The following is a guest post by Nika Goddard. Nika is a psychologist, writer-freelancer, traveler and just creative person, lover of world cultures, languages, food, wild spaces and urban places by nature.

The fact that we’re living fast-paced lives is no longer news for anyone. It’s enough to look at a friend or relative and see how crowded their daily schedule is and you will understand that things have changed a lot in the past years. Either if it’s natural or something that came along with progress in technology, one thing is certain: we don’t have time to waste. And that affects every aspect of our behavior, including the way we react to social media posts. It’s no wonder that visual content has 40 times more chances of being shared that any other type of content and the reason behind this is very simple. Seeing an image is very easy to process, understand and choose what to do with it.

Now, that we’ve established that visual content is the one with most chances of being shared on Instagram, is time to see exactly what type of visual content gets the most chances of being spread.

Inspirational Quotes

This is, perhaps, the most shared content ever, since the beginning of internet, something that can even take on cat videos and win. It’s hard to explain what is it about these quotes that make people want to share them. It might be the fact that they give people a warm and fuzzy feeling, inspiring them to take action or something like that. One thing is certain, they work and will always work as far as you can tell.

Human Portraits

There a statistic that shows a post with a human face in it is probably to get up to 40% more likes than a post that does not contain a face in it. But where does this increase in appreciation comes from when dealing with a human face? It’s probably because it can create a personal connection and also taps into emotions of the viewers.

Scenery and Landscapes

It’s no wonder that we, in the digital age, appreciate nature so much. And that’s also applicable to Instagram as well. Posting a breathtaking landscape or a spectacular scene improves the chances of your post to be shared on Instagram. The great thing about landscape photos is that they don’t necessarily have to mean something since every viewer will gave them their own meaning.

Food Photos

Just like the one with human portraits, posting photos good-looking dishes and food in general, will definitely boost your engagement and people will press that share button like crazy. It’s something strongly related to our basic needs and that’s more than enough for our brains to identify food images as positive and likeable.

Photos with Historic Events

Not only historic events but something that has happened in the past, have a way of creating a nostalgic effect on people, leading to reflection and sparking some emotions that stay latent in our subconscious. It’s a very effective theme you can adopt if you want to boost the number of shares on your Instagram account.

Extreme Situations

This has something to do with the previous photos including beautiful landscapes, however, it has a little twist. Every post with you on top of a mountain, rafting or very close to the edge of a waterfall will be automatically liked by any viewer on the Internet since it taps into our adventure need that, for some, are locked down deep inside.

Animals

Yep, of course you anticipated this. It was very clear from the first comparison with cat videos that animals will take their place in this top. And it’s very simple, the world is filled with animal lovers that appreciate seeing pets or any other animals being promoted on social networks.

Backstage Photos

Perhaps this one is a bit surprising for you, however, people always felt the need to discover what’s behind the scenes. To take a peek behind the curtain of a show, rock concert or even a political dispute. This is why, any time of backstage or behind-the-curtain photo has great chances of being shared a lot.

Using Actual Trends

Even though this is a very dynamic aspect of social media, using real-time trends can boost your engagement a lot, as long as you choose your trend properly. For example, you can make your post related to a blockbuster that’s about to be launched or Pokemon.

Video Stories

Still photographs get a lot of attention but videos are on the rise nowadays since they’re a lot easier to follow and they also add the element of unknown that makes you want to click play. Almost every social network awarded priority to video content and it will help you boost engagement as well.

Conclusion

Instagram is still growing and it’s a great opportunity for boosting your engagement, no matter if you’re representing a brand or simply for your personal profile. The best way to proceed would be to combine all the above-mentioned methods in an original way.