18 Photo & Video Ideas to Spark Inspiration

Instagram is not only a go-to social community for people anymore. Many entrepreneurs have caught wind that it is a highly effective social community the place they should have some kind of presence.

The platform’s heavy emphasis on visible content material like photographs, movies, illustrations, and GIFs is turning into a essential means for manufacturers to speak their story and message. Plus, it is a superb means for companies to humanize their model, recruit future staff, showcase their merchandise and content material, and delight and have interaction clients.

Take a look at these 18 concepts for movies, photographs, and different content material you’ll be able to put up on Instagram. (And for extra inspiration, check out our list of the best brands to follow on Instagram.)

18 Content material Concepts for Movies, GIFs & Photographs to Publish on Instagram

1. Behind-the-Scenes Content material

Instagram is a superb platform for humanizing your model, and giving your viewers a sneak peek at what goes on behind the scenes is a method to try this. It is also a great way to indicate followers what it is wish to work there, which is nice in your recruiting efforts.

Here is an instance from the Boston Red Sox, exhibiting what batting observe appears to be like like close-up (with a extremely cool, fish-eye shot).

Image Source

And here is one from a small arts and crafts retailer known as Cherry Tree Beads. We love how this one makes use of the hashtag #employeetakeover to share one of many faces behind the model, giving followers the possibility to get to know who’s on the within.

Image Source

Professional Tip: Posting candid photographs of your work surroundings may also help humanize your small business and permit your clients to attach together with your staff, which might translate into stronger model loyalty.

2. Person-generated Content material

Among the finest photographs on manufacturers’ Instagram accounts are curated by followers and followers. (In reality, FedEx‘s Instagram feed is almost entirely made up of curated photos.)

Take a look at the posts individuals have tagged you in, and should you love them, contemplate reposting them to your followers. Not solely does it make the unique poster really feel good, however it additionally reveals everybody that you just’re listening to your followers. Simply ensure the photographs you are reposting are high-quality and that you just @-mention the unique poster in your caption.

Here is a reposted picture from ASOS. Be aware of how they write the caption: They write a wholly new caption, which features a tidbit on how their followers can get featured on their Instagram web page (by utilizing the hashtag #AsSeenOnMe). Then, they credit score the unique poster utilizing the digital camera emoji and the poster’s username.

Image Source

To repost a photograph on Instagram, you’ll be able to merely screenshot and crop it. It’s also possible to repost a photograph to your Instagram story by tapping the share icon under the put up you wish to repost and tapping “Add video to your story.”

3. Inspirational or Motivational Quotes

Some individuals poke enjoyable on the variety of quotes on Instagram. However should you put up them sparingly, they have an inclination to encourage your followers. If the put up speaks to your viewers, individuals like to share it and tag their buddies within the feedback. Quotes are additionally a fantastic alternative to share what your model stands for, whether or not it is non secular, inspiring, humorous, or one thing else.

To create a quote picture, you will wish to obtain an app that permits you to add a photograph and overlay it with textual content. Listed here are some good ones:

• Canva: A free app that you should utilize to create graphics with textual content overlays to share on social media.
• Phonto: A free app that you should utilize to overlay textual content on photographs with textual content resizing, alignment, and positioning instruments.
• Snapseed: A free app with skilled picture modifying instruments that pairs fonts with totally different picture filters.

It’s also possible to create a quote put up by your Instagram story. To create a quote put up in your Instagram story, merely add a picture out of your gallery to make use of as a background and add a textual content overlay of the quote.

Listed here are just a few examples of quotes finished properly, beginning with this one from TheSkimm. The important thing to this put up’s success is that it is hilarious to their particular viewers — which reveals that the quote does not must be fancy to thrill individuals.

Image Source

Here is a extra superbly designed quote from activewear model Lorna Jane, which carries an empowering message from their founder:

Image Source

Professional Tip: Wish to mess around with phrases and pictures? WordFoto is a $2 app that permits you to flip your photos into pictures product of phrases as an alternative of simply including phrases on high of photographs.

Image Source

4. Fascinating Statistics

One other cool technique to overlay textual content on a picture is by posting a statistic that resonates together with your viewers. Attempt utilizing statistics from your personal analysis or discovering some related to your message, your worth proposition, and so forth. (Read this blog post to learn how and where to find accurate, compelling data.)

Here is an instance from the meditation app Headspace, with a easy textual content field overlaying a coloured, nondescript background.

Image Source

5. Well timed or Present Occasions Posts

Is one thing cool occurring on the earth or the nation the place your goal market lives? A particular vacation? Nationwide Pet Day? Get in on the motion by posting one thing pleasant. Keep in mind to make use of logic when newsjacking — the very last thing you wish to do is publish inaccurate info or offend anybody.

