Instagram is a Skill job: one AI pass turns one real topic from your business into a caption, the text for a carousel and a hook for a reel. One topic takes about twenty minutes, and three or four topics fit in one sitting. This page covers that one pass, so the three formats say the same thing and come from the same material. For what Instagram is for when you run a local business, read Instagram for local businesses.
The AI does the writing, which is the part most owners put off. You bring the topic, check the facts and press share.
- Shape
- Skill
- Sitting
- one sitting
The shape: Skill
This job is a Skill because it fits in one conversation with one repeatable pattern. You bring one topic, ask for three formats, and judge them together. Nothing has to be approved before the next step can start.
The pattern is the skill: one point, three containers. The caption explains the point in a few sentences and ends on one ask. The carousel breaks the same point into slides, one idea per slide. The reel hook opens a short video on the same point, in words you can say in two seconds.
Most owners write these on different days, from different moods. The caption says one thing, the carousel teaches another, and the reel opens on a third. A follower who sees all three gets three half-points and remembers none.
Writing all three from one topic in one pass fixes that. The point stays the same, the material gets gathered once, and you judge everything in one read. The AI is good at turning one idea into several shapes. It is weak at deciding what is true about your business, so that part stays in your notes.
What you give the AI
The output is only as specific as the material you bring. A prompt that says "write Instagram posts for a bakery" gets the posts every bakery gets. Gather these before you open the chat:
- One topic, as a customer would say it. A question you hear at the counter, on the phone or in your inbox, written in the customer's words. "Does sourdough freeze well?" is a topic. "Bread tips" is not.
- Your answer, in rough notes. Three to six lines, typed fast. The steps, the reason, the thing most people get wrong.
- One fact only you know. A detail from your own work, such as what you check first, what you see every week, or why you do it your way.
- Who the post is for. One line, such as "parents who order birthday cakes" or "new homeowners with older houses".
- The one ask. Book, call, reply with a word, visit a page or come in on a certain day. Name the page or the link if there is one.
- A sample of how you talk. Two or three past captions you liked, or a long email to a customer. A paragraph or two is plenty.
- What you will not say. Prices you do not post, claims your industry does not allow, words you never use.
- What you can show. The photos or video clips you already have for this topic, described in a line each. The AI writes to what exists, so you do not need a new shoot.
If you have no topics written down, spend ten minutes in your sent email. Every answer you have typed to a customer is a post someone already wanted.
What comes back
One block of text with three labeled parts: the caption, the carousel slides and the reel hook. All three carry the same point, and each one is written for how people use that format.
Here is the brief to paste, with your material filled in:
Act as the Instagram writer for the business described below.
Use only the facts in these notes.
If something you need is missing, ask before you invent it.
The topic, in the customer's words:
The answer, in rough notes:
One fact only this business knows:
Who the post is for:
The one ask (with the page or link):
How this business talks (sample):
Never say:
Photos or clips available:
From this one topic, write three pieces that all make the same single point.
1. CAPTION
An opening line under 15 words that names the customer's question.
Two to four short sentences that explain the answer, including the fact only this business knows.
One ask, taken from the notes.
Plain words, no hype, no emoji, no more than three hashtags.
2. CAROUSEL
Six slides.
Slide 1: the hook, under 10 words.
Slides 2 to 5: one idea each, under 25 words per slide.
Slide 6: the ask.
For each slide, name which photo from the list fits it, or say "text only".
3. REEL HOOK
Three hook options for a 15 to 30 second reel, each under 12 words, written to be said out loud.
For each, the on-screen text for the first two seconds, under 8 words.
One line on what the reel then shows, using the clips listed.
Do not write a word-for-word reel script.
Never promise a result, a price or a timeline not given in the notes.You get back the three pieces in one reply. Read the caption first, because it carries the point in the fewest words. If the caption is right, the carousel and the hook usually are too.
If the hooks are weak, ask for five more and pick one. Hooks are cheap to regenerate, and choosing from several is faster than fixing one. When the first topic is done, paste the next one into the same chat and say "same again". The AI keeps the voice sample and the rules from the first run.
