How to Brand Your Instagram: 5 Steps to Double Your Following & Get Sales

We all know Instagram is a big deal. So if you’re not taking the steps to brand your Instagram, you may be missing out on some valuable ROI.

Let’s face it – it takes a lot of time to plan your content, post photos, videos, and Instagram stories, and then engage.

Anyone who is working on growing their following and building their business on Instagram knows the daily grind.

With Instagram surpassing 700 million users, you’ll want to make sure that you’re putting your best feed forward and creating a lasting impression with anyone who interacts with your content.

Here are 5 steps to take to brand your Instagram so that you’re optimizing opportunities to grow your following and your customer base.

Step 1: Know your story

When you’re posting on Instagram, you don’t want to post just for the sake of posting.

If your brand is a personal brand, then yes, selfies every day may work for you.

But if you’re offering a product or service, you want to think of your brand story.

You don’t want to be posting product photos every time either – that just looks like one giant ad.

Instead, think of the people that would use your product and service.

What is their life like?

What would it look like if they used your products and services.

You’ll want to show that in your photos, videos, and Instagram stories.

You want them to see and feel the experience.

Step 2: Achieve your aesthetic

If you look at successful accounts on Instagram (what I mean by this is the ones with a large following and engagement), you’ll notice that they have a certain look and feel to their feed.

This usually means that they stick to the same color palette, use the same filter in all their photos, and it’s really clear what their “brand” is on Instagram.

Most fashion and lifestyle bloggers rarely stray from their photos of outfits, brunch, travel and their dogs.

And rightfully so, just like a soap brand would probably not have a random fruit photo on their feed unless their soap involved fruit.

You get what I’m saying – know your brand and stay on it.

Step 3: Express your tone and voice

So what do you sound like on Instagram?

Is your brand funny, sarcastic, maybe a little mean?

Most stick to positive and inspirational, because this is what works for them – especially if they have a service-based business.

Regardless of what tone and voice you decide on in your captions, you’ll want to provide value in each post.

The best type of content on Instagram is inspirational and relatable.

Because who doesn’t want to feel inspired after seeing a photo or watching a video.

Find ways to inspire people with your content.

Relatable content is usually funny and people want to share it with others.

Having both of these types of content will really set your brand apart from the millions of others on Instagram.

Step 4: Create original shareable content

Have you seen those quotes that people are making on Instagram that has their brand name on it?

It’s cool because when other people repost or “regram” it, then your brand and Instagram handle is on it as well. Score!

You can create these on Canva or Photoshop pretty easily even if you have little to no design skills. I’ll be sharing a tutorial on this very soon, stay tuned!

Step 5: Provide value, always

Yes you can post lifestyle photos of you that show your awesome life and what you do.

And yes it’ll be fun to post photos of your dog and what you’re eating for breakfast.

But, always, always provide value.

Add in a tip or a story.

Better yet, make it a learning experience or be vulnerable.

These are the things that are going to make your brand human and relatable.

This is what’s going to make your brand stand out on Instagram and that’s what’s going to make your audience want to follow you, engage with you, and eventually – buy from you.

So to recap, you’ve got to know you’re story so that you can tell your story on Instagram through what you are posting.

You’ll want to stick to your aesthetic so that your Instagram has a consistent look and feel.

Know your voice and tell your story through your captions effectively.

Be inspiring and relatable, people love that (and I love that!)

Create original shareable content that others can repost with your brand and handle on it.

Ask yourself before you post, ” Am I providing value with this post?” And if you’re not – is it just a pretty pic? Because that’s cool too.

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