20 Inspiring Instagram Post Ideas for New and Unique Content

Executing a successful Instagram marketing strategy means posting regularly—three to five times per week, to be exact. How can you come up with that many creative Instagram posts? 

To inspire your brainstorming, here are 20 Instagram post ideas with examples of how to implement them.

20 top Instagram post ideas

1. Post product photos
2. Tell a story
3. Reveal a before-and-after transformation
4. Capture behind-the-scenes content
5. Experiment with horizontal Reels
6. Repost user-generated content
7. Introduce an employee
8. Announce new products or business milestones
9. Seize the season
10. Conduct interviews
11. Inspire with a quote
12. Share a brand value
13. Cover an event
14. Make a meme
15. Highlight a promotion
16. Answer a question
17. Post a "Get ready with me"
18. Post a tutorial
19. Share a POV
20. Create an ASMR video

From telling the story behind your products to recapping an event, there are many types of posts that can help you stand out on Instagram. Here are 20 ideas to help you create consistent content on Instagram: 

1. Post product photos

Posting high-quality pictures and videos of your products is an easy way to create Instagram content. You already have product photographs on hand, and you can always snap new photos. Don’t worry about making it too slick: Avoid images that look like ads that Instagram users will scroll past. 

Each post is an opportunity to pitch your products, so write interesting captions. Highlight features and benefits that make your products stand out from those of your competitors. 

See how this product photo from olive oil company Brightland highlights the bottle’s artist-designed label:

2. Tell a story

From books to TV to movies to social media posts, people love stories. Telling the story behind your brand brings personality to your social accounts. 

You can tell the story of how you conceived your company idea or highlight brand choices, a tactic skin care company Dieux uses to generate interest. 

In an episode of Shopify Masters, Dieux founder Charlotte Palermino discusses how she uses social media to highlight Dieux’s take on important issues like sustainable packaging. “It’s always about telling stories, being really clear on marketing, and also getting really geeked out on different parts of the story [of how] we got to where we are,” she says. By “we,” she means Dieux as a brand, and society at large.

In a carousel post, Dieux shares seven reasons the brand uses aluminum packaging, starting with infinite recyclability. Dieux also creates Reels about how plastic became so prevalent and the invention of aluminum tubes.

This level of transparency lends authenticity to the brand and helps customers decide whether it's right for them. 

3. Reveal a before-and-after transformation

A before-and-after transformation shows what it’s like to use your product or service, proving your brand’s value and impact. It’s also an effective engagement strategy on social media. When you share visual changes over time, audiences might feel compelled to share their own desires for similar transformations.

This type of post can take the form of two images in a side-by-side collage, two images in a carousel post, or video clips of someone before and after using a product. The latter is a great opportunity to showcase how to use your product.

Beauty brand OMI uses this strategy to demonstrate the effectiveness of its hair-growth supplements. In one reel, digital creator Olivia Rae uses a mix of photos and videos to show how her hair looks thicker a month into using OMI, and how she no longer wears as much hair powder as a result. The video offers a realistic look—as Olivia explains, her hair is still thin—that demonstrates her progress in a short amount of time.

4. Capture behind-the-scenes content

Behind-the-scenes (BTS) content reveals the time, work, and care you invest in your brand. Give followers a glimpse into how you make decisions, run your company, or manufacture your products. BTS content builds customer loyalty by transparently demonstrating how your brand operates. 

For your loyal Instagram followers, BTS footage offers an opportunity to present new, engaging information. 

There’s a wide range of behind-the-scenes content you can share, from factory footage of an item in production to clips of employees in the office brainstorming new ideas to product developers testing formulations or prototypes. To generate new ideas, Rachel Karten, social media consultant and author of Link in Bio, suggests posting about the factors that differentiate your brand. “I think every business owner should think about: What are things that your business does that only you could really show?” she says. 

For pistachio spread brand Pistakio, this means a series of reels titled “Behind the shell.” These videos feature behind-the-scenes footage of how the cofounders launched the brand. For example, in Episode 9, cofounders Francine Voit and Nicola Buffo explained that they decided to start a crowdfunding campaign to help them with operating expenses. When it failed, they wondered if they’d have to shutter their business. Instead, they had their best month of sales, which allowed them to move forward and grow their brand.

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5. Experiment with horizontal Reels

Although Instagram Reels appear primarily in vertical formats, the platform began rolling out improvements for horizontal Reels in 2025. Instagram now supports super-wide, cinematic reels that offer a different visual experience from the vertical clips many users know.

These clips appear as wide strips on screen, providing additional opportunities for brands to make creative video content. Coffee brand Cometeer experiments with horizontal Reels to showcase a wider variety of its products in a single shot. Its horizontal clips are also different from anything else on the company’s Instagram feed, which can entice viewers to stop and pay attention.

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6. Repost user-generated content

Posting user-generated content (UGC) can highlight how people use your products and encourage conversions: One survey found that 40% of customers consider UGC an important factor in deciding to purchase.

Skin care brand Starface often posts UGC of customers using its star-shaped pimple patches in their day-to-day lives. In addition to underscoring how easy the product is to use, these posts validate the patches’ effectiveness for prospective customers.

