How to Create an Instagram Content Strategy: Easy Steps

Managing campaigns without an Instagram content strategy is a recipe for chaos.

Winging it leads to last-minute scrambles, missed engagement opportunities, and underwhelming results.

The solution?

A solid Instagram content strategy—your go-to plan for everything from creating posts to tracking their performance.

Ready to step up?

This guide has all the tips and tricks you need to create a winning strategy.

What you will learn

• What is an Instagram content strategy?
• Why you need an Instagram content strategy
• 9 Tips to create a strong Instagram content strategy
• Instagram content marketing tips and insights from social media marketing leaders
• FAQs on creating an Instagram content strategy
• Develop an effective Instagram content strategy like a pro

What is an Instagram content strategy?

An Instagram content strategy is your secret sauce to help your clients dominate Instagram. 

It is essentially your game plan for what you post and ensuring your clients’ content hits the right notes and smashes their Instagram marketing goals, whether driving traffic or boosting brand love. 

Your content strategy can involve knowing your audiences, setting goals, and developing content that aligns with your clients’ goals. 

With a solid strategy, you can easily plan Instagram content like a boss and ensure it helps your clients reach their marketing and audience engagement goals while keeping their feeds fresh and fabulous. 

9 Tips to create a strong Instagram content strategy

Develop a winning Instagram content strategy using the steps and time-tested tips below. 

1. Set clear goals

Setting objectives gives your efforts direction and focus. 

Start by identifying what your clients want to achieve with their Instagram presence, such as increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic, boosting engagement, or generating leads and sales.

You can set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART) goals.

For example, if your client wants to grow their follower count, you can set up SMART  goals such as:

• Specific: Increase Instagram followers by 20%
• Measurable: Use Instagram Insights to track follower growth
• Achievable: Implement targeted hashtag strategies, collaborations, and engaging content
• Relevant: Growing followers aligns with the goal of expanding brand awareness
• Time-bound: Achieve this goal within the next six months

2. Understand your audience

Knowing your clients’ target audiences on Instagram helps you create content that will likely resonate with them. 

Understanding your audiences’ needs allows you to create posts that appeal to their unique interests and needs, increasing engagement and driving meaningful interactions. 

Gather information about your clients’ target audiences, such as their age, gender, location, interests, and online behavior.

You can use Instagram Insights and other analytics tools to understand the content types your audience engages with and their most active times.

3. Conduct a competitive analysis

Understanding your clients’ competitors and their content’s Instagram performance helps you get a good idea of what works. 

You can leverage and emulate the information, weaving it into your Instagram content strategy. 

Start by listing your clients’ main competitors on Instagram and analyzing their profiles.

Must read: Can You See Who Views Your Instagram Profile? [2024]

You can look at their content, engagement rates, posting frequency, and follower growth. 

Identify what works for them and where there are gaps or opportunities for your clients’ brands.

Use Vista Social. 

The social media management platform offers a competitive analysis report that gives you insights into the competitor’s Instagram and other social media content performance, such as YouTube videos and Facebook posts.

Must read: How to Share a YouTube Video on Instagram Story

4. Create a content plan

Plan and organize your clients’ Instagram posts seamlessly by creating a content calendar. 

The calendar helps you organize your content distribution plan, ensuring you publish your clients’ content at the best times. 

You can schedule posts around key dates, holidays, and events relevant to your audience.

Also, a content plan simplifies creating and distributing diversified content, such as photos, videos, Stories, Reels, and carousel posts that keep your clients’ Instagram feeds interesting and engaging.

Must read: Does Instagram Notify When You Screenshot a Story [2024]

Use Vista Social’s centralized content calendar to plan, develop, and manage your clients’ Instagram and other social media content easily.

5. Stick to a brand aesthetic

A cohesive visual style can make your clients’ brands easier to recognize and remember on Instagram. 

Plus, they can attract attention, drawing more eyeballs and engagement to your clients’ content. 

Establish a cohesive visual style for your Instagram feed using consistent colors, filters, fonts, layouts, and themes. This helps create a recognizable and attractive brand image.

Must read: Top 8 Instagram Theme Pages Worth Following: Ultimate Guide

Vista Social’s Visual Instagram Planner simplifies planning and organizing your clients’ Insta feeds with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop tool.

The tool makes achieving the vibe and look your clients want for their Instagram feeds easy. 

