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How to make my instagram look professional


Instagram Aesthetics: 7 Pro Tips to Stand Out & Increase Followers - PageCloud Blog

“So, are you on Instagram?”

Years ago, knee deep at a networking event, you probably wouldn’t expect to field questions about your presence on a photo sharing app... But, it’s 2021. Instagram? Well, now it’s as synonymous as a business card.

Yes, Instagram (or “Insta”, thank you fellow millennials) rapidly became an essential online social media tool for artists, influencers, travellers, bloggers, dog lovers, creators, and business owners - just to name a few.

It’s simple aesthetic-centric delivery communicates your vibe and keeps your audience updated with an ever rotating collection of images, videos and 24 hr stories that connect you with the world - and all the people who want to peer into your brand.

Before you can start sharing a glimpse into your company, your services, or your lifestyle, you’ll want to make sure your account won’t look like that really lazy attempt at scrapbooking your Aunt Carol did last minute from your awkward prom photos.

We caught up with a handful of incredible and successful Instagrammers and Digital Marketing Specialists to dive deep on the best way to launch your own account, and how to maintain it to grow followers that will stay loyal to your brand.

Know your audience first.

Instagram expert Kat Walters of @katwalters knows how important it is to visually connect your brand to your customers, and dedicates her creative energy to coaching others with a free Instagram class to achieve success with the app.

“You want to be clear about who your customer is, because you want to create an Instagram account that will appeal to them, and draw them into your world,” she suggests. “You want an account that they will look at and say YES, this is so for me, I belong here.”

Personal Stylist, Sydney Lester from @chicstripes thinks of Instagram as a powerful tool for your brand, too. “You can set a vibe, create a tone, and use captions to bring value in a crowded market. This social media platform should be used as a marketing tool to support your business and give your community a clear call to action,” she says.

Of course messaging and captions are very important to your audience, but the visual aspects of your account are what resonate first. You don’t want to just dump any old images into your Instagram and hope your accompanying messaging and content will reach them, Kat explains.

“People will just not bother to read your captions if the images you’re using don’t look good. They will just scroll on past. If your images and account looks great, well THEN your followers will read what you have to say.” 

Choose a consistent color scheme.

The first big thing to decide for your Instagram account - before you start fretting about hashtags and more advanced engagement - is a basic color scheme or color palette. This helps make your stockpile of images and videos look like one curated collection, rather than a jumbled hoard of disconnected moments.

Marisel Salazar, whose wildly popular Instagram account @breadbutternyc focuses on food and NYC lifestyle, uses consistent colors (her favourites) to stand out.

“I gravitate towards blues, greens, whites and slate,” she reveals, adding, “But that doesn't mean warmer colors don't make an appearance! Warm colors can actually make the feed pop when peppered in here and there. ”

Similar lighting conditions can really mean a lot too, according to Toronto lifestyle blogger, Joelle Anello of @lapetitenoob. Her pink-centric account goes beyond just hues - there are other important considerations for her ideal aesthetic.

“I make sure to have a similar color palette in all of my photos,” she says, “But as well, I take all of my shots in similar lighting conditions.”

So, you’ve chosen your colors, you’re being consistent with your lighting - now you can really start making an impact by limiting yourself to key filters, too.  

“Using the same apps and filters to edit all of your photos is important,” Joelle explains. This is good advice, as 18% of all Instagram posts use a filter.

The most liked and most used filter in the world is Claredon - it highlights and brightens while adding subtle depth and saturation to any photo.  Juno, Gingham, and Lark trail as close second choices. Don’t feel tied down by these champion filters though - you might stumble on the next great aesthetic by experimenting!

Have a theme.

In the same sense that you want to have a consistent color scheme, you also need to choose a theme to focus on. A theme is also more than just a subject matter - it can also involve staying true to certain composition guidelines.

This will help you to develop your audience, nurture hashtags, and it also helps you stay on track and build followers.

Joelle, having carved out a niche for herself with a lifestyle theme that encompasses fashion, travel, and everything in between, has her own philosophy. “Develop a theme early on and be consistent with it no matter what. Consistency can be difficult, especially when starting to work with brands who may have their own vision for sponsored content.”

