Creating original content for Instagram can be a struggle, especially when trying to stand out from the 1 billion other monthly users!
Over the years Instagram feeds have become more and more aesthetically pleasing, and with 1 billion people currently using the app each month, it’s vital you obtain an aesthetic for your feed if you want to keep up with competitors.
So you may ask yourself – how do I create that desirable feed?
We have created a list of 4 easy stages to help you keep up with the latest Instagram trends, boost your engagement and perfect the design of your feed.
1. Plan Your Theme
Firstly, before you start on any content creation, you need to determine your desired theme. Your page is going to represent you and your business, therefore you want to clearly plan out what you want your “vibe” to be.
Decide on what you want your followers to gain from your account and determine who you want your target audience to be.
Once you have decided on who your desired demographic is, then follow this up by doing research on other similar accounts, to see what is popular within their business and adapt these popular trends to your page.
Now that you have a clear idea of what you want to post and your target audience, you can start designing your theme for your feed.
2. Design Your Theme
Colour schemes, font styles and filters are the tools to create a perfect looking Instagram page.
Choose a colour scheme that will represent your desired aesthetic best and then stick to it!
The whole idea behind creating a theme is so you will always refer back to it whenever creating new content, therefore choose your colour scheme wisely as you ideally will keep it for a while.
Next, plan a font that you like for any text that you may put onto your content, once again, this should be used for almost all future posts therefore choose a font that you feel represents your page best.
Finally, for your process of designing your theme, establish if you feel you want to use filters on your pictures. Filters can completely change the feel of your content. To keep all posts within your aesthetic you will need to use the same filters on each therefore plan out if you feel your feed needs them.
3. Take High-Quality Pictures
Instagram is an app-based around photography therefore it is vital, to keep up with the industry standards, that you take high-quality images.
Using a professional camera to take your photos ideally is the best way to retrieve high-quality resolution images. That said, not everyone has access to a digital camera but tends to have access to a phone camera. Smartphone camera quality has improved drastically over the years and with the more recent phones you can get up to 4k images, so don’t worry if you don’t have a digital camera as a phone camera will do.
The best way to maximise the quality of your photos is to edit them. By adjusting the exposure, brightness and saturation of an image ,it can completely transform it.
Keep your editing process consistent throughout the majority of your pictures so they all stick to your theme. For example, if you like your posts to be really bright, turn up the saturation to the desired amount and then stick to the same amount of saturation for the rest of your posts, keeping consistent.
4. Post Consistently
Studies show that between the hours 7-8 AM on a Monday and Thursday, posts receive the highest amount of engagement.
With that in mind, it goes without saying that the best way to maximise the engagement on your posts is to post every day. This is why planning out your content is so important as it can be hard to come up with ideas instantly to post.
Filler posts are a great way to fill up your feed when your inspiration for quality content is lacking. Filler posts are for those days you don’t have anything specific to post but want to stay active on the app. Keep to your theme when making these posts as they really are only there to your aesthetic, these types of posts are great for creating that perfect looking grid.
Stories are a perfect way to stay active on the app without posting on your main grid. Create daily stories that work within your theme and then turn them into highlights. Stories only last on your page for 24 hours however, if you turn it into a highlight they will be accessible to view permanently. Highlights are a great way to organise and categorise your Instagram page whilst adding to the aesthetic of your feed.
By following these four steps you should be well on your way to creating the Instagram aesthetic of your dreams. Make sure you plan, design and edit before posting and your Instagram will be thriving.
