The Well-Crafted Instagram Feed: Mastering the 4 C’s
COMPOSITION
It might sound almost silly to say that it is important (or at least well advised) that you consider the composition of your Instagram feed when selecting photos to post, and when. But it absolutely is. People make very fast, nearly instantaneous decisions as to whether or not they’re going to follow someone, and it’s usually based on that first impression glance. If your feed is intentionally and thoughtfully composed, this will increase the likelihood of people clicking “follow.” And so, in this post we’re continuing our two-part series dedicated to helming you grow your Instagram following by going over some easy (free) ways to make your Instagram feed look great.
Best Quick Tips:
1) Alternate the perspectives of your photos! I’ve found that the most pleasing IG feeds are those that alternate between flay lay images and more upright, perspective shots. If you scroll up to the mock feed of my photos I created above, you’ll see what I mean. It looks sharp and naturally flowing to post your images this way, and I recommend you do it if you can.
2) Use a scheduling app to plan out your feed. Almost no one I follow actually posts photos as they take them (it’s all later grams these days), and typically, we’ve all got many photos lined up to share in advance. I actually plan days/shoots where I can snap a ton of photos to share over the course of several weeks. It’s called “batch shooting,” where essentially, you’re knocking out a bunch of posts in a very short period of time. This can also help with the following Curation and Color Theory sections as well, as it also makes it easy to control for color and consistency of aesthetic.
That being the case, it’s relatively easy to tee-up your images so that they post in an aesthetically pleasing order.
I like to house my photos in either the VSCO or PLANN apps so I can 1) see my photos all laid out and 2) create them in advance and schedule when they’ll post. I can schedule everything to post at my peak engagement times as well. I highly recommend posting when most of your followers are likely to be engaged with IG – i.e. when they’re all awake. For me, this is about 12:00 PM EST. So, everyone from Hawaii to Eastern Europe is fair game.
3) Plan your feed in groups of 12 images (give or take). When planning out your composition (and the other C’s listed here) I recommend addressing only about as many images as will fit on a phone screen at once – so about 9. Try to make sure the images that appear on screen at the same time at least have some compositional consistency so it is all pleasing to the eye.
Color Theory
Ah yes, color theory. One of my favorite tricks ever (mostly because it’s fun). This really is just a continuation of the composition section, but worth setting aside, as I think it’s especially effective when trying to create a really attractive IG feed.
Color Theory, at least when applied to IG, is essentially the notion that your images should posses a common color thread throughout, even if it’s just a hint. Again, if you scroll back up to the mock-feed I created, you’ll notice that I opted for an orange-yellow color theme in my images, so when they’re all laid out together, that common color theme flows nicely throughout and is very pleasing to the eye.
Now, I realize that this might all seem like overkill – I get it if you’re rolling your eyes at this. But hear me out – your IG feed is like your micro-website or blog. It is probably the single biggest window into your world, getting lots of eyes on it every day, and it would be such a missed opportunity to not use it to the absolute fullest, right? Right.
Curation
Curation. C U R A T E D. Kind of a pretentious word, no? But basically, I’m just referring to how you think about your feed – how and why you choose the images that you post. Selecting images with some degree of intentionality and thought is generally a good idea if you’re trying to grow your tribe. Just throwing any ole’ photo up simply won’t do. Here’s the best advice I have in this department:
Always leave your followers with something of value in your posts, whether it be in the inclusion of a recipe, a tip, a trick, a wonderfully inspiring message, or a drop-dead gorgeous photo. Anything! Just ask yourself: what value am I giving my followers today? What are they getting out of this?
Quick ideas for a value-driven feed:
1) Use inspiring quotes or memes (when in doubt, this always works).
2) Use the carousel/multi-image option when posting photos, to really tell a story. I like to do this sometimes when showing a recipe or dish I photographed. You can show multiple perspectives of something in a single post, which is COOL.
3) Post fun videos! Use calls to action! Ask questions! Invent your own hashtag and invite people to join! Just make it interesting, authentic and inclusive and people will dig what you’re dishing out.
