6 Steps to Create an Eye-Catching Instagram Aesthetic for Your Brand Here's how to get more followers and customers on Instagram.
By Syed Balkhi Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Instagram is one of the best social media platforms for promoting your brand online. According to Instagram statistics, over 200 million Instagrammers visit at least one business profile per day and 60 percent of people say they discover new products on Instagram.
But, with so many other businesses on the platform, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. Your brand needs to be memorable if you want to capture the attention of Instagrammers—and you can do that with a visually stunning Instagram aesthetic.
Here's how to create an eye-catching Instagram aesthetic for your brand.
1. Determine your brand personality
The first step to creating an eye-catching Instagram aesthetic is to determine your brand personality. Brand personality is a set of human characteristics that represent your brand.
For example, according to a study published on ResearchGate, Airbnb's brand personality is ruggedness, excitement, sophistication, sincerity, and competence. As you can see in the image below, these characteristics can be seen in their Instagram aesthetic, particularly ruggedness, excitement and sophistication.
So, think about your brand as a person, what characteristics does it have?
Here are some adjectives to spark your imagination:
Friendly
Innovative
Whimsical
Relaxed
Feisty
Determining your brand personality will help you create a cohesive Instagram aesthetic that represents your business accurately and resonates with your target audience.
2. Decide what to post
After deciding on your brand personality, you need to decide exactly what type of content you're going to post to Instagram. If you don't figure out in advance what type of images and videos you'll post on Instagram, you'll likely end up with a bit of everything, which won't create a consistent look.
Chipotle's Instagram feed is famous for their memes — it's all they post. See below:
But memes aren't right for every business. So, decide what your audience would want to see on your Instagram feed and what type of content represents your brand personality. Will you share helpful, informative posts? Will you share user-generated content that promotes your product? Inspirational quotes and images?
Choose 1-3 types of content or topics to share that you want your brand to be known for. And then post that content all the time!
3. Choose a theme
To create a visually stunning Instagram feed, you need to choose an Instagram theme. An Instagram theme will give your feed a particular look and feel and make your profile more memorable to users.
There are a number of different Instagram themes you could consider, such as dark and moody, clean and minimalistic, vintage or tropical.
Or, you can simply choose one main color to feature like McDonald's does with the color yellow, which is the color of their logo.
Choosing your brand/logo color for your Instagram theme like McDonald's did is a great way to build your brand recognition. According to a study performed by the University of Loyola, Maryland, color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent.
4. Decide on a grid layout
Next, you need a grid layout. What's a grid layout? Well, a grid layout is how you position posts in your feed. A good grid layout will help you visually organize your Instagram feed and create a consistent look overall.
For example, take a look at Birkenstock's Instagram feed. Their posts alternate between shots of their products and images of models wearing the products, which creates a balanced look.
Some other grid layout ideas include:
Tile - Alternating images and quotes with solid backgrounds.
Row by Row - Each row of your Instagram feed tells one story.
Rainbow - Where the color of your Instagram feed changes as you scroll.
Choosing a grid layout isn't only for aesthetic purposes. By deciding on a grid layout, you'll know exactly what to post on your Instagram feed next.
5. Pick a filter — just one
If you're going to use Instagram filters on your photos, remember to choose just one filter. When you use a bunch of different Instagram filters, your feed won't have a consistent look. So, choose one filter that matches your Instagram theme and stick to it.
Take a look at how consistent the Instagram theme of fashion brand Privacy Please is:
If you do nothing else, sticking with one Instagram filter will help you easily create a great-looking, consistent aesthetic.
Over to you
With these tips, your brand can easily create an eye-catching Instagram aesthetic that will get you noticed on social media. Not only that but with a stunning Instagram aesthetic, you can turn Instagram users into customers.
