What Instagram Content Does Well? Behind the Scenes Behind-the-scenes photos and videos are ideal for giving your fans a feel for your brand personality, amazing team members, and awesome working environment. How to Ace an AMA Post Use the #askmeanything #AMA hashtag in your posts, and create hype before you go live. AMA Account Takeovers An account takeover can be a little like the AMA or it can be completely different. Let different teams (e.g., IT one week, Marketing the next) in your company takeover your account. Sharing photos of your team lunch, a company birthday cake, or branded cupcakes will absolutely get eyes on your posts. How to Ace a Boomerang Post Don’t try to get information across or to tell a story. Make a live photo more interesting with Boomerang. Make a Slideshow Instagram slideshows are great because you don’t need to make a video. How to Ace a Slideshow post Post pictures that share a theme.
Keeping your Instagram feed fresh with diverse content can be taxing—especially when your time and budget are tight. So what happens when you’re feeling a creative block, too?
To help you create Instagram content, I’ve put together seven ideas with examples that really work, so you can try them out for yourself.
First, let’s take a quick look at what the most successful Instagram posts cover.
What Instagram Content Does Well?
- Time spent watching video is up 80% but photos still see more engagement than videos.
- Pizza is the most popular Instagrammed food, with sushi and chicken taking 2nd and 3rd places.
- The most popular hashtags on Instagram are #Love, #Instagood, #Me, #Cute, and #Follow.
- Posts that include another handle gain at least 56% more engagement.
- Posts with at least one hashtag gain 12.6% more engagement.
- And posts that tag a location receive 79% more engagement.
- Photos with faces get 38% more likes.
- The most popular picture on Instagram is currently a picture of an egg with over 40 million likes. (True story.)
Let’s assume that you don’t have big brand’s budget or advertising revenue. Now, let’s look at some ideas that won’t break your budget but will nab a lot of engagement.
1. How-To Posts for Instagram
If you have a product that can be demonstrated, Instagram Stories and saved Stories are perfect placements for your tutorials. A how-to tutorial will provide your Instagram fans with plenty of info about your product (its design, packaging, colors, and size) while also giving insider tips and tricks.
A how-to post would work well for beauty products, fashion, crafts, hair, cookery, tech, or any other gadget that can be demoed.
Clinique rocked the how-to theme with 5 Genius Foundation Hacks. (This is something you can do for your own products.) The key is to keep your how-to simple, focused, and fun. Remember, your aim is to make people aspire to own your product!
How to Ace a How-to Post
- Show off the product from every angle and every shade or type available.
- Keep the video short and punchy. (Fewer than 2 minutes is always best.)
- List the details and purchase link in the description.
2. Behind the Scenes
Behind-the-scenes photos and videos are ideal for giving your fans a feel for your brand personality, amazing team members, and awesome working environment. They also foster transparency making you appear more trustworthy and authentic.
At Contentworks Agency, we dedicate our Instagram feed to “behind-the-scenes” footage capturing the real and funny moments of working in digital marketing. Here’s Business Director Niki fronting out a dinosaur over coffee:
How to Ace a Behind-the-Scenes Post
- Keep the content real; forget official statements and scripted videos for this one.
- Share your fails as well as your glossy victories. (There’s a huge market for humor. )
- Interact with commentators or fans who will then become loyal to you.
3. AMA (Ask Me Anything)
Feeling brave? If you are, then AMAs are a tried and tested Instagram page idea for you to explore. They are also highly engaging and easy to shoot from a good camera phone in your office.
You can do an AMA with your team members, bosses or technical team. Just make sure you have people with a good knowledge of your brand and its products. You can keep the AMA to one topic such as “Ask our CMO about our rebrand” or keep it open for any questions.
General AMA sessions are a great way to learn more about your audience’s interests and can help form future content if you notice recurring questions or themes.
I love Siemens Gamesa who got just the right balance of hype on its AMA. The company has a team-centric Instagram account that makes the company appear open, caring, and honest.
How to Ace an AMA Post
- Use the #askmeanything #AMA hashtag in your posts, and create hype before you go live.
- Eliminate background noise or interruptions during your AMA. If they happen, roll with it. (After all you’re live.)
A word of caution: Think carefully about doing this type of Instagram content if you’ve recently…
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