Whether you are a business, blogger, bespoke artist, or budding photographer, you are most likely on Instagram for the same reason as everyone else: to connect with others and grow your following.
The problem is, how do you stand out from all the other 1 billion users that are on the platform?
You are going to hate us for saying this, but the answer is really quite simple, and comes in three elements:
- Make great content – everything from your posts to your bio has to be on point
- Be unique and relatable – people tend to gravitate toward people they relate to
- Engage with the community – engagement is so important, make sure you are doing it!
We honestly believe that Instagram success can be whittled down to these 3 components, but there is one aspect that you have to put into all of these areas: hard work.
Instagram influencers dedicate hours of time nurturing their account and making great content, and it can take a few years for your account to snowball into one that earns the respect of millions of people.
Making Great Content – Why Having an Instagram Aesthetic Matters
Making great content is something that should be obvious to most Instagrammers, however, one thing that is not always apparent to user is that the content must tie collectively together into one big piece of great content.
Think of your Instagram posts as pieces of art and your account as the gallery in which they are displayed.
As soon as people step into your gallery, they should have an immediate sense of what your account is all about.
You have to communicate a creative vibe, and give a sense that all your pictures are connected in some way, rather than just a jumble of random events that you snapped a quick pic of.
If you are creative, you should hopefully already have an idea of what you should be doing, but if you need a little help creating an aesthetic, we are here to help.
Choose a Colour Scheme
This is one of the first things we would advise you do when creating a new Instagram account.
Instagram is without a doubt the most visual of all social media platforms, and if you can pick a fresh colour scheme and stick to it, it can do wonders for your following and engagement levels.
It is one of the main ways that you can make your Instagram images look like one curated collection, rather than a jumble of disconnected pictures.
Check out this new account from CMS Launcher that is using a deep blue colour scheme contrasted with strong yellow tones and lighter blue shades:
Have a Theme
Hopefully you should already know what your account is all about, as this forms the identity and individuality of your Instagram presence.
If you are already interested in a particular niche, you can check out other accounts and see what kind of creative direction they are going for.
When you choose a theme, it is almost always easier to stick to it if it is something that you are passionate about, so try to go for something that you are genuinely interested in.
A theme does not have to be restrictive in any way, and remember that you do not have to stick to a theme that’s already out there, you can create your own!
Filter And Edit Images Before Posting
This goes hand in hand with the previous section about a colour scheme.
It is much easier to stick to a certain colour scheme and make it look aesthetically similar if you can get to grips with editing you pictures before posting them.
You don’t necessarily need to be a Photoshop wizard to make you pictures look amazing, and there are lots of third-party apps out there that make editing and filtering easy.
You can always go for the tried and tested approach of using Instagram’s built-in filters, as this means you can select the same filter every time and your images will all have a similar vibe.
But if you are looking for a more in-depth solution, you should try one of our favourite apps – A Color Story.
This app makes it easy to do really focused editing of colours and lighting, so that you can get a picture that really pops as well as keeping them all similar.
Check out this before and after example:
Conclusion
Just as an artist carefully designs his piece to showcase in a gallery, so must an Instagrammer carefully curate their work so that their Instagram account all ties together.
Of course, some artists go for the exact opposite approach, and their work is random and appears dissonant, so it is ok to do this as well.
A jumbled mismatch of colours and ideas can also be considered a theme on Instagram, but it must be properly executed or it will not be aesthetically pleasing.
If you want to get a proper aesthetic for your Instagram, do some research, experiment with colours, and be creative in expressing what you like.
