Instagram – Tips for Creating Awesome Content & When to Post It

Things I Learned – Social Media Series

We already know that you can find content that can help with engagement, trust and sales. So why should you actually create content? Two reasons: 1) to improve on the content that you find and 2) so that you can make the content more personalized to what you need. For example, if you see a strong sales post somewhere else (in your niche or business) and you know what made it a strong sales post, then you can improve it and use it for your business. All you are doing is using the same framework!

Improve on the Content

For this, you just want to improve on another post from somewhere else. Maybe this means changing the way the post looks or the location of the subject of the post (sneakers shown as a flat lay vs. sneakers shown on someone). Make sure you research those strong posts from other companies in your niche or business because these will help you reach more people and get more engagement from your followers.

Personalize the Content

You want to personalize a post so that it fits your niche/business. Take successful content and make it relevant for YOUR audience. You can add your own branding and include your own products. This helps build affinity and trust with YOUR account because the content is geared towards your followers. A good example of personalized content to help build trust would be a “behind the scenes” video or time-lapse video showing something in your business!

Best Times to Post?

Why is knowing when to post important? There are two reasons according to The Instagram Marketing 2021 course on Udemy.com. First is engagement. There is 20-30% more engagement on your content if it’s posted during the right times. Second is reach. Posting during a good time ensures a larger number of active users.

It is hard to pinpoint the best times for every business but a good, safe initial strategy to follow is:

SproutSocial says: Looking at Instagram as a whole, the most consistent engagement can be found Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Engagement becomes lower every day before 6 a.m. and after 9 p.m. The best words of advice on the best time to post is to know your audience! When is the best time for them? When are they online? And then the big question is how do you do this? You want to use your analytics to find out when your followers are most active. Also, do test posts at different times to see which ones do better and get more engagement.

Keys to Boost Your Engagement

1. Consistency – You need to post at least once a week. Post at a regular time and make sure you have high quality content. This helps Instagram see you as “trusted” and they can promote your account to the public.
2. Post Videos – Videos have much higher engagement rate than images and two times as many comments as images.
3. Start a Conversation – Ask a question or engaging comment in your post and make sure to reply to anyone else that comments too.
4. Add your Location! – Super easy to do and really boosts the engagement rate on the post.

As you can see, there are several ways to create content and boost your engagement. Knowing how to create content that is perfect for your niche or business and personalizing that content will make sure you are creating content that your audience craves. Making sure you are posting content at the right times and in the right ways is also key to getting your posts seen and getting more engagement.