With over 1 billion users actively snapping and uploading photos every day, there has never been a better time to take advantage of what is quite possibly the most powerful social media marketing platform in the world: Instagram.
Before your business can start generating leads and converting new customers using Instagram, you will first need to spend some time getting used to this intuitive visual platform. The best way to gain a fundamental understanding of how Instagram works is to dive in head first and start posting.
These 10 photo challenges are perfect for Instagram novices who want to start posting relevant content that engages users, gain a better understanding of how hashtags work, and break into Instagram’s coveted discovery feed.
1. 52 Photos, 52 Weeks
The first rule of Instagram: post consistently. You don’t need to start posting daily from the jump, but a modest goal, like one photo a week, is an effective way to incorporate Instagram into your marketing stack. By posting once a week, you can engage established clients and customers while maintaining a small degree of visibility with fringe customers.
#52photos52weeks #weeklypost #weekinreview
2. Wellness Wednesday
Everyone knows that Instagram users are fixated on health and wellness. This fixation even lead to a brand new career field: fitspo models (essentially fitness influencers). Showcase your brand’s dedication to health and wellness by posting photos of your team enjoying the outdoors, eating a healthy meal together, or exercising. This is a great way to drive casual engagement with users. These types of interactions typically lead to continued engagement over time.
#wellnesswednesday #workoutwednesday #healthyeating
3. Throwback Thursday
Quite possibly the most popular Instagram challenge, Throwback Thursday inspires users to post a photo from the past. Funny baby photos, awkward high school pics, or photos of your business from long ago make for compelling content that cultivates likes and makes it easier for users to connect with your brand.
#tbt #throwbackthursday #lookingback
4. Friday Funday
After a long week of working (and hopefully posting on Instagram), it’s always a good idea to unwind with a simple photo challenge like Friday Funday. This challenge is self-explanatory; post a picture of your business having fun. By utilizing a call to action or positing a question to your target audience, you can organically generate comments and likes.
#fridayfunday #funfriday #justforfun
5. Lunch Break
Instagram is the king of foodie photography. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an account without a single picture of food. Our fascination with pictures of food is logical — food is typically bright, photogenic, and easily staged — and the fact that we eat lunch every day means we’re afforded the opportunity to post every day. Photos of lunch allow you to spotlight your team when they’re not working, which helps you connect with your target audience and break bread digitally.
#lunchbreak #lunchstagram #foodieblog
6. Jumpstagram
Do you remember the ending of every 80s and 90s movie ever? Typically, the conflict is resolved and then something magical happens: all of the protagonists jump skyward as the shot freezes mid-air and the credits roll. The Jumpstagram challenge tasks you with recreating this type of iconic image. The benefit of this challenge is twofold. First, it shows your target audience that the members of your team are close, which inspires confidence in your business. Second, it’s a fun activity to break up the monotony of the day.
#jumpstagram #jump #photofinish
7. Pet Portrait
Pets are universally loved by Instagram users. Incorporating your furry friends into a content-lite post helps to humanize your staff and engage your target audience. Interacting with pets makes people happy even if that interaction takes place from the other side of a mobile display. Pet lovers have a tendency to vocalize their love for animals on social media, so pet-related posts commonly result in comments, likes, and shares. Dogs are the most popular pets on the internet, but cats, lizards, birds, and fish are all capable of helping you engage with your target audience.
#petportrait #animalsatwork #petstagram
8. Love What You Do
Prospective customers are more likely to utilize the products and services of a company that truly loves what they do. Why? When you love what you do, you’re more likely to deliver high-quality results and put forth the extra effort necessary to separate yourself from your competition. Posting photos of your team working happily shows that you value a healthy work-life balance and allows your workers to complete tasks diligently without feeling overburdened. Confucius said it best: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
#lovewhatyoudo #worklove #lovemyjob
9. Quotable
You can create fresh content for social media by repurposing new and existing SEO content as a shareable graphic. Quotables, or visual content that focuses on a quote as the focal point of an image, are easy to design and even easier to share. Promote existing content by posting a quotable on Instagram that redirects users to the article hosted on your website. If you put in the effort, you can create a content marketing strategy around existing SEO content.
#quotable #quotes #inspiration
10. Past and Present
How has your business grown over the years? As you evolve from humble beginnings and achieve true success, it’s always a good idea to take a retrospective look at how far your brand has come. This is an effective Instagram challenge for a number of reasons; most notably, it allows you to showcase the growth of your business without coming off as braggadocious and it allows you reconnect with long-time clients who have stuck with you since the beginning. You can utilize Instagram’s photo album feature to provide your target audience with separate images for your past and present challenge on the same post.
#pastandpresent #changes #thankyou
How do your customers view your business? Do they see you like they see any other business? Or do they see beyond your operations and into the heart of your brand? In today’s economy, competition is stiff, so it’s imperative that you find ways to set yourself apart. Humanizing your brand using curated visual content can help you connect with your target audience and convert new customers. Our agency has the tools and expertise to help you develop a customized social media strategy that grows your brand with measurable results.
