23+ Practical Instagram Post Ideas to Delight Your Audience All Year Round

Sometimes, Instagram post ideas just run away from you.

You want to create an Instagram post, but you’ve been staring at the screen for 5 minutes, thinking hard about what to post.

And before you know it, your mind wanders off to other matters.

This is when you wish you have a list of post ideas for Instagram.

That’s exactly what you’ll get in a moment.

I’ll explore 25 Instagram post ideas and how you can execute them to engage your audience.

Instagram post ideas

1. Share a personal experience

Even if you’ve spent only 6 months in your industry, you know a lot more than people outside it.

But because of the curse of knowledge, you can easily think that what you know is commonplace. If you think that, you’d be wrong.

Thousands of people can learn from an Instagram post about even the most basic topics in your industry. 

Let me give you an example.

The keyword “create Instagram post” gets over 2,000 searches every month (SEMrush data). So, sharing your experiences can deliver a lot of helpful information to your audience. 

But beyond that, it also helps you connect with them. Your audience can relate and engage with you as a person.

What experiences can you share with your audience?

• Misconceptions you had that have been proven wrong
• Myths that people outside your industry believe
• A peek into your workday
• Tasks you execute to deliver results
• The struggles you face with some tasks

You won’t believe how much you know about your industry until you dig into the tasks you execute every day.

Here’s an example from Lady in Medicine debunking some sunscreen myths:

She created an image and then explained with a detailed caption.

Your experiences are unique. Sharing them helps you publish content your audience can’t get anywhere.

2. Share a thought experiment

In 2012, Elon Musk mentioned that he was thinking about a concept for a fifth mode of transportation. That idea would turn out to be the Hyperloop.

Although the Hyperloop hasn’t turned out to be a viable form of public transportation, it was an effort to tackle the limitations of road transport.

As a writer, one common thought that runs through my mind is, how do some words convince people to reach for their credit cards to pay for a product?

This is a question that any writer can run through their minds for hours to build hypotheses about what really influences people.

This is what a thought experiment is all about. It involves connecting pieces of information in your industry and predicting possible results.

However, you can share a thought experiment with your audience. With this, you can position yourself as an expert trying to solve practical problems in your industry. 

Sharing thought experiments can also help you connect with experts trying to solve similar problems.

Another benefit is that it can improve engagement as other people share their thoughts in the comments.

To create a thought experiment, set up a situation about a problem in your industry. Then, let this situation run through your mind with possible solutions.

Once you fall on a hypothesis that makes sense, you can share it with your audience and ask what they think.

Here’s an example from Uma Naidoo, a doctor at Harvard:

With thought experiments, you can deliver novel ideas and improve your results.

3. Create quizzes and polls

Do you know your smartphone as much as you think? By taking a quiz, you may find that you know far less about your phones than you think.

But beyond smartphones, you can create quizzes about any topic. In this case, you want to create a quiz about an industry topic or your product.

There are a few benefits of creating quizzes and polls.

First, you can attract people who want to test themselves on a topic. From the quiz results, you’ll understand what your audience knows and uncover topics to address on your Instagram page.

With polls, you can do a small product research to understand customers’ preferences.

Instagram lets you add quizzes and polls to your Instagram story. 

All you have to do is select an image or video for your story background and then click on stickers. You’ll see poll and quiz stickers among the options.

Click on any of them to create one. Beyond creating a story, you can add quizzes and polls to your Instagram story highlights.

For example, you can even take it further by creating story highlights for your quizzes and polls. This can be a great way to optimize your Instagram profile to engage visitors.

Write the most important questions you want to ask your audience and you’ll have many post ideas.

4. Create contests

Whether you’re sending a job application or wooing that beautiful lady, you’re often competing with other people.

A contest brings this to your audience’s consciousness. 

To run a contest, you can set up specific tasks your audience will execute for a chance to win a gift. After the contest, the winner(s) will be the person who has the best performance in the task.

Running a contest can deliver many benefits. For example, you can increase engagement, improve brand awareness, and generate leads through contests.

Here are some steps to keep in mind when creating a contest:

• Use a gift relevant to your business and audience (preferably your product)
• Set up tasks for participants
• Create contest requirements
• Use the right Instagram contest tools
• Create an Instagram post about the contest
• Promote the contest

Here’s an Instagram contest by Toshikigirl:

Running a contest is a fun way to go viral and achieve your campaign goals.

5. Run giveaways

While contests are similar to giveaways, there’s a difference: winners of giveaways are picked randomly.

To run a giveaway, you can require tasks like liking, commenting on, or sharing a post. After the giveaway, you can pick a winner randomly using an Instagram giveaway tool.

Running an Instagram giveaway has similar benefits to running a contest.

Again, the steps to run both are also similar.

