14 Must-Have Content Ideas for your Instagram

Whether you post twice a day or just a few times a week, one of the biggest Instagram challenges is thinking of new content you can post. It’s a fine balance between providing your followers with valuable content that they can relate to and content that is relevant to the current social media trends. As a Social Media Manager for the Luxury Wedding Industry, I’m here to help you along the way if you’ve found yourself in a creative rut. I’m bringing you 14 grid-worthy content ideas that your followers are going to love…

1 Instagram Story Polls

The one where you never even have to leave the app – sometimes creating content is even easier than you imagine! Stories are there for a reason, so make sure you use them! Instagram Polls on stories are super quick and easy to create, and as they’re ‘off the cuff’ they don’t have to be as aesthetically curated as your grid. You can ask your followers anything – a ‘this or that’ is a fun way of engaging with your audience, or you could ask about a specific product or service of yours. It’s also quite handy for a bit of market research! 

2 Instagram Story Q&A

Let’s stick to the subject of Instagram stories again. IG stories have the ability to add a question sticker so that your followers can respond with any burning queries that may have about your brand. Simply view the responses by swiping up on your story and click ‘Share Your Response’ to post it back onto your stories. You can tailor it to suit your business – I also suggest saving it to your Story Highlights so that your audience can refer back to it as and when they want to.

3 Behind the Scenes Snippets (BTS)

I personally love seeing what business owners get up to behind the scenes! Whether you choose to share snippets on your stories or your grid, it’s the perfect way to engage with your followers and bring them relatable, interesting and unique content. For instance, if you’re a wedding planner hosting a styled shoot, share a few sneak peeks with your followers so they can see exactly what it takes to bring a shoot to life.

4 Tutorials + How To Reels

Reels are still fairly new to the IG game but once you get your head around how to create them, they’re super useful to your Instagram. One of the most important content pillars you can focus on is ‘Educate’, and followers will always be interested in learning new skills or educated themselves. You can add text, transitions and snazzy edits to make your reels look on-brand and easily digestible. For instance, if you’re a bridal hairstylist, you could create a reel on how to create a beautiful bridal up-do at home!

5 Meet the Team

Personal content is always a winner and followers love delving deeper into a brand. Do a mini spotlight series so that you can introduce your team members. This will offer them visibility and transparency into your brand, simply by having a natter with your team members. Perhaps share a few facts about each team member or ask what they love most about working with your brand or within the industry.

6 Customer + Client Highlights

The same goes for your customers / clients. If you’re a wedding photographer, share some sneak peeks of your couples (and perhaps pop in a cheeky review alongside this). I love resharing clients’ work or posting fellow industry colleagues’ work, simply to show a bit of support and to showcase who I work with. This will help bring credibility to your work (via testimonials) and a different perspective (by including different people within your grid).

7 Rebranding Memes

There’s no doubt about it, we ALL love a meme – especially one that’s relatable or makes us chuckle. I often reshare memes that relate back to my industry, business or a service that I offer. You can simply whip up a meme on Canva using your brand colours or by including your logo so that it still fits in with your grid aesthetic. This is an incredibly handy way to maintain cultural relevance for your followers – it’s all about diversity and keeping your audience interested, remember!  

8 Create A Content Series

So, you may have spotted my Lockdown Journals Series (if you haven’t already read them all – hop on over to the blog and dive in). This was a sure-fire way to post regular and consistent content that kept my audience engaged, interested and anticipating what came next. I also start the week with a Marketing Tip as part of my weekly content series, which I then save to my IG story highlights. You can post at any time, or on any day you want, as long as it aligns with your brand, business or industry.

This could also include:

·       Weekly Q&As

·       Weekly Tutorials on Reels

·       Quick Tips

·       To-Do-Lists

9 User-Generated Content (UGC)

Errr, wait. What is UGC? This is content generated by your followers or fellow app users and I would certainly add it into your content planning mix. It’s community-driven, which adds another element of trust and credibility to your brand, and will offer you the opportunity to expand your reach and gain more followers. For instance, if you’ve been tagged in an image or story by a loyal customer, reshare this and give them a little shout-out. Don’t forget to ask them for permission and always make sure you tag them / the original creator.

10 Inspirational / Motivational Content

Nothing beats a feel-good post! In the same way that you rebrand memes, you can create grid or story graphics using your branding and logo to publish motivational quotes. It will break up your followers’ feed and is a guaranteed way to make them smile!

11 Instagram Takeovers

If you’re looking to expand your audience while posting fresh content, we suggest teaming up with a likeminded business or influencer and hosting an Instagram Takeover. These are a fun way to shake up your grid or standard IG story routine. Ensure your chosen biz owner is relatable to your industry and can align to your audience. For instance, if you own a bridal studio you could team up with a wedding hair stylist or make-up artist to offer tips on completing a bride’s aisle style.  

12 Branding Shots

I cannot tell you how important it is to get behind the camera and post photographs of yourself! Followers want to see YOU! They want to find out who they are following, who they are potentially buying from and who they are investing in. Professional branding imagery really is invaluable to your feed – in fact, facts show that people are 80% more likely to ‘like’ a photograph of a face than a product. Having said that, make sure you incorporate plenty of product and lifestyle shots into your IG schedule so that your customers / clients can easily relate to your content.

13 Branding Videos 

While we’re on the topic of branding imagery, there’s nothing quite like the slick professionalism of a branding video. You can share this to your IGTV, grid, stories or reels, and it will offer your audience a glimpse inside your business and what you do / offer. It’s the perfect way to introduce yourself and your brand – I would recommend reposting every time you have an influx of new followers so they can get to you know you a little better. 

14 Repurpose High-Performing Content

I always tell clients to repurpose content. I’ve spoken about this regularly during the pandemic when clients have been unable to get new imagery or new content to post on their ‘gram. It’s a simple case of, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You can simply give your content a quick refresh by updating the copy or redoing the graphics, just so it stays fresh! Utilise your IG analytics to discover your highest-performing content, but don’t be afraid to repost it if it’s worked well for you in the past.

Hopefully this helps to keep you and your IG going for a little while! If you’re looking for a Social Media Manager to take the reins completely, please do drop me a quick note and let’s chat. You can find out more about my services here, and don’t forget to follow me on IG here.