The most important kinds of engagement, according to Instagram, are comments and shares. They are reported to carry more weight in the eyes of the Instagram algorithm than other forms of engagement.

It makes sense when you think about it. Liking a post takes a millisecond, but commenting on a post requires some thought. Sharing of a post means you echoed with the post so much that you want your followers to see it.

How to get more comments and shares?

Instagram engagement groups are also called Instagram pods. They are a group of people who have concurred to comment on, view, and/or like your posts in exchange for you commenting on, viewing and/or liking their posts.

1. Use engagement groups

By using these Instagram engagement groups, you’re making sure that every time you post a piece of content in addition to your existing follower’s regular user engagement, you also have the added engagement from your Instagram engagement group’s members.

There are different kinds of engagement groups catering to different page sizes (1K followers, 10K followers, etc.), themes (business, fitness, pets, etc.), and types of engagement exchanged.

In this case, you’re going to want to use comment-specific engagement groups. By joining comment-only engagement groups, you are guaranteed to get more comments from real people every time you post.

The number of new comments you get on your posts as a result of using engagement groups is only limited by the size and number of groups you are a part of.

Here are some ways to find Instagram engagement groups:

The first option is Google:

• Instagram Engagement Groups 2019
• Instagram engagement groups list
• Instagram pods to join 

Searching for these keywords will give possible engagement groups for you to join.

General engagement groups like these will definitely help you get more comments, but it can look suspicious if most of your comments come from Instagram users completely outside the theme of your Instagram page.

You should join the theme of specific engagement groups. Through this way, you will receive all engagement from people who are related to your industry and therefore look more natural under your posts.

If you want to narrow down your search to theme-specific groups, here are some popular searches on Google:

• Instagram pods/groups for photographers
• Instagram pods/groups for artists
• Instagram pods/groups for business 

Or you can do a search with “Instagram engagement groups” or “Instagram engagement podcast” for the theme.

If you don’t want to have to go out and find these engagement groups, there are also platforms that have over 300 engagement groups catering to virtually every niche – the size of the following, the theme of the page, the type of engagement, etc., that you can join with one click (some require approval by an admin).

2. Hold contests

Another route is to fetch both comments and shares via holding contests.I

Tag two of your buddies as a comment in my most recent post or share this post with three of your buddies for an opportunity to win whatever you are able to offer as a chance to get appear on your page or a free product.

The choice of prize is going to vary depending on the size and type of your social media page.

Here are three basic prizes you could offer:

• If you’re a business, you can offer a free product or service.
• If you’re a spotlight page, you can offer a guaranteed spotlight post.
• If you’re someone with a lot of followers, you can offer a shoutout. 

The smaller your Instagram channel and/or less you have to offer, the more creative you’re going to have to think of what you can offer as a prize that would make people want to comment on or share your posts.

3. Don’t buy comments

First thing’s first – don’t buy comments. There are too many things that can go wrong when buying comments.

Often times, when you buy comments, they are from people outside of your target audience.

If you are growing your Instagram page with the intention of becoming an influencer and partnering with businesses in your industry, then a bunch of comments from people outside of your industry isn’t going to look attractive to those businesses.

Plus, it can look very unnatural if one week you are getting an average of 10 comments per post, and then all of a sudden the next week you are getting an average of 500 comments per post.

Anyone who follows you or anyone who checks your page through an Instagram algorithm or analysis tool is going to see this unnatural bump and knows that you purchased your comments.

Final Thoughts

By getting more comments and shares using the tactics above, you’re more likely to show up closer to the tops of your followers’ feeds, more likely to show up as a Top Post when people search for your hashtags, and more likely to show up on more people’s Explore pages. Also, if you are interested in learning 18 more ways to win the Instagram algorithm, then this guide is for you.

It is not easy managing social media channels. Whether it’s a big or small company, it’s important to manage user inquiries without wasting too much time. That’s where Social Pros come into use. It is a blog aimed at simplifying social media marketing practices for small businesses and everyday people.

Article written by: MobileAppDaily Team