Photo x Oxford Pennant
As a local business, it can sometimes be tough to figure out what to post on Instagram.
Posts that simply provide information or showcase your business’s products/services are a great starting point, and there’s certainly a time and place for evergreen content. But if all you’re doing on Instagram is posting fliers or straight up selling to your audience, that can get boring and stale real quick. (After all, social media is supposed to be a place to be social, remember?)
A great way to keep your content feeling fresh, exciting, and, most importantly, engaging on Instagram is finding fun ways to tie your posts to current events and pop culture references.
This could include hyper-local events in the community— like a weekend snowstorm or the Buffalo Bills making the playoffs, for example— or events that span a national or worldwide scale— like a meme that’s gone viral, popular movies and TV shows that are streaming right now, or any other current events that are in the greater public consciousness.
For example, you may have noticed that here at Step Out Buffalo, we post, re-post, and repurpose a lot of Buffalo Bills content on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok around game days, when we know that there’s a lot of buzz happening in the community.
Because people are excited and amped up about the game at that time, they’ll almost definitely be engaging with, sharing, and reposting any Bills content that pops up on their feeds. (Bonus points if it makes them laugh, or, you know, makes fun of Tom Brady or Bill Belichick.)
This increased engagement and audience interaction helps our account stay relevant in the algorithm among our audience long after the game is over, and not for nothing, it’s also just a fun way to engage with our audience!
Looking for even more examples of businesses that do this well? Check out our list below:
Holidays and General Seasonality
The Sweet Whisk:
Why it works:
- Capitalizes on the holiday shopping spending season
- Uses high-quality photography to showcase their products
- Fun caption that balances fun with providing important information
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery:
Why it works:
- Acknowledges an important holiday that can often be overlooked
- Showcases a local mural & provides information on the artist & location
- Links to resource on website for further reading
Northtown Automotive:
Why it works:
- A fun way to post about a local snowstorm
- Showcases the products (cars) they sell & what they can do
- Use of video content that works well in the algorithm
Local Sports Teams and Important Games
Oxford Pennant:
Why it works:
- Capitalizes on the buzz surrounding the Bills being in the playoffs
- A fun way to incorporate Oxford Pennant products
Baked With Love Bagels:
Why it works:
- Introduces special product to celebrate a Buffalo Bills win
- Use of video content that works well in algorithm
- Local fundraiser supporting a great cause!
Sunshine + Bluebirds:
Why it works:
- Showcases products and accessories and how they pair together
- Reminds audience to shop and stock up on apparel before the game starts
- Incorporates important info (shop hours)
Memes & Pop Culture References
Spaghetti & Meatballs:
Why it works:
- Fun way of incorporating a viral meme into products
- Incorporates seasonality/timely holiday (Halloween)
- Caption provides info on where to purchase
Tiny Buffalo Designs:
Why it works:
- Fun way of incorporating pop culture into products
- Incorporates seasonality/timely holiday (Christmas)
- Use of high-quality product photography
Buffalo Real Estate Lady:
Why it works:
- Great example of how businesses can create their own memes
- Caption keeps things light and ties into the Bills game the next day
- Replying to comments on the post to keep audience engaged
