What to post on Instagram? 10 inspiring content ideas

Instagram has long ceased to be a social network just for personal users. Companies, brands, and many marketers have realized that this is a powerful social network for advertising businesses where every business owner must be present. The main reason why many marketers and businesses choose to work with Instagram is that this platform allows you to present your business visually with photos, videos, illustrations, GIFs, and more. To succeed in building an audience on Instagram, you will need to diversify the content uploaded to the page when you manage an Instagram page and emphasize content that provides value rather than focusing solely on promotional content. In this article, we will go over 10 inspiring content ideas for Instagram.

1. Behind-the-scenes content

Instagram is an excellent platform to showcase the human element in your business or company to the general public and give the audience a glimpse behind the scenes. It is a great way to show followers what it feels like to work at the company, which is wonderful for your recruitment efforts. Post photos and videos of employees from the office during a workday or photos and videos from team-building days you host. This will help users and customers connect with the business and employees, thus helping your brand build loyalty among the audience. In the picture, you can see behind-the-scenes content from the SimilarWeb Instagram account.

2. UGC

UGC (short for User Generated Content) – content created by users. One of the most effective marketing methods is using content created by your followers and customers to gather a large amount of customer endorsements and build a reliable, strong brand. To get UGC from customers and followers, you can pay influencers to create UGC for you, hand out free gifts, run giveaways and contests, or repost posts that your customers have shared tagging you. Posts where you were tagged can be added to your account’s story by tapping the “Add video to your story” button at the bottom of the image. In the photo, you can see UGC from the Mania Jeans Israel Instagram account.

3. Interesting statistics

A great way to convey relevant information to your users is to use statistics that interest your target audience. Statistical and analytical data is not always easy for users to digest, especially if presented in a dense block of text. Create a study that interests you, your followers, and your customers, and present the study results visually on Instagram. It is recommended to display statistics that guide the user to your main message and to the offer your business provides.

4. Humorous content

Humorous content on your Instagram page might not help you convert users into paying customers, but it will help grow your account. If you can make your followers laugh with humorous visual content related to users’ interests, they are likely to enjoy what you post and maybe even share the post, which will increase your account’s exposure. Sometimes the most memorable pictures are the ones that make us laugh, and statistically, this is content that is frequently shared on social networks. In the picture, you can see humorous content from the AM:PM Instagram account.

5. Promotional content

Beautiful images are crucial for marketing your business on Instagram because they tell a story and attract users more than written text. Therefore, if you write content on your blog that you want people to be exposed to or want to convey your marketing messages using high-quality graphics, Instagram is the perfect platform for this. Pair an interesting image with a caption promoting your product or service and then direct users to your link in bio to encourage the audience discovering you on Instagram to visit the business’s website. It is recommended not to post promotional posts on Instagram too frequently and focus on content that provides value to users. In international Instagram accounts, you can open an Instagram Shop which allows for more advanced marketing options in posts.

6. Giveaways and contests

Contests are one of the best ways to increase engagement and expand the reach and interest in your Instagram page. Running contests and giveaways can increase your follower count by double digits. When you create a giveaway for your followers, you must make sure they understand the rules of participation, and also ensure that you ask them to perform a specific action such as clicking on a specific link or sharing the account to their personal profile in order to enter the contest. It is recommended to include a link with tracking parameters so you can measure the contest’s performance. It is mandatory to consult with a lawyer before and during the giveaway in order not to violate the Israeli General Permit for Commercial Advertising Lotteries law. In the picture, you can see winners of a contest held on the Cloudways Instagram account.

7. Creating a mosaic grid layout in posts

Not many businesses and brands use this tactic, but it’s a truly original and unique approach. Most users usually won’t look at all your pictures from the main profile, but will scroll through the feed and see each piece of the mosaic separately, which will increase their curiosity and make them visit your main profile. It is important to convey a specific message when creating this type of design – that the overall image created by connecting all the images conveys the message you want to deliver to users. Read our article on recommended tools for designing Instagram posts, where you can find tools for creating a mosaic grid layout in posts.

8. Encouraging tags in posts

You can tag users on any social network – Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, and more. However, Instagram has the largest amount of tagging among all social networks. Instagram has developed a culture where users tag friends and acquaintances if they see a post that resonated with them or reminds them of a shared topic. Many tags in your posts will help you increase engagement on your profile and also the amount of exposure you receive. If you want to encourage your followers to share the post with others, it is recommended to include a call-to-action in the caption asking users to tag friends and acquaintances. In the image, you can see how the “Mishpatim Yafim” Instagram account generates engagement on the page.

9. Content that involves your other social accounts

Promoting your other social accounts on your Instagram account will help you increase reach across other accounts and help users who know you find out where else they can find you online. This action is very effective for you and also improves your connection with users and customers, as some of them may prefer to be active on specific platforms. Therefore, it is important to have a presence across multiple social platforms and also important to inform users about your other accounts.

10. Recruitment post

One of the most popular and effective posts is an employee recruitment post on social media. Announce to your Instagram community that you are hiring and direct those interested to the page on your website where your job openings are listed. Publishing a recruitment post on your Instagram page will help you find candidates who are likely familiar with your brand or niche and have already interacted with you in the past, which may increase compatibility and help new employees acclimate quickly with you. In the picture, you can see a recruitment post from the Virtual Real Design Instagram account.

In Summary

Instagram is one of the most popular social networks in the world, and every business owner knows they must be on it. Whether your marketing strategy includes paid advertising on Instagram or organic promotion of the account, because this is a social rather than a purely business platform, to sell and convert users well you need to approach them from a different angle and essentially provide them with content that makes them laugh, touches them, or excites them. Follow the ten inspiring content ideas for Instagram provided in this article to produce the optimal content for your audience according to your niche.

About the Author

Dvir Naaman, 27, graduate of the Digital Marketing course at HackerU College. Experienced in building WordPress websites, paid advertising on Google, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok platforms. Specializes in organic promotion (SEO) at Fialkov Digital. Has extensive experience in e-commerce and dropshipping, and is the owner of Merchant Center – a website aggregating information on e-commerce and advanced marketing systems to increase business conversions with an emphasis on e-commerce store sales.