Transcripts
1. Intro: You've been posting on
Instagram consistently, but still struggling
with low engagement, you're in the right place
because the truth is growing on Instagram today doesn't mean having
thousands of posts. It's about creating content that people actually
want to engage with. And that is exactly what this course is
going to teach you. The best part is you
don't need to have hundreds of thousands
of followers and you don't need
any expensive gear. So if you're ready to grow
your Instagram engagement and grow your audience in a smart
way, let's get started.
2. Understanding Instagram Engagement: Understanding
Instagram engagement. A lot of creators
think that growing on Instagram means having hundreds of thousands
of followers, while that may be true
only to some extent. If people don't engage
with your post, having hundreds of thousands of followers doesn't mean anything. Instagram engagement is simply how people interact
with your post. It could mean likes, comments, shares, repost, DMs or saves. If people interact
with your content, Instagram sees that
as a positive signal. And when Instagram
notices that people are actively engaging or
interacting with your post, it starts showing the post
to more and more people. And this also explains
the Instagram algorithm. The algorithm shows your post to your core audience
that is going to be a small percentage
of your audience. If they enjoy the post, if they interact with the post, engage with the post, then the post reaches a
bigger audience. If the bigger audience also interacts with
the post likes, comments, shares, the post gets shown to
more and more people. Now, let's break down the
different types of engagement. That you can receive on Instagram and what each type
of engagement can mean? Which ones are the best and
that you should aim for. First would be likes. Likes are the most basic
form of engagement. It's like saying, Hey, that was nice. That's it. Nothing much. Likes don't
mean much, honestly, anymore. Instagram values deeper
engagement more comments. Comments are
generally considered more important
than the number of likes because comments require engagement and
more of an effort. Saves. When someone
saves your post, Instagram sees gad as
a valuable content. That is s worthy and maybe it has some
valuable information. For Tad, you can create
posts that share important value tips and
tricks or something like that that people might want
to revisit later shares. Probably one of the
strongest metrics that Instagram tracks is
the number of shares. When people share your content, either through repost or by
sending it to someone's BMs, they're basically
saying this content is more share worthy and it
should reach more people.
3. Common Mistakes That Kill Engagement: Common mistakes that
kill engagement, posting without a hook. If your content doesn't
grab attention immediately, people are just going
to scroll away. That's why your first
3 seconds in the real and the first page of the
causal are extremely important. Your ultimate goal should
be to stop the scroll. Inconsistent posting. I sometimes you're posting
five to six times a week, and then you disappear
for a month. All that engagement that you have built is going
to slip away, and now when you post again, you're not going to
reach as many people. In no way, I'm saying you have
to post every single day, but have a consistent
schedule and follow it. Ignoring comments and DMs. Engagement is a two way process. If someone left a comment on your post and you never
reply to the comments, they are less likely
to comment again. Replying to the comments can
help you build a community, focusing only on going viral. Viral content is
exciting, obviously, but good quality loyal
audience is built through consistent posting and reaching your target audience. Sometimes a reel
with just 2000 get good targeted views can
bring in more sales, more revenue for your business than 1 million view reel that reached no one or people from outside your niche that don't care about
your niche at all. Don't just chase views, focus on building
value consistently.
