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Alexander Noah
Written By Alexander Noah

11 min read

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  • Publish Date : 9/24/2022 12:38:10 PM
  • Last Update : 3/27/2024 1:52:24 AM
What are Instagram Engagement Groups and Where Can You Find Them
Table Of Contents

Do you want to know about Instagram engagement groups and where to find them? That’s what this article will cover and much more.

Instagram engagement groups are slowly gaining popularity to increase the engagement of posts even though they are relatively new to the users.

So in this article, we’ll also discuss its various types, why you may need to join them, and how to do so.

But let’s start with a brief introduction to what an engagement group really is.

What is an Engagement Group (Engagement Pods)

An Instagram engagement group is a group of Instagram users that form a community within themselves with common interests of increasing engagement on their Instagram posts.

It is also referred to as Instagram engagement pods or just Instagram pods. But no matter what they are called, the sole purpose of the group members is to increase engagement on their posts.

Each of the engagement groups consists of a number of Instagram users that increase the engagement of each other’s posts with the help of likes and comments.

What is an Engagement Group

Furthermore, the engagement groups are mostly private and may have their own rules which the group members must follow.

Similarly, the type of engagement groups may vary from one pod to another. They may engage with only comments, or only likes, or even both of them too.

Instagram engagement groups are relatively new to Instagram users. But their popularity is slowly starting to grow so much that you can find these Instagram pods on even other social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram groups.

Now that you have a brief idea about what an Instagram engagement group is, let’s go ahead and see why you may want to join them.

Why Do You Need to Join These Pods

There are many benefits to joining Instagram pods. Joining these engagement pods can be beneficial for you even if you use a business or a personal Instagram account.

The most obvious reason to join an engagement group is to increase the reach of your posts to more audiences through engagement in them.

When the engagement on your posts is increased, even Instagram’s algorithm will favor showing these posts on the feeds of more Instagram users.

why join engagement group

Similarly, the engagement you get from these pods and group members is considered more organic or natural which is always good for Instagram.

Moreover, the likes and comments that you get from these engagement groups are also more likely to remain consistent. It means that even your account visitors can distinguish the authenticity of your content and followers count.

The upside is that it will help you establish a general level of brand loyalty and trust from your followers. As a result, it can enable you to get more new followers to your Instagram account.

This all leads to the growth of your Instagram accounts and can be very crucial for your Instagram marketing strategies.

Does it Work?

We’ve already covered what exactly are Instagram engagement groups and even mentioned why you may want to join them.

But one thing that may still concern you may be the effectiveness of these engagement groups. Instagram does pay special attention to the manipulative ways to increase your account’s presence, and you may think it may target these groups too.

But the overall outcome of the engagement group has been very efficient.

yes it works

Each engagement group has its own specific time on when posts would drop. The term “Drop” is referred to the particular time when users may share their posts on the group for immediate engagement.

After the posts are shared, the other group members can start interacting with them through likes and comments. This is when you get the maximum benefits of the pods.

Everyone in the group starts to engage with your posts when you drop them. But in return, you have to interact with other members’ posts too as this is one of the most common rules in a pod.

Alternatively, these pods can even work asynchronously where users can drop their posts on the group at any time.

At the end of the day, using a pod will significantly increase the engagement in your posts. This is why we’ve already mentioned that they are gaining more and more popularity day by day.

Difference Between DM Groups and Pods

Although the Instagram DM groups and pods may have some similar interests and purposes, they are different from one another.

  • First of all, Instagram DM groups stand for Direct Message groups in which the users within the group can send direct messages to each other members. These messages can be sent for the purpose to share content and links through Instagram or for any random group discussions.

    instagram dm groups

    On the other hand, Instagram pods are groups created specifically for the purpose to increase the engagement of the posts among the group members.

  • The Instagram DM group is restricted strictly inside Instagram. If you create any DM groups on any other social media platform, they can be termed differently.

    For example, if you create a DM group on Facebook, it will be referred to as a Facebook DM group.

    But an Instagram engagement pod will be termed the same no matter which social media platform is used to create one. The only purpose of the pod is to grow your Instagram presence.

    So even if you create an Instagram pod or engagement group on Facebook, you can still call it an Instagram pod.

  • Typically, an Instagram dm group may consist of a maximum of 250 group members.