Choosing something you’re passionate about is important - maybe you want to share a sneak peek into the life of parenting, motorcycle restoration, raw food, or the excitement of chasing UFO’s - whatever speaks to you.

Ryan O’Connor, Co Founder of One Tribe Apparel learned quickly that a theme doesn’t have to be restrictive.  “We've experimented with our @onetribeapparel Instagram feed a lot,” he admitted, “And now we don’t limit ourselves to photos that directly promote our products, but rather those that fit with our boho aesthetic.“

One Tribe Apparel doesn’t have a strict color theme like some accounts, he explained. “We try to stick to an outdoor nature aesthetic that vibes well with our colorful products, and the love of travel and yoga shared by our online community. ”

Sometimes you'll need to help your theme along while you’re taking your pictures. “There’s a lot of fussing around,” Marisel admits. “I always carry a couple of consistent accessories on my person to liven up any shot.“ 

Design for the grid - and then break it.

Of course, when establishing a brand on Instagram, you need to consider a lot more than your individual photos - you need to think of how each image will look in the grid as well.

Lee Esposito from Digital PR firm Lee Esposito Associates thinks Instagram is about the ‘big picture’. “Remember that an Instagram feed is a mixture of images relating to one another, which means it incorporates individual images, as well as a grid of image thumbnails. It should tell a story,” he says.

Marisel agrees, but sees her feed as a giant puzzle, with a specific flow.  “I tend to alternate between overhead shots and straight on vertical angles,” she explains.

“I always play around with what shots will come in a specific sequence to make sure everything is fluid,” adding that she likes to use the photo album on her phone to arrange images - which is a pretty cool hack!

There are lots of apps available that can also do the trick. “To keep your Instagram feed looking fab, work in rows of 3 using the Planoly app,” Kat recommends. (Planoly is free and lets you drag and drop the layout of up to 30 posts per month.)

“You can check that they are going to look good, and keep your feed design on track. Once you have your next 3 ready to go you can start to post them knowing that your feed will stay gorgeous,” she says.

Splitting photos into tiles for Instagram can also make a really big impact. You may have already seen the really neat spreads, where a single image takes up 6 or even 9 tiles on your grid, to make it look like one gigantic image.

You don’t have to do this manually anymore, thanks to apps like Pic Splitter, Tile Pic, or Instagrid. If you choose this approach, remember that you will throw your whole look ‘out of whack’ if you don’t plan ahead to post to maintain their alignment. Planning ahead isn't just about what you'll post but about when you'll post too.

Furthermore, you need to think beyond the grid when you’re planning this kind of layout, according to Zellie Freidnman, Social Media Manager at Power Digital Marketing.  “You want to make sure each tile is a visually engaging photo that is unique enough to stand on its own outside of the grid,” she says.

Edit your images before posting.

Taking professional looking pictures with your smartphone is not only possible, but a fairly common practice, but that doesn’t mean you can cut out the most important step  - the editing process.

Once in a while you’ll have a lucky moment, when your picture turns out “just right” on your phone and you can post it straight to Instagram, but that’s the exception, not the rule. The good news is, there have been a ton of apps created to help you edit and hack the perfect look for your images.

You can also get creative and create composite images - they are imaginative and very attention grabbing when someone is scrolling through images. 

Kat, like many Instagram experts, knows that when it comes to your pictures “lots of little improvements add up to a BIG difference. ” She edits her photos before she even considers opening her Instagram app.  “My fav app for this is A Color Story,” she shares. “There is always something you can do to improve your pics, even if it’s just lightening it up a bit.”

Marisel is a fan of spot editing. “I personally don't use any filters,” she says, “I like to individually spot edit my images on Instagram using Snapseed. I favor high contrast images, so I like to bump down ambiance to create starker photos that stand out.”

Grow your followers with Stories and Hashtags.

Taking a page out of the Snapchat book, Instagram became interactive with the launch of “Stories” in 2016. Instagrammers (and Snapchat lovers) rejoiced!

“You should be using Instagram Stories as an ongoing "highlight" reel of your behind the scenes day-to-day client interactions,” explains Sydney, “To showcase your unique personality and work style.

