curating an eye-catching insta feed
Creating a visually-appealing Instagram feed - it’s a fairly common goal for businesses looking to expand and further engage their social media following, but often it’s hard to know just where to start. What was once a simple photo-sharing app has now evolved into an important platform used by many businesses to attract and engage their target market, and whilst sharing beautiful imagery was initially enough to get you noticed, quality content that your followers find valuable is also key to building a successful account.
If I had one tip only to share when it comes to designing your Insta feed, it’s planning ahead. Posting content and imagery on the fly might seem like an easier option than carving time out of your busy schedule to count squares, but I can guarantee the content you generate when you’re fully engaged will be far superior than anything you can draft in the carpark waiting at school pick-up (hello, past experience!) Setting aside dedicated time once a month to research, create, write meaningful captions and schedule posts means you can really consider the direction of what you’re creating and whether it’s of significant value to your followers.
Apps like Planoly are useful as they allow you to organise and view your grid prior to posting, meaning you can see just how your imagery looks drafted together and posts can be rearranged as desired. These apps also have scheduling tools which means you can create entire posts in advance and schedule them automatically without having to manually upload and post your content. While this can be a convenient option, it’s important to note that genuine engagement with your followers is also essential to building authenticity and meaningful relationships, so ensure you take the time to reply to comments and messages in response to the content you’re posting.
Having a firm visual aesthetic in mind is also necessary when it comes to building a feed with beauty and consistency. Stalk some accounts you like the look and style of and take note of the continuity between posts. Are they dark or light? Moody or bright? Is there a pattern to the content they’re posting? Keep in mind your brand aesthetics when considering the kind of direction you’d like to go in and maybe try drafting a moodboard in Pinterest to hone your ideas and help with visualisation. Using pre-designed templates (whether custom-created by your graphic designer or designed yourself) are a great way to maintain visual consistency within your feed. Using your brand colours and fonts within an app like Canva allows the freedom to customise your own artwork via a simplified drag-and-drop process and still delivers skillful-looking results. Take the time to build a set of empty-belly templates using your brand colours and a simplified logo and this will ensure any text-based posts you make are always looking sharp.
Consistency with your photos can also be easily achieved using photo editing apps like VSCO and Adobe Lightroom. Editing your photos with similar filters or presets ensures you achieve consistent results with a simple one or two taps of a button. If you’re editing your own photos, sets of presets can be purchased together from a number of different sources online, meaning you’re covered for editing an assortment of different images snapped in all kinds of different lighting conditions.
If you intend on sharing images other than your own from accounts that inspire you or that you admire, a special note to remember: always credit the creator. It’s often polite to reach out and ask first, but it’s always vital when sharing imagery that does not belong to you to list the source. The content creator will appreciate the shout-out and you’ve played a part in supporting artists and respecting intellectual property.
With these great foundations for curating an authentic, eye-catching Instagram feed, isn’t your grid due for a glow-up?