Instagram can be tricky business. You just post up some pretty pictures and use trending hashtags and the likes will come, right? Not exactly. The most successful Instagram accounts are those that create a great brand personality, turning a business into a lifestyle. Here are six changes you can start making today to brand your Instagram and improve your following.
1. Carefully choose a look for your photos. You don’t have to use the same filter every time, but all your photos should look like they have something in common.
2. Find your voice. In running a business-oriented Instagram, there is a fine line between being too personal and too robotic. If your images are strictly business with your logo pasted on top of everything, your followers won’t want to engage with you. But if you’re posting selfies and talking in the first person (“I’ll be at this event this weekend, come see me!”), you won’t be taken seriously as a trusted brand.
3. Utilize whitespace, or blank space that draws attention to the focus of each photo. Don’t take this term too literally – it doesn’t always have to be white. Bright, bold colors in the background can make your subject pop off the phone screen, and your followers are more likely to stop, read and like.
4. Practice consistency, not just in your how often you post, which is very important, but in what you’re posting. Accounts like the Rising Tide Society create different themes for their posts each day, so their followers know what to come back and look for. It can be as simple as always posting a Throwback Thursday, or a Tuesday Tip.
5. Engage with everything. Respond to comments on your posts, and engagewith other users’ content as well. Remind your followers that your social media profiles are an open conversation, and their questions will always get answered.
6. Once you’ve established a brand you love, streamline across all platforms. The idea of social media for business is to take a potential to the next step in the buyer’s journey. If they’re going from your Instagram to your Facebook to your website, every platform should look familiar.
Create+Cultivate has a streamlined look across all their platforms, making the transition between their social media and websites smooth and easy.
Ready to become an Instagram pro? Read these useful blog articles, then download our free guide on finding the right prospects on social media. May the digital marketing odds be ever in your favor!
- Susan’s Tips for Becoming an iPhone Photography Expert
- Copy Carrie’s Favorite Instagrammers & Get More Followers
- How to Run an Effective Instagram Contest
- How Does Instagram’s Buy Button Affect Me?
- Instagram Bots Will Ruin Your Engagement