Self-professed foodie and blogger, Krysten Dornik of @KrystensKitchen agrees. “Instagram stories really helped me grow my Instagram account over the last year,” adding that she takes advantage of new tools available in the app.

“Using the ‘poll’ feature, the ‘swipe up’ option for links to your other content, and tagging companies to let them know you are talking about them are some of the easy ways to improve your marketing on Instagram.”

She also keeps up on the new features that Instagram introduces throughout the year, like highlights.  

“Now you can choose a few things you would like to ‘highlight’ on your page from your instagram story,” she bubbles. “Right now, I am highlighting a giveaway and a new recipe on my blog!”

Food blogger Julia Nickerson of @SavoryTooth has some old school advice to growing followers - using actionable hashtags.  “My advice,” she shares, “Is that to drive engagement on your Instagram post, you should interact with posts using the same hashtags.”

She recommends regularly visiting posts from hashtags you currently use to leave comments and engage with the online communities associated with them. “Do this before and after publishing your post,” she advises. “This kind of activity tells the algorithm that you are active in that hashtag.”

Pull it all together.

If you pull all of these elements together, you’ll end up with a branded Instagram account that hits all the right chords online.

Take it from Kat: “Having an Instagram feed that looks like a mish mash will confuse your followers - BUT when you create a consistent theme that expresses your brand ‘soul essence’ it means that in just 3 seconds your followers are clear about your message and brand. It will create an instant deep connection with someone that is a fit for you. That’s how powerful it is.”

Well said. So, are you on Instagram? 

Your Instagram account integrates seamlessly with your Pagecloud website! Grow your followers online today. 

Add your Link in Bio! 

Did you know you can create a free link page to add to your social bios? Create a more engaging experience for your followers with a custom page for all your website, social media, shopping links, and more! For a step by step guide on how to create your free link page, check out this blog post!

5 Ways Make Your Instagram Feed Look Professional

Having a pretty Instagram feed is excellent, but shouldn’t be your only goal. Instagram is like a billboard for your business or brand. It’s your opportunity to capture potential clients’ attention. If you’re not asking your followers to take a specific action when they visit your account, then you’re missing out on the opportunity to convert them into a lead. 

By adding a call to action or engagement in your account bio, posts and stories, you’re increasing the potential to turn a lead into a sale. Here are some sample call to actions and engagements we love to use in our strategies:

  1. Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive access to our deals and promotions
  2. Order your XYZ now by visiting our online shop
  3. Book your free 15-minute consultation to speak with one of our experts 
  4. Share this post with someone who would find it useful
  5. Let us know what you think in the comments below
  6. Save this post for later
  7. Send us a DM to learn more

Plan your content in advance

While it may be tempting to only post when the inspiration strikes, we can’t stress enough how important it is to plan your content ahead of time. Anything you do on social media should follow a campaign strategy if you’re focused on increasing brand awareness and sales for your business. Every image/video should visually represent the result of your call to action. 

For example, if you were selling flowers in an online store, you’d create content that shows the experience of the product your followers can purchase. You could offer your audience behind the scenes videos making the arrangements, how you package the product for delivery, tips to care for the arrangement once it’s in their home, a product shot of the finished arrangement, a repost from an existing client of the flowers in their home, a review, and an inspirational post on why followers should buy themselves or someone else flowers from your shop. 

All of this content should be shot and edited in advance. To make things even easier on yourself, pre-write the content and use a scheduling program, like Plannable, Hootesuite, Buffer or Later, to queue up posts for the feed.  

Use the grid to tell a story

When we refer to ‘the grid,’ we mean the 9 images that show up first on your feed to make a perfect square. The visual aesthetic of the grid should tell a story at first glance. Social media users consume content at an increasingly rapid rate, so it’s getting harder to capture attention using written words or individual posts. A user should identify the theme of your story within 5 seconds of landing on your account. 

Your business may offer more than one product or service. Instead of focusing on posting about everything you do, focus on one key element and call to action at a time. Beautiful and professional feeds do an excellent job of visually categorizing their products and services in this way. If the goal is to sell flowers through your online shop, post 9 consecutive visuals to your feed that focus on the experience of buying your product.

