How can you create better Instagram content today?
Social Media, as you know, is vital for small businesses, and Instagram remains one of the most popular.
Instagram remains perfect for a wide range of businesses.
You don’t have to be an e-commerce business or an influencer to create better Instagram content that your followers will enjoy.
Instagram content types
Reels – Have you ever shared a reel on Instagram? Reels are a great way to share who you are with a behind the scenes look at your business. You can showcase products, your business location, a job you are working on, etc.
Posts – Aim to be posting at least five times each week as a minimum.
Stories – Daily stories can be as simple as sharing your post up into your story or sharing user-generated content to your stories.
Lives – Why not do a live feed on your Instagram. If you already have a decent following, this is an excellent way to directly engage with them live and make them a part of the experience. Fashion labels are perfect at doing this very thing.
Better Instagram content ideas
Collaborate – You can include branded content and collaborate with others. Tagging the other collaborator and expanding your reach and business interest can significantly increase your Instagram exposure.
Humour – Most people, love a laugh. How are you showing your sense of humour via your Instagram content? You may be adding a funny meme, or you may be telling a funny story.
Answer questions – Take the opportunity to share some of your FAQs as one-off answers.
Ask questions – One of the best ways to get a conversation going is to ask a question. Even if people decide not to comment with their answer, they may choose to check out your website and do business with you.
Save the date – Do you have an upcoming launch? Remind people to save the date and tempt them with what they can expect.
Bust a myth – Does your industry have myths that you can bust as part of your posts?
Use carousels – Create posts that make the follower swipe across. This increases your post’s engagement/time spent and may elicit more action with your posts.
Tutorials – Videos and infographics are great ways to show people how to use what you are selling. It may be why someone decides to buy from you as they better understand what you have on offer. You can also include action shots of your products or services in action – I guarantee your followers will love it.
Find an influencer – The right influencer can significantly impact the belief in your product or service. Sharing their content and sharing yours can grow your sales and your following.
User-generated content – Customers using your products and services. Who doesn’t like to see that others have embraced your products and services? It is a testimonial in itself.
Testimonials – Reviews of your products or services are lovely to share, and they should be descriptive of how your product or service was able to help them.
Behind the scenes – So many people are curious about what happens behind the scenes. Your followers can share and enjoy deliveries, unpacking, editing, and more.
Before and after – This is great for designers, builders, landscapers, and others. How something looked before you got your hands on it and made it fabulous. It is perfect for a swipe across, and you can even do it in the opposite direction, so it shows the after and swipe to see the before.
Ask for input – Which ones should we add to the store? This or that options make your followers feel that they are a part of your business and your brand. I recall many years ago suggesting to the brand Status Anxiety that they show which wallets fit in their bags. It was great to see that they accepted my suggestion as part of their ongoing product content.
Best nine or year in review – This can be a fun way to show what has happened over the last 12 months for your business, and your followers will love to see the key items you share.
Instagram Hashtags
On Instagram, hashtags are hyperlinked, meaning that when you click on them, you can see who else is using them. These results give you the most popular posts that used this hashtag and the most recent posts. Plus, you can also follow Hashtags!
Using hashtags helps to:
- Improve the discovery of your posts and page
- Increases the reach of your posts
- Helps to add context to what you are sharing
- Able you to create specific campaigns around a hashtag – For example, Canva has been running design challenges #canvadesignchallenge #canvachallenge. These have been running across all social platforms, not just Instagram.
Create a mix of hashtags:
- Branded to your business #mysassybusiness
- Campaign specific
- User-generated hashtags for your followers to tag you
- Holiday hashtags
- Location hashtags #sydney
- Day-specific hashtags #throwbackthursday
- Industry-specific hashtags
- Community hashtags
- Descriptive hashtags
Finding hashtags
While there are various apps you can use to generate hashtags, the easiest way is to use Instagram itself. Jump into the search area and type in a hashtag to see how many times it has been used. Instagram will also show you other similar hashtags and their usage in this space.
Using hashtags
The best advice I can give you is to add some space at the very end of the description or caption of your content, then add your hashtags. While this practice has changed over the years, Instagram’s current best practice is to keep your hashtags in the description or caption section, and it is no longer recommended to put them as a comment.
Remember that you can use them in your reels, stories, and Instagram bio too.
Are you ready to create better Instagram content today, or do you need help with your Instagram?
Contact Kelly @ My Sassy Business
