16 Creative Instagram Content Ideas for Constant Content Generation

Instagram is the social media haven for people in current times. Its popularity has far surpassed that off Facebook. 

If you want to create a successful business or make a brand out of it, you can't afford to miss out on Instagram. 

The only way to ace marketing and branding strategies on Instagram is through constant posting. 

But creating aesthetically appealing original content that aligns with your brand value can be difficult, especially when you have to do it consistently. Just like any other creative endeavor, you are likely to hit a creative block. 

This blog will give you 16 creative Instagram content creating ideas that will not only help you tackle a creative block but also make your Instagram profile look awesome.

1. Show behind the scenes footage

Voyeurism attracts people and glues them. This is because voyeuristic content is very relatable and raw, and people, therefore, find themselves easily connected and at home with it. 

This is the reason why voyeuristic reality TV shows and vlogs see such a high viewership. 

You can leverage this pro of voyeurism in your Instagram marketing strategy by posting behind the scenes content.

So not only can you easily gather a lot of real-time content to post, but also form deeper bonds with the audience.

Additionally, you also give a peek into how you create your products and services to your prospects and customers.

Swell Press is a one-of-its-kind, urban chic printing press, based out of Los Angeles. They make unique papers, cards, and other on-demand items from scratch. Here they are showing their color mixing process before dying a paper.

2. Broadcast Live DIY tutorials

DIY tutorials will always be in high demand as people are always looking for new ways to do things. DIY tutorials work well to connect with the customers at a deeper level and provide actionable value to them.

Live broadcasts are also a good measuring stick to analyze people's sentiments about your brand by reading their live comments and the amount of audience that hangs around during your live show. 

Live broadcasts also help you gather content to later share on Instagram as the full video or snippets.

Here's one of Instagram favorite kitchens - Smitten Kitchen going live to show followers some good recipes to make at home during the lockdown.

3. Leverage trending topics and convert them to posts

Look for what's trending on social media. It could be anything on the news or a trending hashtag. 

Whatever the topic is, make sure that the post looks organic and not forced. Do not post about anything you don't believe in, nor should you use a hashtag out of context, only because it's trending.  

Here's how MasterCard posts on the issues of racism, asking equality of opportunity for all. 

4. Never miss out on any significant days! 

Do not consider these posts as fillers. 

Posts on public holidays, national holidays, festivals, and others are a great way to connect to your audience. 

Such posts go on to show that you care about the culture of people and also celebrate them.

If your target audience is global. Make a list of all the important days that will fall in the next one-two months and post them all on Instagram. 

Having said that, your posts should not only limit what is mentioned above. Many other days are celebrated, and you can create posts acknowledging them as well.

Here's what Evernote posted on "Coffee Day." 

5. Use meme marketing with a central focus on products 

A meme could be an image, video, piece of text, etc., generally humorous in nature that communicates archetypal cultural and behavioral nuances. 

That means memes are important, and they have a significant impact on the people because of the message they convey and how.

They are easy to make if you get the hang of it, there are free tools that can help you generate memes. Memes can be excellent marketing material.

Here's Amazon Prime Video creating memes to stir up the online space with the classic Satirical film - Heathers.

6. Collaborate with influencers to promote your product

Estee Lauder, a leading makeup and skincare brand roping in Karen Sarahí Gonzalez -- a top all-things-beauty influencer with almost 5 million Instagram subscribers (as of 9/9/20) for promoting their new line of products. 

Check the video

You don't always have to choose those influencers that have a following of millions. Influencers charge a flat fee for every post, and all of them have a niche. Your business type should decide which influencers you use.

For instance, CaseApp is an online store that allows you with customized phone cover and laptop skins. CaseApp collaborated with Victoria Beacher, an Ohio based digital designer. Here is a perfect example of collaborating with the right influencer. 

Websites available will help you find the right influencer filtering through demographics like location, business type, number of followers of the influencer, and others.

7. Integrate Content Curation 

You don't have to create everything from scratch all the time. Practice the art of content curation. 

Here you pick up pieces of content already up online relevant to your industry and post it on your Instagram handles. 

Make sure you give due credits if you're using the second party content as is. It's generally a good practice to add your content to it to repurpose according to your brand and not make it look wholly copy-pasted.

Onsen is a brand that sells bathroom towels based out of Lehi, Utah. They're a fine example of how Instagram helps market and sell things as benign as towels.

Their Instagram feed is a mix of curated and original content. They take visually appealing pictures of modern bath spaces from interior designers and architects with often a towel hung.

SanDisk is another excellent example. As you can probably imagine, data storage is not a visually appealing industry. But, SanDisk still managed to ace their Instagram profile.

They take stunning landscapes from photographers and post them interspersed with the same kind of user-generated content through content curation. 

8. Invest more time in sharing User-generated Content

User-generated content helps you kill two birds with one stone. User-generated content not only helps with gathering original marketable content but also enables you to gain social proof.

