[FAQ]

Hey,

I’ve been managing my brand’s Instagram account for a while, and I’m pretty good at what I’d call “reactive” engagement. I make sure to reply to all the comments on my posts and answer all my DMs in a timely manner.

But I keep hearing this term “proactive community engagement” and I’m not entirely sure what that means in a practical sense. Does this mean I should be seeking out my followers and commenting on their posts? Or starting conversations in DMs with people who just followed me?

I really want to build a loyal community, not just talk at people. I’m just looking for some real-world examples of what proactive engagement on Instagram actually looks like and if it’s worth the extra time.

[Jeff Bullas]

That’s exactly the right way to be thinking about it.

Quick Answer: Proactive engagement on Instagram is about starting conversations based on your followers’ text, image, and video content, not just waiting for them to comment on yours.

This is how you turn a passive audience of viewers into a genuine, loyal community.

You’ve already mastered reactive engagement, which is the baseline. Proactive engagement is the next level and it’s what the algorithm loves to see, as it signals a real relationship. This strategy involves a few key actions. First, you should dedicate time each day to engaging with the actual feed content from your followers; this means leaving thoughtful, text-based comments on their image and video posts, not just a generic emoji. Second, you should watch and reply to their Stories; this is a very high-value interaction that lands you directly in their DMs as a personal message, not a public comment. Finally, you can even proactively start a non-salesy text-based conversation in the DMs with a new follower who perfectly fits your ideal customer profile, just to welcome them.

Cheers,
Jeff

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