In the bustling universe of social media, Instagram content has emerged as a commanding force for businesses to connect, engage, and captivate their target audience. With the perfect blend of visuals and words, it has the potential to transform casual browsers into dedicated followers, and dedicated followers into valued customers.
But how do you harness this power? How do you create content that doesn’t just add to the noise, but cuts through it, reaching the hearts and minds of your audience?
In this blog post, we’ll delve deep into the world of Instagram content marketing. We’ll explore the various content types you can leverage, the strategies that drive engagement, and the tools that make it all possible.
So, whether you’re an Instagram novice or a seasoned pro, grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and let’s embark on this exciting journey together!
Posting Marketing Content on Instagram
The Instagram content you post is one of the most important things to help you grow your business. What’s more, it’s also one of the easiest ways to get people involved with your brand and create a community around it.
Types of Instagram Content to Post
Here are some of the most popular types of Instagram content:
Photos
People love sharing photos on Instagram. Pictures are great for connecting with other people and brands. The key is finding a way to make these images look natural while still promoting your brand’s message.
Consider:
- Posting high-quality images to attract more followers and grow your business
- Promoting your products and services with beautiful images
- Showcasing your expertise and knowledge through tutorials or tips
- Sharing behind-the-scenes insights into your business operations
Videos
Instagram videos allow you to be more creative and tell a story in a captivating way. Post videos to show how your products work.
For example, if you sell shoes, you can create a video showing the shoe being worn by different people with different body types. This helps people visualize themselves wearing this shoe and makes them feel connected to it on an emotional level.
Carousels
Carousel posts are a great way to show off more than one thing making it easier for people to consume your content without having to scroll endlessly.
You can use them to highlight products, services, events, and more. They help you create more engaging visual content that will draw your audience’s attention.
Shopping Posts
Buying products on Instagram is easier than ever. Did you know that 44% of the surveyed people on Instagram shop weekly using the product tags feature? What’s more, 50% of Instagrammers use Instagram to explore new brands, products, or services.
Anthropologie, for example, publishes shopping posts to sell products and to boost their sales.
Use the shopping posts feature to promote your products. You can showcase your latest collection, feature new products, or give people the option to shop directly from your account.
How Often to Post Instagram Content
Once you’ve identified what types of posts you’ll be sharing, think about how often each one should be posted. However, keep in mind that overloading your followers with too many posts can weaken their interest.
Posting too frequently can also turn off some users who don’t want their feed filled with too much content from one user only. Once or twice a day is usually a good balance for most businesses.
Instagram Stories for Marketing
Instagram stories provide businesses with an opportunity to connect with customers on their terms. Instagram Stories is a feature that allows you to share photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. What’s more, you can engage with your followers by sharing relevant content and responding to their questions. Let’s start with the basics.
Why Market with Instagram Stories
As of January 2019, it was reported that 500 million Instagrammers used Instagram Stories every day. This is a huge opportunity to engage with potential customers.
Instagram stories make it easy for you to share your brand’s personality, show behind-the-scenes action, and encourage interaction between the reader and your brand. You can also use Instagram stories as part of a contest or giveaway campaign, where you offer prizes or coupons to users who follow through on certain actions within your story.
Note that Instagram stories can only be 15 seconds long and disappear after 24 hours. However, you can make them stay permanent if you post them as Instagram Stories Highlights.
How to Use Instagram Stories for Marketing
Instagram Stories are a great way to create an engaging and interactive experience for your followers. You can showcase products, services, and more. To create an Instagram Story, hit the and select Story. From there, you have two options:
- You can choose a photo from your gallery
- You can take a photo
Then, tap the Next button. You will see a share option. You can share the Instagram Story as a message, with your close friends, or just share it with everybody.
If you want your Instagram Story to become permanent, tap Add to highlights, New, Add, and Done.
Insta stories also have plenty of features that make them an effective marketing tool.
Location Stickers
You can add location stickers by tapping the sticker icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. A panel will open up with all kinds of location stickers, including landmarks and restaurants. People who view it can see where you are at that moment.
Tap on one and then move it into place by dragging it around. You can also change the size of the sticker by pinching or expanding it with two fingers.
