• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Social Media Examiner

Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle

  • 🔥 Free Newsletter
  • ⭐ FREE Web3 Course
  • 🗓️ Our Events
    • Social Media Marketing World (Mar 13-15)
    • Other Industry Events
  • 💡 Society
  • ⚙️ Tools
  • 🎙️ Podcasts
    • Social Media Marketing Podcast
    • Social Media Marketing Talk Show
    • Web3 Business Podcast
    • Our YouTube Channel
  • 🎯 Partner With Us
    • Podcast Sponsorship
    • Email Sponsorship
      • Email Newsletter
      • Dedicated Email Blast
    • Event Sponsorship
      • Social Media Marketing World
    • Tools Sponsorship
  • 👋 About Us
    • Our Story
    • Articles
      • Web3
      • Instagram Marketing
      • Facebook Marketing
      • YouTube Marketing
      • LinkedIn Marketing
      • TikTok Marketing
      • Expert Interviews
  • Search
  • Social Media Marketing World10th annual. Biggest industry event. Sale ends soon!IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING

    Building an Instagram Content Strategy That Lasts

    by Michael Stelzner / May 12, 2022

    Does it feel like your Instagram posts are falling flat? Wondering how to create a steady stream of content your audience loves without burning yourself out?

    In this article, you'll discover the three-part framework for building a long-term Instagram content strategy that works including the types of content that perform well.

    Building an Instagram Content Strategy That Lasts featuring insights from Katie Steckly on the Social Media Marketing Podcast.
    This article was co-created by Katie Steckly and Michael Stelzner. For more about Katie, scroll to Other Notes From This Episode at the end of this article.

    How an Instagram Content Strategy Can Help You Avoid Burnout

    A lot of social media managers, marketers, and business owners get overwhelmed trying to keep up with all of the content they're posting online every day. They spend a lot of time researching what content performs well but don't focus on creating a sustainable long-term content strategy.

    The truth is, you can have the best plan in the world and know exactly the type of content you want to post, who you're going to reach with it, and what hashtags you're going to use, but if it's not something you can execute consistently over time, then that strategy isn't going to help you meet your goals on Instagram.

    Instagram growth relies on a slow and steady approach to organic posting. So when we talk about putting together a sustainable strategy for Instagram, what we're really talking about is creating a plan that you can execute for weeks, months, and potentially years to come without falling victim to burnout.

    When you feel exhausted by the platform you're posting on, it's hard to find the motivation or creativity you need to continue creating content for that platform, which is, of course, the ultimate detriment to your growth. Additionally, it's far easier to prevent burnout than it is to try to come back from burnout.

    In fact, the only way to come back from burnout is to give yourself a long enough break to recover and self-reflect. Unfortunately, most marketers don't have time to take a break to self-reflect, and the anxiety builds while they try to power through their burnout, which can actually make the exhaustion last longer, hit harder, or both.

    One of the best ways to prevent burnout is to build a content strategy that you can consistently deliver without feeling overwhelmed. Here's a three-part framework you can follow to develop a plan that works for your business.

    #1: Identify the Content You Love to Make

    The first component of this strategy is posting content you love to make. This is an important piece of a sustainable Instagram content strategy because when you're posting content you genuinely enjoy making, it will be less taxing to produce and easier to deliver consistently over time.

    image of Instagram reel for business example

    Chances are, the type of content you enjoy posting is also the type of content you enjoy consuming. If you love watching Instagram reels, for example, that's a good sign you might enjoy creating reels because that format speaks to you. You'll also understand the trends and structures that work well in reels so you're going to be a better creator.

    If, on the other hand, you don't enjoy short-form videos and find yourself procrastinating on tasks related to publishing reels, you probably don't want to make that content a part of your core strategy. That's not to say that you would never record or publish an Instagram reel, just that you would be very selective about when to publish one.

    You'll need to take an honest look at yourself and your strengths as a creator. Are you good at writing captions or do you feel more comfortable going live and talking? Do you enjoy taking photos? If you lean into your creative strengths, that's going to help you more naturally create content for Instagram and avoid burnout.

