An Influencer Engagement Rate is an important metric, as it assists brands in determining which influencers they should work with, based on how their content performs on Instagram. So what exactly is an engagement rate?

Engagement can include any interaction users have with an influencer’s content such as likes, comments, video views, shares etc. Engagement rate is the amount of total engagement received by an account over a specific period, expressed as a percentage of followers. The equation is written as, Engagement Rate = Engagement/Followers

Why Is Influencer Engagement Rate Important?

Instagram Engagement does not relate to the number of followers, but to the degree of involvement, interest, and interaction that your followers show towards your photos, videos, Instagram stories or any other content. But why is influencer engagement rate so important? Here’s why!

Social Credibility:

A high influencer engagement rate automatically cements the idea that your followers believe in your brand.

They genuinely indulge in the content that you share and connect with it, which results in more interactions via likes, comments, etc., and ultimately a great engagement rate. It lends your brand a sense of social credibility and better reach.

Partnerships:

Influencer marketing has sky-rocketed recently, due to the benefit of getting your brand exposed to a ready audience which is already engaged, via an influencer. There are some great influencers in almost every industry such as food, travel, hospitality, clothing, fashion etc.

Brands love to work with such Influencers, especially those who receive good engagement on Instagram. As mentioned earlier, not just the number of followers is important, but more weight is given to the engagement rate.

Influencers who receive good engagement rates are more likely to land better partnerships and branded collaborations, at a good price. Sometimes, micro-influencers prove to be great partners for big brands. They have a small following but better engagement rates, as opposed to big influencers with less engagement.

Here Are A Few Methods to Increase Engagement on Instagram!

Here are some sure-fire ways to increase your engagement on Instagram, which if done correctly, can lead to more influencer opportunities.

1. Hashtags:

Hashtags help attract the audience searching for a particular topic on Instagram. For example, #instafood is one such hashtag that is extremely popular and one can find all the good food bloggers using it on a regular basis. How does this help them?

Users searching for the same hashtag in the search bar will be shown their posts first. According to statistics, Instagram posts that include a hashtag get 12.6% more engagement than posts that don’t.

2. Geo-Location:

Posting pictures with the a tagged location has shown to yield more engagement. It results in a 79% higher engagement than in posts without location tags. Whenever someone searches for a particular location, Instagram will show results of all the posts tagged with that location, which means it is a great way to get up on the ‘explore’ feed.

The Instagram story feature, which is a series of posts that last for 24 hours, also has a location tagging feature which can be used. For example, if you happen to be attending an event or a concert, you can simply share what’s happening around through stories or by going live, letting your followers know which location you are at by tagging it.

3. Kicksta:

Kicksta is a powerful and genuine Instagram marketing service that can help you connect with real followers on Instagram. They help connect brands and influencers with their target audiences in an all- organic and natural manner.

They strive to find active Instagram users who will have a genuine interest in the page and be of value to the brand. With over 2000 plus brands and influencers, Kicksta can vouch for organic growth for your Instagram account, without diverting to fake followers.

4. Quality Content:

None of the other strategies will work if you do not pay attention to the quality of content being posted on your page. Consumers are being burdened with the overload of information available on the internet today. So you need to act smart and make sure to post engaging content that grabs that is both shareable and meaningful.

To keep a high influencer engagement rate, make sure you maintain the quality of your posts, as well as strike a relationship with your followers! And finally, keep in tune with the changing trends.