Your Instagram Profile is not only your virtual business card, but the face of your brand; and behind every face, there’s a whole lot of personality. It’s really important that you give your Instagram Profile an element of character and charisma, so that people who visit your profile can understand what you’re all about! Here are a few simple steps to follow that will instantly help your Instagram Profile stand out from the crowd:
Step One – Aesthetic Appeal
One of the most simple ways to get your Instagram page looking aesthetically pleasing *while demanding very little time and effort* is by colour coordinating posts on your grid. That’s right, creating a visually cohesive and effortlessly beautiful Instagram feed isn’t as difficult as you may have initially thought – all it takes is using the same filter on all of your images to create a stunning feed with a consistent, filtered colour palette.
Tip: Prevent your Instagram feed becoming “same old” by adjusting your colour palette according to seasons. Use the Photo Editor app to create soft yellow hues in Spring, tropical filters with bright colours in Summer, orange tones and soft browns in Autumn and darker filters during Winter. Get creative and have fun!
Step Two – Optimise the Platform
Instagram is a constantly evolving platform that is now so much more than a photo sharing app – it’s more than just photos! Videos are quickly becoming the new selfie. You should make sure to optimise the entire platform, and that means making good use of Instagram Stories, Instagram Live as well as IGTV.
An easy way to keep you Instagram relevant and up-to-date, while encouraging your audience to interact with your content, is through Instagram Stories. You can easily build excitement in your Stories and leave your followers wanting more. Use Questions and Polls to boost your engagement!
Follow these simple steps to help you rack up views on IGTV – the key is to give people what they want. Here’s the secret sauce:
1: ? Sound and Captions: Optimise for ‘sound off’. Text-on-screen and music works best for more visually driven content.
2: ? Video Length: Focus on the story you’re telling vs. manufacturing content to a certain length.
3: ? Timing: Identify what time zone your largest audience is in and post between the times that people are having lunch or finishing work.
Instagram Live is a real-time video broadcasting feature within the Instagram app. Companies can make effective use of this feature to boost interactions with customers and clients, as well as opening up to new and larger audiences. Your followers are able to comment on your live stream and interact with you in the moment. Stay relevant to your brand and industry, and the sky’s the limit! Here are just a few ways for you and your company to optimise IG Live’s:
- Host a Q+A or Interview
- Host a Live Giveaway
- Live Product Demonstrations
- Showcase events your company holds and attends
- Create hype and anticipation around your product launch
Step Three – Improve Your Impact
Improve your impact on Instagram by using third-party apps to boost your online presence to the next level.
For grid posts: Preview app
An easy way to keep you Instagram relevant and up-to-date, while encouraging your audience to interact with your content, is through Instagram Stories. You can easily build excitement in your Stories and leave your followers wanting more. Use Questions and Polls to boost your engagement!
For stories: Mojo Story Maker
Mojo Story Maker is an app that allows you to create visually stunning video stories that will instantly make your Instagram stories stand out from the crowd.
It’s easy as 1,2,3. First, select a template that takes your fancy for your Story. Next, add any media and text – here’s your opportunity to add a touch of individuality to your content! Customise your post to suit your brand. Lastly, share your finished creation to Instagram Story! Voila.
IGTV: Videoshop
Videoshop is a super quick and easy way for you to edit and personalise your videos, then share them with your friends!
Step Four: Catchy Captions
It can be true what people say – “a picture is worth a thousand words” – but you will find that you’re hugely mistaken if you don’t think your captions are as important as the picture you post on Instagram.
Top Tip: Be careful not to flood your captions with hashtags – you don’t want your post to appear spammy. Instead, use the most important hashtags within your caption, then add a comment to the post with any other useful and relevant hashtags.
Step Five: Steady Scheduling
Post! Post! Post!
It’s important for you to set up a posting schedule, but try not to overdo it or flood people’s feeds as that could result in people losing interest and you quickly losing followers! The 5×5 rule is useful to keep in mind when it comes to this (anywhere from 5 posts a week, to 5 posts a day, spread throughout stories and feed).
It’s essential to consider the amount of content you have and how Instagram’s algorithm is behaving at the time. Too much content and it starts to get low engagement, too little, and you may face the same problems.
Peak posting times:
- Morning Mooch – Waking up and checking social is the way most people start their day. Get some content out for the early risers before rush hour!
- Lunchtime – Eat, Drink, Check Social & Repeat.
- Evening Scroll – From 7pm onwards. It gives people time to finish work, get home and have some down-time which roughly translated is usually scrolling time.
Top Tip: Consistency is critical (don’t spam!). Make your content pattern predictable, so people know what to expect from following your account.
What are you waiting for?
Now that you know some of the most useful tips to increase your engagement, what’s stopping you from taking the plunge and getting started? These 5 tips are very simple to put into action, but when done correctly, they can increase your followers and boost your engagement rapidly!