    #2: Find Out What Content Performs Well With Your Audience

    Before we talk about the different kinds of content on Instagram and what they each do well, it's important to remember that performance on Instagram is very subjective. Just because something works for someone else doesn't necessarily mean it will work for you. It's all going to come down to your audience and what they respond to. Here are four popular types of content to consider including in your Instagram strategy.

    Instagram Reels

    Unlike the regular Instagram feed and Instagram Stories feed, the Instagram Reels feed is organized around topics a user has expressed an interest in rather than the accounts they're following. So Reels is a great way to get in front of new audiences for your business.

    The Conference You've Been Waiting For

    As a small business marketer, you can probably only pick one or two events to attend each year. Get back into the game with an unbeatable conference experience and expert training at Social Media Marketing World in sunny San Diego, California—from your friends at Social Media Examiner.

    🔥🔥 As a valued reader, you can save $400 if you act now! Sale Ends Friday!

    CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

    There are a few formats that perform well on reels. Obviously, putting your own spin on a trend or using trending audio can be effective, especially if you can find a way to tie it back to your business.

    image of Instagram reel music library

    And more recently, creating your own audio in the style of talking directly to the camera also works very well. But you want to approach creating a talking-to-camera reel differently than you would for a regular feed video or story.

    When you post a video on your feed or story, you're posting for somebody who knows you and trusts that it's worth their time to watch. But when someone sees your reel in their feed, they may never have seen you before and don't have that trust built up with you. When you're creating a reel, use a stronger hook at the beginning to catch people's attention and some snappier edits to keep the reel engaging.

    And, of course, tutorials can also be an effective way to reach your ideal follower and solve a problem for them.

    Carousels

    Instagram carousel posts are also proving to be highly effective for businesses. This format seems to work especially well for educational graphics with text overlays that answer a question or solve a problem for your audience.

    Tools Resource Guide

    Looking for something to make your life easier?

    Discover the tools we recommend to drive engagement, save you time, and boost sales across your entire marketing funnel or business.

    Whether you need help planning content, organizing social posts, or developing your strategy, you’ll find something for every situation.

    FIND YOUR NEXT FAVORITE TOOL
    image of Instagram carousel post for business

    And if your audience finds the content valuable, they can easily share it to their Instagram story, which gets you more organic reach. Keep in mind that your carousel images will perform better if each slide within the carousel can also work as a stand-alone graphic since people can only share one slide from your carousel at a time.

    Memes

    If you haven't already tried them out, you may want to consider using memes in your marketing, which have grown in popularity on Instagram over the last few years. A meme could take the form of a joke in the context of your niche and possibly some pop-culture references. Anything that's highly shareable, funny, or relatable tends to perform very well.

    And the good news is that it's easy to create a meme. You can use a platform like GIPHY to find inspiration and ideas for your memes.

    image of Instagram meme for business

    When you create a meme, it's important to choose pop-culture references that your ideal followers can relate to. If your meme hits the mark, you can get lots of great comments and people sharing it to their stories, which can help with your organic reach.

    But don't feel like you're restricted to only using pop-culture references. You can use images of yourself, members of your team, or celebrities and get creative to create a meme related to your niche or industry that's funny and shareable.

    Tweet Graphics

    Tweet graphics, or images designed to look like tweets, are also very popular on Instagram. This kind of content is short and consumable, and it's easy to add to your Instagram story if the quote is something you connect with or agree with. This kind of format also works for sharing a quote you heard in a podcast or a thought you have about your industry that your audience might relate to.

    image of Instagram tweet graphic

    Photos Combined With Long Captions

    Candid photos paired with longer Instagram captions are also effective on the platform. This type of content works especially well when you use the caption to tell a real story about you and your business from a place of transparency and vulnerability.

    When you show your vulnerability online, you build trust with your audience. It can feel scary to share something personal or that you feel insecure about and wouldn't normally share with the public. Your audience can sense that and appreciate that trust you're extending to them.

