For a long time, reaching a high follower count has been every business’s goal, whether 10,000 or 300,000 followers. Many believed that the higher the follower count, the better it can be utilised to generate sales.
An eCommerce marketing agency will know by now that follower count isn’t everything and that other factors are equally important to growing an online presence that positively influences your business.
Followers vs Engagement
They say that quality is better than quantity, and the same goes for follower count. No matter how large your audience is, if no one is paying attention to what you post online or engaging with your brand, then it’s time to rethink your strategy.
Measure how well your posts are engaging your followers by checking on the number of likes, comments and saves that your posts have. To encourage higher levels of engagement, try asking your audience direct questions and for opinions on different topics not necessarily related directly to your business – anything to get them responding!
Do you ever feel like you see the same account’s posts every time you go on social media? That’s because platforms such as Instagram will notice if your posts are getting high engagement, and the algorithm will push that content to the top of your followers’ timelines, encouraging even more engagement!
These platforms are constantly running tests to see which account’s content is performing the best, and they serve this to a broader audience as a result. eCommerce agencies understand how these algorithms work. So if you don’t have time to keep up with the latest updates, perhaps get an agency involved to give you the edge over your competitors.
Engagement has proven to be much more effective than just follower count that brands are now focusing on micro-influencers with anything over 3000 followers to promote their products. These public figures tend to have a more substantial influence over their followers than some famous influencers!
Increasing Engagement Levels & Boosting Follower Count
You might have guessed that both engagement levels and follower count go hand in hand. Of course, the more engaged your audience is, the more Instagram will show your posts, the more followers you will gain!
There are different ways to boost your engagement instantly to show Instagram that you’re an account worth seeing.
For instant results, post a poll or a question on your story. As an eCommerce brand, posting a ‘this or that’ story with different choices of products is a great way to showcase your products while learning which products your audience prefers. This might even result in conversions!
Instagram recently introduced reels to compete with TikTok, and they will reward users for utilising this tool. Take advantage of this by posting at least three reels a week to boost engagement via video views and increase follower count as users tune in for your videos.
Rumour has it that if you create regular video content with increased views each time, Instagram will push every third or fourth post to a broader audience. If one happens to go viral, your engagement and follower count will blossom! These kinds of tips are common knowledge among eCommerce marketing agencies, so getting one involved in your growth journey means your business is one step closer to going viral.
Of course, regular posts are something that Instagram wants to see, too. Be sure that your posts are crafted with your audience in mind and high quality to receive the best possible engagement.
Writing extended captions on your posts builds a better relationship with your followers and may encourage them to like or comment on the post. Last year, users who wrote a caption of at least 1000 characters saw a 5.9% increase in engagement!
Audience, Audience, Audience
It’s clear that quality is better than quantity, but finding that quality, niche audience can be tricky and may take some time to develop.
Take steps to reach this audience by using appropriate, trending hashtags, including your business’ location in every post (including stories!), leveraging the different stickers in stories that encourage your followers to reply with feedback and continually test which times are best for you to post.
For example, an eCommerce business may find it most effective to post outside of working hours, perhaps early in the morning or evening, depending on the product. An eCommerce marketing agency will test different times for posting consciously, so your business can get the most out of each post.
If your followers aren’t growing rapidly – don’t panic! Fixating on your follower count is a non-effective way of increasing your businesses presence online.
After trying the above steps, see how engagement develops and how this affects your success on different platforms. For a more strategic approach, contacting an eCommerce agency might be the most effective use of time, as the ever-changing algorithms leave those using old methods well behind.