15 Creative and Engaging Instagram Post Ideas (1/2)

Last Updated on September 10th, 2019 at 12:07 pm

Instagram Post Ideas

Great Instagram post ideas promote your brand and engage your followers—all while giving them something they cannot help but share with others.

However, it isn’t enough to just post any image or video. You should separate yourself from the pack and offer your followers unique and artistic content they cannot get anyplace else.

That could be hard—particularly when you consider over 95 million photos and videos are posted each day to the app. So what could you publish on Instagram each day that will engage your followers?

We have compiled a list of 15 creative and engaging Instagram post ideas. It does not matter in case your brand is large or small. Use this list whenever you need a burst of inspiration for your Instagram feed.

15 creative Instagram post ideas

Beneath is our list of 15 creative Instagram post ideas. Keep in mind: You should post intentionally. Do not feel pressured to post every single idea on this list.

Nonetheless, if the post idea fits your brand and you think you could really knock it out of the park, go for it!

1. Ask your users a question

Asking questions makes chances to get your followers sharing their thoughts and ideas on practically any topic. These user insights could help you come up with even better content in the future.

They may even help you come up with new product ideas when you ask the right questions.

For instance, when you run a fitness coaching business you may ask, “What do you struggle within the gym?” The answers your followers offer you help formulate a ton of new content — from new products, Instagram posts, and more.

2. Show a tutorial

Great digital marketing gives viewers and readers with valuable, engaging content. That is why tutorials or how-tos crush it on social media.

Instagram posts give brands a chance to provide quick tips on nearly any topic. For instance, in the post above, fitness coach @thechriscoulson shows his followers do an ideal lat pulldown.

You also see this concept in virtually any food Instagram account such as @foodminimalist. She gives her followers with delicious recipes accompanied by a great picture of the dish with each post.

View this post on Instagram

Sautéed Harukei turnips + greens with noodles in a deliciously sweet and salty soy-butter sauce, topped with sesame, scallions and shichimi togarashi. Harukei turnip and greens are both tender, delicately-flavored and almost juicy. If you’re not a fan of turnips, these sweet little Harukeis may change your mind! For Boston-area friends, get the best Harukei turnips from the lovely people at @assawagafarm (Brookline or Union Sq. Farmer’s Market!) __________________ Serves 2-ish: Clean and separate a bunch of turnips (about 5-6) from the leafy green tops, reserving if they’re green + vibrant enough to eat. Discard if greens are sad and wilty. Cut turnips and greens into bite-sized pieces, keep separate. __________________ In some neutral oil, sear turnips in a hot cast-iron pan on med-high heat, cut side down. Cook undisturbed until golden brown, turn and sauté for another minute or so. Remove from heat and set aside. __________________ Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp unsalted butter and 1 tsp. sugar to the pan, stir together until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved. Add in your preferred amount of cooked thin sturdy noodles (soba, spaghetti, angel hair, spaghettini, etc. but not rice noodles!) and use tongs to gently toss the noodles with the soy-butter sauce. While tossing the noodles in the sauce, also add in the turnip greens, a handful at a time and use the heat of the noodles/pan to gently wilt the greens. When all the greens are wilted and sauce is thoroughly combined with the noodles, add in the reserved turnips and toss until warmed through. Taste and add a bit more soy sauce and butter if you prefer. Transfer to serving plates, top with sesame seeds, sliced scallions and a generous sprinkling of shichimi togarashi.

A post shared by Lucia Lee (@foodminimalist) on

Imagine different tutorials that your target audience will love—even if they aren’t fitness- or food-related.

3. Go behind the scenes

Want a good way to humanize your brand? Just show your followers what goes on in your office. By letting your followers in on what goes on behind the scenes, you help them emotionally invest themselves in your company.

And no, do not just snap a photo of a bunch of sleepy-looking faces at a dreaded 10 am Monday meeting.

Show off the fun side of your workplace.

It might be anything from an employee working at their desk, an office dog lounging on its bed, or even a Bollywood-style dance number starring the entire office.

Take a look around your office. Ask yourself, “How could I show off this workplace to our fans?”

4. Conduct an AMA

AMA stands for “Ask me anything”. An AMA is a good chance to directly engage with your fans. It could also be a method to share thought leadership on any topic associated with your brand and build engagement.

It’s easy: Make a post soliciting questions from your followers and begin answering them in the comments under. While your followers could ask anything, you luckily do not have to reply to everything.

This Instagram post idea is particularly good if you are an influencer, or if your company has somebody who’s a thought leader in your industry.

Speaking of thought leadership …

5. Share valuable thought leadership

Sharing thought leadership is a good way to establish your brand as a leading source of good ideas and trends.

Thought leadership usually comes in the form of good tips, hot takes, or lessons on a topic. When you share it, your followers take a look at your brand as a reliable and related source of information. That’s good for engagement and model authenticity.

For instance, personal finance and growth expert @ramit often takes to Instagram to share a lesson or piece of insight with his followers. In doing so, his followers know to trust him as a source for personal finance knowledge.

When you aren’t a thought leader, it’s Ok! You could still share great insights from thought leaders to your readers by doing our next tip …

6. Conduct an interview with an industry chief

Sharing insights from leading innovators and thinkers in your business helps your followers immensely. And when you choose a big name in your business, the Instagram post could draw in new fans and build more engagement.

And you do not have to get the thought leader in front of your phone camera to do it. You could share a snippet of a podcast or YouTube interview you did with them.

In the example above, Matt Anderson of The Road Not Taken Podcast interviews Matt Lebris on his greatest lesson in business. He gives a creative Instagram post for his fans.

7. Jump on a trend

Trends, memes, and challenges are good methods to inject some fun and relevance to your brand.

Good examples of this are the bottle cap challenge above—or this one where @Ellen did the mannequin challenge.

View this post on Instagram

I'm in.

A post shared by Ellen DeGeneres (@theellenshow) on

Of course, you need to keep away from any of the ones that can hurt you or otherwise harm your brand, just like the challenges that require you to eat laundry detergent or unholy amounts of spicy foods.

You may as well share a funny meme or—when you dare—create one for yourself. When you select to do the latter, you better be sure it’s good. Otherwise, you are going to fall into /r/fellowkids territory (when a brand tries to relate to modern trends, however, fails miserably).

Share this post