Making an impact on Instagram
Six things to consider when creating content for Instagram.
When creating content for social media it’s important to consider where it will be deployed and ensure that your design will work for each platform. We have extensive experience of creating content for every social media platform and below we’ve highlighted some of the most important design considerations when creating for Instagram.
Don’t rely on audio.
Up to 70% of Instagram users watch with their sound off so you shouldn’t rely on users listening to a voiceover alone to understand the message in your content. To make sure users get your message you should try telling the story in a visual way with elements such as creative captions.
Make an impression early.
With your content competing with thousands of other posts, it’s important to make an impression early. Research has show that creators have three seconds to make an impression. In those first three seconds users will decide whether they’re going to hang around and watch the full video or if they’re going to move on.
Keep your captions short.
For posts that aren’t ads you can post longer captions but for ads the recommended copy length is 125 characters. With this length limit in mind it’s important to use your caption to reiterate your message and not to tell a long story.
Users prefer a user-generated style.
Users are increasingly looking for more personal interactions with brands so they want to feel like the brand is engaging with them personally. As part of this trend users are increasingly frustrated with heavily styled or obviously directed ads. Users are now looking for ads which seem more genuine and look like they’ve been made by other users and may include someone talking to camera.
Reels get better reach than other formats.
All videos are now uploaded as reels unless they’re over 15 minutes. Reels are currently the favoured format by the Instagram algorithm, which is more likely to recommend them to people who don’t follow you. With Instagram now having the reels section, reels are also much more discoverable. Reel reach can be up to 39% on average while stories are around 5% on average.
Don’t expect miracles from organic content.
The average engagement rate of a post on a business account that doesn’t have any paid media spend behind it is only 0.54% so wherever possible it’s important to have budget to promote your content.