Composition is Key

There are different types of visual content that we create for particular purposes. If we’re trying to show the experience of a staycation at a boutique hotel, we’re not going to just show images of the full room. While a beautiful shot of a place is absolutely necessary for the grid, we’re also going to focus on the details that a guest would experience. Our first post may be a POV video of a guest opening the door to the room. The post that follows may highlight the soft and fluffy bedding. The next image could be a repost of a guest taking a selfie in the bathroom mirror before going out. The effect this creates is a mixture of experiential videos, close-up shots of the details of the experience, and social proof of the experience from a person who has actually stayed at the hotel. 

Using a mixture of birds-eye view type visuals, experiential videos, and close-up looks at the details creates a story that conveys your product or service theme. 

Stick to the same aesthetic

Filtering your photos and sticking to one colour palette will give your feed a cohesive aesthetic. Not everyone can work with a professional photographer or videographer right away, so an easy way to do this is to use a program like VSCO or the in-app filters that Instagram provides. At Monarch, you’ll notice our content is very earthy in its colours. We use neutrals, earth tones and the occasional pop of green. This is one of the social media strategy tactics that is the most effective in creating subconscious brand trust. Cohesiveness in visual aesthetics is the difference between a professional and an amateur account. It shows the viewer that you have a clear and defined brand identity. 

The number one important thing to remember if you’re going to use filters on your images is please, for the love of all things good, use the same one. Don’t flip back and forth between filters.     

This is a starting point for creating a professional-looking Instagram account for your brand and/or business. Try it yourself by creating a grid (9 posts) that follows these five Instagram feed optimizations. Let us know how it worked for you by tagging @monarchsocialmedia in the comments on your Instagram posts. 

Setting up an Instagram business account | Instagram Help Center

Help Center

Convert your personal Instagram profile to a business account and access features to help you grow your business even faster.

Note. You can have no more than 5 Instagram accounts at the same time.

To convert your profile to a business account:

Go to your profile and click the icon in the upper right corner of the screen.

Click Settings.

Sometimes the option to Switch to a professional account can be available right away in the Settings section.

Click Account.

Select Switch to a professional account.

Click Continue.

Select a category for your company and click Finish.

Press OK to confirm.

Click Company.

Click Next.

Enter your contact details and click Next. You can also click Do not use my contact information to skip this step.

You can also connect a business account to a Facebook Page that represents your business. To do this, follow the instructions on the screen. This is optional, but it will give you access to all business features across the entire Facebook app family. Currently, only one Facebook Page can be connected to a professional account.

Press the X in the upper right corner of the screen to return to your profile.

A business account allows you to view statistics and understand who interacts with your business on Instagram. You'll also have access to a pro dashboard where you can track your progress, access pro tools, and access educational content from Instagram.

You can also choose to show the category and company contact information on your profile or hide them. When you're done setting up, go to your profile and click Edit Profile. In the Show on Profile section of the Public Company Information section, choose whether you want to make the category label and contact information visible. Click Done.

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Converting an Instagram business account back to a personal one

About professional accounts

Vacancies

Terms of use

Privacy

how to (4 steps + instructions)

To make selling on Instagram more convenient and efficient, the social network has introduced a special profile format for companies — a business account. The transition to it is available to absolutely all users. I'll walk you through how to connect and set it up step by step - as well as what features it provides and how they help sales.

A business account is a type of Instagram profile created for business promotion and analytics on the social network.

How to connect

If you logged in through a PC, then you need to make just a few clicks to connect a business account. In the settings, find the "Switch to a professional account" item, then select the "Company" sub-item. Follow the prompts: specify the category of your business and set up its display in the profile.

Connecting a business account in a PC browser

How to switch to another category? Easy peasy! To do this, go to your Instagram profile page and click "Edit Profile". In the “Profile Information” section, select “Category” and change it to any other that is relevant to you.

Change the category at any time

Switching to a business account from a smartphone is also easy: select "Account" from the settings menu, scroll to the end of the list that opens and click "Change account type". The further algorithm is the same as on a PC: read the tips, find the appropriate category and confirm your choice.

Setting up from a smartphone

You will also be offered to integrate your Facebook. This can be done immediately, or at any other time. The condition is now optional, but the integration will greatly expand your opportunities for positioning your business on social networks. By the way, on Facebook it should also be not just a personal, but a corporate page.

