Introduction

How many people do you think use Instagram worldwide? Can you make a guess? As of 2022, Instagram has 1.393 billion monthly active users on the platform. Isn’t that unbelievable? This is exactly why small business and content creators should be designing content for Instagram to boost their visibility and brand awareness.

Types of Content on Instagram

What types of content can you create on Instagram to ensure that your following increases and you have more traffic and conversions. Let’s see. Instagram has three main types of content options. They are: posts, reels, and stories.

You can add videos and images as posts. You can also add videos, images, and text as stories. Stories on Instagram disappear after 24 hours, and are only accessible in the highlights or archives. Finally, reels are videos that are short and engaging, similar to TikTok videos.

In this article, let us focus only on Instagram posts, not stories or reels. Check out these 6 different types of posts that can be made by a business to attract more followers:

Type 1 – The people behind the brand

Brands often post a lot of text and visual content. What they miss out on is the human element behind the brand. Make sure that your Instagram page showcases the people who are involved in making your brand – from the employees to the founders themselves. This keeps the authenticity of the page in the minds of the audience. Here is an example from the GE Instagram page, specially created for Women in Engineering Day. –

Apart from meeting the people who make up a brand, the audience loves to be involved in what goes on behind the scenes. Showcase production lines, and offices, and factories, and you will have an engaged and aware audience.

Type 2 – Testimonials

What better way to pull in new customers than to show them what your existing customers love about you? Testimonials make for the best Instagram posts. You can ask for product or service reviews or even demonstrations of product use from your existing customers.

Customers can share video testimonials. Videos are engaging and shareable, but you can also share a simple text and graphic review or testimonial to see good results. The benefits of user-generated content like this are twofold. Not only will you attract new customers, but your review-givers will share their reviews with their connections, multiplying your reach.

Type 3 – Fun facts

Fun facts and strange, uncommon pieces of information have a unique shareable value. Think of topics that fit within your keyword buckets and align with your business interests, and come up with posts of fun facts that might interest your audiences.

This kind of post can be framed as a ‘Did You Know?’ question. It can also be posed as a miniature quiz or prompt. Encourage your audience to share their answers in the comments and you can post a big reveal the next day, or ask them to swipe for the answer. This boosts engagement and encourages interactivity with the posts. Here is an example of a fun facts post from

Type 4 – Memes and humour

Another way to ensure shareability of Instagram posts is to let loose and post some memes and keep up with the funny trends. Here is an example of a picture posted by the McDonald’s Instagram account. It is an ad for a new product cleverly packaged as a meme:

One precaution to take when posting memes is to keep it strictly light-hearted and not let the humour border on insulting or discriminatory. It is also crucial to know your audience and their tastes well, and follow the trends they follow, when it comes to posting comedy or memes.

Type 5 – Social Awareness Posts

Stay relevant on your social media channel by posting about a social awareness drive or take a stand. These posts require careful curation so as not to hurt any sentiments. At the same time, they can send a powerful message to your audience. Remember, being genuine here is crucial. You must choose a cause that aligns with the brand and it truly cares about. Here is a timely post from the Adidas Instagram page that speaks about a social movement and connects it to their target viewers. Sensitivity and respect are key to the success of these posts.

Type 6 – Feature Posts

Finally, you can try out featured content on your Instagram page. This is a great kind of post to garner extra attention and to multiply your viewership. Think of the industry leaders, experts, and influencers in your field, connect with them, and create posts that feature them. They may be interview snippets or simply informative posts. Don’t forget to tag the featured person and wait and watch their followers flock to your page.

Conclusion

So try out a variety of posts on your Instagram page and see your followers steadily rise up. Remember to use social media channels such as Instagram to connect with your followers, engage with them, share their mentions of your brand in your stories, and reply to or pin their comments. The more you engage, the better results you will see. Make ample use of hashtags and time your posts to stay on top of trends.