7 Instagram Post Ideas You Can Steal Today

If you run social media accounts for any brand or business, odds are high that you’re constantly in search of Instagram post ideas…right?

Having strong Insta posts is certainly important to running a successful account, but it can be difficult at times to come up with new content ideas all on your own. We understand that, and we’re here to help!

We know the struggle of sitting and racking your brain, trying to think of brilliant content concepts that your followers will love to see. If this experience sounds familiar, then look no further.

We’ve put together a list of seven different Instagram post ideas that you’re more than welcome to steal and use however you want – and don’t be afraid to feel inspired by this list and come up with amazing post ideas of your own!

The Importance Of Having High Quality Posts

Like we mentioned before, having high quality Instagram posts is very important to the overall success of your account. This might make sense on the surface, but have you ever thought about why high quality posts are really so important?

For Engagement

Instagram tracks lots of data regarding your posts and your account, and you can find this data in the “metrics” tab of your profile. (It’s really helpful information in a lot of ways, so you should check it out sometime.)

One of the most important data bits that you should track through metrics is your account’s engagement rate. Engagement rate refers to the amount of your followers that are actively liking, commenting, viewing, and, well, engaging with the content that you post – versus inactive followers who never engage.

Having a high engagement rate shows that your followers are interested in the content you publish, and they feel inclined to interact with it. So, as you can probably guess, it’s important that you publish high quality posts consistently so that your followers know to expect reliable, enjoyable content.

If your posts are sporadic or low quality, your followers will notice. This will cause them to pay less attention to your brand, skip over your posts without interacting, or even unfollow your account. That’s why it’s necessary that you always post appealing content – users will notice, and your account will do well as a result.

For Follower Growth

So, we established that high quality posts will encourage your followers to engage with your posts, and that’s because users will take an interest in your Instagram account when you are publishing the right kind of content.

What else can come from publishing high quality content? Follower growth!

Think about it this way: posting high quality content causes users to take an interest in your account. Your followers will want to stay updated with what you are posting, so they’ll keep an eye on your brand’s Insta. Then, when they see things they like (e.g. high quality posts), they’ll want to share these posts on their own accounts.

When your followers repost your content, all of their followers will be made aware of your account. And, when they go check out your account out of curiosity, they’ll see all of the high quality posts you’ve been publishing, and they’ll want to follow you as well.

Word of mouth, such as having your Instagram followers repost your content is one of the fastest ways towards growth and success on social media. And, as we’ve now established, having high quality Instagram posts is a key factor in this.

Creating A Content Calendar

You might be thinking that creating high quality Instagram posts sounds like a great idea, but is also a daunting and overwhelming task. This can be true, but it doesn’t have to be.

One of the most efficient ways to streamline your process of creating and publishing high quality content is by creating a content calendar.

What Is A Content Calendar?

A content calendar is the perfect way for you to plan and organize your social media posts, all while getting ahead on your content creation.

By using a content calendar, you’ll plan out all of your social media posts for the upcoming month. You can devise a plan for weekly themes or post specific content on designated days of the week – whatever works best for you and your business.

Once you’ve decided how you want your social media to look for the upcoming months, you can batch-create all of your posts and get them scheduled and ready to go. Creating all of your posts at once is great for multiple reasons.

For example, if you create everything at one time, the style of your content is more likely to be consistent since you’re working from the same creative headspace for every post. Additionally, it helps you to avoid falling behind on your posts.

It’s easy to get busy and then realize you need to post something within the next hour, causing you to quickly throw something together that doesn’t involve any thought or planning. But, you can see how problematic this would be.

When you use a content calendar and batch-create your posts, you’ll eliminate this issue as well as the concern of forgetting to publish posts altogether.

How To Create A Content Calendar

Creating a content calendar is a fairly simple process. It just requires a bit of planning on your part, but there are lots of tools available online to help you actually create the calendar.

Many of these tools allow you to schedule all of your posts at once. So, once you’ve planned out your general schedule for the upcoming month (sharing fun facts on Fridays, advertising a new product twice a week, etc.) you can create all of the posts that you plan to publish.

Then, you can simply insert these posts into the content calendar and schedule them for the dates and times you would like them to be published. And, the content calendar tool will take over from there! Your posts will be published automatically, and all of that stress is taken from you.

