What to Post on Instagram: 20 Ideas to Boost Engagement

Using social media for marketing and to increase your brand’s reach will only work if you stay active. However, finding new things to post can be tough after you’ve had the account for a while. Luckily, we’re here to help. Here’s what to post on Instagram when you run out of ideas.

1. Candid Appreciation Photos

A candid shot of an employee smiling at the camera humanizes your business. It helps your audience connect with your brand on a personal level, driving customer loyalty and potentially boosting sales in the long term. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to show your staff you care about them.

2. Unboxing Reels

People love a good unboxing video because it lets them experience excitement secondhand. Doing it yourself with an Instagram reel is a fantastic marketing method. Also, it could boost your account’s views. You show off your product’s packaging, take it out, show it off to the camera, and then display it nicely while repeating the process with other items.

3. Environmental Impact Metrics

Every demographic’s preference for sustainable products dramatically increased in the early 2020s — and they’re willing to pay extra for it. If you can find data on your business’s environmental impact and sustainability efforts, publish it monthly or annually in a special format. In all likelihood, your audience will value your transparency.

4. Follower Testimonials

People trust other people more than influencers, ads, or businesses. In fact, 95% of e-commerce consumers read reviews before making a purchase. Further, nearly 60% say they’d pay more for products with high reviews. If you want to take advantage of this, feature random followers’ actual testimonials on your Instagram account — make sure to tag them. 

5. Fun Facts and Stats

Almost half of Instagram-based brands post multiple times every week, so you need to come up with new ideas to stay competitive. Luckily, fun facts and stats are a great way to engage your audience. You can post what product sold best every week, how your follower count has climbed, or where your materials come from. 

6. Detailed Product Photos

Even though you probably have product specs or ingredient lists on your website, social media is all about convenience and supplying information on demand. Post about one of your items more in-depth occasionally to increase sales.

A detailed description of your product is what to post on Instagram to help sales. Most consumers are wary of photoshopping or highly edited pictures, so showing them the “real deal” can put their minds at ease.

7. Follower-Created Content

Surprisingly, social media users seem to be done with influencers. According to an inclusive survey, almost 90% of people don’t trust them. On the other hand, 82% say they’d be more likely to buy something if the brand used user-generated content.

Give your audience a hashtag and tell them you’ll feature their pictures if they showcase your product. It can drastically increase engagement, improve your business’s reach, and get people to connect with your brand personally.

8. Tutorials and Demonstrations

If you leave your audience wondering what your product looks like in real life or how it actually performs, you’re passing up on sales. Walk them through a tutorial or showcase it in a reel to give them a better idea of what they’re buying.

9. Your Brand’s Mission

You don’t want to seem like just another Instagram shop to your followers. Humanize your brand with a post about your mission — the “why” that started everything. Of course, you can keep things going by posting updates and telling your audience when you reach milestones.

10. Behind-the-Scenes Reels

Give your followers a peek behind the curtain with a special behind-the-scenes look into your business. Pictures of the quality assurance process or reels of order packing are fun ways to humanize your brand and draw attention to your products.

This sneak peek is what to post on Instagram when you want to seem more relatable. Helping your customers understand your business processes may even get them to be more understanding of shipping delays.

11. Follower-Featured Photos

Do you know what to post on Instagram to boost your following? Followers are foundational to any social media account, so engaging them as much as possible makes sense. Instead of paying an influencer to market your products, reach out to your audience to see if they’d like to be featured on your brand’s page. 

As a bonus, this Instagram post idea gives you plenty of follow-up opportunities. You can continue to showcase the pictures your followers submit, meaning you continually drive engagement. 

12. Interactive Q&As

A Q&A session is the perfect Instagram post idea for when you want to take a break from product showcases. You can post a picture telling your followers you’ll answer their questions in the comments. Frankly, they’ll appreciate the direct responses. Mid-morning posts draw the most user engagement, so try to engage them. 

13. Questions for Your Followers

Customer feedback and market research are valuable, but both can be challenging to organize. Fortunately, you can skip the middle-man and directly ask your followers what they want to see. Nearly 400 million Instagram users watch stories every single day on the platform, so a poll is sure to get plenty of responses. 

If you know what your audience wants, you can figure out what to post. In most cases, their responses will give you helpful insight. You could ask them what products they’d love to see, which item is their favorite, or if they’d like a new weekly newsletter.

14. Upcoming Events

Upcoming events like product drops, pop-up shops, and big sales are the perfect excuse to post on Instagram. Needless to say, it’ll drive engagement. If you have nothing coming up, make a seasonal or holiday post — you get bonus points if you figure out a way to work your product in.

15. Your Milestones and Wins

A few hundred or a couple thousand Instagram followers might seem like a small following, but remember to put it into perspective — each one is a person who enjoys your content. Post when you reach a milestone to make them feel included in your business’s journey. Hitting a certain follower count or getting record sales deserves a celebration.

16. Giveaways and Competitions

Do you know what to post on Instagram to drive engagement? Interactive posts are one of your best options. For example, you can give away gift cards to your store. People are more likely to like, share, comment, or sign up for something when they get a reward out of it.

You can hold contests to increase engagement dramatically. For example, you could require users to follow your account and sign up for the newsletter. You can award a handful of lucky followers with your merch and post pictures of them in it. In most cases, they’d increase your brand’s visibility just by wearing it.

Alternatively, you could hold a competition to decide which limited edition item you’ll permanently add to your store — whichever one has the most sales by the end of the month wins. Scenarios like this give you content and are a win for you and your followers.

17. Product Showcase Reels

A product showcase is classic — it’s what many people come to your account to see. It’s a fantastic choice when you don’t know what to post on Instagram. Keep in mind the app’s algorithm is more likely to boost your content if you use trending audio. 

18. Deals, Sales, and Coupons

If you need an Instagram post idea but don’t have much going on, consider running an exclusive sale or offering limited-time coupons. Even though you aren’t showcasing your products, you’ll still likely boost your sales since most people love a good deal.

19. Collaboration Photos

Sometimes, a brand’s social media accounts become stale because they recycle ideas. After all, it’s tough to know what to post on Instagram when you’ve been doing it for ages. When all else fails, collaboration is a great go-to option. A collab with another brand increases your brand’s reach and could boost its reputation. 

Consider creating a unique, limited-edition product for this strategy. If you don’t have the resources to do so, make the collaboration more about the message — say you want to temporarily combine efforts because your missions closely align. Alternatively, you could both offer the same coupon codes for particular items.

20. Calls to Action

A call to action is a classic Instagram post idea. You can ask your followers to sign up for the newsletter, follow the account, sign up for a member program, or use your business’s hashtag. Engaging your audience purely to interact with them is fine if you want to remind them of your current offerings. 

Now You Know What to Post on Instagram 

Fortunately for you, our ideas can help you figure out what to post on Instagram. If you ever feel like your content looks too similar, check out this list again to see what you can post to mix things up.