What are some examples of pleasant, well timed posts? Here is one from a Mediterranean restaurant known as Cava Mezze Grill to have fun Halloween.

Image Source

And here is a enjoyable instance from Starbucks for Nationwide Croissant Day.

Image Source

Professional Tip: Arrange Google Alerts to get notified of breaking information associated to your small business’s business. Information tales are a fantastic supply of inspiration for well timed social media posts.

6. Humorous Photos or Movies

If you may make your followers snicker, they will possible get pleasure from your picture — and should even share it with others. In spite of everything, generally essentially the most memorable photographs are those that make us snicker.

Attempt posting photographs and pictures you assume will make your viewers snicker like Oreo did with this faux textual content message dialog with “Milk.”

Image Source

Here is one other instance from BuzzFeed Parents, which reveals how easy an excellent shareable put up will be.

Image Source

And on this one from Pabst Blue Ribbon. All they did was put an empty case of Pabst beer on a canine’s head, and it labored like a attraction.

Image Source

7. Compelling Drawings or Graphics

Have any artists in your staff? One technique to stand out in a sea of pictures is to put up a cool, compelling illustration. They do not even must be tremendous fancy — take a look at this easy, black-and-white instance from Oreo:

Image Source

Here is a extra complicated one from Pabst Blue Ribbon:

Image Source

8. Content material Promotions

Stunning pictures are essential to your Instagram marketing technique as a result of they inform a narrative and draw individuals in. Coloured visuals enhance individuals’s willingness to learn a chunk of content material by a whopping 80%.

So should you’re creating a chunk of compelling written content material like a recipe, a report, or a weblog put up, why not use a visible platform like Instagram to market it?

Merely pair an attention-grabbing and related picture with a caption that promotes the content material, after which ask individuals to comply with the hyperlink in your bio or put up description. (Once more, be sure to make that link trackable.)

Here is an instance from Staples that promotes their hard-copy planners for Nationwide Planner Day:

Image Source

And here is an instance from Nature’s Path Organic, which reveals off the completed product of a recipe that is linked of their bio:

Image Source

9. Product Promotions

Instagram is not the place to publish product-centric posts day by day — however that does not imply you’ll be able to’t use it to showcase merchandise each infrequently. We suggest using the 80/20 rule on social media: 80% of the content material you put up to social media ought to be useful and invaluable to your viewers, and 20% will be self-promotional.

Making promotional content material that’s enjoyable, compelling, and lovable is much more essential when posting on Instagram. To spotlight a selected product, put up an image or video about it, after which inform individuals the place they’ll discover the product utilizing the product names and codes or a trackable hyperlink in your bio.

Here is an instance from the net clothes firm ASOS. (Take a look at how informal and funky the caption is.)

Image Source

Here is one other one from Frank Body, which makes use of a picture and a few humor within the caption to pique followers’ curiosity within the product with out being overly promotional.

Image Source

Professional Tip: Once you put up is sort of as essential as what you put up. We counsel posting to Instagram on Saturdays in the mid-to-late afternoon.

10. Compelling Movies, Reels, and Tales

Instagram customers can file and add movies as much as 60 seconds lengthy, reels of a number of video clips which might be every as much as 15 seconds lengthy, and tales composed of pictures and quick movies that disappear after 24 hours.

When executed properly, movies, tales, and reels are a good way in your Instagram content material to face out. You may file a video from scratch (together with recording multiple video clips) or add movies to your feed, tales, or reels out of your cellphone’s library the identical means you’d add a photograph.

Professional Tip: By default, each Instagram video will begin taking part in with out sound — after which viewers can select whether or not or to not flip the sound on. Due to this, you will must add movies that do not want sound to be properly understood or entice individuals to show the sound within the first second or two.

Here is a fantastic video from Purina that delights viewers with some cute pet love.

11. Hyperlapse Movies

Wish to use video to face out from the group whereas additionally fixing in your followers’ quick consideration spans? Attempt creating a Hyperlapse video.

Hyperlapse is a free app by Instagram that condenses movies into transient, transferring, hyper-speed movies. The movies use built-in stabilization expertise to movie these time-lapse movies with out holding your fingers nonetheless. (Wish to make your personal? Here are step-by-step instructions.)

Here is one among our favourite examples, which comes from Starbucks.

12. Enjoyable, Lighthearted GIFs

GIFs are in every single place these days, and other people love them as a result of they assist precisely convey concepts, messages, ideas, and emotions in a snackable (and sometimes laughable) means. On Instagram, you’ll be able to add a GIF identical to a video (as long as it’s less than 60 seconds long).