So, just a quick look at my own profile as it currently stands here (above). I make sure to keep it short in length. The longer your profile, the less of your posts people can see at first glance – which isn’t great for that first impression. Instagram is a visual platform, so I like to give greater weight to the visuals – not a list of my own goings on. You want them to see more content and less, well, words.
Here, I tried to tell people what I thought were the most valuable things about my website – that everything is easy, simple and can be made in less than 10 ingredients. There’s the value right there – they know what they’re getting, a helpful resource for food lovers. Boom. I also share my website link and a branded hashtag, and that’s it. Short, sweet, and to the point is always a great approach.
Consistency
Alright, so I’m not saying that you shouldn’t offer variety in your posts, and that you can’t play around with your edits/imagery/aesthetic – that’s all good. In fact, I change up my look pretty often, but I do it gradually, trying not to stray too far from the 4 C’s listed here. I’ve been doing IG consistently for years and if I stuck to the same stuff day in and day out, I’d be bored to tears. So, while I do think it’s important to maintain a consistent voice, quality, and aesthetic to a degree – it’s okay to veer from it if you do so in a thoughtful (maybe not so sudden) way.
People follow you because they love what you do, so don’t jump ship on them all of a sudden – at least not if you’re truly invested in the notion of growing your numbers. But do feel safety in knowing that people will typically stick with you if you change things up a little at a time … easy does it.
Lastly, be consistent in your usage of the app. Instagram seems to favor accounts that really use it – and use ALL of it. So, give IGTV a try and post to your stories regularly. Go live! Just get into it and think of it as a fun way to show off your brand and whatchu got going on.
That’s it! I could ramble ad nauseum on this topic, but truthfully, if you keep the tips and best practices in this book in mind as you develop and hone your Instagram strategy, you’ll be on target to real IG success – as well as can be expected, at least. And when it comes to IG – that’s just the thing: we can’t expect too much at any given time, because we’re all subject to algorithmic changes at any moment and it’s important to not get overwhelmed or down about things like numbers and stats. There are no guarantees. There are no sure bets (okay except for the takeover strategy – that always works).
People tend to really lament their Instagram existence, bemoaning things like engagement numbers and likes and … and. People will strike against it and not post (which is totally cool, if you want to do that) and I just see a lot of emotional turmoil over the platform, and what is or isn’t happening for its users. So, purely to preserve my own sanity, I like to (try really hard to) view Instagram as just a really great bonus – it’s a supplemental tool for my business that helps me a lot at the end of the day. Instagram is FREE. They allow our businesses to grow and prosper from theirs, without charging us a dime. So, I tend not to get too frustrated with their tweaks and changes. Instagram is Instagram’s literal business, so if they deem it necessary to change for some reason, then perhaps that should be left alone. I find peace in looking at it this way, you know? It’s a great tool for us; use it for what you can, and don’t get too bogged down in the emotional turmoil of things like algorithms and chronology and all that jazz. It could all vanish into digitized thin air tomorrow …
Again, I think these best practices are really worth considering and applying to your own feed, but the most important thing is to not lose your authenticity in the process. Don’t lose your voice. Don’t get lost trying to be like other people and don’t waste time fretting over things you simply cannot control. Focus on what you CAN do, and get to work. Good luck! And happy Gramming.
“Recognizing that people’s reactions don’t belong to you is the only sane way to create. If people enjoy what you’ve created, terrific. If people ignore what you’ve created, too bad. If people misunderstand what you’ve created, don’t sweat it. And what if people absolutely hate what you’ve created? What if people attack you with savage vitriol, and insult your intelligence, and malign your motives, and drag your good name through the mud? Just smile sweetly and suggest – as politely as you possibly can – that they go make their own freaking art. Then stubbornly continue making yours.”
Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Here is a ready-made pin for you! Simply save it to your “Social Media Strategy” or “Blogging Tips,” or “Marketing” boards and you’ll be all set.
