How to Crack the Instagram Engagement Code

Apart from following most of my FB friends on instagram, I like to follow people who post very very picturesque photos. Pretty stuff basically. This means I follow quite a few photojournalist types (national geo and the like), and a surprisingly high percentage of professional "action sports" athletes (bmx/skateboaders, and ski/snowboarders). My photo stream is GORGEOUS. Granted, I love photography. And sometimes it's fun to just look at photos of FB friends and acquaintances, without needing to be on FB with all that other clutter. Here it is just pictures. And I love it.

Its social sharing stripped down to what most people are really looking for... pictures. I have a small business making and selling handmade items and Instagram is my lifeblood. Its how I advertise my work, gain followers which do translate to other channels, and most important of all make sales.

I don't know if I "get it", but I certainly see its wild success all over the place.

I think the success is the simplicity - perfectly digestible nuggets for you to browse through. No linked articles, no page-long status updates. Just some photos.

I agree that engagement has decreased from Twitter since the removal of photo embeds, but from less technical folks I talk to they are using Instagram increasingly from Facebook. that appears to balance out the decrease in usage from Twitter