Social media can be overwhelming, especially for creatives. It feels a bit like a hamster wheel sometimes to keep up, but there are ways you can alleviate this feeling. I hope that this post gives you some new Instagram post ideas that you can naturally work into your practice without burning yourself out. I’ll also share some tips to make your process more enjoyable and efficient.
Art Work In Progress
This is an easy way to get a lot of content out of one piece of art you’re working on. Photograph or capture a video as you’re creating and share some updates along the way.
Experiment with both static photo posts and reels to see what your audience enjoys the most.
Share Your Story
A big one that I think a lot of artists tend to forget is telling your story. Sometimes we focus a little too much on the art, but your followers also want to connect with you. Most people enjoy learning a little bit more about the human behind the work!
- How did you get into the art medium you work in?
- What was journey or turning point where you felt like you wanted to pursue art?
- Was there a particular person that was an important art mentor in your life?
- What is your “why” behind making art?
I find that personal posts like this really resonate with others, and it’s a great way to personally connect with your followers.
Videos Of You Making Art
I have found that people tend to engage more with posts that include a quick glimpse of my face in it or a longer clip of me making art. It makes sense; human connection is a real thing. This kind of post shows that you are a human behind all of the beautiful art you make, and it’s another great way to share more of your story.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy either. Here’s a quick idea: Record yourself as you’re creating and put some text over the image with a relatable topic about being an artist.
Share Your Art Process
These posts are always interesting for people, especially if they are into seeing more of how things are made. If you’re comfortable sharing about your process, this is another relatively easy way to make several pieces of content.
Place the camera above or beside you and hit record while you’re doing your thing.
Again, you don’t have to only post one time about a particular piece. Experiment with posting a few different videos that are different lengths. You could try a longer video (around a minute), some quick videos under 15 seconds, and a time lapse to see which ones perform the best.
Here’s a specific post idea: capture the process of your creating a particular piece of art, then edit the clips together and do a voiceover talking about the deeper meaning behind it.
Art Tips
Shareable content tends to do really well in the algorithm. Share some of your most helpful art tips that help you create. Maybe you have some tips about specific techniques or you could share the products that make creating art the easiest for you.
Here are some post ideas:
- finding your art style
- learning how to draw
- your favorite products you use
- a common problem and how to fix it
Art Reveal
A popular thing for artists to do is to reveal their art by holding it backwards and slowly turning it around. Once you have a finished piece of art you want to promote, these kinds of posts usually do pretty well.
My theory is this is because people connect more with humans in videos and these videos are usually really short, less than 10 seconds. So users don’t have to engage with it very long for it to be pushed out into the algorithm.
The key here is to create a little bit of suspense and slowly turn the art around so the user has to wait a second or 2 before they see the art. The algorithm picks up on how long a user stays on a particular video, so you want them there as long as possible!
It’s a win-win for you because you don’t have to do much to film this kind of post!
Keep Tabs On Trends
Follow other artists and keep tabs on posts that seem to become trends. You know the ones: a text overlay that is about a particular topic with a specific song, or a funny trend about art struggles, etc.
I wouldn’t recommend only posting trendy content, but adding in a trendy post every now and then is usually a pretty quick and easy way to repurpose your content.
Tips For Making The Most Out of Your Posts
Repurpose your content
When I first started posting on social media, I thought that I had to only post unique content for every single post. This is a surefire way to burn yourself out. Can you imagine how frequently you’d have to create new art to do that?!
This is how to get more strategic with the content you film and the content you include.
Keep a “bank” of video clips
Keep a separate folder on your phone so you have easy access to a variety of videos.
There is no rule that you can’t re-use certain video clips. Keep a good amount of these videos so you have some to choose from when you’re short on time or new content.
This is especially helpful for creating videos with a voiceover about a particular art topic, sharing your story, art tips, etc.
Plan To Post Across Different Platforms
I know this post is specifically about Instagram, but it’s helpful to think about how you could re-use certain videos across multiple platforms. For example, a video you film for TikTok or for YouTube shorts can certainly also be posted on Instagram. This will save you so much time; remember it’s all about working smarter, not harder!
Make Sure To Save All of Your Videos On Your Phone
I like to use a separate video editing app for my videos call vllo. It’s easier to edit with. Plus, it’s less likely I’ll completely lose any videos in my Instagram drafts due to an app update. And it also prevents me from having to take the watermark off of videos!
I hope you found these tips helpful. Content doesn’t have to run your life, you just have to find strategic ways to work it in!