Three quick tips for making an Instagram feed you and your followers will love.
Recently I’ve had a few people mention that they are loving the @climbing_vine_co Instagram feed, and wondering if I could share some tips with how I make it look… pretty.
So I thought I’d write a blog on it and hopefully help you create a feed you can be proud of.
1. Decide on a ‘look’ and ‘feel’
Take some to sit down and note the values of your business. How this translates into a ‘feeling’ that your customers love about your brand. For me, I wanted to bring ‘ease’ and ‘peace’ to content creation. I wanted to communicate to my audience that using a writer doesn’t need to be daunting or intimidating.
With that, I took to create posts that promote this feeling. Check it out here.
2. Introduce a ‘content pillar strategy’
You know that friend that constantly talks about themselves… the one who asks you how you’re going but then somehow manages to turn the conversation back onto them? Yeah, so we don’t want to be ‘that’ friend.
To be intentional and make sure you don’t fall into the trap of talking about ‘me’ ‘me’ ‘me’, try implementing different pillars of content types. Inspirational quotes, how-to’s, free tips, behind-the-scenes or staff stories, testimonials, industry topics etc. Make your hard-sell posts less than 10% of your overall feed.
3. Use design and copy to create a brand
This one might sound weird to comment on… yes I’ve done some design studies, but you don’t have to be a designer to be able to create beautiful posts.
Here’s what I do:
Every second or third post I create a design with my brand colours using http://www.photopea.com – it’s a free online alternative to Photoshop. I’ve heard others use apps like Canva.
I don’t have access to custom photography, so I use free-to-use stock imagery from sites like pexels.com and unsplash.com. Always check that you can use an image with ‘no attribution required’. Otherwise, you must attribute where necessary.
Copy. Use words that warm your audience. Be conversational (Instagram loves this stuff!)
BE INSPIRED. Take a look around and see what others are doing. what you like and what you don’t like. Learn to let it inspire you not intimidate you. From there you can test and implement new things without fear of getting it wrong.
I hope this has been helpful to you! If you’d like to get some help with creating a pretty Instagram feed, I’d love to help. Check out my website for services available.