Do you love scrolling through Instagram but struggle with creating content of your own? I know – it can definitely be frustrating and overwhelming but if you have a plan it makes it so much easier! Here are my top tips for creating amazing content for your business account on Instagram.
1 – Know who you’re speaking to
This is the starting point for everything – not just Instagram!! How will you know what to post if you don’t even know who you’re speaking to? First figure out who your ideal client is. A few things to think about… What are you selling? Whether it’s a product or service, who will benefit most from it? What solution are you providing for their problem?
2 – What makes you you?
What are things that light you up and get you excited? What takes up most of your thoughts? What can you do all day if you could? What brings you joy? What are some key areas in your life? You don’t only have to post about business! Let your clients get a peak into your world.
3 – Days of the Year
There’s always something to celebrate! National Doughnut Day, Guacamole Day and Talk Like A Pirate Day are a few “holidays” that you can create posts around. I head over to the Days Of The Year website to find these offbeat funky days to get ideas for my posts. I choose things that are both of interest to me, and what I think would resonate with my audience.
4 – Mix it up
To make things more interesting, try mixing up the type of content you create – that way your account doesn’t look like a flat one note. Instagram is visual so make it visually appealing. Photographs, videos, graphics and short blocks of text like an inspirational quote can all be used o create a dynamic looking grid.
5 – What’s happening in your own life?
Are you learning something new and interesting from a course you’re taking or a book you’re reading? Did something happen in your day that your audience could relate to?
6 – Snap happy!
As a photographer, taking photos throughout the day is second nature to me but if you’re not, it’ s something you can make a habit. Pay attention to what seems interesting whether you’re at home or out and about. Use your phone or whatever camera you have on hand at the time. If it inspires you, take a pic! You can create a library of images to have on hand when you’re getting ready to create your posts.
7 – Plan it out
Now that you have the different elements to a post, plan it all out on a calendar. For each day write in the type of post you’ll create and the general theme for the caption. Set a block of time to create the visuals and write the captions. And don’t forget to research the best time of the day to post along with the relevant hashtags.
8 – Feature others
One way to create other content is to feature your clients, colleagues or someone that inspires you. You can also repost an image from another account but make sure you give photo credit in your post.
As an example, this is my thought process for my @life.happens.now account:
1 – I’m speaking to female creatives and mothers that need help starting their business. A few of their struggles include not knowing where to start, not having an action plan, feeling like they don’t have time and juggling the demands of motherhood.
2 – I’m passionate about photography, love to read mindset and success books, do a lot of cooking for my family, love potato chips, I’m both creative and technical (constant battle of left and right brain), I live in NYC. This is some of what makes me me and I choose elements of these things that can relate to my audience.
3 – Since I read a lot, it was relevant for me to do a post on National Read A Book Day
4 – I mostly switch between photographs and graphics. The graphics include blank colorful background with short blocks of text – usually an inspirational quote. Don’t forget to include photos of yourself. It’s a great way to connect with your followers!
5 – I may post about something I learned from a book I’m reading or a new recipe that’s easy to make that my girls really like
6 – I take photos wherever I go – on my morning walk, in a store, at home when the light is right, when I see a beautiful sunset, etc.
7 – I look at my stats to see when the best times are to post and I use Later.com to plan it out.
8 – I love doing shout outs to other creatives that inspire me – like my brother-in-law and his handmade soaps.
Are you feeling better now about creating your own content?
To make things even easier, I created this worksheet to help you map things out. Just click below to download iand start creating!
[…] While you’re there take a look around at the other helpful resources – my recent faves are the Instagram Content Creation Worksheets. […]