Creating content on Instagram is a challenging task. Sooner or later, every blogger or business owner suffers writer’s block: ‘What else is there to write about? I think I’ve already told everything!’
If this sounds familiar to you, don’t worry, it’s okay. The key is knowing where to get inspiration and how to find new topics interesting for your audience. In this article, let’s break down specific sources of ideas that will help generate fresh and relevant content.
1. Follower questions provide a treasure trove of ideas
Where do you look for ideas?
People themselves will tell you what they care about. You just need to pay close attention.
- Read the comments on your posts. What are the most frequently asked questions?
- Analyze your Direct: What are you being asked in private messages?
- Use stickers in stories: ‘Ask me a question’ or ‘What story do you want to tell me?’
How to use it?
Gather the most frequent questions and create a series of posts. You could create a Follower’s Question section, answering one question each week.
Example:
- Fitness blogger, ‘How should you eat after a workout? Let’s figure it out!’
- Stylist: ‘How do I choose a basic outfit if my budget is limited?’
- SMM expert: ‘Why is Instagram cutting back on reach and what to do about it?’
Optional: Make a Story with a voice response or a video, this format is better than just text.
2. Analyze your competitors and influencers
Your competitors or more influential bloggers have already tested the topics that resonate most with their audience. You should learn from them!
Where should you look?
- Explore the most popular accounts in your niche.
- Check out the comments on their posts and learn what questions their followers are asking.
- Keep an eye out for hashtags related to your topic.
How to use it?
Don’t just copy, but adapt the theme to your needs. Add your experience and opinion or explore the topic from a new angle.
Example:
- A makeup artist sees that a competitor’s ‘How to choose foundation’ post has gone viral. They could make a similar post focusing on mistakes when choosing the foundation.
- A restaurant business analyzes food blogger trends and notices people are discussing ‘low price cafes with delicious food’. It could be turned into a section ‘Where to eat in Moscow for 500 rubles.’
- An SMM specialist finds that many people write about a drop-in reach and create the post ‘Instagram algorithms: what’s different in 2024?’
- Optional: Subscribe to foreign blogs on your topic, because many trends appear on Russian language social media late — so you can prepare content in advance.
3. Personal experiences and stories are always relevant
People love stories that are vibrant and real. If you are an expert or entrepreneur, share not only stories of success but also mistakes. It builds trust.
What can you tell?
- Tell your subscribers how you have started and what mistakes you have made.
- Customer stories: What they faced, how you have helped them.
- An opinion on trends: ‘Why I stopped making Reels’ or ‘How I gained 10,000 subscribers without ads.’
Example:
- Photographer: ‘How I accidentally deleted a client’s photo shoot and what happened after that.’
- Fitness trainer: ‘5 mistakes I made in the gym that kept me from getting bigger.’
- Businessman: ‘How my first project failed and what it taught me.’
Optional: These posts can be in the format ‘10 years ago → now’ (comparing your journey) or ‘a letter to yourself in the past’.
4. Follow trends and news
Fresh topics get great feedback because people are actively discussing them.
Where to look for trends?
- Recommendations section on Instagram.
- Popular Reels and TikTok.
- Twitter, Reddit, Google Trends
How can you adapt a trend to your needs?
If everyone is discussing a new show, meme, or event, consider how it relates to your topic.
Example:
- Marketer: ‘What marketing tricks does the new Netflix movie use?’
- Culinary blogger: ‘Making pasta like in the series White Lotus’.
- Financial expert: ‘What is Elon Musk doing right (and what can we learn from him)?’
Optional: You can do an opinion + poll. People love to discuss trends!
5. Pinterest, Quora, Reddit, and other sources
Sometimes the coolest content ideas aren’t on Instagram.
Where should you look?
- Pinterest. Type in keywords and see what’s popular.
- Reddit and Quora. People there discuss real-world issues that can be turned into posts.
- TikTok. Short trends can be converted into long posts.
Example:
- SMM expert. See a post on Reddit ‘Why do Instagram algorithms kill small accounts?’ and make their post with answers and solutions.
- Fitness blogger. Find popular exercises on Pinterest and select the best ones.
- Financial advisors. See a discussion on ‘Best budgeting apps’ and do a review for their audience.
Optional: Instagram has a lack of useful educational content, so you can take ideas from YouTube and turn them into posts!
Conclusion
If you don’t know what to write about, don’t wait for inspiration! Look for it! Choose one of these methods and write a draft post.
- Read comments and questions from followers
- Analyze competitors
- Use personal stories and mistakes
- Follow trends
- Look for ideas on Pinterest, Reddit, and Quora
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