Instagram currently has over 25 million business profiles, with more active users per month than even Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Instagram marketing has to be a priority for all businesses.
But with so many companies, small and large, jostling for attention on the platform, there are a few things you need to do when creating content for your business Instagram account.
In this article, we will look at five design tips you should adopt when posting content to Instagram.
1. Quality Over Quantity
It is tempting to share more posts to gain more traction and views on Instagram. However, the results of this tactic will not be positive in the long run.
Instagram’s algorithms have been adjusted recently, and the platform now prominently features accounts that are performing well. In other words, the more likes your content receives, the higher the chances of your content being seen.
If you share more posts, your likes will be spread across your followers, decreasing your overall engagement.
The worst case scenario with regard to quantity of posts shared is that people will stop following you. Because of the way the Instagram feed is now laid out, if you post too much content in a day, it will come across as spammy and will lead to unfollows.
Instead of posting multiple times a day, post your best content once a day, at the most, or only a few times a week. And don’t rely solely on posts to engage with audiences, either.
Instagram Stories and live video are a great way of growing your business blog, according to Kere Jaehnig of Idea Girl Media. Use those resources, along with posts, in your Instagram marketing.
2. Consistency is Key
There are two elements of creating consistent Instagram content:
- Consistency in look and feel
- Consistency in branding
Look and Feel
You may have access to high quality images, but you have to keep in mind that Instagram users are looking at a constant feed of great photos.
You need to ensure that your images are different enough to catch the users’ eye but also speak to your business’ personality.
Your Instagram account is not only meant to share your products and services, but also to evoke emotion. One way to do this is by adopting a color scheme for your images. Click To TweetWhen using colors, your posts don’t have to be saturated with that one color. They need to incorporate elements of the color in the image—either in the background, or on a single object—so that it is easily recognizable as your post.
Look at how the post below uses color to not only attract attention but to evoke a feeling of inspiration.
Source: Venngage
A consistent color scheme will make your grid look more attractive (more on that in a bit), and tie into your branding.
Branding
Digital branding is extremely important across social media, but particularly in Instagram marketing.
As we have mentioned, Instagram’s feed is saturated with content. If you want to be noticed by users, your brand needs to be recognizable.
While you can highlight your brand by adding your logo on posts, that won’t gel with the overall feel of Instagram. It will also broadcast your sales intent to users, which is not for the platform is meant for.
Instead, ensure that the images you use highlight your brand’s ethos. Are you an action-oriented business? Post images that are full of movement and activities.
Or is your business focused on well-being? Share photos of serene landscapes and flowing streams.
Don’t be afraid to share images of your staff and behind-the-scenes shots. It will make your brand look more human and personable.
More than anything else, ensure that the images you use are well chosen. When someone visits your account, they should feel like they’re visiting a gallery, not looking at a homemade slideshow.
3. Optimize the Instagram Grid
The main aim of posting great quality consistent content is to optimize the way your Instagram grid looks to users. A beautiful grid will entice Instagram users to follow you.
There are a number of ways to optimize your grid. One is the aforementioned color scheme that will give your grid a coherent look.
Another way to do it is by varying your colors but not your photo layouts. You can use a combination of flat-lays and portraits so that you have some flexibility in the kind of content you post while still maximizing your grid’s impact.
You can also look at subdividing the grid further—make each row and column visually consistent. The right side of your grid can feature portrait shots, while the middle column can host quotes, and the left column can have product images.
There are a number of ways to make the Instagram grid work for you, as long as you remain consistent. Keep your target audience in mind and think of what they would like to see. That will help you choose the right content to share.
4. User Generated Content
One of the biggest challenges with Instagram is posting content on a regular basis that is attractive and relevant. Sourcing quality visual content consistently is a tough ask for a business account.
Instead of creating content from scratch, why not turn to your users for their input? Your followers are creating as much content as you are. Except, most of them don’t have the pressure of worrying about ROIs.
Give them some incentive to make Instagram content that you can use, and that will solve the issue of conceptualizing campaigns and creating new content.
There are a number of great social media contest tools that you can use to incentivize followers to produce content that you can then post on your feed.
User-generated content will not only save you the trouble of making content in-house, but will also help to grow your following.
Instagram users will be drawn to your brand if they know that you will feature their content on your account. This will also give them a reason to spread the word about your account to their friends, families, and followers, thus increasing your overall followers.
5. Pre-Made Templates
We’ve spoken about consistency and the need for high quality content in your Instagram marketing. We also know that not all businesses have access to beautiful imagery that will attract attention on a busy platform. Where can you turn to for excellent graphics?
A number of online tools offer templated graphics that you can use for your visual content. Templates are optimized for Instagram’s grid, while also providing you with quality images, icons, illustrations, and text styles that you can customize for your business.
Templates are immensely helpful as they save you the trouble of having to design layouts for your posts. The templates can also be used for multiple posts, with a few tweaks applied to them.
You can see below an example of an Instagram template and how easily it can be customized for your needs.
Source: Venngage
Additionally, some template websites allow you to input your brand colors and fonts, which you can then apply across all your visuals. This is a great feature that will ensure branding consistency, which we covered earlier in this piece.
Conclusion
Consistency is the most important aspect of Instagram marketing. Ensure that your images have a consistent look and feel, and that they are designed to evoke one strong emotion from your audience. Click To TweetReaching your audience doesn’t mean that you have to post often. Post once a day, and rely on high quality content. Tap into your users for content generation and adopt templates for your posts.
By optimizing the Instagram grid, you will be able to reach a wider audience and increase your business account’s followers over time.
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