Almost all social media users are on Instagram. As of 2024, there are 1.4 billion people on Instagram, which is only expected to grow in the coming years. Needless to say, it’s a social media staple — which is why any business owner or professional should be utilising the platform to expand their reach.
The challenge: posts, stories, highlights, reels—new post types and editing options are popping up at the speed of “like,” and it can feel like a jungle out there!
Want to know how Instagram works? Emily Cooke — the Head of Strategy at social media agency Brandshake and VA Lead Network’s trusted social media guru — to the rescue! She’s here to explain the different types of Instagram posts for business owners like you.
Note: These are generalisations based on Brandshake’s experience in agency and can be considered a starter guide to the formats of content you can produce.
How Instagram works: fundamental formats
Virtual assistants are often crucial in managing their clients’ social media presence. Understanding each type of Instagram post for businesses empowers you to maximise engagement, efficiently manage the platform and (not unimportantly) increase the lols (and community) along the way!
Posts. They’re here to stay
You can’t go wrong with a classic: a post. These are the happy snaps and < 60-second videos (reels, more on these below) that make up your profile ‘grid’ (the squares on your page) and appear in your followers’ feeds. Without posts, there is no grid and no feeds to scroll through, which is a Gen Z ‘thing’ now (Grid Zero, but that’s a whole different story).
Let’s be honest: not all posts are made equal. Single static images are pretty self-explanatory, but that’s only the beginning.
Carousels let you pick up to 10 images or clips. They generally perform much better than single static posts.
The perks of a post:
- You can pin up to 3 x posts to the top of your feed, so it’s the first thing people see when they visit your profile.
- You can add a ‘shop’ feature in posts that link to products on your website.
- Posts remain on your profile unless deleted, providing long-term visibility.
- From likes and comments to shares and re-posts, these are all visible forms of engagement with a post. Why is this good? Brand awareness.
- Your grid of posts is an aesthetic representation of your brand. It is like your social business card (remember those?!).
A short story about Stories
Stories are temporary types of Instagram posts for business and personal accounts. They can be photos, videos, or text-based. The best part? There is an abundance of interactive stickers, filters, and other features that you can use to engage with your audience.
Stories’ temporary nature makes them the perfect format for more ‘unpolished’ content while instilling a bit of FOMO. Blink, and you’ll miss it!
Is your story too good to let expire? Turn it into a ‘Highlight’ and organise them on your profile so they stay under your bio for as long as you want.
The sweeteners of stories:
- Stories feel more real and relatable; the antidote to the polished feed.
- You can link to stories on your website.
- Tap into stickers, interactive elements and filters to engage your followers.
- Turn your Stories into Highlights and organise them for easy access on your profile.
Sh*t gets Reel
Now we’re getting into viral territory! Reels are videos up to 90 seconds long, designed to entertain and inspire. There are a LOT of similarities between TikTok and Instagram Reels, and you’ll find many accounts posting the same content across both (this is not necessarily a good long-term strategy, but it’s better than nothin’ on either).
Thanks to the ‘Explore’ section and people’s sharing habits, they’re great content to reach users who don’t yet follow you. But there are a couple of know-hows to unlock its potential.
Why reels are rad:
- You’re likely to reach a broader audience than just your existing following by using features of reels like trending templates and sounds.
- Instagram acts like a new Google with SEO principles in some ways. The algorithm helps your content reach people by including keywords, captions, and hashtags relevant to your brand and audience. This stuff is learnable, and implementing it will help you grow your reach and following.
- Reels build trust with your audience. By showing the people, real projects, and social proof behind your brand, you’re more likely to build community than with graphics and static templates alone.
Posts | Stories | Reels | |
---|---|---|---|
Stills | Yes | Yes | No |
Videos | Yes, up to 10 seconds long | Yes, up to 60 seconds – which will be automatically split into 4 Story Cards. | Yes, up to 90 seconds. |
Feed | Yes | No | Yes |
Profile | Yes, and you can pin your 3 top posts too. | Only if you turn them into a Highlight. | Dealer’s choice! |
Extras | Combine multiple pieces of content into a carousel. | Boost engagement with interactive stickers and filters. | Use trending sounds to please the algorithm. |
What are some exciting things to post on Instagram?
Unfortunately, there’s no one answer to what to post on Instagram. It depends on your service offering, how willing you are to invest time into content, whether you want to be the face of your brand, and whether you’re happy to get on camera.
As a starting point, you might try one of each (a story, a reel, a post) once a week. You might want to jump right in and hone in on reels. Why the vague suggestions? You need to be guided by your objectives: organic social media marketing is a long game.
To know what things to post on Instagram, you need a solid understanding of your target customer. Chances are that you’ve worked with them for so long that you know their motivations, wants, fears, and scrolling habits.
Then, your social presence should reflect this—to attract, nurture, and engage your audience before you expect them to go to your website and convert. To be ‘scroll-stopping, ‘ content needs to be educational, relatable, and inspirational. Still not sure what to post on Instagram? More on that in another guest post from Brandshake here.
Know-How Pow wow
Between Posts, Stories and Reels, you’re well on your way to becoming King or Queen of Instagram’s content jungle. But there are a couple more formats and features to remember when tackling this platform.
- IGTV is Instagram’s longer-form video content, allowing videos from one minute to 60 minutes.
- Don’t forget about a searchable bio; use keywords to describe your business.
- Remix and Sequence Reels to push your creativity and boost engagement.
- Collaborate with other accounts to reach their audiences, too. A little you-scratch-my-back-scratch-yours can go a long way!
- Comment, share, bookmark – engagement gets you seen.
Pandering to the Algorithm Gods
Knowing what to post on Instagram goes beyond understanding the different formats. Determining your account’s most effective post types involves understanding their brand, audience, and goals.
And then there is ✨the algorithm✨
The Instagram algorithm determines what content appears and in what sequence of whatever format you’ve just learned about. So, you want to be on Algo’s good side. But how? Original content, frequency, and relevance are what we hear on Instagram.
While Instagram has announced the algorithm will change to reward original content, we’re still seeing trending sounds (and often their matching content trends) making a big splash for relatively little effort.
Frequency is key to maintaining visibility and engagement on Instagram. Again, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, and quality is more valuable than quantity.
This is where another key component of pleasing the algorithm comes in: relevance. What are the chances of engagement on a poll? Does the user respond to humour in Reels? Is this carousel going to teach them something? So we’ve talked about Instagram’s content formats, and now we move on to what to post on Instagram. Check out some content ideas here.
Now, skip off into the land of likes.
Mastering Instagram’s diverse content formats is essential for managing social media accounts or just having some fun. By understanding the nuances of the formats, you can craft a well-rounded plan that maximises engagement and aligns with your marketing goals. Consistent posting, relevant content, and continuous analysis are key to pleasing the algorithm.
So, that’s how you thrive on the Gram right now, but Instagram is always changing — be sure to get familiar with the latest!
📸 See how we do it over on the VA Lead Network Instagram.