Typically, content calendars will allow you to schedule posts to be published on multiple social media apps, if that’s what you’d like to do. So, all you’ll do is insert the photo that you’d like published, paste your caption when the calendar asks you to, include any links that you would like, and voila! Your content is good to go.

Some schedulers even provide you with information on the optimal times for you to post on your account, based on follower activity and success of previous posts. However, if this information is not offered to you automatically, you can always find it on your own through Instagram metrics.

Now that we’ve talked about why and how you should fine-tune your Instagram posting game, let’s take a look at some Instagram post ideas that you can start using today!

7 Post Ideas You Can Include In Your Content Calendar

This is a great type of post to include in your repertoire because it applies to everyone and it’s fairly versatile across different industries. So, no matter what type of account you run, you can make this post idea suit you and your followers.

To make a post about productivity tips, you can think of your own life. How are you most productive? What would you recommend to your friends and family if they asked you for advice on increasing productivity? Think of making posts to your followers as talking to your own friends.

You can also go with more of a business focus and think about tips for increasing productivity within your own industry. How can members of your target audience be more productive based on something they have in common?

For example, if you run the Instagram account for an athletic wear company, you could talk about how exercising at specific times of the day can increase focus.

This type of content is effective because, like we said before, it applies to everyone. No matter what account you’re running, your followers probably want to be even more productive than they already are.

So, posting about this topic is sure to grab people’s attention. And, if your tips are helpful (which they will be, of course), your followers will appreciate this, give your account more credibility, and start paying closer attention to the posts you publish.

Also, remember that high quality Instagram posts do not have to just be published to your feed. You can also post about topics like this one through the Instagram Stories feature. This can sound daunting as well, but don’t be scared off – Instagram Stories templates are here to help you easily create eye candy for your Insta Stories.

2. Employ User Generated Content

User generated content (UGC) is a fantastic form of advertising for brands on social media. This refers to content that is being published by your followers, rather than by you, but that helps to promote your brand.

One popular example of this is hosting Instagram contests, such as giveaways. If you host a giveaway for the new product your brand is releasing, you can require users to follow you, tag three friends on one of your posts, and repost your content onto their own Story, all in order to be entered in the drawing for the new product.

By hosting a contest such as this one, you’re designing an advertising campaign in which your followers are telling all of their own followers about your brand and literally providing a link to your profile right then and there.

This encourages lots of new users to check out your content, and many of them will likely be interested in the contest as well…causing them to follow you, tag their friends, and repost about your account…you can see where this is going.

All in all, it’s extremely beneficial to encourage your followers to post about your account. Earlier, we talked about the effectiveness of word of mouth on social media, and this is a perfect example.

3. Ask A Question

Remember when we talked about engagement rates and how important it is that your followers interact with your content? We’ll give you a tip: asking questions is one of the best ways to ensure a boost in engagement.

Asking questions is another idea that can really apply to any account, and it can be used in many different ways.

For example, you can put a question at the end of a caption for a photo that you post to your feed, encouraging discussion in the comment section. Or, you can create an Instagram Stories post that is solely devoted to asking a question.

Also, remember that Instagram Stories offers features such as the poll tool, which allows you to ask a question and give followers two options to choose from as their answers. You can also ask a question and give more than two answer options or ask open-answer questions.

Asking a question is a very effective way to boost engagement because it gives followers a direct way to interact with your content. Rather than just encouraging followers to leave you a comment, you are specifically asking them a question that, in their minds, has a single answer. People will be more inclined to share that single answer when they are asked a direct question.

Instagram users seem to enjoy getting a sneak peek at what goes on behind the scenes at their favorite companies, so don’t be afraid to participate in that trend!

This is another style of posts that works great on Instagram Stories and can be done in a variety of different ways. For example, you could give followers a tour of your office if you work in an in-person setting.

Or, if your company is operating remotely, you could invite various team members at your company to log in to your brand’s Instagram account and give followers a view of their personal work environment.

You can also have various team members do “takeovers” for a day. In a takeover, someone from your company would log in to your brand’s Instagram account and spend the day posting and interacting with followers.

They could show a typical day in their life, take followers on a tour of the city in which you work, post about their role at the company, or anything else that you see fit – the sky’s the limit, and creativity is key!