Hashtag Stickers
Another great new feature is hashtag stickers. These tags are searchable by anyone who is following you on Instagram, so they can find out more about what they mean if they want to.
When you tap on the sticker icon, you’ll see a panel with different hashtags to choose from. If there’s one that fits your photo well, tap on it and then drag it into place on top of the image.
Clickable Links
You can also add clickable links that take users directly to your website or product page. This is an excellent opportunity to drive traffic and promote your products and services.
In addition, the See More CTA that appears with clickable links is small and people may not see it. It’s a great idea to use arrows or other features to make the CTA stand out.
Image Source: lushcosmetics
Polls
Instagram polls are a great way to get feedback from your audience, whether that’s in the form of votes or comments. Brands can choose which type of poll they want to use: list, yes/no, or multiple choice. The results will appear as a tally at the end of the poll, so you can easily see how many people voted for each option.
You can use polls to poll your followers or ask specific questions. They can be used as an alternative way of driving engagement with your post or just a fun way to get your audience involved in the conversation.
Emoji Sliders
Emoji sliders let you ask questions about things like travel plans, food preferences, and more by using emoticons instead of words.
They’re easy to use and give your followers an opportunity to express themselves visually.
Question Stickers
Question stickers are a fun way to engage with your followers and customers. You can use them to ask questions, announce giveaways, or just solicit feedback on a product or service.
The Question sticker has two parts: the question text, which is displayed on the sticker itself; and the answer field, which is set automatically based on the question’s text but can be edited manually if necessary.
Countdown Stickers
Countdown stickers are a fun way to add a countdown to your photos. You can customize the text, color, and font. Once you’ve chosen your design and entered the desired date, you can share it on Instagram.
Countdown Stickers are also a great way to create excitement and generate interest in your product or service. When someone taps on the sticker, it’ll show them how much time is left before your big event.
Basically, the above-mentioned stickers are best for marketing purposes. They help you be creative, think out of the box, and achieve your marketing goals.
Market with Instagram Live
Instagram Live is an interactive feature that allows you to broadcast live videos to your followers. You can see who’s watching and read comments from your followers while broadcasting. Instagram Live is perfect for engaging with your followers and boosting your brand awareness.
What’s more, Instagram Live creates a sense of urgency as it lasts for only 24 hours from the moment you stop recording. This is a great fear of missing out (FOMO) marketing technique that may urge your followers to watch your Instagram Live video.
Need some more details on how to go live on Instagram? Check out our dedicated blog.
How to Use Instagram Live to Market
The Instagram Live feature is a great way for your business to interact with your followers. It also gives you an opportunity to show people behind-the-scenes footage and answer their questions in real-time.
If you’re running a sale or discount, for example, go live on Instagram and tell people about it. If you want them to buy something, show it off and describe the features.
If you run a clothing company and have new clothes coming out in two weeks, go live on Instagram and show them off! This is a great way to tease your audience and make them look forward to the moment they’ll be able to order. Also, people love to see behind-the-scenes stuff. So, let them take a look at the way that upcoming fancy jacket is being designed in your atelier.
You can also use Instagram Live to show people how something works or answer questions about your product or service.
Here are some tips for using Instagram Live for your business:
- Plan ahead. Know what you want to say before you start broadcasting, so that you don’t have to worry about finding something to talk about while you’re live.
- Keep it short. Some people might not want to watch a whole hour-long live. They may tune in and out during the broadcast or just watch the first 30 seconds and then leave. Keep your broadcasts short — no more than 10 minutes at most — so that these people don’t lose interest or feel like they’re being forced to sit through too much content at once.
Use Hashtags to Market on Instagram
A hashtag is simply a word or phrase that is accompanied by a hash mark (#). When someone clicks on an individual hashtag, they will see all of the posts that have used that specific hashtag. This is an easy way for people to find photos on Instagram that relate to specific topics or interests.
The use of hashtags has become an important part of marketing on Instagram. They allow businesses to reach a wider audience and get in front of people who might not otherwise know about them or their products. But which hashtags should you be using? What are popular hashtags? How do you make sure that you’re using them correctly?
How to use Instagram Hashtags
You can use hashtags in the caption when you upload your content or in the comment section. The process is quite easy and straightforward:
- Upload a video or photo.
- Hit Write a caption and write # and the desired text immediately after the hash mark.
