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What Should Beginning Artists Post On Instagram?

Content completely depends on the artist, it’s not a one-size-fits-all scenario. Every artist has a different sort of niche, audience and message that they are trying to convey. Artists should make sure to stay on-brand with their content as it’s a way to get noticed and differentiate themselves from other artists.

To start off, let’s take a look at some of the fundamentals of Instagram when trying to grow from the very beginning.

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Coming up with a content strategy: this will give you a head start in deciding what exactly to post. What suits you on a day-to-day basis? What are some trends you would like to try and show surrounding audiences? What do you want to share with your audience? Once you have generated a secure content strategy, you can then move onto the planning and scheduling.

Plan your posts: take some time out of your day to think of content ideas; get inspiration and do some research into music industry trends. This process will help you understand what is trending in the market so that you can create a list of content ideas. Subsequently, you should plan ahead of time for scheduling posts. What are the the most active times? What kind of content does well during specific times of the day? How often should I post on a weekly basis? Do your research!

Don’t be afraid to show off your personal side: share what you are passionate about or what inspires you. Online communities are interested in what musicians like or dislike, it can be intriguing, even fascinating at times. If you show off your passions in a creative way, this could engage audiences a whole lot more.

Be opportunistic: constantly come up with ideas for a post. When you’re out and about, take a look around. If you see something that you think is interesting or that is relative to your brand/niche, take advantage of that opportunity and post about it! The main factors are to be consistent and creative.

Optimize content to drive traffic: if you aren’t seeing many people engage with your posts, then you should take a look at the content itself. More often than not, it could mean that your content isn’t intriguing enough which is why people aren't interacting with it. Here’s a solution…take on a different approach, experiment a little with this. No one automatically gains 100 followers just like that after one post, it takes some time to figure out what works for you and what others like to see. Once you master this and post appealing content, you will see your following grow and increase in likes.

As for what to include in posts, here are some of our thoughts on how you can flourish as a new artist on Instagram:

Define your brand: what’s important you? How do you want to come across online? Are you mysterious, funny, dynamic, energetic, talented? Come up with a brand personality first and then move onto your audience. You should understand where exactly your audience is coming from. Conduct some research into artists who are similar to you. If your content or music is similar to that artist, take inspiration from them. Obviously do not copy content but get inspired and motivated to post content that is somewhat alike. Do your research into what resonates with that artist’s audience. Has one particular post done better than the rest? Take note of what hasn’t worked and what has worked for them and use that as leverage when coming up with content ideas. You can take on a unique approach since you have that research and data at your disposal.

Captions are important: the Instagram algorithm will push out your feed post depending on the length of time that people spend on it. If you can show Instagram you are getting users to spend more time on your posts, they will reward you. If done right, you can spark a lively conversation with users online and develop relationships. So, take some time to create a compelling caption, first start by coming up with an intriguing first sentence so that audiences will want to continue reading. From there, provide value to your post by delivering information or knowledge to the community in your written caption. Lastly, choose relevant hashtags to add at the bottom of your caption to increase engagement.

Theme your posts: it can be easier for content to be discovered when it follows a certain theme. Also, using hashtags that are related to that theme can be an added bonus! You can experiment with this and see which posts do well and which don’t. Have fun and use hashtags like #musicmondays, #throwbackthursday, #tgif, etc.

Show behind-the-scenes or sneak peeks: people love to see what artists get up to behind- the-scenes whether they are showing a typical day in the life or the recording of a new track. It’s a great idea to illustrate your life as a musician in an entertaining and personal way. Show a sneak peek of you explaining the meaning behind a new song, vlog your every day life, share fun videos or photos of a session in a studio. The possibilities are endless!

Interact with audiences: interactive content is the best form of content as it engages audiences and initiates conversations. There are many different interactive posts you can try, some of which are stories, polls, questionnaires, live lessons, giveaways or “caption this” photos. Not only is this a fun way to converse with fans but you’re also showing off your personal side as a musician and calling attention to your brand!

Again, there are a variety of different factors and posts that you can include in your content. You won’t know what resonates with online users unless you try it!