What are the most effective types of Instagram content (and WHY?)

Anush Sahakyan
4 min readSep 13, 2020

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Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

When it comes to posting on Instagram, sometimes you can’t decide whether or not to fill your feed with tons of promotional posts and stories, or pictures of your vacation and pets.

The reason why some Instagrammers have so much trouble creating content for Instagram is that they feel they have to choose one type of post over the other.

The audience appreciates variety.

I’ve created a list of 6 different types of content you can share on Instagram to help engage your audience and gain loyal followers.

Quotes

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Quoting effectively on Instagram is important because the right quotation presented properly can add spice, interest, thought, support, and respect to your IG page. Often a quote can offer inspiration for the week, and inspire us when our normal motivation has lapsed.

Lifestyle posts

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A lifestyle account is a digital social media account that describes the everyday life and interests of its owner. A lifestyle Instagrammer creates content inspired by his/her hobbies and daily activities.

They post pictures and content about their location, life stage, actions, and experiences. Give your audience a chance to get to know you on a personal level because people want to know the person behind the brand.

Videos (live videos, stories)

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Instagram gives you a unique chance to tell great stories through visual content. Instagram videos are highly effective at telling your brand’s story within a short time frame. Storytelling is a fantastic way to market your brand and create engaging images or videos. To have high-quality live videos you can go live from your computer

Behind-the-scenes

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There’s something really interesting about being able to see how business owners do what they do. Show your audience what you’re working on or give them a breakdown of how you produce your goods and services. This type of content is especially great for photographers, videographers, wedding planners, and make-up artists.

Open-Ended questions

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To increase your level of engagement, add an open-ended question into your caption. Sometimes your audience truly wants to engage with your posts, but they can’t find a simple way to respond to it.

An open-ended question is a question that cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no” response, or with a static response. … Examples of open-ended questions: Tell me about your relationship with your supervisor.

Make it easier but asking them what their struggles are, their thoughts on a trendy topic, or simply how their day is going.

Giveaways and quizzes

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Who doesn’t like free stuff!

Giveaways and quizzes are great ways to increase engagement and grow your audience, but you have to be smart about what you offer. You want to offer something related to your business or your target audience so your giveaway attracts your ideal clients and not just anyone. If you have a sport-related page, giving away makeup might not make the most sense.

Engaging content is only one aspect of effective Instagram marketing.

A combination of the above content types will put you in a good place to grow your Instagram account organically.

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Anush Sahakyan
Anush Sahakyan

Written by Anush Sahakyan

Digital marketing brand strategist. Allegedly wise to the ways of PR, Digital Marketing and Social Media.