How To Source And Create Engaging Instagram Content

Nowadays Instagram is one of the most popular social platforms for becoming an influencer. It is very addictive for users and offers many instruments for catching the attention of the audience, get likes, and engagement. The advertising potential of Instagram is also huge. Big brands and local smaller businesses are collaborating with the Insta-celebrities and a new promotion strategy was born – influencer marketing. Of course, it was not invented solely on IG, but the specifics of this platform makes it one of the most suitable for that sort of marketing.

But what is the vital thing on Instagram that will keep your blog afloat? It is certainly not product placement. It’s the unique content you produce that makes you interesting to users and receive engagement. And this is hard work. For all pictures that you make, upload and collect likes, the primary characteristic is that they create a one of a kind flair around you.

IMAGE: PEXELS

And the logical conclusion to that is your content has to be engaging to people. You need to provide eye-catching pics all the time to gain likes and followers. And after you read this article you will understand the main principles of sourcing and creating the most compelling content.

Explore The Platform

For sure, one of the qualities that define good content is its freshness. And what is the best way to find what is on right now? Of course, dive into the depth of the platform. The algorithm that composes the Explore page for you, is quite accurate. Thus, you will see both hot trends from your industry, and stuff that is generally popular throughout the network. To make your search more specific, you have an opportunity to subscribe to the hashtags of your favor. It means that you can have quick access to the content that is trending right now within the limits of one topic.

It is also useful to check on your competitors from time to time. This way you will be able to do small research not only for content ideas but for stats such as likes, comments, etc. You can also examine the reaction that your concurrents got to any particular piece that they post. For you, this is a chance to avoid mistakes that can lower your engagement rate.

And a little disclaimer to sum up this point. This text does not encourage you to steal someone else’s ideas. What you have to do is understand the mood of the audience and come up with new ideas of your own.

Know Your Crowd

The right target audience does half of the engagement by itself. But to start that engine, you will have to work on some stuff. You need to connect with your potential followers and see what you are doing through their eyes, what type of content do they like. This is a huge pile of analytics to be done. But as a reward, you will produce something that hits the viewers and hooks their attention at once. Here are the key characteristics that you must know about your target group:

• Gender
• Age
• Profession
• Occupation
• Interests and hobbies
• The average time they are active online
• Preferred content type

Knowing these will bring you the vision of the mechanic that will increase your likings because you will know the right lever for your followers.

However, sometimes it is useful to challenge your viewers with content that is not typical for you. This can be challenging and even risky, yet again, it will refresh your connection with the audience and boost the interest in your profile.

Storytelling And Personal Charm

Even the best photographs can lose half of their potential if there is no background, that makes this particular photo a peak of the story. Humans are very in for visual perception, it is true. But this gives you nothing if there is no context applied if there is nothing that highlights this shot.

Storytelling is one of the reasons why blogging on Instagram is so addictive. You can not only write a story about your experience in life, but you can illustrate it, creating a book-like impression.

But the ability to write good text is still not enough. It can be a fine text and a great picture, but they will not be engaging unless there is a personal story included. Social media were made for communication. Sharing your thoughts and life is what makes you interesting. Your main task here is to create an interesting angle which will be the point from which your followers will see you and give you likes.

And another disclaimer comes here. Don’t make up fake life. This is a wrong idea that you can get from the words above. Your real job is to accept your life as is. Putting a description of it in nice words is not equal to imaginary stuff. The most popular influencers on Instagram are sincere.

Remember that they demonstrate the life that they are having. And Instagram offers us different examples, not only the standard scenario of the gym – spa – trips to Bali – perfect body – perfect family stuff. You can find their people with different bodies, different positions in life, different circumstances, jobs, life partners, etc. The key here is – what YOU want to bring on the platform.

Content Planning

Being a successful blogger on Instagram is basically a job. And like any job, it requires scheduling. Without a plan, you will lose the engagement in a blink of an eye. And you should accumulate ideas for future uploads.

The time that you spend on Instagram is your main concern. The more devoted you will be, the better can be the result. But planning is needed so you can organize your time and free some of it for spending with your family, friends, and just relaxing. Thus from time to time, you should get a day off. But don’t forget to plan ahead the publishing of posts that you will have for this day.

User-Generated Content

This option becomes available once you manage to get a somewhat loyal community around your blog. Constantly producing ideas is hard, and sooner or later you will experience a lack of content. This is why the UGC is what helps to dilute your storyline, and also it will increase the engagement rate that you have. There are many methods to encourage user-generated content:

• Contests and giveaways. For example, you can start a contest for the best art that is relevant to your blog, or create surprise giveaways in exchange for the content ideas from your followers.
• Ask your audience directly, what new ideas you should try. This method is also good for understanding the taste of your crowd.
• Repost any kind of user-generated content that you get. Sincere gratitude and appreciation will play a good role in your reputation as a blogger.
• Offer specific hashtags and challenges, that your followers will be able to spread among their friends. Stories are a perfect format for that.
• Create masks. This fun feature is also a great promotion tool, as your nickname appears in the description of the mask and leads to the rise of interest in your production.
• Use polls, questionnaires, and other features that are available in Stories
• Go live and share what you have to say. In exchange for your open heart, you will have support and inspiration.

Recap

As we can see, creating worthy content is tough work. However, with proper organization of your schedule and accumulated ideas in the pocket, you can easily catch the attention of users on Instagram.

Find your inspiration everywhere around you – in nature, social life, daily routine, and Instagram itself. Constantly check what your industry colleagues are producing and get a new look for your own ideas.

And don’t forget to interact with your community. Loyal followers can help you to adjust your content for better performance by giving likes, and they can give you their vision and creative skills.

If you are interested in even more social media-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.

IMAGE: UNSPLASH