As you already know, creating content is the most important part of your whole Instagram marketing, and if you neglect it, you’re instantly destined for failure.
However, even though most of us pay a lot of attention to content creation there’s still a ton of mistakes that we often make without even realizing it.
And because I want you to succeed, today I’m going to share with you 10 common Instagram mistakes that you must avoid…
Believe me, avoiding them is essential and if you don’t you’ll struggle. So, I’m not going to make it any longer, and let’s dive in…
1. Putting Yourself First
This is something that beginning brands often do with their Instagram content.
They just come to Instagram and they start creating content structured just around their products and services.
Well, the problem with that is that you can’t attract your dream customers if you are talking about yourself all the time.
What attracts them is that you create your Instagram content around them.
They must benefit in some way from going through your posts, watching your reels, etc.
You have to be valuable.
I don’t care about who you are, but this is something that you can’t neglect.
2. Creating Lousy Designs
This is something beginners often make on Instagram as well. They create Instagram content that looks like this…
Well, this is not something that is going to attract your dream customers at all. In fact, they are most likely going to run away.
But the problem is, how are you going to create designs that look like this?
Well, that is a good question, and I have a simple answer for you. DESIGN HACKING.
But what the hell is design hacking?
Well, design hacking is ethically turning professional designs of top Instagram content creators into your own designs that you’ll be able to use day in and day out.
All you have to do is to take one of their posts, use it as a template, replace their elements with your own, change the colors or fonts, use your footer, etc.
And then it is ready for you to use. And what’s best is that you can do it in as little as 15 minutes.
15 minutes and you will no longer struggle with designs anymore.
However, I realize that there is still a lot of questions unanswered around design hacking. Well, don’t worry.
If you’ll read my Elite Instagram Content Creation Cheatsheet when it comes out on August 1st, you are going to also get the Elite Design Hacking Framework E-book for FREE!
But now, let’s move on to the next mistake.
3. Talking About More Than One Thing
This is something that a lot of brands on Instagram often make in their content.
Talking about more than one thing is going to make your Instagram content confusing and your audience is rarely going to receive any value from it at all.
So, you gotta make sure that you avoid doing that. You have to focus on one thing with every post that you create.
If your audience is not going to get the message, they won’t build any relationships with you, and therefore they will not be willing to buy.
Remember, every piece of Instagram content matters, so don’t neglect it.
4. Not Aligning Text To The Left
This is mostly a carousel issue as with single-image posts it is no factor.
Aligning text to the left is crucial for maximum readability and for making a lot of people swipe through your carousels.
You have to be super careful about that. It works like a charm and you must not neglect it.
5. Not Sticking To Your Branded Style
Everybody has their own branded style and you have to stick to yours. Your branded style includes your colors, use of elements, or even the values that your brand has.
Many things belong there and you gotta pay attention to all of them.
But when it comes to content creation, the colors probably matter the most from the branded stuff and that’s what I want to emphasize there.
If you haven’t created your color palette yet, you can use Canva to do that, or you can use tools like coolors.co that will help you with that as well.
It is vital for your Instagram content as it is going to help you build a stronger brand and succeed on Instagram.
So, always do it!
6. Filling Your Content With Fluff
This one is extremely deadly. Again, it is mostly done in carousels, but it can be done even with single-image posts or video content.
The point of this is filling your carousel with unimportant stuff that does not any value to your audience just to use 10 slides of a carousel or create a longer video.
It is a BS that you have to avoid at all costs.
If you won’t, you’re going to decrease your engagement rate, see almost zero growth and nobody buying from you.
Why? Because your target audience can sense fluff from miles away.
And once you start including it, they will create a note in their mind, that you are the one who is filling their content with crap just to make it longer.
So, avoid fluff at all costs.
7. Making It Complex
When it comes to Instagram content creation, simplicity always wins. Do you know the saying, “In simplicity is beauty?”
Well, with content it is the same.
You have to be keep everything you do simple. I don’t care if it is the design part of the message, make it so simple that monkeys can understand it.
If you will, your audience will love your Instagram content, and they will be anxiously waiting for every post that you create.
8. Not Adding A Call To Action
The call to action (often abbreviated to CTA) is a simple, clear declaration of what you want your reader, viewer, or listener to do.
For example:
- Comment below
- Double tap if you agree
- Hit the link in my bio to learn more
No matter what type of Instagram content you create, it should include a call to action.
Call to actions let you easily increase your engagement, growth, and in fact, make your audience do whatever you want.
So, include them!
9. Not Adding Geotags
Not adding geotags is one of the most common mistakes that I see. People create a post, but they don’t add a location to it, which is one of the easiest ways to increase your reach and engagement.
When you add a geotag to your post, it is going to be exposed under the locations in the search and that is why it works.
All of the people who will click on, for example, Los Angeles, will see all of the posts that are tagged with that location.
And because of that, you can get more reach.
It is super simple but extremely effective.
Pro tip: using famous locations works better.
10. Not Using Hashtags
As I say all the time, using Hashtags is essential. You will see a lot of fake “experts” talk about something like that hashtags are dead.
Well, hashtags are not dead.
They are more alive than ever before.
Often, I get thousands of extra impressions just by adding hashtags to the post.
So, not using them is not a good idea.
However, what hashtags should you use?
Of course, you can always go and “steal” them from another successful creator. But if you want to get maximum reach, you need to have your own strategy.
Filip Konecny 