4. Create Content That People Engage With: Creating content that
people want to engage with. Most Instagram
content gets ignored. Not because it's bad, but because it's
either missing hooks or not following the tips that
I'm going to mention now. Always remember that
people engage with any post for emotional or
psychological reasons. Think about the posts that you regularly interact
with on Instagram, either through likes,
comments or shares. It probably made you feel one of these things, curious,
inspired, entertained, understood,
emotional, surprised, motivated Instagram
is emotional. People don't open the app
looking for perfect content. They open the app and scroll
looking to feel something. That's why creators with
simple phone videos regularly outperform people
with high quality production. Let's discuss Instagram hooks. Your hook is what makes
people stop scrolling. And to be very honest, if your hooks are weak, nothing else really matters. You could have shared amazing
information in your video, but if no one stops
scrolling, no one sees it. Your first 3 seconds in the
real and the first page in the carusal are extremely important and they need to
grab attention immediately. For generating hooks, you can just share
your entire script with CHA GPT and ask it
to write better hooks. That generally works
pretty well for me, or you can just go to Google and look for Instagram hooks. You're going to find
plenty of websites with huge list of hooks that you
can use in your videos. I'm going to share some hooks that you're going to
see on your screen now. Just pause the video
and you can also take Tat GPDs help to write hooks like these that
I'm sharing right now. Understanding
audience's pain points. A simple way to increase engagement is create
content around things that people
are struggling with or people are
already searching for. A simple way to improve
engagement is creating content that answers questions
people already have, problems they already
struggle with, thoughts they
already think about. And how to find the pain points, you just go to any online
community like Red or Instagram and just go to the
comment sections of the post and see what
people are talking about. There you will find
people's pain points, what do people struggle with and what content you will get plenty of content
ideas from there. Which type of content
should you create more? And there are only two
viable options here, reels or carousel post. It would depend
according to the niche, and there is no
clear answer here. You can experiment
by creating reels or carousels for your post and
see what performs better. You can also study the top
pages within your niche. Just to see what works better. For example, for
news, generally, I've seen carousel works
more or works better. And for interpersonal
content, for example, I'm talking about something
that I have faced, then a simple talking real
will work a lot better. So ultimately, the type
of content that you create will be guided by the niche that
you're working in.
5. Unique Tips for Instagram reels: Some unique tips for
Instagram reels. Since I have already discussed hooks before in a
previous module, I'm not going to bore you again. Use hooks because if
you're not using hooks, you're missing out on a huge, huge lot of engagement. I'd like to discuss
some additional things that you might not have heard someplace else that are going to improve
your engagement. Using trending audio correctly. Trending audio can help you improve your reach
significantly, but many creators end up
using it the wrong way. First, how to find
the trending audio. You just need to look for
a small tilted upward sign next to a music or a song. Or just look for repeated sounds across your Instagram feed. The earlier you join
a trend, the better. Because when more and
more people start uploading their videos
with exact same music, the competition gets
harder. Add your own twist. For example, it's a sound, trending sound
that is being used by photographers to
share their photography. You can use it to
share your paintings. You can use it to share something different
that you have created. Add your own twist. To
the trending audio. The creators who personalize
trends stand out a lot more. Lower the background
audio for talking reels. What some people do is they upload these basic
talking head videos, and they just place the trending
audio in the background, and they lower the
voice completely. So you can't hear the trending
audio, but it's there. And Instagram recognizes
trending audio and your reel might
get more reviews. Next major tip would be
to add captions because a lot of people watch
Instagram reels without sound. Just take this for an example. For example, you're
sleeping with your spouse, and it's 2:00 A.M. You can't
sleep properly and you say, Oh, I'll just use my phone. You take out your phone, and
suddenly you can't consume more than half of the content on Instagram because people
don't use captions. So this is an everyday
occurrence for many people, and this is a non serious
example that I give because a lot of people have disability when hearing as well, so they can't physically hear
the content on Instagram. Captions can help
with accessibility, retention, and watch time. Even basic captions can significantly improve the
performance of your reels. Now, let's talk about
some specific tips regarding adding
captions in your videos. The first would be to
keep text in safe zones. Instagram's interface
covers part of the screen. Make sure your text is not on the part that
Instagram covers. Otherwise, it's
just going to look disjointed and it's
going to look awkward. Make your text
large and readable. Because on smartphones, it's
a pain to read small text. Make the text large
because on smartphones, it sucks to read small text. Don't overload or
bombard the screen with text because Dak
is going to look ugly. Another question I get
is about real length. How long should my reel be? Officially, do you know what the longest reel
can be 20 minutes? Yet when was the last time you saw even a five minute reel? Ultimately, your reel should only be as long as it needs to be without any filler content or any awkward pauses
or repetitions. Shorter reels perform
better because they are generally
easier to rewatch.
