I am guilty of falling into what I call “the consistency trap” when it comes to social media. You know that the name of the game when it comes to being successful on social media, like newsletters, is to post consistently on a regular schedule, but it gets SO overwhelming. How are you supposed to think of new things to post every day?
To me, this is one of the easiest, yet most time-consuming, questions to answer with an actionable guide. You can post anything you want, just as long as it’s beautiful and you have a blog post worth of captions to write for it, especially on platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. Suddenly this free marketing opportunity is taking time and energy away from your business. And it was simply supposed to help you promote! Ugh.
But don’t worry, as help is here! I’ve created a plan to help you (and me!) out with coming up with a few business post suggestions for Instagram and Pinterest, so let’s dive in:
Wait, should I focus more on Pinterest or Instagram?
There’s no easy answer to which social media platform is best for your business since they all do different things. I grouped Pinterest and Instagram together because, generally speaking, they tend to target the same demographics. However, the way they’re used is completely different and your strategy needs to be built around which platform offers the lowest barrier of entry for conversion for businesses like yours. I get into this a lot more in this post, but essentially you need to think about where your ideal customer searches for solutions to their problems that you can solve and then optimize the hell out of your profile and content there.
essentially you need to think about where your ideal customer searches for solutions to their problems that you can solve
BUSINESS POST Ideas for Instagram and Pinterest
Business post ideas for Instagram
If you’re running a product-based business, then I’d recommend using any of these business post ideas for Instagram:
- showing pictures of your workspace (if it’s clean!)
- shots of your process and other behind-the-scenes content
- customer testimonials
- things that inspire you to create
- members of your team, and most importantly;
- your products.
If you’re service-based, the ideas for you are somewhat similar to product-based businesses:
- Behind-the-scenes
- team members
- workspaces
- things that inspire you
- customer testimonials
- motivational or industry-related quotes
- conference/industry event recaps
- sneak peeks
- breakdowns of the services you offer
If you’re a blogger, then I’d recommend trying a few of these Instagram post ideas:
- making images of snippets from your blog posts
- topics you’re working on
- behind-the-scenes of your blogging process
- your writing space
- a day in your life
- other bloggers content you love
- tips that lead to your blog posts
- things and quotes that inspire you
- any industry events or conferences you head to
Tools and Third-Party Apps
I’ve written a post outlining which Instagram apps I’ve tried, but I use Planoly to help me load my content ahead of time (and I LOVE that it can also help me schedule Stories so I don’t feel so overwhelmed with finding things to post).
Content Ideas for Pinterest
If you’re doing straight pinning directly from Pinterest (which you should do!) then this one is fairly easy: just repin things that your audience will love and remember there is a difference between you and your ideal customer! If you’re utilizing Pinterest as a marketing tool for your business, then it’s no longer about recipes you plan to make this week (or never because you’ll totally forget about it if you’re like me!), but it’s about things that make your customer feel that you’re thinking about them and their needs.
Tools and Third-Party Apps for Pinterest and Instagram
The good thing is that there are apps that can help you front-load this content. I use Tailwind for things like this and it’s not only helped me load my own content but it’s also been really useful for finding similar content that will appeal to my audience.
Product-based businesses should focus on pinning content that is complimentary to their product line. So if you’re a clothing manufacturer, you’re going to want to find content that talks about optimal washing tips for wool/cotton/etc, neat ways to fold clothes, how to organize your closet, Konmari method tips, closet inspiration pics, and your products being worn on others (If you need to find images like this, I’ve used PlaceIt and love love LOVE it.)
Service-based businesses should look for content that is similar to their offerings but is more informational than transactional. If you’re a WordPress developer, then you’d want to look for pins that are about how to speed up a blog, little-known hacks for WordPress, why WordPress over square space, beautiful looking blog layouts, best plugins for X niche, etc.
Bloggers should focus on content that expands on a blog post topic. While it would be really cool to have boards dedicated to individual posts, that might get a little crazy to maintain and would be an overwhelming user experience, so try to group your blog posts into similar niches and make boards that relate to those (and then link to them in your blog post!). If, for example, you’re a fitness blogger then you’re going to want to make pins that compliment your blog post about a smoothie recipe so you’d look for posts about different fruits/veggies and their benefits, ways to meal prep with smoothies, why X blender is better than Y for smoothies, and inspirational posts from other bloggers that show how smoothies have helped them real their fitness goals.
What to Do If You’re Not Getting Conversions on Instagram or Pinterest
If you’re not seeing the results on Instagram or Pinterest as you think you should be, here are a few things to troubleshoot.
1. Give it three months before throwing in the towel – Even if you’re not seeing the kind of conversions you were hoping for, give it at least three months before declaring Instagram or Pinterest a failure. Chances are that your first few posts will be your most successful and it can take some time for people to get used to the new platform and learn your style.
2. Be consistent – One of the things that make Instagram and Pinterest so great is that you can see a lot of variation in posts from day to day (or even hour to hour), but consistency is key in order to keep people coming back. Make sure you’re posting on a regular schedule, including captivating images, and make sure your titles are catchy enough that people want to click through.
3. Use hashtags – If you’re using hashtags then chances are people are searching for similar content, so using relevant hashtags in your posts will help bring attention to your content. Try using popular keywords in combination with specific tags that relate to what you’re writing about (e.g., #fitfoodieforlife for healthy recipes).
4. Engage with your audience – One of the great things about Instagram and Pinterest is that you can connect with your audience directly. Share photos, ask questions, and engage in conversation – this will make your followers feel like they’re part of your blog and vice versa. If you’re not getting enough conversions then it’s time to up your engagement rate and spend at least another hour a week commenting, sharing, and liking other people’s posts.
5. Make sure you’re actually using calls to action (CTAs) – Remember that we’re all now dealing with short attention spans and decision fatigue. It might feel awkward to do so, but you have to tell people what you want them to do in every post. This is non-negotiable. Include CTAs like “Pin it”, “Subscribe to my blog”, and even a simple “like this if you agree!” If you’re not using CTAs then you’re losing out on a lot of potential customers who would love to hear from you but don’t know how or where to do so.
6. Rethink your audience – Not all of your followers are going to be interested in what you have to say. In order to really grow your following on Instagram and Pinterest, you need to rethink who your target market is. For example, if you’re a fashion blog, then your target market might be women aged 18-35 who are into fashion. On the other hand, if you’re a finance blog, then your target market might be people aged 25-55 who are interested in finance. The key is to figure out whose interests align with yours and focus on them.
6. Consider paying someone else to do it – If you’re really not seeing things work and you’ve tweaked your audience and done all the other things on the list you might just need to throw money at the problem to get your foot in the door. There’s no shame in hiring a professional marketing firm to help you get the most out of your social media presence.
The bottom line
Hopefully, that gives you a few business post ideas for Instagram and Pinterest to help move your business forward. But remember that the two most important things are: keep posting consistently and think about what your customer would want help fixing in their lives (and not what you want) and you’ll be way ahead of your competitors.
If you want more help with Instagram, check out my guide for how to increase your reach on Instagram.
Click these links for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok content ideas.
Want to see how I post my content? Check out these videos for my full workflows!
Want more help with Instagram? here are some of my favorite posts
- How to be popular on Instagram
- How to grow your business with Instagram Stories
- How to increase your reach on Instagram
- Plann, Planoly, or Later, What’s the Best Instagram Scheduling App?
