20 Instagram post ideas for better brand engagement

Improve your Instagram marketing strategy with a diverse content mix

Instagram is a visual-first social media platform, meaning that users can’t share text-only posts. Written content can be added as an Instagram caption and serves as an addition to the visual content that gets posted on the platform.

To keep your audience entertained, you’ll have to find a way to stand out from the average Instagram content creator. How? By diversifying your content mix. 

Essentially, posting more than one type of content can help you attract a wider audience, and keep your loyal viewers connected to your brand. 

Here are the reasons why a diversified content mix is important: 

• It keeps your followers engaged.
• It allows you to reach audiences with various interests.
• It helps you explore new ideas and offer more value to your audience.

To connect with your audience on a deeper level, your posts must spark curiosity and emotion. Easier said than done, we know! 

Posting different types of posts each week keeps your audience engaged and invested in your content, which will, in turn, help you generate revenue from the social platform. By experimenting with content types you will discover topics and formats your audience will interact with the most.

With a little bit of help from a social media management tool, you can diversify your posts according to your audience’s preferences, needs, and desires, all from the same intuitive platform.

The result? Your social media will thrive! 

First thing first, what are you going to post about? Let’s take a look at some of the content categories that SocialBee offers:

• Promotional
• Educational
• Quotes, questions & fun posts
• Blog content
• Evergreen posts
• Motivational posts

SocialBee’s main dashboard is where you can connect and manage all your social media accounts—Instagram included, both business and personal. 

Start your free 14-day trial at SocialBee today!

Assuming you’ve got all your content mix in place, now you have to figure out when and how to post them. With SocialBee, you can group all your posts into content categories, and then schedule them according to the best hours and days of the week. 

The best part? Your social media is being taken care of on a day-to-day basis without you having to manually do the Instagram posting.

A complete Instagram marketing strategy includes more than just a good content mix and a posting schedule. To boost engagement and grow your Instagram account, you’ll have to get ahead of the algorithms. A good way to do so is to use hashtags, mentions, and tags, and encourage comments through your IG posts. 

With SocialBee, you can create and reuse hashtags collections, so that whenever you’re posting a photo or a video, everything is ready to go. 

The top types of engaging content you can share on Instagram

Social media is all about the content you’re sharing on the platforms. If you want to keep your followers engaged and boost your brand, you’ll have to get serious about the content mix, what you’re posting, and how often you switch between the content categories. 

A good mix between video posts, carousel posts, and high-quality pictures is generally a great way to post on Instagram. 

Feel free to have fun when posting and alternate between designs to keep your audience excited. Now, let’s explore in detail some concrete examples and Instagram post ideas that you can use for each type of content! 

Here are the Instagram content categories we’ll explore:

1. Promotional
2. Fun & interactive
3. Motivational
4. Educational

1. Promotional Instagram posts

Without getting overly promotional, you have to get your audience’s attention towards your offerings. After all, that’s what’s going to make them buy and try out your products, which will, in turn, boost your revenue. Therefore, the first category of content we’ll explore is promotional posts. 

Promotional content aims to drive your audience’s attention towards your products and services. Instagram allows brands to create shoppable posts to help customers make a purchase much faster. You can add product tags on images and lead your followers directly to your store.

Examples of promotional posts include product showcases, discounts, sneak peeks, or video tutorials.

2. Fun & interactive Instagram posts

These types of Instagram posts aim to be relatable to your followers, entertain them, and spark positive interactions. 

From pics of cute animals to relatable memes, sharing struggles from running a business, doing pop quizzes, and offering exciting updates about upcoming events, everything that’s fun or interactive falls in this category.  

3. Motivational Instagram posts

Motivational posts inspire people to do better and live a more meaningful life. Everybody loves these types of posts because they bring positive emotions. They also generate a lot of engagement, since who doesn’t want to share some positivity with their friends once in a while?

There are numerous ways you can motivate Instagram users with your posts, such as inspirational quotes, personal stories, professional advice, or spotlighting someone you look up to, just to name a few.

4. Educational Instagram posts

These posts aim to share knowledge that will add value to their lives and help them make the right decisions. As a result, you will offer a helping hand while establishing yourself as a reliable source of industry-specific insights.

For instance, let’s say you offer renovating services. In this case, a great example of an educational social media post could be an Instagram carousel that offers tips on how to decorate a room to make it seem spacious

You can also create a series with tips, post dos and don’ts, and share industry insights, among other creative ideas.

Creative Instagram post ideas for a one-month content calendar

Now that we’ve established four content categories that are a must-have in your strategy, let’s mix them up and put together a content calendar. We’ve filled it with Instagram content ideas from all four post types to make the creative process easier for you.

Week 1

Start off strong with a mix of promotional, fun, motivating, and educational content.

1. Create a weekly series for your products and services

A weekly product or service series is similar to a Throwback Thursday post because it repeats every week on a certain day. These types of posts drive curiosity and anticipation in your audience’s minds and make them connect to your brand on a personal level. 