The more customers post pictures, videos, and mentions about their (hopefully) good experiences with your brand, the more your brand authority increases, leading to business growth.

Located in Washington Square Park, New York, Lil' Frankie is an Italian restaurant famous for its delicious pizzas and pasta dishes. This eatery posts multiple user-generated contents as their Insta stories. This keeps its audience engaged and brand happening.

Another great example of this is Adobe. Adobe often shares pictures, designs, and other projects their users finished by using the Adobe editing software.

9. Create or be a part of Online Challenges 

You can either start your own challenge online, which is catchy, and has a cause behind. But this takes time. Therefore, piggyback on other trending challenges going around.

This will not only help you create content, but increase your searchability and engagement, and make people perceive that your brand is in the know! 

For instance, the Dalgona Coffee Challenge stirred up the internet in 2020. And many businesses leveraged it for their marketing campaigns, especially over Instagram.

Teami Blends, a health and wellness brand based out of Seminole, Florida, curated a host of skincare and inner wellness products leveraging tea's nourishing benefits. This is how they cashed into the Dalgona challenge.

Here's our classy Mercedes Benz cashing in on the other 2020's famous 10-year challenge, and crushing it quite frankly. 

10. Leverage the power of photo essays 

The New York Times leverages a photo of a Latin American woman with her daughter in a night suit.

This relatable picture is paired with a journalistic story in the caption explaining Latin American schoolchildren's plight and their education during the pandemic. The caption ends with a "link in bio" that then takes the readers to the main article.

Businesses can also use this method when they have any kind of story to tell. You can also redirect people to your blogs or any other marketing material.

11. Stories

Stories on Instagram give you a lot of scope for creating content. Here are some noteworthy ways:

• Product Teasers 

This is how R. M. Drake, a New York Times Bestselling author, announces his new book. Product teasers create anticipation and help you in increasing your engagement.

• Polls 

Polls are a great idea to post content and engage people in the most effective manner with the least amount of efforts. You don't have to create pictures or write anything, all you have to do is ask for a public opinion. 

Here's how Dunkin donuts' app Dunkin' App does it.

• Offers and Discounts 

Since stories only last for 24 hours, they give off a sense or urgency. Businesses can use this to give out offers to boost sales. Here is how pnwonderland, a community for explorers, does it. 

You can also engage customers and followers through asking questions, playing games amongst other things that Instagram stories offer.

12. Giving screen-time to the people who work for the business 

Give yourself and your employees some space in your Insta feed. Create an identity online to which your audience can relate to. This will help you make extra content. More importantly, it will help you build stronger relationships with the followers. 

Additionally, the more human faces on your Instagram profile, the more alive your brand may look. 

Here's how the retail giant Walmart brings humanness to its brand by uplifting and celebrating its employees' success. This also helps them stand out as a socially responsible brand. 

13. Consider making a collage once in a while 

This the finest way to stand out from your competitors. The first impression on seeing a collage on any Instagram profile is that of awe. 

Instagram collages will make your prospects and customers know that you are a high-end brand that simply does things well. In simple words, you'll impress them instantly.

These collages also help you quickly add multiple posts to your content calendar. 

Dan Brown, the world-renowned author of hit Novels like The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, has his Instagram game strong. His entire profile is a tapestry of collages.

Here's a splendid portrait of William Blake.

You don't have to go this hard. Some Instagram collages, once in a while, will do the deed.

14. Product Photography + Lateral Thinking

This will help you meet two goals at the same time. All you have to do is integrate lateral thinking. In simple words, think out of the box. Transcending the conventional. 

If you can easily implement its strategy in your product photography. An example would help.

Here's how The Herschel Supply goods and merchandise store based out of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Be creative, take some liberty. This will help you generate Instagram content ideas quickly and also make your posts very appealing.

15. Repurpose old published content on Instagram

It is a good idea to share an already published piece of content on Instagram. A blog post on your website, video on YouTube channel, or another marketing material like an infographic can be repurposed on Instagram.

Add new content to it if required, and add a direct link in your bio.  

For instance, in this example, you'll see how a blog is shared on Instagram. You can possibly use the same image as in the blog or make a new one. A good idea would be to write a snippet from the blog as the caption, as done here. 

16. Post testimonials and customer feedback

Humans love to be acknowledged and appreciated. Your prospects and customers -- the Instagram followers can be taken care of in many ways. 

Post your customers' feedback and mentions regarding your product, service, or customer support as Instagram posts. Do not forget to tag them.

With this you...

• Get new content to post 
• Motivate others to write out good experiences as well
• Build great customer relationship
• Increase brand value, and acquire new customers 

Here's how a packaging company in Tennessee, Nashville Wraps, does it.

Conclusion

We hope you have found these tips of value. The aim was to never let you run out of content ideas for Instagram and hit a creative block.

Well, you will always hit a creative block, but then come back to these points, and you'll be able to generate Instagram content again.