Are you unsure about how your brand should look on Instagram?
Is candid the look you want or are branded posts the way to go?
It can be confusing but there’s no need to stress. Read our top tips for navigating your way to Instagram success.
Post and interact
The first step to success on Instagram is regular and consistent posting. It’s non-negotiable. How often and what you post is completely based on your audience and the type of brand you are. A good idea is to start by posting approximately three times per week and build this up or reduce it depending on the response generated. Patience is important and with intentional trial and error, it’s possible to find the right frequency to suit your audience.
Interacting with other Instagram users is also key. This doesn’t just mean responding to your follower’s comments (although you should always do this!) but also liking and commenting on other brands posts helps to boost engagement and audience participation. This is particularly useful with brands that have a similar community. This will help you to grow your own following and illustrates brand personality.
Go live!
Instagram has a really cool feature that allows you to live stream straight to your followers. These videos are designed to disappear after the live is complete, however, newer features like IGTV allow you to save your lives to be viewed by followers later. The live feature gives a brief opportunity to interact with followers in a two-way interaction, is authentic and is great for showing off more tangible brand elements such as products. It’s also great for big reveals or candid content.
There is also the option to post pre-recorded videos to both your feed and stories. This is an excellent way to mix up your feed, breaking up still images that can become mundane.
Video settings and filters also provide fun features to experiment with. Consistent use of these same filters can add to your branding look and feel on Instagram.
Creating a style pattern
Instagram is a visual platform and post remain visible in your feed unless intentionally removed. It is important to have a defined style as part of your branding on Instagram. To create this style, it is best practice to plan and curate each post so that your feed has a definite look and feel. Put simply, you want to create a pattern with your posts. There are many different ways to do this, and this pattern should be designed around what suits your brand and provides the sought-after look.
Some examples
- Checkerboard – image, quote, image, quote
- Row by row – block rows by colour or post type eg. quote, quote, quote, image, image, image
- Line in the middle – image, quote, image, image, quote
These patterns can create interest and make your feed look intentionally on brand, rather than just posting in random order.
Add branding
When building your brand, it is crucial to include your brand assets. This might sound strange but it’s often something that is forgotten. This means colours, fonts, sounds, logos and everything in-between that helps followers identify your brand and give it personality. In particular, the key elements for Instagram are the visuals.
Colour is one of the crucial elements of an Instagram feed. It adds to the feeds look and feel of the feed and is an easy way to tie all of your posts together. Ask yourself – what are your brand colours and how should you use them? These are any colours relevant to your brand, the most obvious being logo colours, but you can also use colours that resonate with your customers or tie into your products. Then include these colours in your post, quotes, backgrounds and imagery where possible.
The font is another simple way to build branding consistency on Instagram, helping your feed look less cluttered and more cohesive. Using a font that relates to your logo and other collateral is a useful idea. However, if you don’t have a go-to font this is fine, just choose one which fits your brand personality and begin to consistently utilise it across all marketing activities, including social media.
As well as the above, incorporating logos use when relevant and any other brand assets will help build your brand. Remember to also carry this branding over to your story and other Instagram features.
In conclusion
Instagram is a simple to use platform which provides clever tools for success when it comes to building your brand profile. The key to success is to be consistent! Set-up and execute your feed with a visual strategy that suits your followers and incorporate branding whenever possible.
If you’re still stuck on the how… give us a call today. We can help you brand your Instagram feed for success.