Make sure to write a compelling Instagram caption and detail the meaning of your post every time you share something with your followers. Rare Beauty’s post is a great example of this kind of series, as they use a fun fact about one of their beloved products.

Here are a few ideas for weekly posts that you can implement on any given day of the week that makes sense to you:

• Weekly unboxing videos
• Posting a featured product of the week
• Posting testimonials of your product
• Customer success stories or case studies

2. Post memes

Memes are a staple of the social media culture. As of 2024, memes have become a universal means of communication for Instagram users, especially for Generation Z. They are relatable, funny, spark lots of interaction, and they’re easy to implement in any feed post.

Take for example this funny post that incorporates the popular Ken meme to both generate laughs and highlight just how good Poppi’s Strawberry Lemon drink is.

Use memes to share common struggles, relate to your audience on a more personal note, and show that you’re a fun and active Instagram account. 

3. Share your professional journey through an Instagram carousel post

Many of your followers are likely going through struggles of their own, so much like the average person in their professional life, they could use a piece of advice.

Queenly Consulting used a carousel of images to share their personal journey, as well as a long caption to highlight just why it’s so meaningful to show others the path you’ve taken to success.

Assuring your audience that everything will be fine, that no one got to the top without hard work, and that you also had struggled to go through in your lifetime can be very comforting.

4. Post a sneak peek

Much like weekly series, sneak peeks boost anticipation. Let your customers know that you’re working restlessly to come up with new and exciting products or services and that you’ll be sharing everything with them as soon as it’s ready. 

Paula’s Choice shared a photo of an upcoming product that they are hard at work creating, and increased people’s excitement for it by posting exclusive behind-the-scenes posts. 

Not only will you drive up more engagement with these posts, but you’ll also create buzz around your future projects. 

5. Posts about industry dos and don’ts

Industry do’s and don’ts are generally posts that aim to put a stop to the misleading assumptions of an industry, and also give great advice on how to not fall into common field-specific traps.

Like this post that helps people grow their Instagram account without making certain common mistakes:

For example, if you’re in the field of business and consultancy, you could offer your Instagram followers advice on what not to do, such as: 

• Don’t buy securities and panic and sell them at a loss.
• Don’t go into business without proper research.
• Don’t underestimate the power of networking.

Week 2

Now that the first week of posting is done, let’s keep the ball rolling with even more great content.

6. Post video product tutorials

Tutorials are a great way to feature product videos or use multiple photos at once. When you go into detail about how people can benefit from your offerings and explain how they can use your products in their lives, the chances of them buying from you grow so much more.

If you’re in the fitness industry, like Superpro Samui, a video demonstrating how to correctly execute certain exercises is a great example.

Create posts in which you detail ways to use a product you offer or recreate a situation, a look, or anything related to your brand that can be of use to your Instagram followers through Instagram videos. 

7. Host a giveaway

Instagram giveaways are a great way to spark curiosity, boost engagement, and attract followers, as everybody loves to receive free items in exchange for a few simple tags and double-taps. 

Belmont Town Restaurant celebrated Family Day with their customers by offering them a chance to win a Charcuterie platter. A smart tactic that they used is counting multiple comments as multiple entries, increasing engagement even more.

From small business owners to major brands, everybody uses giveaways to insert product photos in the form of gifts and free benefits. Plus, it’s super fun to organize, it boosts your social media presence, and your audience will love it!

8. Post an Instagram story about a person who inspires you

Sharing is caring, and when you shout out your favorite content creators or role models, you’re not only networking but also proving to your community that you’re looking to promote your products and grow by yourself.

Letting others be part of your journey is an inspirational thing in itself, and Instagram users will appreciate you sharing valuable content with them. 

9. Offer your best professional advice

Regardless of your area of expertise and industry, everybody could use a piece of advice. Therefore, surprise your audience once in a while with your best professional advice from the industry you’re in.

Paige is a recovery coach, and in this post, she chose to share some gentle reminders for those who are too harsh on themselves. It can be very comforting for people to see that even professionals struggle, just like Paige says she does with setting realistic goals.

Start by providing them with your background story, then give examples of real challenging or inspiring situations from your journey, so that they avoid falling into the same traps you did and learn from your mistakes. This will build their trust in you and your services or products.

10. Explain industry terms

Don’t let your audience feel excluded by using terms that have yet to learn about. When it comes to explaining terms from your industry, be it finance, tech, science, or even from common fields like food and beverage or fashion, make sure your audience understands what you are trying to communicate.

I Adap You knows financial jargon can be tricky for most, which is why they created this great educational post that not only defines the concept of inflation, but also offers examples for easier understanding.

The more you let them in your world, the stronger your communication and connection will grow. Also, it’s a great way to diversify your posting content and draw more than just experts or well-versed connoisseurs in your circle.

Week 3

It’s time to implement some more cool posts, both self-made and user-generated.

11. Share user-generated content

User-generated content mainly consists of anything related to your brand that’s coming from your followers, customers, and other members of your community. UGC stands out from other posts due to its credible source: real customers. 

