While hacks and the concept of tricking the algorithm are short-term gain tactics, there are valuable ways to post save-worthy content that will help increase your Instagram engagement. In this post, you’re going to learn how to increase your Instagram saves so that engagement driver can help your overall account.
What are Instagram saves and why does it matter?
A save on Instagram is the small icon on the bottom right of a post that allows you to save to a collection of images in your personal account, to refer back to for future use. Consider this like a bookmarking feature for other people’s posts.
While there are tons of research out there that will tell you that Instagram Saves mean more than any other engagement metric, the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri suggested that each algorithm works a different way.
Instagram Saves can be powerful to help you categorize content, since this feature allows you to group saved content into albums. You can create a folder to reference later, as inspiration, photos angles to capture, etc.
Instagram Saves is a powerful engagement metrics because your audience is telling you that they love your content so much that they want to refer back to it later. This metric is not externally facing to the rest of the world, so it’s a hidden way for those that don’t feel comfortable sharing externally, to show that they like it in their own way. This is the hidden lever to get your photo pushed out to more people without always focusing on the like/comment, since some people are too shy to communicate so bluntly.
How to Increase your Instagram Saves
Increase your Instagram Saves by being Forgettable
While we want your audience to remember who you are and your brand, we also want them to feel like the content they’re consuming is so good that it would be a shame to forget that it existed, and this need to click save in order to ensure they remember it.
Disclaimer: Not every single post on your account needs to follow this tactic. It’s important that you test what works best for you. I also shake things up on my account
There are different ways to create forgettable content…here are a few:
1. Create Long Form Captions (Micro-Blogging)
This is a subtle art to writing value-filled captions. Consider this mindset like, micro-blogging, which is using most of the 2,200 characters (around 370 words) that Instagram allows. It’s similar to blogging but on a much smaller scale.
This is not tricky as long as you are helping the consumer of your content in a way that they feel is valuable. Microblogging can be a powerful tool for those aiming to establish a brand by sharing their thoughts, knowledge, and most importantly their stories.
I love my blog and firmly believes it contributes to my passive income across my diversified streams, but your blog serves a different audience.
Not everyone likes to read a hard cover book if they prefer a Kindle. Not everyone like watching YouTube, but they’d rather read a blog post about it. This is why recycling your content is key to ensuring the longevity of your ideas. If you don’t believe me, here are seven benefits if repurposing your content here.
3. Create Carousel Posts of Information
I love the benefits of carousel posts since they can allow you to pop up in the same person’s feed more than once with an image inside the carousel post. It feels like you’re getting double/tripe the posting within one click.
Carousel posts can take the reader on an informational journey that shares something in greater detail or gives graphics to help them better understand a concept.
Tip: Don’t re-create the wheel every time, create templates so that you are not starting from scratch and can also hone in on your brand image.
3. Create Infographic Images
My personal style is to combine a personal picture with a carousel post that has a infographic image attached. This might not work for everyone, and again you should always test, but the concept of sharing an infographic can help you with an interesting way to communicate your message.
My favorite reason for sharing these is also because I can recycle them into a Pinterest pin to drive traffic back to my page.
Include a Strong CTA
If you want to ensure your followers save your post, direct them down that path! Adding a call to action lets them know what to do. Here are some examples:
- Save this post for later!
- Don’t forget this important message, tap save!
- Bookmark this post so you don’t forget
Goal: Create a post that needs to be referred back to
If you create an infographic or some form of long caption that your followers need to refer back to, you’ll increase your chances of saves. Every account will receive this differently so it’s important to test and see what works best for your audience. Now that you know how to increase your Instagram saves, it’s time to start creating!
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