Starface encourages UGC by sending creators its products. “We find different corners of the internet, different people who have big followings or small followings in their own individual talented areas, and we reach out to them and see if they want product,” says Kara Brothers, president of Starface, on an episode of Shopify Masters. “And then, from there, we kind of leave it completely up to them on what they do with the product. A lot of them, of course, wear it incorporated into their lives and post pictures. For us, that’s free marketing.”

7. Introduce an employee

Content highlighting an employee and their contributions shows how you value your workers. Plus, posting about employees personalizes your brand and develops a greater connection between your company and your customers.

When spotlighting your employees, it’s crucial to remember that not everyone wants to be on camera, and those who are comfortable being in front of the camera shouldn’t feel like it adds a significant burden to their other job responsibilities. 

“Most employees don’t have ‘appear on camera’ in their contracts, and just assuming that every employee at your brand wants to be on camera [or] wants to be a personality is something to watch for,” Rachel Karten says. 

8. Announce new products or business milestones

Announcing products or business updates on Instagram is an opportunity to link to new merchandise and keep your audience informed. See how Adored Vintage does it here:

9. Seize the season

Whether it’s Christmas or National Pie Day, everyone loves a reason to celebrate. Take advantage of holidays or seasonal events—think summer vacations, snowy winter weather, or spring blooms—with relevant, timely posts. 

Stationery company Artisaire demonstrates how to link seasonal events to related products with this holiday card post: 

10. Conduct interviews

Pose questions, ask customers or employees to answer them, and edit the responses into an Instagram Reel. Look at this video from furniture company Sabai Design, which asks, “What, to you, is the anchor of a home?”

11. Inspire with a quote

Posts with motivational quotes are welcome reprieves from online negativity. They can also create positive associations with your brand and convey your brand values.

Use colors and fonts from your visual brand identity to cultivate an on-brand Instagram feed aesthetic. You can quickly craft a motivational quote post with a tool like Canva. And if you use a quote from someone else, don’t forget to credit the person who coined the phrase. If you decide to publish the quote, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” for example, you’ll need to credit hockey player Wayne Gretzky. 

12. Share a brand value

Establishing and communicating brand values can encourage customer loyalty. In a 2024 study, 84% of people surveyed said they want the brands they use to share their values. 

Consider this post from sustainable clothing company Tentree, which explains how it mitigates the negative impact of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS—sometimes called “forever chemicals”—by creating PFAS-free clothing.

13. Cover an event

Take your Instagram marketing on the road by posting an Instagram Reel about a conference, award ceremony, or company retreat. You can post content before, during, and after the event to generate excitement. Here’s an example from the herbal medicine company Apothékary:

14. Make a meme 

Every few months, a viral meme captures the internet’s attention. Tap into the collective excitement by adapting the meme to your brand. For example, the food brand Fly By Jing riffed on the popular “I would go to school if …” meme to reflect its brand by adding images of chili crisp, a branded sweatshirt and car, and the founder’s cookbook.

15. Highlight a promotion

Sales and promotions make room for new inventory and help convert customers, who feel good when they save money. You’re probably already advertising promotional campaigns through your website, SMS marketing, and email marketing channels, so why not promote them on Instagram, too?

Here’s how oral health company Cocolab does it:

16. Answer a question

Responding directly to customer questions in your comments section is a good customer service tactic, and you can take it a step further by creating a post to answer their questions. This gives you an opportunity to highlight a particular aspect of your brand. 

Supplement brand Absolute Collagen transforms common customer questions into informative, engaging posts that preemptively supply answers. Not only does this get ahead of customer concerns, giving them access to an answer before they reach out to customer service and making it easier for them to confidently make a purchase, but it also keeps Instagram viewers engaged. 

When you answer an interesting question with text, users may spend more time reading the post than they typically would just looking at an image. And for the Instagram algorithm, the more time people spend looking at your posts, the better.

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17. Post a “Get ready with me”

“Get ready with me” (GRWM) videos are trendy across social media platforms. In these videos, content creators show the steps they take to get ready, whether they’re doing makeup for a night out or getting ready for work. Like other Instagram post ideas, GRWM videos feature your products in action.

18. Post a tutorial

Post tutorials to show Instagram users how to apply your makeup products or style your clothing. If you sell household appliances or furniture, you might publish product videos showing how easy they are to assemble. Or you could post cleaning and care tutorials. 

Consider the problems your customers might face, then develop Instagram posts that help them solve them (and that showcase your products, too!). 

Take a look at this stretching tutorial from fitness company Oceanfoam:

19. Share a POV 

POV (short for “point of view”) videos place viewers in a scene. For example, instead of simply posting a video of two women wearing Rothy’s, the shoe brand adds the text, “POV: you see two Rothy’s girls out in the wild.” This relatable Instagram trend often uses humor, which can encourage viewers to share.

20. Create an ASMR video

If your brand sells a physical product, posting an autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) video is a great way to attract new viewers who are drawn to these audio-driven clips. ASMR videos focus on amplifying subtle sounds that are typically much quieter. These noises could range from fingernails tapping on the lid of a jar to a coffee grinder grinding up beans.

Some brands purchase microphones to magnify sounds, but with a high-quality smartphone and the Instagram app’s audio editing tools, it is possible to create ASMR-style reels without special equipment. Capture moments like removing packaging, opening your products and using them, and any other mundane moments that generate quiet noises.

Slime brand Slime Obsidian uses ASMR videos to highlight the sandy and crackly textures of its products. 

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