Some examples of user-generated content are:

• Reviews and customer testimonials
• Tutorials or unboxing videos from other online creators
• Photos/videos of people using your product

When your customers post on Instagram about your brand, showcase their posts by featuring them on your profile, as it shows that you value their input, like Lush Cosmetics often does on their profile. User-generated content is social proof that your brand has built a community of happy customers.

Influencer marketing is also a practice that relies on recommendations. So, if you have an influencer campaign planned in the near future, try to generate as much UGC as you can from your collaborators.

12. Share a photo and let your audience write the caption

A way to address your audience in a friendly way is to share a picture and let them write the caption for it. As a result, your comment section will thrive, while everyone gets to have a little bit of fun on your profile. 

Look at this adorable picture of Gus and Auggie. Who wouldn’t want to add a caption to compliment a picture of these cuties?

Such Instagram posts have a high potential of going viral right away! As for now, the #captionthis hashtag has more than 850,000 posts on Instagram. 

13. Share inspirational quotes

Quotes are shareable content, and with the ongoing popularity of Instagram stories, the chances of you getting featured on different profiles grow significantly. 

This post from the Motivation App inspires while also maintaining a minimalist aesthetic. It’s pretty and it makes sure your attention goes to the text.

You can post quotes about topics such as:

• Living a meaningful life
• The importance of consistency and determination
• Giving back to the community and being kind
• Working hard and being determined

14. Post about your company’s mission

In today’s world, people are no longer just looking at a brand as a source of products and services, but also as an entity that reflects their values.

The competition is fierce, and most likely, you have many competitors trying to dominate the market. 

Customers have plenty of options to choose from and that’s why is so important to differentiate yourself from other similar brands. One way to do this is to relate with your target audience and post content that resonates with their beliefs.

Stating your mission clearly, like Deca Dental Group has, will not only boost brand recognition but also attract like-minded people who share your core values and will stand by you in your social media journey. 

15. Create a how-to carousel

How-to Carousel posts are a great way to entertain your audience. Usually, they are short tutorials on how to do certain things. For example, if you’re a business that sells custom-made portraits or paintings, you could create a how-to carousel post where you detail how to draw a minimal portrait starting from a frame to the final product. 

North and Rose created one of these educational posts to help their customers get the most out of their diffusers. It’s a fun tutorial, and it also minimizes the risks of someone using the product wrong and then complaining about unclear instructions.

You can use how-to carousels to offer a step-by-step explanation of something specific to your company. 

Week 4

Finish the month with a bang with these last five post ideas.

16. Offer vouchers and discount codes

A great post idea for your Instagram feed is to offer your followers some benefits of being part of your social media community. By giving them exclusive access to your products and helping them save money by shopping from you, you’ll surely get one step ahead of other brands that might not do the same.

Wholemart used this promotional tactic on their Instagram and offered a promo code for 10% off on ice cream. A great plan for getting people to buy their cold treats from their shop on a hot summer day.

Some examples of financial benefits that you can offer as free content to Instagram users are:

• Vouchers
• Discount codes
• A free webinar
• Free shipping

17. Celebrate social media holidays

Holidays are a time of joy, peace, and leisure. With so much time on their hands, users spend much of their days on social media platforms looking at seasonal posts. Jules Delights knows that which is why they knew Mother’s Day is a perfect opportunity to entice people with some delicious chocolate-covered strawberries that can be offered as a gift.

Social media holidays are a great time to create product posts, promote an upcoming product, or post photos of any kind! To get access to a comprehensive list of holidays you can celebrate on social media, download our calendar below!

Social Media Content Calendar

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18. Post a “Fill in the Blank” post

“Fill in the Blank” posts refer to pictures that resemble puzzles, riddles, or wild guesses that your users have to debunk to find the answer, such as:

1. The XYZ company opened its first branch in __.
2. I’d love to see the XYZ company open a new location in __.
3. My favorite product from XYZ company is __.

Tincture Tailor encouraged their followers to share their intentions for June, which coincides with the month they would be launching a new wellness product. This generates both engagement and hype for their upcoming product release.

19. Create a weekly series with tips & tricks

Tips & Tricks posts are quite popular on Instagram, as people appreciate getting insights from different areas of activity without spending too much time researching and studying the field. 

These posts aim to offer surprising, yet useful life hacks that people can implement in their life right away. You can create these types of posts with little-known ideas from your industry.

For example, if your business revolves around finance, you could try sharing tips on how to save money, like @helpsavemoney does on their page.

20. Share industry statistics

Statistics are one good way to prove your company’s value by using real-life figures, entertaining people who like to talk in numbers, and sharing insights from your business or industry.

Roose Invest’s post is a great example of how to show numbers in a clear and easily digestible way.

You can use statistics in feed posts and Stories to talk about:

• The percentage of people who were satisfied with your offerings
• The number of recurring buyers you have (so that your audience knows you’re consistent in your services)
• The percentage of people who are starting to gain interest in your industry
• Findings from industry-specific studies

Frequently asked questions