6. Reel Mistakes That Destroy Engagement: Let's discuss some real
mistakes that people make that destroys their
engagement. Over editing. You're not in editing competition whenever
you're creating reels. Your editing should be subtle
and your editing should not distract from the main
focus point of the video. Poor lighting and audio. People will forgive
average video quality. For example, this video tape
you're seeing right now, it's practically
average video quality. I'm shooting with my phone. I'm using basic lights. I'm not using any
contrast lights or three point setup or
something like that. It's pretty average. The audio is okay, too. This is forgivable,
but bad lighting and unclear audio will hurt
the retention pretty badly. Copying other
creators completely. There is one thing that people take inspiration from
something that already exists out on the market
and they recreate it at their own twist of personality to it, and
then they post it. That is different from blatantly copying someone
else's content word for word. Ultimately, people
shouldn't have deja vu when they
watch your realism. Uh, I remember watching this
exact reel someplace else. This should not
happen to your reels. Quitting too early. Many creators stop posting even before they have
a chance to improve. Reels are a skill. Your first few
videos are obviously not going to be amazing,
and that's okay. Post, I would
personally suggest post at least 50 reels to
get better at it. And don't judge yourself before
you have posted 50 reels.
7. Increasing Story Engagement: Increasing story engagement. Most creators focus on only reels and their
post and carusals, but they completely
ignore Instagram stories. But let me tell you,
Instagram stories are where loyal
audiences are built. Reels will help
people discover you, but stories will help
people connect with you, and they're both very important. Think about your favorite
creators for a bit. You don't just watch their post. You probably watch
their stories as well. Why? Like, why do you
watch their stories? Because it probably
feels personal. It feels more casual, more like, behind
the scenes look. And it just feels like you're taking a look into
their personal lives or they are showing more of their personality
in their Instagram stories. Stories allows your audience
to know your personality, and the more people
interact with your stories, the more your content will get pushed to them
in the future. Story engagement improves
overall account engagement. This means people who will
reply to you on your stories or engage with a poll sticker or a question sticker
or something like that. Will get shown more of
your post in the future. Stories create familiarity
and familiarity builds trust. One tip that I'd
like to share right now would be to create
more interactive post. These interactive features make engagement easy because
people are less likely to type a paragraph and reply
to your but people are far more likely to just tap on the screen or
reply to a question, a basic reply or replying
using the Imog slider. Another tip would be don't
just post promotional stories. And this is a mistake
that brands often make because every time
you see a brand story, in every story, they're
just going to be like, Buy this, share this. By this. Every third
story that they share is By This B D. Check out our new post or
something like that. People just completely tune now. Mix promotional content with personal and
interactive content. Storytelling through stories. People love seeing the
behind the scenes, like a filming setup, editing process,
content planning, you just packing some
orders, daily routines. Behind the scenes,
content feels authentic, and it can really help build
your Instagram engagement. Personal experiences. You can talk about mistakes
or lessons that you've learned or share some small
tips or something like that. For most creators, posting
throughout the day, works a lot better than posting
everything all at once. This keeps your audience seeing
your profile repeatedly. Stories don't need
to be perfect. You can just share literally
your everyday routine, your everyday work,
your morning coffee, or something super basic. It doesn't need to be perfect. You just need to be
consistent with it. As far as the quantity
is concerned, you don't need to post 30
stories every single day. I think five to ten stories per week is definitely enough. Here's how to increase
your DM replies. Ask simple questions.
For example, you shared a mistake
that you did. And now at the end of the
story or in the next story, you just have to ask,
share your mistake. What was your mistake that made you laugh the most
or something like that, and people will share
their anecdotes with you thereby creating engagement. Generally, controversial
stories will get more replies. So if you talk about topics that are controversial,
for example, feminism in itself, gender wars, these are all pretty
controversial topics. So if you talk about
them consistently, you will obviously get
more and more engagement. Ultimately your goal
should not be to offend. You're not just offending
people, so they message you. Your goal is to not be
unlikable completely. Your goal is to
share your opinion. It can be controversial. Sure. But if you
share your opinion, you will get a reply
from a lot of people. Create curiosity. For example, what some
people do is they just post something something
crazy happened during the shoot or something. And then after 15, 20 minutes, they share on their story what happened or what went
wrong during the shoot. This creates
curiosity and thereby improves and increases your
story engagement drastically. Reply to your audience. If people message you respond, audience loyalty grows
through connection. Even simple replies
help build a community. Now, I'm sharing some story
ideas for low effort days. On high effort days,
you can create. Obviously, you can share
your personal anecdotes, personal stories, and
things like that, like what has happened with
you or what you or that you did something
and you're proud of it or something like that,
super personal stories. You can't do that
every single day. Some days are going to
be low effort days, and here's what you should
share on your low effort days. These are just
examples and you can find way more content
on the Internet.
