How to Post Poetry on Instagram to Grow Your Account

This post sharing how to post poetry on instagram is written by Melody Votoire who is a young author and micro-influencer who writes about the struggles of mental illness, relationships, and the struggles of navigating life as a marginalized voice.

Writing poetry is incredibly fun and therapeutic, but it’s no secret that sharing it can be a bit more difficult. You’ve created intimate, personal pieces that are too meaningful to be hidden away in your journals – now what?

Social media platforms like Instagram are an excellent place to turn, and whether you’re running a poetry page or just looking to share individual pieces among your regular content, the app can be a great tool for getting your words out there.

Many poets, such as Rupi Kaur, have paved the way for sharing written pieces on social platforms.

The Instagram poetry community has grown rapidly in the last year, and being part of the group opens up opportunities of connecting with other poets and readers, and even being noticed by potential publishers. 

Social media platforms like Instagram love to showcase short, easily digestible content. When choosing which poems to share on your Instagram page, it is important to think about the message you want to get across as well as the length of the poem.

It is helpful to pick a short poem that can be read and understood in just a few seconds, as this will encourage more readers to engage with your posts and leave thoughts of their own regarding your work. 

It is also important to remain consistent in your content. If you typically post inspiring, positive content, try to make sure that you are posting a poem with the same concepts.

This will keep your Instagram followers interested in your content, and won’t confuse anyone by having a sudden change in tone.

If you are a dedicated poetry account, it helps to separate different styles of poetry by putting each cluster of topics into a poetry collection. For example, one row of your Instagram feed could be poems about nature, and the next could be about social issues.

This keeps things consistent and lets you release work about different topics without overwhelming your followers.

The first step to sharing your poetry on Instagram is finding a creative way of showcasing your piece that resonates with your work. There are a variety of ways to do this. 

A post shared by Melody Votoire (@melodyvotoire)

Artists may choose to create a painting or drawing that aligns with the message of their poem, and then edit the poem over the top in programs such as Phonto or Canva. There are also plenty of free-access art pieces on the internet that can be used for this. 

The benefit of combining your poem with visual art is that it is guaranteed to attract larger audiences, as the visual element of the piece will be what captures the attention of many viewers. You can opt for putting the full poem onto the artwork, which works best for a short poem.

Or, if you are working with a longer poem, it is a great option to add your favorite line from the piece into the image as a cover photo and use Instagram’s “Carousel Post” feature to put the full poem on the second slide. Remember that you can get creative with the text itself – try using different fonts and colors to add to the appeal of the image!

A similar option is to incorporate photography into the post. You can use photos of yourself, or get together with friends to create interesting images that correlate to the piece. Nature photography is also a lovely choice – it just depends on the contents of your poem.

A post shared by Melody Votoire (@melodyvotoire)

You can even place the poem itself into your photography. Writing your poetry out by hand, or typewritten poems, are authentic and aesthetic ways to show off your work. Seeing the original state of the piece is an intimate and raw way of showcasing your writing, and works perfectly for more personal pieces.

There are plenty of ways to get creative with this – you can light candles and place them in the photo, add small doodles to the pages, or even take a photo of your piece with an older camera for a vintage tone.

A post shared by Melody Votoire (@melodyvotoire)

Simply typing your poem out in a word document and uploading a screenshot to your Instagram page works wonderfully if there isn’t a particular visual theme you want to add to your piece.

This also works especially well for longer poems that are not as aesthetically pleasing when layered over images. Remember, it is still important to pick out the right fonts and colors to ensure your piece still looks aesthetically pleasing when sharing a text-based post.

Sharing your poetry in video form is perfect for intimate pieces that you want to add a personal feeling to. Instagram Reels are also an amazing marketing tool, and will bring large groups of viewers to your Instagram account.

Also, if you tend to upload video content anywhere else, such as Youtube videos, this is a great opportunity to promote your other content. 

Sitting down in front of the camera and reading your poem out loud is the easiest way to go about sharing your poetry as a video. Make sure you have a nice background – this can be a blank wall, a clean room, or a natural setting.

What’s important is that your background isn’t too busy, as you don’t want to distract from the subject of the video – you!