How to judge it
You can reject a bad result in a minute. Look for these:
- Three different points. The carousel teaches something the caption never mentions, or the hook opens on a different topic. Ask again, and name the one point.
- An opening line that fits any business. "Did you know?" or "Here are some tips" with nothing specific after it. A good opening names your customer's actual question.
- A caption that repeats the slides. The caption should add context and the ask, not copy the carousel word for word.
- Slides that hold two ideas. If a slide needs a second sentence to make sense, split it or cut it.
- A hook the reel cannot pay off. "The one thing nobody tells you" over a simple tip. The viewer feels baited and stops trusting the next one.
- Invented facts. A statistic, a study, a customer story, a price or a number you did not give it. Anything not in your notes comes out.
- Two asks. "Follow us and book now" splits attention. Keep one.
- Hype words and decoration. "Game-changing", "must-have", rows of emoji, a wall of hashtags. Cut to what the post actually says.
- A voice that is not yours. If you would never say a sentence to a customer, rewrite it or ask the AI to make it plainer.
If several topics fail the same way, the notes are thin. Better notes fix every piece at once, which is faster than editing each one. For more on what a caption should do, read our Instagram caption best practices.
What stays with you
The AI writes the words. The post is yours, and so are these parts:
- The topic. Only you know which questions your customers actually ask and which answers bring them in.
- Every claim. Check any number, rule or result against its source before it goes out. Regulated work, such as health, legal, financial or real estate, has rules on what you can claim, and they apply to captions and slides too.
- The images. The AI names which photo fits which slide. You choose the photo, make the slides and check that the text is readable on a phone. Our guide to Instagram carousel size covers the frame.
- The reel. The hook is a start. You film the clip or pick it from what you have, and say the point in your own words.
- Permissions. A customer shown or named agrees first. Music in a reel needs the right to use it, and on a business account that usually means the sounds Instagram offers business accounts, which leave out many popular tracks.
- The posting. You upload, read the caption one more time on your phone and press share.
- The comments and messages. A question under a post is a warm lead. Answering it is yours, and it is often the next topic.
A worked example
This is an editorial example with an invented business. Say you run a small neighborhood bakery, and you want three posts this week from one question.
The topic is a question customers ask at the counter: "Does sourdough freeze well?" The rough answer is four lines: yes, slice it first, wrap it twice, toast from frozen. The fact only the bakery knows is that the loaves are baked the same morning, so a loaf frozen that day keeps well. The ask is to pre-order a loaf for Saturday pickup on the order page. The photos are a sliced loaf, a wrapped loaf, and toast on a plate.
The AI returns the three pieces. The caption opens on the customer's question, explains the four steps in two sentences, mentions the same-morning bake and ends on the pre-order. The carousel runs six slides: the question, slice it, wrap it twice, freeze it the day you buy it, toast from frozen, pre-order for Saturday. Each middle slide names the photo that fits it. The three reel hooks each open on the freezer question, and one of them is plain enough to say without thinking.
One slide tries to add a tip about storing bread at room temperature, which is a second point, so it gets cut. One hook promises "the trick bakers won't tell you", so it gets replaced with the plain question. The owner makes the slides from the three photos, films a short clip of slicing a loaf for the reel and posts all three across the week. Nothing in any of them says how many loaves were sold or how many people pre-ordered, because there is nothing to prove it with.
One pass or one format at a time
Both routes work. The choice is about how much material you have and how often you post.
| Route | Who does the work | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| One pass, three formats | You bring one topic, the AI writes caption, carousel and hook together | You want a few posts a week from a small number of good topics |
| One format at a time | You ask for captions in one chat and carousels in another | You only post one format, or the formats have different jobs |
| Software from your website | Software reads your website and makes the posts, you check them | You want posts every week without gathering topics yourself |
If you want to see a carousel made from your own website first, the free carousel generator makes one. For the reel, our page on short-form video with AI plans a full batch of videos from the same kind of notes.
Boomp is software that does this job every week, without you. See ten posts made from your website, free
