Instagram can be a black hole of content. First of all,
you've got your feed that you've got to keep up with.
Then you have Instagram stories. Now there's IGTV. I mean,
there's so much content you can post on Instagram in 2019,
how do you keep up with it all?
How do you make sure that you're creating content that keeps your people
engaged, but also brings them over to your business? In today's video,
I'm covering Instagram content ideas that you can use in 2019.
Plus, all my tips, tricks, and tools that I use to get it done.
Be sure to stay until the end where I'm going to share my absolute favorite way
to know exactly what your audience wants from you so that you never have to feel
clueless again.
Refining and might I say sexifying her Instagram content has worked for my
friend Brandy Kinnear,
who - with less than a thousand followers - has generated over $27,000 in
revenue to her business.
I'm Elise Darma and I've taught thousands of entrepreneurs,
freelancers and creators like yourself,
how to use Instagram to grow your business, and in today's video,
I'm covering Instagram content ideas you can use in 2019.
And if you're here on my channel and you're kind of liking it,
go ahead and hit the Subscribe button and don't forget to hit the bell as well.
You'll be notified each time I publish one of these very handy videos on online
marketing and Instagram growth for your business.
Before we dive into all the tips, let's just get clear on what content is.
What do we mean when we say 'content for Instagram'? Well, in my world,
content includes videos and photos that you can post,
either in your feed, in your stories,
or on your IGTV channel. Now with IGTV,
you're not posting any photos.
It's video only and your videos need to be between 15 seconds and up to 10
minutes long so that you can post directly from your phone.
But today's video is not all about IGTV.
You're going to want to head to this video to get caught up on what's working
today for Instagram TV. If that's cool with you,
let's keep going and talk about the type of content you can post in your feed.
When you're posting to your feed,
you want to hit the plus button down in the center of your screen,
which is going to pull up your camera roll. From here,
you can choose to post either a photo or a video from your camera roll.
When you tap the arrows in the bottom left corner,
you're going to be able to size the photo to be square or portrait.
I always recommend portrait mode because it takes up more room in the feed.
Now if you head on over to the other buttons in the bottom right,
you can see that the infinity symbol opens up the Boomerang app,
so this is really cool if you want to make a GIF.
If you hit the button in the middle,
that's actually going to open up the layout app and allows you to choose a grid
type option if you'd like and get really creative with the type of posts that
you're going to post in your feed.
The last button is the option to make a carousel post.
So if you want to choose maybe a couple images, you know,
mixing some video in there as well, this is the place to do so.
Hot tip alert!
Remember as you're experimenting with the type of media that you can post in
your feed,
the number one thing to remember is that everything needs to be valuable to your
followers. What's valuable on Instagram? Well,
it's got to either inspire them, entertain them, or educate them.
So as you're scrolling through your camera roll,
if you've got a post that does one of those things, you're good to go.
Post it on your feed and see what happens.
Let's talk about what kind of content you can actually post in your feed so that
you're attracting your ideal customer or client.
One type of content that I love is what I call before and afters.
So if this fits your industry,
maybe you're in the health niche or maybe you're in the relationship niche or
maybe you're in the business niche,
but if there's a way to visually show where your customer or client was at
before they worked with you and where they're at after,
these types of posts do really well on Instagram because who doesn't love a good
transformation story,
especially when there's a visual that shows the actual transformation.
Another type of content that I love is reposted content.
This is content that you actually curate or collect from other people's feeds.
My friend Taylor Marsden is a great example of someone who has built a very
specific niche account by collecting other people's content.
So she might pull an image from Pinterest or she might post an image from
another inspiration account.
The key here is that she always gives credit in the caption.
So instead of just posting the image and ignoring where she actually got it
from, she'll write her own caption and then at the end of it,
give credit to the original poster.
Another type of content that I love is success stories because a lot of times us
business owners forget to share our wins or our client wins.
So maybe you have a photo of your client and in the caption you share their
success story. Or maybe you have an image of both you and your client together,
or maybe your client just films a 30-second video of their story,
sends it to you and you post that in your feed. Whatever the type of media is,
the important part is to be sure to share your client's transformations and
results with your Instagram followers.
The next type of content is a little taboo, but to be honest,
it's served me very well over the years.
It's stock photography and by that I mean free stock photography.
So there are a ton of websites out there where photographers and artists have
submitted their work and it's available for you and me to download and repost
and make it part of our brand.
If you head on over to my agency's account at Canupy content,
take a look because 98% of that content is stock photography,
but the value for my followers is that we've curated tropical content so that
people feel like they're getting a little vacation by following us.
So don't discount stock photography.
If you ever have a story or an idea that you're burning to share with your
followers, head on over to a stock photography site.
Find an image that matches your caption or idea and post away.
The next type of content is quote cards. So if you look at my agency's feed,
again, 98% of the content is stock photos,
but the other 2% are quote cards that we actually make on Canva.