Take a look at the examples of GIFs on Instagram under for some inspiration. (Click here for instructions for creating your personal animated GIF utilizing Photoshop.) Here is an instance from Staples.

And one from Starbucks.

13. Contests and Giveaways

Are you attempting to assist the launch of a brand new product? Contests are the most effective methods to increase your attain and have interaction your group on Instagram. A research by Tailwind discovered that internet hosting an Instagram contest or giveaway may also help you grow your followers 70% faster over three months than not holding a contest.

Instagram does not make capturing leads and data out of your followers straightforward, however a contest or giveaway is one technique to do it.

Simply make sure to name your followers to take motion by utilizing the area in your caption to elucidate the competition and even information them to a hyperlink in your bio.

Professional Tip: Make the hyperlink trackable so you’ll be able to see how a lot site visitors your Instagram put up is driving. Learn to add a trackable hyperlink to your Instagram bio by reading #6 in this blog post.

There are a lot of, many several types of contests you’ll be able to put up on Instagram. Listed here are just a few concepts, beginning with the one under from Social Print Studio. Their call-to-action asks for feedback on the put up, from which they will select winners.

Image Source

Here is one from Root Well Being Studio asking individuals to enter a contest by liking the put up and following their account. Individuals can earn an additional entry by sharing the put up to their Instagram story and tagging Root Effectively Being Studio.

Image Source

14. Mosaics

Not many manufacturers use this tactic, however it’s a extremely cool, distinctive consumer expertise. It is also a intelligent technique to get customers to go to your small business’ account web page.

Most of your followers will not have a look at your Instagram photographs out of your account web page, as they will sometimes have a look at them of their Instagram feed.

Once you begin scrolling by the photographs under from MyStory Wiesbaden in your feed, it might take you a second to determine what’s occurring. MyStory Wiesbaden posted snippets of a tattoo, which is a cool teaser that entices you to go to their important account web page, the place you’ll be able to see the total image.

Image Source

15. Asks to “Tag A Buddy.”

When you can tag buddies on Fb and Twitter posts, it occurs most repeatedly on Instagram. There is a tradition round tagging your folks should you see a put up that resonates with you or reminds you of somebody. This helps you each enhance engagement and broaden your attain.

If you wish to encourage your followers to share the put up with others, generally all you have to do is ask. Within the caption, embody a call-to-action asking individuals to tag their buddies and provides them a immediate to take action.

For instance, the put up under from Rent the Runway asks followers to “Tag your future RTR BFF!”

Image Source

Our put up under from HubSpot requested followers to tag their workplace espresso buddy.

Image Source

On this cute video from Headspace, they requested followers to tag somebody they love to assist have fun Valentine’s Day.

Just like asking your followers to tag a good friend, you’ll be able to ask them to “double-tap,” which is how your followers can like your picture or video. The usual language for a request like that is: “Double-tap if…”

Within the instance under from The Parentologist, she asks followers to double-tap in the event that they’re searching for a last-minute present for a mum or dad, which is a enjoyable technique to interact her followers.

Image Source

16. Reposts From Your Staff

Reposting your staff is an superior technique to showcase what occurs behind the scenes at your organization, whereas actually serving to your followers “bond” with the individuals who work there.

For instance, the individuals behind the Boston Crimson Sox’s Fenway Park account typically repost photographs and movies from their grounds crew.

New Look has a extremely cool strategy: They repost Instagram content material from their staff, who operate as model way of life ambassadors with accounts particularly related to New Look. Their deputy supervisor @newlook_georgia and their gown designer @newlook_emilie are a few New Look’s staff who act as model ambassadors.

Whereas the principle New Look account posts principally their very own content material, they typically repost from their staff, like within the picture under.

Image Source

17. Cross-promotion of One other Social Media Account

Cross-promotion of different social media accounts on Instagram is a good way to let your Instagram followers know the place else on social media they’ll discover you. That means, you will get your Instagram followers to grow to be your followers on Fb, Twitter, and so forth.

18. “We’re Hiring.”

Lastly, let your followers know you are hiring each infrequently by posting a easy call-to-action in your Instagram web page, together with a trackable hyperlink to your jobs web page in your bio.

Here is an instance of a “we’re hiring” put up from Arey’s Pond Boat Yard:

Image Source

Publish Like A Professional

Now that we have gone over some tricks to get your creativity flowing, it is time to create a put up of your personal. Use these content material concepts for Instagram to extend model consciousness and join together with your group in new methods.

Editor’s word: This text was initially revealed in October 2019 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.