6. Develop a hashtag strategy

Hashtags help make your clients’ Instagram posts discoverable and visible to more audiences. 

Develop a strategy to ensure you use a mix of popular, niche, and branded hashtags relevant to your clients’ content and audience. 

Must read: How to Use Instagram Branded Content

Regularly update your hashtag strategy by researching new and trending hashtags in your clients’ industries or niches. 

Vista Social’s social media publishing feature includes hashtag suggestions that recommend relevant and trending hashtags based on your posts.

You can also save the hashtags for future use. 

Another awesome feature in the Publisher is Vista Social’s AI Assistant. It can generate captions and taglines and refine your posts based on your prompt.

After creating your clients’ posts, adding the right hashtags, and setting other customizations, you can schedule your clients’ Instagram Reels, Stories, carousels, and in-feed posts on optimal dates and times. 

Must read: Instagram Reels vs Story: What’s The Difference

Schedule your clients’ posts at the right time and frequency for maximum engagement by using Vista Social’s optimal posting time suggestions.

7. Create an engagement strategy

Effective engagement is key to your clients’ Instagram content marketing success. 

Engage with your clients’ audiences by responding to comments, liking their posts, and answering Direct Messages (DMs). It can help you build a loyal and active community.

Vista Social’s social media engagement feature includes a unified Social Inbox that centralizes all your clients’ DMs, comments, and mentions. It makes managing and responding to interactions a breeze.

Fun fact: The AI Assistant can generate engaging replies to your clients’ Instagram and other social media interactions. 

Vista Social lets you respond to Instagram DMs directly from the platform, saving you time and effort. 

8. Incorporate collaborations and influencer partnerships

Collaborating with other brands and influencers can help introduce your clients’ brands to their audiences and boost their credibility. 

Weave influencer marketing and brand partnerships into your Instagram content strategy. 

Find influencers or brands that align with your clients’ brand values and have a strong following. 

You can also encourage your clients’ followers to create and share content about their brands. 

Reposting User-Generated Content (UGCs) helps your clients show appreciation and build a sense of community with their Instagram followers. 

Use Vista Social’s Find Content feature to look up and schedule UGCs with a few clicks. 

You can find and curate Instagram content by using a username or hashtag.

9. Set up an Instagram content tracking and analysis process

Include reliable steps and processes to track and measure your clients’ Instagram post performance in your content strategy. 

Monitor engagement rate, reach, impressions, follower growth, and other metrics that matter most to your clients.

Vista Social’s social media analytics feature simplifies and streamlines tracking and analyzing your clients’ Instagram post performance.

The feature lets you generate and schedule reports that you can automatically share with your team members and clients via direct interactive links or exported PDF or CSV files.

You can also create custom report templates to help you drill down on your clients’ Instagram content performance and effectiveness. 

Instagram content marketing tips and insights from social media marketing leaders

Learn from the Instagram marketing hacks and insights from the experts below. 

• Gary Vaynerchuk: Instagram: Grid vs. In-feed: Which is Better?
• Mari Smith: Carousel Posts on Instagram Get More Reach
• Pam Moore: 5 Expert Tips to Get More Engagement on Instagram
• Neil Patel: How to Go Viral on Instagram: 10 Expert Strategies

FAQs on creating an Instagram content strategy

How often should I post on Instagram?

It depends on your content strategy, clients’ goals, and campaigns.  

Generally, it’s best to post at least once a day, but the ideal frequency depends on your audience’s activity and your resources. 

What is an Instagram content strategy plan?

An Instagram content strategy plan is a detailed roadmap that outlines how you will create, curate, and share content on Instagram to achieve specific business goals. 

It can help ensure your efforts are focused, consistent, and effective.

What should you include in your Instagram content strategy?

You can include the following essential components in your Instagram content strategy:

• Clear goals and objectives
• Audience analysis
• Content themes and topics
• Content calendar
• Brand voice and aesthetics
• Hashtag and engagement strategies
• Key metrics, including tracking and analytics processes 

Develop an effective Instagram content strategy like a pro

Creating a winning Instagram content strategy doesn’t have to be rocket science. 

Know the crucial steps and tips to guide your strategy development and ensure effective implementation. 

Use the best tools like Vista Social to carry out your Instagram content strategy like a boss and position your efforts for success.

Create your Vista Social account now.