Completing settings

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Related:
Instagram Design (25 cool profiles + examples) Instagram Photo Editing: Top Applications + examples And you will definitely want to immediately try out all the new features and chips. Then I will give a brief overview of the settings and advantages that distinguish an Instagram business account.

1. Profile category

The instagram business profile allows you to display the subject of your page. In addition to the inscriptions “brand” and “personal blog”, which are now quite common, you can put any other profession or topic, for example: musician, politician, clothing store, cafe, bar, etc. This is important because it attracts the attention of your target audience.

Categories

As advertising

2. Communication buttons

For this setting, please fill in the contact details first. Add them to the fields: email, phone, address. Then the action buttons will become available, and they are implemented through integration with third-party applications for business. You will be able to place, for example, an online registration form or online payment. It will look like "Call", "Register", "Order delivery", etc.

A business account makes it easier for users to contact you. For example, when you click on the "Call" button, the phone number automatically appears on the mobile dialing screen, that is, you do not need to copy it to the phone's memory, open the desired section, paste it - everything is done in one click.

Communication buttons

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3. Statistics

Various statistics can be viewed for a business profile. So you get the opportunity to track the reaction of subscribers to a particular content, analyze the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, contests, etc.

Statistics exist both for the profile in general and for individual publications and stories. This feature is useful not only for selling accounts, but also for personal brands.

Statistics
Profile statistics

On a business account on Instagram, you need to click on the “Menu” section on the profile page. Then select "Statistics". Switching between tabs here you can see:

  1. Number of profile visits, site clicks, reach rates;
  2. Weekly publication information;
  3. Subscriber information: number of subscribers/unsubscribers, subscriber locations, gender, age.
Profile statistics

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Publication statistics

In addition to general statistics, track reactions to individual publications. To do this, on the profile page, select any photo or video and click "View statistics" under the publication.

The number of likes, comments, shares and saves of the selected publication will appear in the window. In addition, the total number of actions performed with this post and the number of transitions to the profile are calculated here.

Publication statistics

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Stories statistics

You can access the statistics of stories from the already familiar section “Menu” -> “Statistics” -> “Content”. Next, you need to find the “History” section. From here, the coverage of each story is available. Clicking on any post will open more detailed statistics, where you can even find out exactly who viewed your story.

History statistics

Related:
Business on Instagram: from scratch in 13 stepsInstagram engagement: what it is + how to increase

4. Promotion and targeting

Instagram has its own functionality to promote your publications. It works in such a way that it allows you to show your posts to the target audience, advertise your profile or drive traffic from Instagram to some external resource. This is more effective than simple cheats, although you will need cash investments for this tool.

Promotion

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Related:
Advertising in Instagram stories: step by step instructions How to make a mask on Instagram: simple instructions This feature has a positive effect on the growth of sales.

Shopping Tags

Interesting. I also recommend using multilink. It will help to create a full-fledged online store, as well as contact you via instant messengers.

6. Physical address

If you sell goods not only online, but also offline, you are probably often asked how to find you in order to buy a service or product. Business accounts allow you to post exact addresses and hours of operation with access to view the address on a map.

Physical address

7. Additional lead magnet

Posting an address may not be relevant to you if, for example, you do not offer your services offline. Then this place can be used to place an additional lead magnet. The address bar allows you to place a fairly large amount of information, which is very useful in cases where a profile description and biography is not enough.

Lead magnet

Briefly about the main thing

A business profile is relevant not only for selling pages or instagram landings: its wide range of features will find its use even if you do not sell anything.

One of the most compelling reasons to switch to a business profile is free access to statistics that will show, for example, which posts turned out to be the most interesting. And finally, I will briefly list the main advantages:

  • Ability to categorize accounts;
  • Access to profile statistics;
  • Convenient communication with users;
  • Ability to run a full-fledged online store;
  • Ability to promote a profile without third-party services.

And one more thing to help you. Do you want to make a bomb out of your account, get hundreds of subscribers a day and a flurry of enthusiastic direct messages? Then watch the courses below:

  1. Involving stories on the phone ;
  2. Promotion on Instagram.

    Learn more