Most B2B brand marketing teams prioritize Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter for reaching and engaging with their communities through social media. Instagram, however, can also be an effective channel to humanize your brand and drive engagement through video and photo content—you just need to understand the site’s unique features and how to blend them to maximize your success.

In this #ContentChat recap, Sue B. Zimmerman (@SueBZimmerman), Instagram expert and business coach, joins the community to explain how to use Instagram for content marketing. Read through the below recap to learn:

How to find and use the best hashtags for Instagram
Why Instagram Reels are a valuable content marketing opportunity
How to avoid the common Instagram content marketing mistakes

Q1: What are the key features and ways to share content through Instagram that content marketers should know about?

There are four main ways to create content on Instagram: feed, stories, live, and reels.

A1a Instagram is a village and there are now 4 neighborhoods to create content – Feed, Stories, Live, Reels #ContentChat 👀 > https://t.co/osMgEVrWFU
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

I LOVE thinking about Instagram this way. Each of these features is pretty unique. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) April 18, 2022

The channel thrives on photo and video storytelling. Mix all four post types to drive engagement and increase the likelihood you’ll reach your target audience.

A1: We talked a bit about this last week in a Twitter Space but photo storytelling.#ContentChat
— Sweepsify (@Sweepsify_) April 18, 2022

A1: All of them! Posts, stories, reels, and live. A combination of the four will often drive higher engagement. #ContentChat
— Social hour (@socialhour_com) April 18, 2022

A1
-Stories(Heighlight them)
Reels
IGTV
Posts
Use hashtags to increase reach#contentchat
— Amna Aslam (@amnaaslam20) April 18, 2022

Instagram Reels can be especially effective to boost your reach.

A1: Instagram is a great way to start and grow a community! Also, Reels are where it’s at! The reach you can get with Reels has a lot of potential ~Julie #ContentChat
— Nimble (@Nimble) April 18, 2022

A1 Instagram has 4 features for sharing content
Video and photo posts (the Feed)
Reels
Stories
Live
From personal experience, Reels have been the most viewed and engaged with content over everything else I’ve made
-Alyx#contentchat https://t.co/Vl6EebX9Oo
— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) April 18, 2022

Our kitten’s Reels have done *so well*. Because who can resist floor in action? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) April 18, 2022

I’ve seen my homesteading related (and cooking especially) related Reels regularly getting over 1000 views, which is HUGE visibility compared to what I normally see on the Feed
And who can resist kittens?!
-Alyx#ContentChat
— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) April 18, 2022

Instagram direct messages (DMs) are a valuable way to build a relationship with your followers.

A1b Instagram DM is my favorite feature where you can get more intimate w/ your followers by using the VM + DM video feature > wanna see it in action send me a DM mention #ContentChat https://t.co/H8lgURTzmN
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

And Instagram guides are an area of opportunity for everyone.

A1c Instagram guides are underutilized and can be a great resource bc they have their own unique URL https://t.co/6D1duToLu1 #ContentChat
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

I’m intrigued! Can anyone post a guide or is this a limited access feature? #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Content Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) April 18, 2022

Anyone can post a guide … I have a step by step video on YouTube showing you how > https://t.co/cCfUeB3g1T
— Sue B. The Instagram Expert📲 (@SueBZimmerman) April 18, 2022

Q2: How does Instagram’s feed algorithm work?

For our final social media channel deep-dive #ContentChat in April, we were joined by Corey Walker (@marketing_gal), author of Instagram for Business for Dummies and an Instagram Marketing consultant.

If you’ve been thinking about starting an Instagram profile to support your business. read on for everything you need to get started.

Our conversation so inspired me that I created a new Instagram profile, @ErikaGlutenFree, focusing on gluten-free eating and my blog Erika’s Gluten-free Kitchen. I hope you find similar inspiration. And now, on with the recap!

Q1: What are some common misconceptions marketers and content creators have about #Instagram?

Instagram is just for kids.

Q1: People used to think it’s only for people in their teens/20s. They are growing up and the age is growing in the 35+ crowd daily #contentchat
— Corey C Walker (@marketing_gal) April 30, 2018

A1. There are a lot of people who think that Instagram is only for kids or for big name brands, but it’s for everyone and for businesses of all sizes — as long as that’s where your audience is! #ContentChat
— Jansen Communication (@JansenComms) April 30, 2018

Instagram is just for B2C.

A1 Many marketers think Instagram is only for #B2C companies. But it can be effective for #B2B as well, both for reaching customers and future employees. #contentchat
— Erika Heald | Marketing Consultant (@SFerika) April 30, 2018

A1b: Coming from the recruitment marketing world before I got into B2B martech, Instagram can also be an amazing tool for establishing your company’s employer brand among prospective employees in key markets. #ContentChat
— Cassandra Jowett (@cassandrajowett) April 30, 2018

Instagram for business is all self-promotion all the time.

A1. Via @vdigitalservice, 3 misconceptions about using @Instagram for business are:
1. It’s for big brand names only.
2. It’s all about the photos.
3. It’s only for selling products.#ContentChat https://t.co/WfoqIX5v7M
— SourceMedia (@SourceMediaCo) April 30, 2018

A1: that it’s all self-promotion. There is room for so much COMMUNITY on IG, too! #ContentChat https://t.co/gVXjwb9kfC
— Healthy Living Blogs (@bloghealthy) April 30, 2018

You can see results fast, just by posting an image.

Q1: Another one is that simply by posting something, you should immediately get a ton of likes. #contentchat
— Corey C Walker (@marketing_gal) April 30, 2018

Q1: unless you are Kim K, getting likes takes some work, including engaging with other accounts. #contentchat
— Corey C Walker (@marketing_gal) April 30, 2018

You can syndicate content from other channels.

A1 I see this with a number of channels, but I think it is particularly relevant with Instagram. All too often marketers tend to blast their content on all channels rather than respecting the differences between how audiences use each channel. #ContentChat
— Derek Pillie (@dpillie) April 30, 2018

Instagram