Behind-the-scenes content is very effective in increasing engagement because it helps to remote a feeling of community on your account. When you give followers a view of the way that your company works, they begin to feel included. This helps your followers to feel connected to your brand and encourages them to interact with you through social media as well.

5. Interview An Industry Leader

Holding an interview with a prominent member of your industry is certainly a way to turn heads.

This can take the form of an email interview from which you post questions and answers on your Instagram Story. Or, if you’re lucky enough to meet with the industry leader in person, you can post video content from the interview on your Instagram account (all with permission of the interviewee, of course).

It can be easier than you might expect to get in contact with a leader of your industry. Sometimes, all it takes is a phone call or email, and you have an interview scheduled before you know it.

Of course, it isn’t always so easy, and you may need to be persistent or eventually ask multiple industry leaders before contacting one who is willing to speak with you. But, if you aim for the top and work your way down, you never know what’ll happen. And, it can’t hurt to try!

This is another effective type of content to post for many reasons. For example, it certainly provides increased credibility to your account and to your brand. Plus, anyone who follows you must have some level of interest in your industry. Therefore, they’ll be drawn to viewing a conversation with a prominent figure in that industry.

Remember, most, if not all, of your followers have a common interest, and that typically has something to do with the industry you’re a part of. So, giving followers a chase to hear from a leader of that industry will certainly be helpful to your engagement rates.

6. Do A Photo Collage

Yes, you read that right – sometimes it’s best to go back to basics, such as with an old-fashioned photo collage. These are visually appealing and always catch people’s attention, especially if they are created in an aesthetically pleasing way.

There are tons of resources available through which you can find templates to create unique and attractive collages. These can include photos of your products, your team members, or anything that’s relevant to your social media at the time you post the collage.

A big part of reaching social media success is standing out. You need to catch people’s attention and hold it before they decide to move on. So, try creating a collage of important photos. This will turn heads toward your account, and you can take it from there.

For example, as you likely are familiar with, Instagram has a feature that allows you to include up to ten photos in a single post. If the “cover photo” of one of these posts includes a collage of nine different products you’d like to advertise, you’re likely to catch followers’ attention as they scroll through their feeds.

Then, once you have their attention with an attractive collage, entice them to continue looking at the post with a short and interesting caption. Then, the subsequent nine photos in the post can feature each product individually.

And, Instagram even allows you to change the caption for each photo in a single post. So, as users scroll through the photos of different products, they can read unique captions to each one.

Everyone loves a good DIY, right? And, as with so many of the tips we’ve talked about so far, DIY ideas can apply to any industry. These tips don’t have to be confined to arts and crafts – DIY projects can take on the form of home-improvement, business-building, lawn care, childcare, car repairs, pet care, and the list goes on.

So, figure out what it is that your followers want to learn more about (hint: it most likely has something to do with your business or industry). Then, come up with some great DIY tips to share with them that are related to this common interest.

You can either spend some time coming up with these tips on your own, especially if you have a lot of personal experience in whatever the topic is, or you can research them online. There’s no shame in sharing links to helpful articles with your followers!

Sharing DIY tips is a great idea because it can help you to stand out on Instagram. People are used to scrolling through the app and seeing endless advertisements posted by business. But, if your brand shares a helpful DIY tip that followers can use in their everyday lives, your company will seem unique and relatable.

Like we said, everyone loves a good DIY tip, so posting these can help followers connect to your account, and it can help you to develop a community through Instagram. Don’t be afraid to get real with your followers – it can end up helping you much more than you anticipate!

Let’s Get To It!

Hopefully, this guide to high-quality Instagram posts has been helpful to you as you prepare to up your Insta game and take your posts to the next level.

Remember, high quality Instagram posts can help you to transform your account by boosting follower engagement and increasing your number of followers as well. And it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or scary – just remember to post about what you know about!

And, don’t forget to start using a content calendar – it’ll do wonders for you and your Instagram success! Feel free to fill in that calendar with any of our Instagram post ideas, and then take our ideas to the next level.

Let our ideas be your inspiration, and go make something great on your Instagram today…and if it works out well, come back and let us know!

7 Instagram Post Ideas You Can Steal Today