Based on my observation, the gifts for giveaways are usually of lower value compared to contests.

Maybe this is because you have to do more to win a contest.

Here’s an Instagram giveaway from Queen of the Thrones, a castor oil seller:

Overall, a giveaway wouldn’t put a big dent in your pocket, but it can deliver great results.

6. Share user-generated content (UGC)

If you have customers, they can be a great source of content for your Instagram account.

Think about it.

People post about most things on Instagram. You’ll see posts about their foods, cars, clothes, and even toilets.

So, chances are some customers have posted about your product. What you have to do is find those posts and share the best of them.

Sharing user-generated content (UGC) on your account can encourage other customers to publish posts about your products. 

But beyond that, your audience trusts UGC more than your brand content. In other words, if your customers praise your product, your audience will take it more seriously than if you do.

For example, UGC is 20% more influential than other media types when it comes to millennial purchases.

How do you find UGC to share?

First, you can go through your Instagram mentions. This is to find posts where a customer has tagged your brand.

But the best way to collect user-generated content is to be proactive. Specify a branded hashtag in your Instagram bio that customers can use for a chance to feature on your page.

You’ll find that in a few weeks, several posts have featured the hashtag. All you have to do is curate the content to find the best posts.

GoPro is a great example of user-generated content done right. Most of their Instagram posts are images and videos shot by customers with GoPro cameras.

The company also runs GoPro Awards to encourage customers to create amazing shots.

UGC is a free and trusted Instagram post idea that can convert more of your audience into customers.

7. Take advantage of holidays

Holidays come with a lot of good memories. And for your business, more engagement and sales can be a part of those memories.

Creating content about holidays can help you connect with followers who treasure those holidays.

Some Instagram content ideas you can use during holidays include:

• Sending greetings to customers who treasure the holiday
• Posts about holiday activities
• Product discounts
• Holiday collections
• Contests and giveaways

To give these posts more reach, you can use popular holiday hashtags.

A tool like Vista Social shows holidays in your social media calendar. You can see holidays for various religions and countries.

This ensures you don’t miss out on any holiday.

Here’s Arsenal Football Club greeting its fans for the Passover:

Holidays are fun, and you can take advantage of them to connect with your audience and sell more products.

8. Post about a trending topic

Trends occur every other week.

Once you find trending topics worldwide or in your country, you have an Instagram post idea. While every trend won’t fit into your strategy, you can uncover those that work for your brand and audience.

When you post about a trend, you’ll take advantage of an already popular idea. This can also increase engagement as many people can relate with your content.

For example, the recent solar eclipse was an event that drew a lot of attention. If there’s a way to create a post about it and connect it to your brand, then do it.

To find trends, you can use a tool like Later, which shows trends on its mobile apps.

Apart from that, you can find trends both online and offline. 

Another thing to note is that trends can fizzle out quickly. So, it’s important to key in to a trend when it’s still hot.

See an important life lesson that Dani DiPirro brought out from the solar eclipse:

When you find a trending topic, you have an opportunity to show the fun side of your brand.

9. Address a controversial topic

In 2022, the most popular moment of the Oscars was a controversial one: the moment Will Smith slapped Chris Rock after making a joke.

And when you look around, you’ll find more controversies in different walks of life.

In your industry, many issues divide even experts.

Addressing these issues can help you engage both people who agree and disagree with you. Then, you can gain more clarity about important topics in your industry.

How do you go about it?

Think of controversial issues in your industry. After doing that, pick the ones you have strong opinions about.

Then, develop these opinions from your experience and observations. Now, you’re ready to share some polarizing opinions.

Keep in mind that these opinions can attract a lot of people who disagree with you.

Here’s Support the Grieving going against what many people do:

Embrace controversy as a way to address difficult topics and engage your audience.

10. Share lessons from a blog post

What’s the last blog post you read that taught you something profound? Yes, that’s the blog post I’m talking about.

Why not share some of these lessons with your audience?

The reason for sharing is simple. You can deliver helpful information that your audience will be grateful for.

And by doing that, you’ll build more trust with them.

After reading helpful blog posts, you can jot down lessons in a physical or online note. Any day you hit a creative rut, you can bring up these notes to delight your audience once more.

Another option is to copy the lessons onto your social media management tool and schedule it for a later date.

Here’s an example from Daisy:

Whether it’s your business blog or an external site, the lessons you draw can be a source for many Instagram posts.

11. Share curated content

If you need to publish content regularly, your brand content may be insufficient to meet your audience’s expectations.

This is where curated content comes in.

Curated content is content from an external source that you believe will be helpful to your audience. When you find a blog post, podcast, or YouTube video that delivers profound insights, you can share it with your audience.

Social media content curation can help you deliver helpful content and build a reputation as a content source.

How do you go about it?

