Image ideas for Instagram

I hear all the time from clients that they just do not understand how Instagram works and therefore sadly do not use it. Some common misconceptions include the following:

• It is only for young people

• You have to be arty and creative

• You have to have a good camera

• You have to have lots of great images to share

So just to put some of these misconceptions to bed, 68% of Instagram users are under the age of 44 with 32% being over 44 in 2015. You do not have to be arty, you do not have to have more than a phone (with a camera) and you do not have to have a huge amount of images of your products.

So what type of posts can you use to gain engagement, followers and hopefully sales?

There is no set answer to this question as every Instagram page will be different depending on the type of followers you have. The best thing to do is to try a variety of posts and see which ones work best for you in terms of engagement. Here are some varieties for you to consider:

1. Tell a story – show people the behind the scenes side of your business, how your products and services are developing.

2. Take pictures of your products on different backgrounds to vary the post, textured backgrounds, coloured backgrounds. If your products are too large for this try playing around with your business cards and brochures.

3. Personal photos. Let your followers see the people behind the business with the products. Maybe one post a week.

4. Other people's content – do not be afraid to share other content, but do remember to mention them in the post and tag them.

5. Customer photo's – if you are lucky enough to be sent images of your customers with your products or a review of their services use the images or create images incorporating their reviews.

6. Quotes – these types of posts are extremely popular as they unite people in agreeing with the quote. Post a quote once a week which can be related to your business or industry. Create your own quotes or use and credit others. Add them to your own images or creative backgrounds.

Remember social media is about giving value to your followers, not about what you want them to know or buy. There should be a human element rather than a corporate feel to your posts.

Once you have experimented with a variety of different posts over a month or so, you can look back and see which types worked best in terms of engagement. Was it a particular composition e.g. posts with a grid of images, posts in a particular colour, posts about a particular subject, quotes or posts that show a lifestyle rather than a product. Now you know where to go with your future posting schedule.

There are many other factors we could discuss regarding Instagram such as the times to post, captions, call to actions, questions, hashtags and gaining more followers but for now, try to get confident with the posts. Take a look at what other successful companies are doing in your industry, what works for them might work for you.