With over 1 billion users and multiple ways to engage with followers, Instagram provides businesses with many opportunities to grow, introduce their brands, and gain profits.
To succeed on Instagram and amass followers, you need to do more than just create a business profile and post photos regularly. You should also have an impressive Instagram feed that captures the attention of your audience, entice them to follow you, and encourages them to continue engaging with you.
Here’s what you can do to improve your IG feed.
Get to Know Your Target Audience
As you join one of the largest social networks online, always keep your target audience in mind.
Many businesses often forget the meaning of “social” in social media and make the mistake of focusing on themselves and their agenda rather than paying attention to their followers.
To create a feed that your audience would love and engage with, you have to get to know them. What types of content do they want to see? What are their interests, and how can you connect these interests with your brand, advocacies, and products/services? All these things could help you develop a feed that genuinely speaks to your audience.
Consider Your Brand Personality
Brand personality is the set human characteristics that personify your business. By humanising your brand on social networks, particularly on Instagram, you become closer to your followers. You are able to foster a sense of trust.
Give your audience a consistent experience with your business by developing your brand personality and sticking to it as you create your feed. Take Chanel, for example. Their personality speaks of luxury and aspirations, and these are very obvious in their photos and captions. Another example is National Geographic. Apart from breathtaking pictures of nature and the wild, they are famous for their journalistic, storytelling captions.
Pick an Overall Content Theme
An overall theme gives your feed a consistent and organised look. It helps make your profile memorable for your followers and eye-catching to those who aren’t following you yet.
Depending on your branding, some popular themes you could try are minimalistic, dark and moody, urban, modern, or vintage. Once you’ve picked out an overall theme, it’s time to gather photos that are feed-worthy.
If you have the resources, you could schedule a photoshoot to create unique photos that ultimately speaks of your brand. You could also consider using royalty-free images and user-generated content. The important thing is to make sure they match your theme.
Choose a Grid Layout or Pattern
Apart from your theme, your grid layout or pattern gives your Instagram feed a cohesive design. It shows how each post is related to each other.
Following a grid layout or pattern helps you stick to your theme. Additionally, following a pattern makes it easier to plan your content, as you’re able to see which type of post should be published next.
A tiled layout is a popular grid pattern used by many influencers and brands. In this layout, you typically alternate posts between two types of content such as a photo and a quote. Another popular pattern is the “row by row” layout, where one row tells one story. If you’re a travel agency, for instance, you could use one row to feature one destination and then another row to provide travel tips.
Pick a Filter and Stick to It
Filters give life to your photos. Unfortunately, using different filters could result in an uncoordinated look.
For a feed that is pleasing to the eyes, consider sticking to one type of filter for several weeks or several rows before switching to a different one. If you have a vintage content theme, a film filter could be an excellent complement for your photos. Another suggestion is to use a light and airy filter for a minimalist or urban theme.
Plan Your Grid
Following a theme, sticking to a pattern, and using a single filter could get really challenging if you don’t have a visual representation of your Instagram content calendar.
Some social media management platforms let you see your scheduled posts as they are laid out on your Instagram feed. With this feature, you’re able to rearrange and reschedule posts to make sure they follow your layout. If you’re not using any social media management platforms, you could plan your grid using Excel, Google Sheet, or MSWord.
A messy feed is so last decade. Create a stunning Instagram feed with thumb-stopping content and watch your followers grow.
Need help developing your social media strategy? Let us help you. We offer a wide range of social media services to get you in front of your target audience.