    Whereas, the limit of an Instagram pod can be indefinite as it depends on the platform that the pod uses. The maximum number of pod members varies according to the limit of the dm groups used on the particular platform.

    instagram pod vs dm group limits

  • The types of Instagram Pods can noticeably vary from one pod to another based on the rules and functionality of the pod. Some pods may even require members to meet certain criteria like follower count or account niche.

    The types of DM groups on Instagram aren’t significantly different from one another. They may require approvals to join and may be created just for discussion but the general DM groups aren’t as focused on Instagram engagement as pods.

The only exception when the Instagram pods and DM groups are not different is if the pod is created on Instagram itself through a DM group.

Types of Instagram Engagement Groups

When differentiating between an Instagram DM group and an Instagram pod, we mentioned that there are many types of Instagram engagement groups too. So let’s look at its various types.

The types of Instagram engagement groups may vary depending on their group rules and how they function. But the 3 types of Instagram pods according to general interactions include:

  • Likes only
  • Comments only
  • Likes and comments

Each of these engagement groups are function according to what they suggest. The engagements in the likes-only groups are performed with just likes on posts.

likes only pods

Similarly, on the comments-only groups, just the comments are allowed. Finally, the likes and comments groups allow the users to interact on posts with both likes as well as comments.

The types of Instagram pods are also distinguishable by the type of content you post on Instagram. They include:

  • Niche pods: The pods or engagement groups have users who post content on a very specific niche or common similarities. The similarities may even be the location, gender, age of the users, and so on.

    niche pods

  • Broad pods: These pods include users that post any type of content and the users. The only intention of these pods is to increase engagement of the posts.

    These groups may have a very high number of members in them. So the engagement of likes or comments you get from them may not look as natural as a niche pod.

The types of Instagram pods may also be varied according to the number of followers you have.

  • Follower-based engagement groups require a certain number of followers on your account. You will be accepted in the group only if the minimum requirement is met.
  • Not follower-based engagement groups don’t need any follower count requirements for you to join the group. However, there might be other types of criteria that you must meet.

follower based pods

Some types of Instagram pods may depend on how they function as well. They include:

  • Drop pods: These pods have a specific time to provide the list of accounts or posts to boost engagements.
  • Rolling pods: The users in these pods must engage with a certain number of posts that were added to the group earlier. Only then can they join the group.
  • Group pods: They have no limit on the posts and time. The group member can engage with any type of post and can join at any time.

These are the various types of engagement groups for Instagram that you can find nowadays. No matter what their criteria are, it is very important for you to pay attention to their rules before you join them too.

Here are some of the general group rules that are followed by all types of Instagram engagement groups.

  • Prioritize your time when the posts “Drop“.
  • Don’t leech, getting likes and comments for your post but not doing the same for the engagement of others’ posts.
  • Use the Instagram engagement group strictly for business purposes only. No casual chats are allowed.

group rules

The rules of each engagement group may be described in a different way. But they all mean the same thing more or less.

Now that you are acquainted with the various types of pods, let’s see how you can find engagement groups for Instagram.

How to Find Instagram Pods

You can find Instagram engagement pods on almost every popular social media or group chat platform like Telegram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

They can be found on Instagram itself. But they don’t advertise themselves much since Facebook(who owns the platform) and Instagram may block these pods.

On top of that, they are very difficult to find on Instagram and even worse, much more difficult to get invited to even if they are paid pods.

However, you can find a number of other pods across other platforms that you can easily join. Most of them are paid pods but there is a small fraction of free pods that you can find for efficient engagements.

Telegram

Telegram groups are one of the best sources to find pods for Instagram. It is a messaging app in which you can easily find Instagram engagement groups with a quick Google search or use the search or discover tab from the app.

The search result will provide you with a number of engagement groups that you can join in Telegram. Once you find the Telegram engagement group that you want to join, you must have a Telegram account to join the group.

telegram travel pods

If you don’t have one, register a Telegram account from your computer or mobile phone. Then, read the rules of the Telegram engagement group carefully before you join it.

Finally, join the group if you are okay with the rules and guidelines of the engagement group.

Facebook

Even though Instagram is owned by Facebook and they keep a close eye on manipulative ways to grow your accounts, you can still find some engagement pods on Facebook as well.