You can find content to share while browsing the web. You just have to look out for shareable content.

Another option is to find curated content with a tool. A tool like ContentStudio helps you find curated content and manage your social media scheduling.

Once you find the curated content, you can share it with your Instagram audience. Ensure you credit the original creator in your Instagram post.

But Instagram only allows one link in your Instagram bio. So, how do you share the link to your curated content?

This is where link in bio tools come in handy. They can house the links to your curated content so that your audience can click through to visit the page.

La Maison, a home decor brand, features a lot of content from creators on its Instagram page.

Your audience will appreciate it if you regularly share content that helps them solve important problems.

12. Share testimonials

When your customers explain how your product makes their lives easier, you find it difficult to hide the glow on your face.

Don’t you think people still slacking on using your product should hear these testimonials?

Of course, they should.

And the reason is simple.

A testimonial from your customer can do a better job of convincing prospects to try or buy your products.

If you have video testimonials, you can edit them to fit into the Instagram post format. Then, you can publish it.

While this is a good Instagram post idea, publishing testimonials too often can be harmful. So, make it an occasional thing.

Here’s a testimonial for a real estate broker, Julie Sebock:

Sharing testimonials is a great way to show prospects the results your products have delivered.

13. Create product tutorials

If you market a product, you probably know everything about it. This can lure you to think your customers have a similar experience.

That’s far from the truth.

This is why you should create and share product tutorials to take customers through how to perform specific tasks.

Doing this can help customers get more value from your product, which can keep them using it for years.

Before creating product tutorials, you can reach out to your customer support reps to collect a list of common questions customers ask about using your product features.

Once you have this list, you can create videos that show them how to use some features or perform some tasks.

Here’s a rainbow embroidery tutorial from We Are Knitters:

Sharing product tutorials can increase customer satisfaction and retention for your business.

14. Share a blog post

This one is simple.

You probably run a blog where you deliver juicy insights that can help your audience solve problems.

You can reach more people by sharing this blog post to your Instagram audience. At the same time, you can provide helpful information on Instagram.

Even more, you can get more people to your website to learn more about your products.

You have the option to share blog posts manually or use a social media management tool to schedule posts.

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need a link in bio tool to house your blog post links.

Here’s an example from Sprout Social:

Your blog posts are ready-made content pieces that can be used to engage your Instagram audience.

15. Share behind the scenes content

Sometimes, when people enjoy your product, they can wonder how it was created. This is especially applicable to complex products.

Apart from your product creation process, behind the scenes can also show how your employees work together to deliver great service to customers.

Giving your audience a peek into your processes can provide novel information that will engage them. It’s like a treasure hunt to uncover precious information.

To create behind the scenes content, think of what your audience will love to know about your product or company.

Then, you can create and share content that exposes your audience to an aspect of your business that’s often hidden.

In an Instagram video, Evan Tanaka showed behind the scenes of an image he created for Starbucks:

Behind the scenes content can help you connect better with your audience. 

16. Promote product teasers

You need to create demand for your product even before you sell to the public.

Many tech companies do this to ramp up publicity for a product. 

Apple is a master of teasing its products to build anticipation and pre-orders. For example, the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus got over 4 million pre-orders in 24 hours when it was available for sale.

When you share product teasers on Instagram, you can place your product in prospects’ minds before they need to buy it.

What are the things to have in your product teaser?

• Videos that show how the product looks like
• Explanation of the product’s unique selling proposition (USP)
• Explanation of how the product will benefit buyers
• Product purchase information

Here’s Reem promoting its new mug designs before their launch date:

Product teasers can help deliver information about a product before buyers need to pay for it.

17. Run product promotions

Why do people create a shopping list for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Because they can get significant discounts on all their favorite products.

But you don’t need to wait for the next Black Friday before running product promotions for your audience. You can run a few product promotions throughout the year.

Product promotions encourage buyers since they get the same product for less money.

When can you run product promotions?

• When you want to move old products before new ones become available
• When you want to create demand for a new product
• During holidays
• During company anniversary
• Anytime you feel like

Here’s a product promotion by Bruna Swimsuits:

Product promotions can help you move more products during a period of low sales.

18. Interview influencers

Interviewing influencers can be a great way to collaborate with influencers. 

While it may not sell many products, it can help build trust and brand awareness with your ideal audience. Apart from your audience, the influencer will also invite their audience.

It even gets better if the influencer is your customer.

Beyond that, an interview can deliver 10 content pieces for future updates.

For example, you can run an interview on Instagram Live. After the interview, you also get many snippets from the recording to post as Instagram Reels or Stories.

To find the right influencers, you can use an influencer marketing tool. But even without that, you can find influencers manually on Instagram and reach out to them.

Before interviewing influencers, ensure that they create content in your industry and have similar audiences to yours.