- Tap Done (if you’re using an Android device) or Share (if you’re using iPhone).
Make sure each photo has at least two (and up to thirty) relevant hashtags at the end of the caption. Also, special characters and spaces won’t work. Remember to use as many relevant hashtags as possible when posting photos of your products or services. They help users discover content related to their interests or current events.
How to Choose Instagram Hashtags
You can use hashtags on Instagram to get more engagement, increase your following and grow your business.
Take some time to research popular hashtags related to your industry and competitors. Look at what’s already being used.
You can choose the right hashtags by doing a simple search in Instagram’s search bar or by looking at the top posts under each hashtag. Once you’ve found some popular ones that seem relevant, add them to your photo captions and see how they perform over time.
Use IGTV for Marketing on Instagram
What is IGTV
The Instagram Television application (IGTV) was launched in June 2018 to enable users to share hour-long videos on the platform. In October 2021, Instagram announced the unification of feed videos and IGTV, which doesn’t exist as a separate functionality and format anymore.
Why to Market with Instagram Video (formerly IGTV)
Unlike Instagram Live, Instagram Video enables users to edit their videos and fine-tune their message. Business account users can upload videos up to 1 hour long from mobile devices and desktop computers.
Video is the most sophisticated visual storytelling medium that allows businesses and creators to make content that stands out, inspires, and converts.
How to Use Instagram Video (formerly IGTV) for Marketing on Instagram
The platform enables you to upload a video or record a new one using your Android or iOS device. Also, you can share a video on instagram.com from your computer.
How to upload or record an Instagram Video in the Instagram app for iOS and Android?
To benefit from the marketing potential of video content, follow these steps:
- Open your Instagram app and select the Plus button.
- Select the video you want to share from your phone library or record a new video by tapping and holding the “Record Video” button above the library section. You can switch between the rear-facing camera by hitting the “Camera Switch” button. Lift your finger to end recording.
- Hit Next in the right top corner and edit your video by applying a Filter or selecting a start and an end by tapping Trim.
- Hit Next and tap on the video preview to choose a cover image by sliding at the bottom, selecting a photo from your mobile by tapping the Plus button and Add from gallery (for Android) or Add from camera roll (for iPhone).
- You can then add a caption, tags, and location. You can also add the video to a series or create a new series.
- You have the option to Boost your video and selecting it will let Instagram set up your ad.
- You can tap Add reminder and enable your audiences to turn on reminders for an upcoming event announced in your video.
- Indicate whether you want to share your video on Facebook by switching the option on or off.
- Hit Share and let your audience see your video.
How to Upload an Instagram Video on The Website from Your Desktop Computer
Instagram enables you to not just watch other users’ videos on your desktop but also upload your video content. To do so, take the steps below:
- Navigate to instagram.com and select the Plus button.
- By clicking Select from computer, you can choose, drop, and drag an mp4 or quicktime video file. Choose the size and adjust it to the feed and grid.
- Select Next to set a cover image by sliding or uploading a photo from your computer. When you’re ready, locate Next in the right top corner and click it.
- Now, you can add a caption and your location. Selecting the Advanced settings will enable you to hide like and view counts and disable commenting on your video. Click Share, and your video will appear in your feed.
Note that video previews are 60 seconds long, and in the case of video ads, the preview will be 15 seconds. Also, you can boost only videos that are up to 60 seconds long.
Combining IGTV and video formats simplifies producing and sharing video content and lets businesses and creators cross-post it in direct messages and Instagram Stories, providing multiple ways to engage with followers.
Final Thoughts on Types of Instagram Content
Navigating the vibrant landscape of Instagram content can seem like a daunting journey, but as we’ve discovered, with the right tools, strategies, and creative spark, it transforms into an exciting adventure. Crafting engaging posts, exploring innovative content types, and fostering a genuine connection with your audience can propel your brand to new heights on this dynamic platform.
Remember, every post is an opportunity to tell a story, share a vision, and engage with your audience. It’s not just about promoting your product; it’s about building a community that resonates with your brand’s values and aspirations.
So, take these insights, start your Instagram content adventure, and watch as your brand becomes a beacon in the bustling world of Instagram. Enjoy the journey, and remember, your Instagram success story is just a post away!
