In the world of social media, your popularity can be measured in part by how many likes and comments you get. This is especially the case for Instagram.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see your Instagram photos start filling up with comments right after you post them? Comments are a two-way street between your brand and your followers. It’s a great way to reach out to them and it’s also a great way to promote content for you.

In this post, we’ll give you tips for creating engaging posts that will get you more comments on Instagram. This will help you become more visible in the feed and get discovered by new users, expanding your reach and potential pool of customers.

1. Host a Giveaway or Contest

A fun way to get followers to comment on your page is by hosting an Instagram contest or giveaway. The mechanics are simple: just ask people to join the contest by commenting on your post. You can make the contest a week long campaign, so more and more users comment each day.

Eagles Nest Outfitters asks their followers to share their hammock adventures through a photo contest. As you can see a lot of their followers have commented on their feed even though they didn't specifically ask them to, no doubt growing their audience in the process.

Congrats to May's Photo Contest Winner @bajatxpro! Enter your best hammock pic this month for the chance to be featured or win $215 ENO cash!! Photo Contest link in bio! #hammock #photo #contest #ENOnation A post shared by Eagles Nest Outfitters, Inc (@enohammocks) on Jun 1, 2017 at 6:32pm PDT

2. Ask People to Engage

The simplest way of getting more Instagram comments is just asking for them.

You can use your captions to interact with your followers, especially with questions for them to answer or themes for them to add to. You can caption your posts with simple questions like “Agree or disagree?” or “Hot or Not?” to encourage responses and earn more comments.

You can also ask them to tag their friends or someone that can relate to your post. Simply say, “Tag your best friend that you want to take here” or “tag someone who wants to go here.”

Fashion blogger Vern Enciso would often ask her followers about the outfit they prefer in her Instagram captions. This encourages her followers to answer with their own opinions in the comments section.

#Twinning in stripes with @verniecenciso ❤️ What would you wear? Mine or hers? ✨ #mjbenitez 📸 @mjbenitez #VVPose A post shared by Vern Enciso (@vernenciso) on May 16, 2017 at 3:26am PDT

This strategy works great for her because her fans care deeply about the same kinds of things that she does, and they’re willing to voice their opinions. Figure out what your own followers care about and work with that.

3. Host an Instagram Takeover

If you want to keep the comments coming you have to give your followers fresh content. One great way of doing this by hosting an Instagram takeover.

This usually involves inviting an influential person to take over your feed for a day and post from their point of view. It should be mutually beneficial – you should get new exposure to the influencer’s fans, and they should gain more attention (or monetary compensation) by working with you.

Here, Buffer used Instagram takeovers as a way to showcase the personalities of some of their employees. There are a lot of different kinds of Instagram takeovers – what would work for you?

4. Post Videos

People love videos, and are watching them at an ever-increasing rate.

Instagram gives you 60 seconds to woo your audience in videos, and this is a great way to garner more comments.

Post engaging videos that will get your followers to stop scrolling through their busy feeds and actually watch your video. The key is to share compelling content. You can ask a follow-up question or include a call-to-action right in the video to encourage people to comment.

Smoothie Saturday 🍒 🍒 Click the link in our bio for the full recipe. A post shared by Ben & Jerry's (@benandjerrys) on Mar 4, 2017 at 7:35am PST

5. Buy Followers and other Forms of Engagement

The larger your Instagram following, the more people will be attracted to come see what everyone is raving about. That’s why you can buy high-quality Instagram Followers to improve your reputation online, drawing more people to your account in the process.

These bought Followers won’t become actual customers – they’re only there to up your numbers, improving your social proof. When people see how many users are following you, how they could they not check you out? If they like what they see, they’ll stick around for more.

Be sure to only buy high-quality Instagram Followers from a reputable provider to ensure that your account stays safe and popular. Check out our reviews of the top providers to learn more – it’s a quick and painless process.

6. Post something Funny, Surprising, or Provocative

According to research from the Harvard Business Review, some of the most viral content on the internet provokes high-arousal emotions. It surprises the viewer, moves them to tears, creates anticipation, and provokes uncertainty.

The most common feeling described was joy. So if you’re looking to capture people’s emotions (and along with that, their attention) make sure that you can occasionally hit those emotional high notes. Emotions connect people of all different kinds, so you can use this to pique the interest of people who might not normally be interested in your brand.

Fuckjerry by Elliot Tebele has over 12.2 million followers because of his funny posts. The comment sections are usually highly active, as people are tagging their friends to see their posts and express themselves.

Us @beigecardigan A post shared by Elliot Tebele (@fuckjerry) on Jun 1, 2017 at 2:05pm PDT

7. Make your Post Too Cute to Ignore

When you post something cute like babies and animals, you are bound to get comments (though you can’t overdo this strategy). It engages the “cuteness overload reflex,” which is when we feel that aggressive urge to grab and squeeze when we see something adorable.

A lot of the comments on posts like these are people sharing this feeling with people they know by @mentioning them. The cuteness strategy can be effective especially if it’s something unexpected from your usual feed. The unexpected often works well at generating likes and of course, comments.

The Bucketlist Family is a family of four that's traveling full-time around the world. Not only do you get to see their wonderful adventures from across the globe, but you also get a glimpse of their two adorable kids. No wonder they have over 600,000 followers.

8. Post People’s Faces

Selfies are fun, and they are actually good for Instagram. A study done by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs analyzed more than 1 million Instagram posts, and their findings have shown that posts with human faces are 32% more likely to attract comments and 38% more likely to garner likes.

Researchers say that faces can be effective sources of nonverbal communication that people respond to.

Perhaps one of the most famous people on Instagram, receiving so much love for her frequent selfies, is the reality star Kylie Jenner. You can test this strategy out by featuring selfies, individual shots, and candid photos of people and check if your followers respond positively.

A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on May 21, 2017 at 11:39am PDT

9. Use Relevant Hashtags

This is one of the basic rules of Instagram, and probably the whole social media world. Post content with relevant and popular hashtags to engage new users and attract people who are interested in those topics.

This gives your posts a better chance of appearing in the Explore tab, where anyone might find them. Posts with at least one hashtag typically have 12% more engagement than posts without any.

You can also create your own hashtags and ask your followers to use them. This way, more and more people may discover your page and join in the fun. Only use hashtags relevant to your industry and your content so you can get new followers involved in the conversation, and don’t spam hashtags simply for the sake of attention.

10. Publish at the Right Time of Day

The best time of the day to publish may depend on your region and country. It may also depend on your industry, your followers, and the type of content you are posting.

The key is to test different times and see which works best for you. Look at your engagement rates for posts at different times throughout the week. From the results determine a schedule that will maximize engagement and minimize wasted effort.

Be a Comment Magnet!

Likes, video views, followers, and comments are all valuable on Instagram because they can dictate where your posts will land in the feeds of your followers. With more engagement and many people interacting with your posts, your content will be more discoverable on the Explore tab – which means even more people will find you.

And remember, you can buy Instagram Followers to improve your social proof and get a head start on the competition. With more Followers, you become more visible and attractive to the average user, and that’s exactly what will expand your reach on this platform.

Test out the techniques we have shared with you in this article and see which ones attract the most responses on Instagram. What are you waiting for?

Date: July 27, 2017 / Categories: Marketing, / Author: Pamela