Repurposing a blog post on Instagram requires a little more imagination and creativity than other social media platforms. With Facebook and Twitter, you can always just share a link to your blog post (not the most imaginative, but it can still work), or share some long or short form copy from your blog post. But when you want to drive traffic to your blog from Instagram, you have to take a more creative approach. Good news…I have some repurposing tips for you.
Instagram is my favourite social media platform by far. It takes me away from the noise of Facebook and the chirping chatter on Twitter to a quiet place that tends to be more positive, visually entertaining and fun! Please follow me on Instagram here.
The platform has over 800 million users, which means it has the potential to spread your content like wildfire. Whether you’re a devoted blogger or you’ve just written your first blog post, and you want to drive more traffic to it, Instagram could be your golden ticket.
So, if you have written a great blog post and you’re thinking of how you can repurpose it over to Instagram, let me share some of my ideas.
1. Pull Quotes from Your Blog Post
Since you can’t post a massive body of text on Instagram (unless you want to put your audience into a deep sleep), you have to think about grabbing their attention with impactful imagery.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to be a professional photographer or graphic designer — you just need to know a few of the basics of image editing such as overlaying text and using templates.
A great way to get people excited about your latest blog post is to go through it and pick out a few key points. Try to find a quote that’s interesting and sure to grab people’s attention.
Next, you need to pick an image that will go well with your chosen quote or the title of your blog post. You can use a picture you’ve taken yourself (which I highly recommend, people love the personal connection). Or, you can use a stock image from a royalty-free website such as Unsplash, Pexels or Pixabay.
Remember, Instagram images are square and MUST be 612px by 612px. I recommend going over to Canva and resizing/editing your image there. You can add the quote to the image itself or keep it simple and communicate your message in the Instagram caption.
According to Instagram, over 120 million Instagram users have visited a website, direct messaged or emailed a business through the app. And 30% of users have bought a product that they discovered on Instagram. Intriguing statistics!
2. Create an Instagram Story (or several!)
I LOVE Instagram Stories!!
Instagram Stories are great for broadcasting the news that your latest blog post is live.
If you’re not familiar with Instagram Stories, they are photos and videos that you can post that vanish after 24 hours. They don’t appear in your main Instagram grid, instead they appear in the Stories section at the top of the page.
If you create an image to use for Instagram Stories, you need to create a rectangular dimension of 1080px by 1920px with an aspect ratio of 9:16.
This will display perfectly in your Instagram Stories and keep your posts consistent.
One way to attract readers to your blog post is to tell them an interesting or inspiring story and then draw them in with an impactful image. You can use a picture with a quote if you like, but you can also get more creative with it and you can make the most of Instagram Stories animations/special effects too! Of course, recording a short video is a great idea too.
When you tell people that your blog post is live don’t forget to provide the URL in the image, so they know where they need to go to read your blog post.
Over 300 million people use Instagram Stories daily, so you’ve got to compete for their attention. An excellent way to encourage people to interact with you is to do an online poll or pose a question on a subject that people will want to share their opinion on, even if it’s controversial!
Don’t be afraid to divide people with your content. Be bold. Be brave.
Other things that you can do include letting someone relevant to the topic takeover your Instagram Stories, or feature your audience in your stories.
3. Instagram Video is REALLY Popular
Each year, the amount of time that Instagram users spend watching video on the platform increases by 80%! I think that’s incredible and it’s something that bloggers need to keep in mind if they want to drive more traffic to their blog posts.
You don’t need to spend a fortune on a fancy camera or high-tech equipment to make an excellent video on Instagram, your smartphone is more than good enough!
Once you have published your blog post, I recommend creating a short video of yourself (less than 60 seconds) telling people that your blog post has just gone live, what it’s about and why it will add value to their lives if they take the time to read it.
You could also record a short 15-second video and post it to your Instagram Stories. If you like, you can ask your audience questions to encourage a response and get some more interaction. You’ll be surprised how many people send you a private message which can be great for one-on-one interaction.
To watch a video trailer where I explain these points in more detail hit play:
In Conclusion
Repurposing your blog content onto Instagram is a great thing to do. It doesn’t have to be hugely time consuming, but Instagram is a growing, fun and interactive platform, and if your audience hang out there, maybe you should too!
Thanks for reading!
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Originally published at www.content10x.com.
