Instagram is the third most popular social media platform with News Blizz over 1 billion monthly active users. If your business hasn’t added Instagram to your social media strategy yet, we’re not surprised you’re now considering it.
But it’s one thing to create a random Instagram post. It’s another to fully flesh out your post and create a multi-faceted Instagram content strategy.
To help out, we created a step-by-step guide for how to post on Instagram: How to create your caption, how to post each different type of content that Instagram supports, and more.
Ready to dig in?
Step 1. Tap the + at the Top of Your Screen
Posting to Instagram regularly is essential to make sure you create a consistent and high-performing Instagram marketing strategy. While there are several steps to creating high-quality posts, if you follow our guide, you’ll be able to master them in no time.
Your first step is to open up your Instagram app and then click the + sign in the top-left corner of your screen.
Step 2. Choose the Type of Post to Create
From here, you need to decide which type of content you want to create. There are four main types: a post, story, reel, or live video.
Select your chosen option from the drop-down menu and follow along with our how-to guides for each one.
Create an Instagram Feed Post
The first type of Instagram post you might want to create is a regular Instagram feed post. This could be either an image or a video—both are great options to add to your feed.
To get started, click the Post option from the list of options. Your camera roll will pop up so you can select a photo or video you’ve already created—although you do have the option to tap the camera icon and take a photo or video right in the app.
(Side note: we don’t recommend doing this. If you want to create a high-quality Instagram feed, you’ll want to create your content outside of the app and then post it separately.)
There are three types of feed posts you can create:
Photo post: A single photo added to your Instagram feed
Video post: A video added to your Instagram feed (can be as short as a few seconds or as long as an hour)
Carousel post: A selection of up to 10 photos and/or videos in a single post on your Instagram feed
While in your camera roll, you can select the photo(s) or video(s) you want to add to your post.
If the ones you choose are horizontal or vertical, you can choose to keep them that way or crop them into square images.
Step 4: Add Hashtags
After you write your caption, you’ll want to add hashtags. Each Instagram post can have up to 30 hashtags, and a recent analysis showed that posts with 20-30 hashtags generate the most reach. 20 hashtags is the sweet spot, so try to stick around there.
So how do you find relevant hashtags that will help your post reach the most users?
First, search through the most popular Instagram hashtags to see if any fit your business or your post. Incorporating those can help you reach a much wider audience.
Next, consider using a hashtag suggestion tool to help you find even more great hashtags for your post. You can also check out competitor posts to see what hashtags they use. Click on each one to see how popular they are and if they’re worth adding to your post.
Another tactic is to search for keywords relevant to your business and see which top hashtags pop up in Instagram search.
Add a list of hashtags to a document or note on your phone or computer so that you can refer back to them each time you create a new Instagram post.
When you’re adding hashtags to your post, there are a couple different ways to make sure they’re hidden from view and don’t make your post look spammy:
Add the hashtags into the first comment on your post, rather than inside the caption
Hit “Enter” in the caption and add a period. Repeat 2-3 times, then paste your hashtags into your caption.
This will ensure your hashtags don’t appear above the “See more” button so that your actual caption stands out most.
Step 5: Publish Your Instagram Post
You’ve done it! You’ve gone through all of the steps to creating an awesome Instagram post. The last step is simply to hit publish.
Keep in mind that you can also use scheduling tools to create multiple Instagram posts at once and have them automatically publish to your profile on the dates and times you set.
Start Creating Incredible Instagram Content
Now that you know how to post on Instagram, it’s time to start creating stunning and engaging content for your audience. Grow your following and use Instagram to promote your products and services.