Quote cards are amazing for people to share in their stories,
especially if the quote card is funny,
inspirational or educational. But to be honest,
I think the funny quote cards get shared the most.
So that's another type of content that I absolutely love experimenting with.
Speaking of experimenting, that's my last tip for you here.
Don't be afraid to experiment.
Sometimes we get stuck in these ruts where we just post photos and quote cards,
photos and quote cards, but you know what? Let's shake things up a little bit.
Film a video of yourself or post that client video.
Experiment with a Goo - [laughs] - goof. It's the new Gif!
Experiment with a GIF or a boomerang or a carousel post where you can share
multiple pieces of media in one post.
The key is to not get caught up in likes, engagements,
just have fun with it and wear that experimenter hat. Hot tip alert!
Want to know how to get in the zone with all this content creation?
The key is to batch your efforts,
so head to your calendar right now, like right now,
block in an hour's time and in that hour you are going to schedule out your
week's content.
So maybe for the first 10 minutes you're going to collect or create all the
content that you need.
And then the next 10 minutes you're going to bring them all into your scheduling
tool of choice. I like Later.
And then maybe for the last 30 minutes you are going to write all your captions
for your posts for the week and then schedule them out so that you don't have to
worry about this again until next week. Are you with me still? Let's keep going.
Let's cover the type of content you can share in your Instagram stories.
Now listen, Instagram stories are hot, hot, hot,
so even if you post less in your feed these days,
I don't want you to forget about your Stories because more and more that's where
your customers and your followers are hanging on Instagram.
So be sure to post at least once a day, maybe three times.
If you're a real eager beaver and here's a few ideas of the types of content you
can post there. The first type of content is behind the scenes,
so bring your followers along your journey with you.
No one really relates to someone who's high on a pedestal or perfect in their
day to day life or their business life anymore.
We're really liking the raw and the real stuff,
so I know it's a little bit scary and it makes me feel a little bit vulnerable,
but share a little bit more about what goes on behind your business with your
followers.
Maybe it's your morning routine or maybe it's your favorite lunch spot,
or maybe it's a challenge that you're working through during that day.
Don't be afraid to share and really show them what goes on behind the scenes.
The second type of content is sneak peaks,
so as you're working on a new product or maybe an upcoming launch,
make sure you're teasing your audience with what you're working on. Now.
You don't have to give it all away.
The point is to just drop little hints so that by the time you do launch your
product or your launch goes live,
your audience feels like they've been there with you from day one.
They saw you work on it, they saw you create it,
and now they're super excited for the actual launch of your product. Guess what?
That excitement often turns into customers.
Those people have been with you from the beginning,
so they're ready to join you in your paid program or offering.
The next type of content for your stories is promotions.
Sometimes us business owners suck at promoting what we're selling,
so don't forget you've already brought your customers on the journey behind the
scenes. Now you actually have to share what you're promoting.
It could be a Freebie, it could be a new Youtube video.
It could be a brand new blog post,
or it could be a brand new paid offering. Whatever it is,
don't forget to share with your followers in your stories what your latest
promotion is. The key here is don't promote too much.
I like to follow the 80/20 rule,
so let's say four days out of five days, I'm just giving free value.
On the fifth day, I'll be sure to promote something from my business.
The last type of content is just for fun.
You never know what random stuff your followers are going to really resonate
with in your stories. True Story:
My most viewed Instagram story is one where I took an electric lint shaver and I
was shaving lint off my sweater.
The response to the story was crazy because people wanted to buy this electric
shaver and they also found watching me shave my sweater weirdly relaxing,
so you just kind of have to have fun with it. Share the random stuff,
share the things that make you a real human and I bet you would be surprised at
what people like.
And what's the number one way to know exactly what kind of content your audience
wants so that you never have to feel clueless again?
It's using the Poll and Question stickers in Instagram stories.
This is hands down my favorite way to get market research on my audience and to
really learn what kind of content they want more from me.
All you got to do is ask,
and luckily Instagram stories have some very handy features. Now,
if you're not a Stories person yet, you can even ask in your next caption,
"Hey friends,
what kind of content do you want to see more of from me?" See what they say,
and it might give you your next big idea.
Want to get even more strategic with your Instagram content and not just for
followers, but for actual growth to your business?
Sign up for my free Instagram masterclass.
The link is right below this video and I'm going to teach you the latest on
what's working today in 2019 to grow your business on Instagram.
If you enjoyed this video,
stay tuned for next week where I'm going to be sharing how to create an
Instagram story ad in 2019 so if this topic sounds good to you,
hit the Subscribe button and the bell right now so you don't miss it.
To ease and revenue, I'll see you in the next video. Easy peasy.
Um, particular hot tip alert, hot tip alert,
hot tip alert. Don't say those words too fast together. Hot tip alert.
Hot.
I'm getting so hot just saying it. Good tip. Excellent.