Can I use AI to create Instagram posts?

Of course! Learning how to generate Instagram posts using AI can be a game-changer for small businesses aiming for growth with limited resources.

If you’re exploring the idea of automating your social media posts, you’ve come to the right place! In this article, we’ll discuss how to generate Instagram posts using AI for free, including a step-by-step guide on leveraging AI for social media growth. 

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Benefits of Using AI for Instagram Posts

Data from GWI reveals that six out of ten consumers use Instagram to follow or research products. Alongside this statistic, Forbes cites data showing that 41% of small businesses use AI, such as AI tools for HR and AI tools for finance, to reallocate their time and their employees’ time toward more valuable tasks.

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Given these numbers, using AI to grow your Instagram following is a sensible decision, given the valuable benefits it offers:

  • Efficiency. AI tools can drastically reduce the time and effort involved in content creation. 
  • Consistency. AI tools also help ensure this consistency by automating the content creation process. In addition, AI platforms provide scheduling features that allow users to plan and queue posts well in advance.
  • Creativity. Last but not least, AI tools significantly enhance creativity. Not only do they offer a wealth of ideas, but they also provide content variations that might not be immediately apparent to human creators. 

Types of AI Tools for Instagram Content Creation

There are various types of AI tools you can include in your AI marketing strategy. These are the most common:

Content Generation Tools

These tools are designed to help create captions, hashtags, and visual content, making the content creation process faster and more efficient. Examples include:

  • Copy.ai
  • Jasper

Scheduling Tools

Scheduling tools are essential for planning and automating your Instagram posts, ensuring a consistent posting schedule. Examples include:

  • Later
  • Buffer
  • Hootsuite

Analytics Tools

Analytics tools are crucial for analyzing the performance of your posts and suggesting improvements based on data insights. Examples include:

  • Iconosquare
  • Sprout Social

Step-by-Step Guide to Generating Instagram Posts Using AI

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to generate Instagram posts using AI: 

Step 1: Choose Your AI Tools

First, select the tools you’ll need for content generation, scheduling, and analytics. In this article, we’ll use Chat GPT as an example, but feel free to explore other options.

Step 2: Define Your Content Strategy

After choosing your tool, the next step is to establish your content pillars and posting frequency. Doing so can help you maintain a consistent brand voice and, at the same time, ensure that you are regularly engaging with your audience.

Content pillars are informative topics that represent the core themes around which your content will consistently revolve. It goes without saying that these pillars help ensure that your content remains focused, relevant, and valuable to your audience.

Here’s a Chat GPT prompt you can copy, paste, and edit on Chat GPT to generate your Content Strategy:

I need help developing a content strategy for my Instagram account. Please help me create content pillars and a posting frequency schedule. Here are some details about my brand:

Brand Name: [Your Brand Name]

Target Audience: [Describe your target audience]

Industry: [Your Industry]

Main Goals: [Your main goals, e.g., increase brand awareness, drive sales, engage with community]

Please provide:

A list of 4-5 content pillars relevant to my brand and industry.

A recommended posting frequency for each content pillar.

Any tips for maintaining consistency and engagement with my audience?

Sample content strategy generated via ChatGPT

For this example, I generated a content strategy for a business that sells vegan leather sleeves for gadgets and passports. Given the prompt, ChatGPT suggested the following content pillars:

  • Product showcases and features (Products’ design, functionality, and the cruelty-free aspect), two to three posts a week
  • User-generated content (Customer stories, testimonials, and reviews), one post per week
  • Behind-the-scenes and storytelling (Story and values behind the business), one post per week.
  • Travel and lifestyle inspirations (Showcasing how the products fit into different travel and lifestyle settings), one to two posts per week.
  • Educational content and tips (Tips on caring for vegan leather products, insights on sustainable fashion), one post per week

Step 3: Generate Content Ideas

Can Chat GPT make Instagram posts? Yes, you can. After generating a content strategy via ChatGPT (or encoding a content strategy you created by yourself), you can use this prompt to generate content ideas:

Generate five content ideas for each of the content pillars listed above. Ensure the ideas are engaging, relevant to my target audience, and aligned with my brand’s mission and values.

Content Ideas generated by ChatGPT

As seen in the screenshot above, ChatGPT gave me several ideas under each content pillar. Now that I generated these ideas, I can then use them to create visual content as well as captions for Instagram posts.

Step 4: Create Visual Content

You can use AI tools to design images and videos. For this example, we’ll use Canva to generate visual content about a content idea from ChatGPT, which is Sustainable Fashion Facts.

For this part, you can explore ChatGPT Image Generator and use it along with ChatGPT. 

First, use this prompt on ChatGPT to get prompts you can use to generate AI images:

Generate image prompts I can use for 5 Instagram posts about [Content Idea].

For this example, I used the content idea, travel tips:

Image generation prompts from ChatGPT

Once you get the descriptions, paste each on ChatGPT Image Generator. Then, in the advanced settings, you can also adjust the image’s size. In addition, you can also set the mood, style, and other attributes. After fixing the settings, the platform will generate an image for your prompt. It cal also generate several images, depending on your advanced settings.

Instagram post images generated via ChatGPT Image Generator

Step 5: Generate Captions and Hashtags

After creating visual content, it’s time for captions and hashtags. From your previous prompt in ChatGPT, take the caption you generated along with the image description along with relevant hashtags. Make sure that it suits the image you generated.

Step 6: Schedule Your Posts

Once you have the visuals, captions, and hashtags, it’s time to schedule your posts using AI-powered tools. For this example, I used a tool called Plannable, which offers free posts. 

Scheduling an Instagram post on Plannable

In addition, the platform also has a feature that lets you generate captions via AI based on the image you upload. I tried the feature for the sake of making this article comprehensive. However, it missed the original idea of the content I wanted to post, so I stuck with the ChatGPT-generated caption. 

Scheduling an Instagram post on Plannable with a ChatGPT-generated caption

And there you have it – AI-generated Instagram posts for your brand. Rinse, repeat, and monitor analytics to see which ones work best for you.

Tips for Maximizing AI in Instagram Content Creation

Now that you know how to generate Instagram posts using AI, here are actionable tips for success:

  • Personalize Your Content. Use AI tools to tailor your posts to your audience’s preferences. In addition, customize visuals and captions to ensure they align with your brand voice and effectively engage your followers.
  • Stay Updated with Trends. Use AI to keep up with the latest trends and incorporate them into your content. Tools like Jasper AI can help you generate trendy hashtags and captions that keep your posts relevant and engaging.
  • Try a Professional Design Service. For high-quality, bespoke visual content, consider using a professional design service like Penji. We offer unlimited designs at a fixed monthly rate, helping you maintain a visually appealing Instagram feed without the hassle of creating everything yourself.

View a demo today to see how you can leverage Penji’s services with AI content marketing tools to grow your brand efficiently.