With Instagram phasing out the display of likes in several countries in 2019 – initially as a test in major hubs such as Brazil, Canada, Italy, Ireland, Japan and New Zealand – real engagement is, once again, brought to the forefront of discussion on the photo sharing platform with 1 billion monthly active users.
However, brands and creators posting quality content are unlikely to be affected by the numbers of likes a post has got being hidden from the general public, as inspiring and interesting storytelling will remain the DNA of social media strategies that work. The important thing for influencers is that if users relate to your quality content, they will share it regardless of being able to see who else liked it or not.
Here, professional content creators share their best tips on how to create content that is engaging and shareable.
Build your community
“Understand your audiences and what kind of content they enjoy and spend time writing an engaging copy for the caption; it provides more context behind the visual imagery/video you are posting. It is important to also have a clear call-to-action at the end of your content, to drive audiences to either comment, like, share, tag, or even direct message to share their thoughts and views.
It’s a great way to build an engaging community of people who rally behind you and your brand, and Instagram is a great place for this because of the overall positive community.”
Laurie Wang – Digital Marketing Strategist and Coach
Share honest life insights
“Beautiful high-quality imagery is a key ingredient to producing engaging content as it add value to your audience and makes you stand out from other creators out there. However, you must also remember to always provide a real, honest life insight into the current situation to make your post relatable”.
Phoebe Greenacre – Speaker, Entrepreneur and founder of @siloulondon
Find out when your audience is online
“A good post starts off with knowing your audience and having a caption that engages with that audience; this will allow followers to engage and become part of the conversation.
Last, but not least, being consistent is key to social media success. So, use Instagram analytics to better understand your account and to create a schedule where you post fresh content when your audience is online.”.
Ryan Hintze – Model and Entrepreneur
Ask yourself if you would share your post
“As a content creator, I will always try to put myself in my followers’ shoes and think ‘what could make them relate to this post?’ so I can create my content accordingly. Good content is shareable and there are many things that contribute to someone’s decision to share a post. I would share content which is relatable to my life, content that motivates me or would have a positive influence on me, including news which aims to create awareness and empower others and content that makes someone smile. So, I keep all of this in mind while creating my own content, too.”
Zainab Aleqabi – Influencer and Tedx speaker
100% focus on your niche.
“Real engagement comes from good content that is consistently posted. Finding the best time and day of the week to post can help more people see your content; however, it’s also important to always keep your own essence and focus on your niche.”
Helena Hutchinson – Blogger and image consultant
Understand the moment
“No matter where in the world you may be, people need to be able to relate to what you are posting. Which means that for a piece of content to be successful it is vital to understand what others may be feeling in that moment and what your followers would like to see. It is important to know your followers that well.”
Andrea di Filippo – Digital Entrepreneur
“Creating interesting social media posts is something influencers and content creators battle with everyday. With a gazillion people posting every day, how can you make your post stand out and get the likes?. Everyone has their own style, but mine is about bringing food to life. As a food photographer I use people’s hands, lemon squeezes, pasta lifts, lift a salad and drop it and so on. You want to people to see it and go WOW!! It must be different; it must pop and it definitely must look more than a simple plate of food in your kitchen.
Good natural light, or darker more moodier lighting in venues, can help to edit your pics well and don’t rush to post – content that performs well and prompt people to engage with it is about quality, not quantity”.
Jason King – Food photographer
Marcio Delgado is a Journalist, speaker and a Content Producer working with brands and publications in the UK and Latin America.