Another thing is to discuss the questions with the influencer before the event. This way, the influencer will be ready to deliver the best insights to your audience.

Here’s Sandra Peña, a travel blogger, promoting an Instagram Live session with Janet Aviles, a content strategist:

An interview lets you deliver helpful content and acquire more followers.

19. Execute a social media takeover

The idea of a social media takeover is simple. 

A social media takeover occurs when a person (influencer, popular customer, or employee) takes over your brand account and publishes content for a period, usually a day.

This can boost publicity for your brand.

For a takeover, you can either send your account login details to the person or collect and publish the content on their behalf.

Personally, I prefer collecting content from the influencer as it poses less threat to your Instagram account.

Here’s the announcement of Tish Melton taking over Women of Americana’s Instagram Stories for a day:

A social media takeover is another way to leverage influencer marketing to reach and engage more people.

20. Ask customer questions

People have different opinions about your industry topics. People in your industry may have different processes to achieve their results.

This means we don’t see and approach the world the same way.

But the great thing here is that people love hearing the sound of their own voice. So, they’re always willing to share what works for them.

Asking your customers questions helps to build engagement and learn more about them.

Here are some questions you can ask:

• Tasks they execute with your product
• Problems your product solves for customers
• What customers want you to talk about on your page
• What followers think about a topic

Asking questions can be a fun way to continue to engage your audience.

21. Post an inspirational quote

Here’s one of my favorite quotes:

“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons” – Jim Rohn

We all have that quote that hits us differently. 

That’s because inspirational quotes can teach us life lessons or lift our spirits on a bad day. In some cases, they can reinforce important messages in your industry.

And more, it’s easy to find inspirational quotes. All you have to do is use Google search properly, and you’re good to go.

You can also use a tool like Canva to design an image with the quotes.

What are some inspirational quotes you can publish on your Instagram page?

• Quotes from great historical figures
• Quotes from industry experts
• Quotes from internal experts and employees

Here’s an example from Yoga Medicine:

An inspirational quote can boost your audience’s morale and keep your Instagram account running.

22. Post about a product feature

You may know every tiny feature of your product, but chances are your customers don’t.

Because of this, they may only use a few features, which means they don’t squeeze the maximum benefits from your product.

Creating content about your product features provides awareness and lets customers get more value from your products.

And as you already know, customers getting great value equals more retention. But beyond that, you can convince prospects to try your product.

To do this, list the features of your product. Then, explain the benefits of each feature.

Once you have this, you can create Instagram posts about product features at set intervals. In this post, you’ll highlight the feature, how customers can use it, and the potential benefits.

In an Instagram post, MEQU Blood Warmer explains what an adhesive patch does in its product:

While you shouldn’t post product features every day, doing it at intervals can help current customers get the best value from your products.

23. Share how you give back to the society

One of the questions that bother people, especially in developed countries, is, “How can we give back to the society?”

How can we make the world a better place?

Many believe this is the responsible thing to do.

Companies that give back to the society receive bonus points from their audience for selflessness.

You can also encourage other people to do more.

Some ways your company can give back to the society include:

• Discounts for non-profits and students
• Donations to charities that provide food, water, education, healthcare, etc.
• Planting trees to preserve the world 

For example, Bespoke Cashmere Wool Blankets promises to plant one tree for every order placed on their website:

When you take these steps, you can share with your Instagram audience.

24. Repost content from employees

Chances are your employees have Instagram accounts. And they post about their workplaces from time to time.

You can repost some of these content pieces on your Instagram page.

Doing this gives your audience insight into employee life at your company.

This is easy to execute.

All you have to do is visit the account of your employees and repost content that puts your company in a positive light.

Reposting content from employees helps paint your workplace as a place people want to work.

25. Feature your employees 

Even when customers love your product, they want to know you treat your employees well. Apart from that, prospective employees want to know that current employees enjoy working for your business.

That’s why a platform like Glassdoor is popular.

But before they go to Glassdoor, you can bring it to them on Instagram.

When you feature employees on your page, customers will see another good side of your business and more reasons to buy your products.

Beyond that, you’ll attract more great employees.

To feature your employees, you have to ask questions like:

• What makes your workplace different?
• What is the normal workday for an employee in a specific role?
• What does an employee think about working in your company?
• How do employees collaborate with colleagues?
• What are the perks of working for your business?

Answering these questions will give you many ideas on how to feature employees on your Instagram page.

Everest Fleet is a travel company. Here’s the company featuring one of its employees on its Instagram page:

Featuring employees on your Instagram account is a great way of promoting your business through employees.

Conclusion

What do you do when no Instagram idea is around the corner?

Go through this list, and you’ll find an idea for creating engaging Instagram posts for your audience.

Bookmark this page so you can always refer to it when necessary.