43% of marketers use social media to market their brand, product or business. Harnessing the power of social media in the digital era is a no brainer, but that’s not to say it is easy! With complex algorithms and ever changing consumer needs, content that businesses put out has to be in line with this to increase presence and engage their audience. This blog post is going to cover the most effective forms of content for Instagram specifically. Take this as your guide to effective content on Instagram and understanding what the constantly evolving algorithm is looking for right now.Â
Carousels
Carousels are swipe through posts that can contain up to ten images or videos. This feature can be used to showcase a variety of images that are linked in some way, tell a story, showcase products, and more. Carousel posts can be a great feature for educational content, for example, as a step by step guide. It is also worth noting that carousel posts will get shown to your audience twice, the first time they will be able to see the first image of the carousel, and if they don’t interact, the post will be shown in their feed again with the second image visible. They also don’t require as much editing as say a minute long reel would, so these are a win!
User Generated Content (UGC)
User-generated content is one of the most important and valuable forms of content to date! It is a way to build trust with your audience. UGC is content that users actually create themselves, which can then be repurposed and posted by the brand itself. The content is authentic and reflective of the real customer experience, therefore building loyalty to the brand and its audience. This content can also come in the form of a collaboration post, where both parties share the post to appear on both feeds. This helps to boost engagement and reach.
Reels
In Instagram’s earlier days, static images made up almost all Instagram content. Now, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Short-form videos, ranging from 5-90 seconds long, are THE most popular form of content and favoured on Instagram. From trends, to behind the scenes, to product demos, reels are a great way to interact with your audience and convey important brand messages.Â
Long form content is also popular, however, many users lack the attention span to finish the video, so be wary that many users may not watch until the end!Â
Educational / Valuable ContentÂ
Everything you post should have a purpose. Content in which users can gain value from performs the best. This could include a hack, a recipe or some other valuable information that users can save, send and interact with. Providing valuable content can also help build authority within your industry and can help to reach new users.Â
Stories
Instagram stories are a great way to interact with your audience, through features such as polls and questions. Interacting with your audience can help to build a relationship with them and can therefore result in a loyal user base. Stories are also a good way to give recent posts traction through profile visits from the story.Â
But that’s not all…
So, those are five of the most important forms of content to engage your audience. It is important to remember that other factors, such as consistency, quality, sends, hooks, captions and hashtags all come into play when it comes to Instagram growth, but that’s for another blog post…Â
If you need some help with your social media, we offer a range of different packages, tailored to your needs and budget. Just drop us a message, we’d love to chat!