You can also use other visual elements or props in the video if it fits the poem you are sharing. As an example, if your piece is about the importance of family, wearing a piece of jewelry that is an old family heirloom can be a great touch. 

A post shared by Melody Votoire (@melodyvotoire)

Making short films revolving around your poetry is a fun and unique way to share your poem, especially when working with longer pieces. When creating a poetry short film, start by separating lines of your poem into different scenes.

For each line, come up with a corresponding visual element that matches the words. This can be a still image or a video. Once you have an outline created, you can begin filming your scenes or finding royalty free image or video content online to use.

For best results, record any videos in “portrait mode” – also known as a nine by sixteen aspect ratio – as this is the ideal format when uploading videos to Instagram Reels. Depending on the content of the film, it can be fun to “act” in your own video.

Show yourself in different scenarios discussed in the poem – if it’s about your love for art, a shot of you painting can help tie things together. 

Editing poetry videos is easy and fun. You can use any editing software that you like, but CapCut is a great and free choice for beginners.

First, compile your videos and images into one video and trim them down as needed. Once they’re in the right order, it helps to apply a filter to each clip.

This helps keep the video consistent and maintains one solid visual look for the entirety of the video. 

Next, you’ll want to add in the poem itself. There are a few different ways you can achieve this. You can simply type the lines of the poem out and have them appear on screen one at a time, but it helps create a more engaging video if you incorporate a voiceover alongside these captions.

You can record your own voiceover by simply reading the poem into the microphone and adding the audio file in, or you can use a text-to-speech tool online. There are a number of text-to-speech tools online that create authentic sounding voiceovers in a matter of seconds.

These tools are a great option if you struggle with reading out loud or are nervous about recording your own voice. If you use both audio and captions, make sure the words in the voiceover are synced to the words in the captions. 

Adding in royalty free instrumental music is another great way to enhance your video and make it more engaging. Try to keep the emotions of the poem in mind when you choose music, as it would take away from the impact of the poem if the music contrasts with the piece – melancholy piano won’t fit with an upbeat, inspirational poem. 

Make sure to put a watermark somewhere on the video that states your name or social media handle. This ensures that if the video is shared, you will get proper credit for your work.

Creating high quality Instagram posts is just the first step to gaining a following in the Instagram poetry community. To ensure your hard work is seen, you need to make sure your posts are being discovered by your target audience. 

Using the right Instagram hashtags is vital to being discovered by other Instagram poets, as well as interested readers who may want to follow you and your writing. Some of the best hashtags for posting poetry on Instagram include:

It’s also important to use hashtags specific to the poem you’re sharing. For example, if it’s a love poem, try adding in hashtags such as #relationships and #lovequotes to bring in a wider audience. 

Instagram Ads can be an extremely helpful tool for reaching new audiences as well. Instagram’s Ad program is quite unique, as it allows users to pick their own price – you can run an Instagram Ad for as low as one dollar.

When creating an Instagram Ad, you can target specific demographics, which can be incredibly helpful for reaching a niche audience and building a dedicated following for your poetry. Instagram’s algorithm will also prioritize your post in the feed of your followers if it is running as an ad. 

The Instagram Poetry community is a great place to get inspired, as well as build connections with other poets and creatives.

There are many group chats designed for poets to meet and share their work with one another. These groups are excellent for gaining support and feedback on your Instagram page, and you can befriend extremely talented, like-minded writers.

Having a dedicated group of poets to keep you inspired as well as share your work with is extremely helpful when sharing your poetry on Instagram. 

Even if you aren’t in a group, it’s important to interact with other Instagram poets. Make sure you follow multiple poetry hashtags, as well as both small and big accounts known for their creative writing. Regardless of their number of followers, it is important to interact with poetry posts by liking and sharing.

Remember to leave a kind, insightful comment as well in order to build connections in the Instagram community. The whole purpose of the platform is to share and connect with others, so make sure you are doing your part! 

This post sharing how to post poetry on Instagram is a guest post written for The Hobby Wife by the author Melody Votoire sharing her best tips for how to post poetry on Instagram. You can stay up to date with the release of her poetry book Temptations of a Splintered Heart by visiting her website Votoire.Wordpress.com

Melody Votoire is a young author and micro-influencer who writes about the struggles of mental illness, relationships, and the struggles of navigating life as a marginalized voice.