But unlike Telegram, the best Facebook engagement groups usually require an invitation and or a request in order to join them.

facebook pods

Just like Instagram, joining a Facebook engagement pod may also be very difficult since they have to pay special attention to not getting banned by Facebook.

However, we would like to recommend that you contact professional Instagram marketing platforms to know about different engagement groups there.

WhatsApp

Besides Telegram and Facebook, it’s really easy to find pods on WhatsApp too. Similar to Telegram, a quick Google search can help you find an engagement group without much hassle.

You will obviously need an account to join engagement groups in WhatsApp. But before you join one, we would like to remind you to go through the rules and guidelines of the group thoroughly.

Join the group only if the pod description matches something that you are looking for to increase your Instagram engagement.

Other sources

If it’s still difficult for you to find an Instagram pod that meets your requirements, you can also research about them some more on community forum platforms.

Popular platforms like Reddit and even Quora may be some of the apps that can use to search for them. There may be more users looking for similar groups just like you and may have asked the community about them.

Apart from that, you can even use Google search and applications and even go through pods reviews. More importantly, you can even go through reviews of various pods to make sure that you find the right one for you.

Furthermore, you can even start your own pod if you need. Just search for accounts that are close to your niche and have similar engagement rates.

Then, invite them to join your group and help increase the engagement rates in each other’s posts.

How to Join Instagram Pods

We’ve already mentioned a few platforms from where you can easily join certain engagement groups for Instagram. They may include paid as well as free engagement groups.

You can even join either just one group or multiple pods across multiple platforms to increase the engagement rate on your posts.

But we highly recommend you select the platforms that you use the most so that you can frequently check on the platforms to get the most use out of them to increase your overall engagement.

Most pods will have a group moderator who will ask you to provide an application to ensure that the required criteria are met. If your application or request is approved, you can join the group after you provide the funds to them in the case of paid pods.

But the most important thing before you join the Instagram groups is to read the rules very carefully. You will be removed from the group if any of these rules are broken by you.

List of Engagement Groups to Join

To give you a head start, we have compiled a list of some of the best engagement groups that you can join depending on the platform you want to use.

For Telegram:

  • 24H LIKES ONLY
  • Engagement Groups
  • Creative Instagram Hub

For Facebook groups:

  • Instagram Marketing Mastermind PODS
  • Instagram Growers – For Mommy Bloggers Only
  • Instagram Pod: Health, Outdoor Life, Fitness, Natural Living & Nutrition

For WhatsApp:

  • Like, Comment, Save (IG)
  • Foodgram 2.0 Elite
  • INSTAPOD 5-6

You can try some of these pods and stick to the ones that bring you a higher engagement rate on your Instagram posts.

Is it Against Instagram Rules?

It’s a bit tricky to decide whether the pods are against Instagram rules or not. Technically, you aren’t breaking any rules by joining Instagram groups disguised as pods within Instagram.

But Instagram discourages unnatural methods for your account growth even if you don’t use an automated bot. So the Instagram algorithm may find out what you are doing even if the organic reach of your posts is gaining high engagement.

If you are using an Instagram business account for your brand page or an influencer, using such groups to increase engagement rate can be quite risky too. Instagram encourages small businesses to grow with more suitable organic methods with the features that it provides.

Alternatively, it might be time-consuming to find the most suitable pod within Instagram for your business.

Nonetheless, your safest option still is using engagement groups from other platforms rather than Instagram for now no matter what type of Instagram account you use.

Conclusion

This is everything you need to know about Instagram engagement groups to help you increase engagement on your posts. They have been proven pretty effective in a very short amount of time and you can get some great benefits by joining such groups.

But if you aren’t careful enough, Instagram may ban your account as well as the entire group. So using the pods from platforms such as Telegram, Facebook, and WhatsApp is highly recommended.

We’ve even discussed the various types of engagement groups on Instagram and how to join them. Along with it, we’ve also provided you with a short list of the most popular pods to help you start growing your Instagram account.

We really hope that this article will allow you to extend the reach of your Instagram content using engagement groups.

Alexander Noah
Written By
Alexander Noah

Alexander has worked as an Instagram content strategist for popular media houses and now researches and publishes the latest Instagram content with Thunderclap.it. He is keen to analyze the IG algorithm and find what works better for reach and visibility. You will find many of his IG hacks, tricks, and instructions for better reach on Thunderclap.it!