    A longer caption also gives you more of an opportunity to connect with your audience and build that know, like, and trust factor we're always after.

    image of Instagram business post with photo and long caption

    #3: Determine How Much Time You Can Allot to Creating Instagram Content

    Once you've identified the type of content you want to post that will energize you, now you have to find the time to post it. Sometimes, just going through the first two components of this content strategy will get your creative juices flowing and motivate and inspire you to start creating content. But as you draw up a list of ideas to create, don't forget you need to make time to execute them.

    This is where time management is going to play a significant role in your Instagram content strategy.

    Start by analyzing your calendar, doing a little bit of self-reflection, and then performing an audit to find out where you're spending your time when it comes to your Instagram content. It might be effective to use a time tracker app and log your content creation time for a couple of weeks. Then you can see how long it takes you to perform certain tasks as you go through your workflow and create content for Instagram.

    Katie Steckly is an Instagram marketing expert and the founder of Creatorly Media, an agency that helps coaches and small business owners convert followers into customers using social media content. She's also host of the Creator Club Podcast.

    Other Notes From This Episode

    • Check out the free resources Katie mentioned at KatieSteckly.com/SME.
    • Connect with Michael Stelzner at @Stelzner on Instagram.
    • Watch exclusive content and original videos from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.
    • Tune into our weekly Social Media Marketing Talk Show. Watch live on Fridays at noon Pacific on YouTube. Listen to the replay on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.

    Listen to the Podcast Now

    This article is sourced from the Social Media Marketing Podcast, a top marketing podcast. Listen or subscribe below.

    Where to subscribe: Apple Podcast | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

    ✋🏽 If you enjoyed this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast, please head over to Apple Podcasts, leave a rating, write a review, and subscribe.


    Stay Up-to-Date: Get New Marketing Articles Delivered to You!

    Don't miss out on upcoming social media marketing insights and strategies! Sign up to receive notifications when we publish new articles on Social Media Examiner. Our expertly crafted content will help you stay ahead of the curve and drive results for your business. Click the link below to sign up now and receive our annual report!

    YES! I WANT YOUR UPDATES

     

    Get Your FREE Course: Web3 for Beginners

    Web 3 for Beginners

    Curious about Web3, but don't know where to start or who to trust?

    Introducing Web3 for Beginners, a course taught by Michael Stelzner, the founder of Social Media Examiner.

    Learn the basics of Web3 and apply it to your business with this FREE comprehensive course.


    CLICK HERE TO GET FREE ACCESS

    Tags: Instagram, Instagram Reels, Social Media Marketing Podcast

    About the authorMichael Stelzner

    Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner and the Social Media Marketing Society. He's host of the Social Media Marketing Podcast, the Web3 Business Podcast, and he's founder of the Social Media Marketing Society. He also authored the books Launch and Writing White Papers.
    Other posts by Michael Stelzner »

    Get Social Media Examiner’s Future Articles in Your Inbox!

    Get our latest articles delivered to your email inbox and get the FREE Social Media Marketing Industry Report (39 pages, 50+ charts)!

    Industry Report Cover

    Worth Exploring:

    Facebook

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Instagram

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    YouTube

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Linkedin

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Web3

    Marketing Help Explore More →

    Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Get Free Report →

    Social Marketing Trends

    The data you've been missing!

    Need a new plan? Find out how thousands of marketers plan to change their social marketing activities in our 14th annual Social Media Marketing Industry Report. This 39-page report reveals what marketers have planned for their organic social activities, video marketing, social ads, and more. Get this free report now and never miss another great article from Social Media Examiner.

    Enter your email to get
    our free report:


    Footer

    Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
    Copyright © 2023 Social Media Examiner®
    All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use | Privacy Policy.

    Helpful Links

    • About us
    • Our content via email
    • Our podcasts
    • Our YouTube channel
    • Our live show
    • Our industry report
    • Sponsorship opportunities
    • RSS
    • Accessibility