8. Writing Better Captions: Writing better captions. I have a six page script open
on my desktop right there, and I'm not going to recite it all because it
doesn't matter. What happened was before
recording this video, I was going through Instagram to record or just to screenshot, some captions that
are doing good, some captions that are
not doing that good. But ultimately
what happened was, I noticed that almost
90 to 95% captions these days are written using AI. So talking about how to
write better captions is completely useless if you're
going to use AI completely. And I'm not against
the use of AI. Obviously, I'm not
against the use of AI. I use JAGPTGemini, cloud myself. Just one thing that
I'm going to share. It's absolutely fine
if you're using Cha GPT for writing
these things, writing captions and
stuff like this. Just add one thing
to your prompt, write in simple English
and remove the dashes. The number of times I have
opened Instagram captions, and I see those hat GPT dashes and I completely check out. I'm like, No, I don't
think I care enough. The problem is, you can use AI. It shouldn't look
blatant use of AI. Also, the thing about simple
English, that is very, very important because what happens is generally people talk if I divide the complexity of English from level
one to level ten. Level four, level five is
where people usually talk. I'm talking about
the complexity of language level four
or Level five. Really good people that have really good grasp of the language talk at a level
seven or a level eight. JAGPT talks at a level
nine for some reason. In most of its captions, it's unbelievable the
sentence structure, the way it structures
the sentence, no human talks like that. So every time you add
write in simple English, it simplifies the language, and it looks like it's
written by a human. And remove the dashes, it's pretty self
explanatory and obvious. One more tip, you should
always have multiple call to action options and
then place the best one in your actual caption. You can just take
JA GPTs help to generate multiple
calls to actions, and then decide the one
that fits the caption most.
9. Posting Strategy & Timing: Posting strategy and timing. How often should you post? Instagram likes
predictable activity. For most beginner creators, three to five reels or three to five posts is
a good, good start. And that's already more than enough to grow if your
content is good and valuable. Best times to post on Instagram. See a lot of creators
obsess over finding the exact perfect time
to post on Instagram, but the perfect
time doesn't exist, and it's going to look
different for different people. I've shared the general best
posting times on the screen. These are morning 7:00
A.M. To 9:00 A.M. Lunch hours 12-2. My personal favorite would be evening 6:00 P.M. To 9:00 P.M. But then again, it's different
for different people. Try different posting times just to see what works the best. Don't stress too much about
posting times, though, because Instagram is going
to push your content for days or even weeks after it's
posted if it performs well. Just focus on creating content
that people want to watch. Repurpose old content. A lot of old veteran creators, what they do is
they keep sharing content that performed
well in the past. For example, I've seen so
many creators that they post one real three times if
it performs well, obviously. For example, the first
time they post it, it went viral, I performed well. After two or three months,
they post it again. Because it's a good reel,
it went viral again. Then after three, four, five months, they post it again. So they got so much engagement
out of just one post. And you know why
this works because new followers between
these three posts, the new followers had not
seen that previous post. So they keep getting new and
more engagement every time. One more tip that
I'd like to share is repurpose your content
on different platforms. For example, if you are
creating Instagram reels, upload them to Tik Tok if Dad is available
in your country. Or upload them into
YouTube shots. You are creating content anyway. Just give it a chance to
reach as many people as it can because sometimes
what happens is something that doesn't
work on Instagram, it explodes on YouTube.
10. Outro: And that brings us to
the end of the course. Remember, growing on
Instagram is not about going viral every single day
or on every alternate post, but it's about building a community that
craves for your work. Don't worry about being perfect. Just focus on improving
one post at a time. Experiment with different
content style and find out what works
best for your audience. Good luck with your
Instagram Growth journey. I'll see you in the next one.
Shubham Jain, Everything about Etsy & Social Media
