly shares its latest Feed post in Stories to ensure that people don’t miss it.

5. Promote across networks

It goes without saying that the audience for your Facebook Page might not be the same as the audience on your Instagram account. Chances are that some of your Facebook audience is on Instagram, but they just don’t know that you exist there yet. Don’t be afraid to sprinkle some cross-network promotional posts to encourage more followers.

6. Create more short-form video content

Guess what we found in the 2024 Content Benchmarks Report? Consumers want to see more short-form videos from brands. And the shorter the better, with 42% of respondents preferring videos shorter than 15 seconds. Short-form videos between 15-30 seconds are the second most preferred content format.

Source

That means your Instagram content strategy needs to change direction. And the focus should shift to creating more short-form videos.

In other words, Reels are your best friend for boosting your Instagram engagement. Who knows? It might even be just the thing you need to go viral on Instagram.

Create Reels showing how-to tips and tricks or behind-the-scenes processes, for instance. Reels can be informational as well, providing a quick list of things people might want to know. And if you ever run out of ideas, you can always turn to your community for inspiration.

Grove Collaborative relies heavily on user-generated Reels to keep its Feed fresh and engaging. These short videos feature relatable humor and household hacks from its community.

Source: Grove Collaborative on Instagram

7. Create Collab posts with influential accounts

Instagram now has a feature enabling users to create Collab posts with other users. A Collab post shows up in the Feeds of both of your followers, meaning a chance to garner higher engagement. So make the most of this feature to collaborate with influencers, industry leaders and brand partners.

The Honest Kitchen regularly creates Collab posts with pet influencers to promote its human-grade pet food. This allows the brand to get its products in front of a massive and relevant audience i.e., the pet influencer’s followers. As expected, these posts have managed to garner hundreds of thousands of Likes and comments.

Source

8. Give sneak peeks and hints to drive curiosity

Followers love it when you let them in on a secret. Even if they’re public posts, giving sneak peeks and hints of new releases makes the audience think they’re part of a special group. It entices them to guess what’s going on and encourages them to revisit the profile to see if there’s been an announcement.

Check out how Fabletics Scrubs shares a teaser for an upcoming color drop without giving too much away. The Reel features turquoise waves and a text overlay that reads “May.” In the caption, the brand explains that the May color drop is arriving soon and encourages followers to “give us your best guess.”

Source: Fabletics Scrubs on Instagram

9. Write captions that drive engagement

On a related note, your Instagram captions give you the perfect opportunity to include a call for action. In this case, the action would involve some type of engagement. For example, asking a question in your caption would encourage your followers to share their answers in the comments. Or you could share a prompt that would make them want to share their experience or thoughts by commenting.

For example, Spoonflower shares a Reel showing different wallpaper styles. In the caption, it asks followers which style matches their vibe. The Reel generated tons of comments from enthusiastic followers choosing their favorite collection.

Source: Spoonflower on Instagram

10. Post your content at the best times

Timing plays a role in how much engagement you get on your posts.

You want to post when most of your followers are online and engaging on the app. Even with the best photo and wittiest caption, you could still miss out on engagement if you’re posting at the wrong hour.

We did some research into the best times to post on Instagram, and here’s what we found.

But keep in mind that the specific timing may be different for your account. Instagram business accounts offer analytics that tells you when your followers are most active. Use this information to schedule your posts and free up your time to engage with comments.

Alternatively, Instagram automation can help you save time and improve the scheduling process.

Use Sprout’s ViralPost feature to automatically schedule your posts at the optimal time. This feature ensures that your Instagram posts go out at a time when you receive the most engagement.

11. Encourage customer and employee posts

Use branded Instagram hashtags to help you organize user-generated content.

If you engage in these hashtags and incorporate a UGC strategy, more people will take notice and begin using the hashtags, too.

Your employees can be your strongest advocates as well. Their accounts give a more personal, unfiltered perspective of the company. Remember, people like feeling as if they’re in a secret club. If you reshare from your employees, you’re offering perspectives that your brand normally wouldn’t offer.

12 Host a fun giveaway contest

Who wouldn’t want to win free stuff? That’s exactly why social media giveaways are so great for boosting your Instagram engagement. They get people to engage with your brand in a way you’ve never seen before.

Whether the contest involves commenting, sharing or contributing a story—you get to drive engagement either way.

That said, your giveaway contest must be strategic and intentional. Make sure to design the rules keeping your goal in mind i.e., boosting engagement. Moreover, the prize should be attractive; it should be valuable enough to get people to participate.

For example, ColourPop Cosmetics hosted a giveaway to promote its Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” collection. To enter the sweepstakes, all you had to do was like the post and comment your favorite candy and who to take on your spooky Target runs. Winners would receive the entire collection.

Source: ColourPop on Instagram

13. Improve your Instagram hashtags

It’s a well-known fact that using the right hashtags helps you grow your reach. But with that increased reach comes a greater chance of boosting engagement. The more people see your content, the higher the chance that they’ll engage with it.

Use relevant and niche hashtags that will let you tap into the right audience. The goal is to get Instagram to show your content to users who have shown an interest in topics related to that hashtag. So when these users see your content, they’re likely to check it out and engage.

Start growing your Instagram engagement

Having a good engagement rate on Instagram requires adopting a data-driven strategy. You need analytics insights to see what resonates with your audience and adapt accordingly.

Use Sprout’s Instagram analytics features to get comprehensive insights into your performance. Find out how your competitors are doing and benchmark your performance against theirs. See your top-performing posts and hashtags, and identify engagement trends. Use these insights to inform your strategy and boost your Instagram engagement.

The post Instagram engagement rate: How to calculate yours in 2024 appeared first on Sprout Social.