Easy Ways to Brand Your Instagram!
When social media first came out, we used it to keep in touch with friends and family, post photos of what we were up to, and things we found funny. Today however , one of its biggest uses is in giving our businesses an online space to connect with current and future clients. As such, there are a few things we can do to make that space work optimally for our business.
Be Professional
Social media is like a first impression when you walk into a client meeting. An unorderly grid of half business posts, half selfies, photos of your vacation, and your dinner from last Saturday is like walking in wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. This isn’t the first impression we want to make.
However, when your business social media account is separate from your personal one and is filled with cohesive images and informative posts for your clients, it’s like walking in wearing a beautiful top, pencil skirt, and some killer heels [or if you’re clumsy like me, a super cute pair of flats!] Your potential client knows that you know your stuff and mean business. That’s the impression we want to make on our business social media.
Be Intentional
How to keep your brand in mind when planning a post
When you want to create a post, make sure to take the time to think it out. Don’t throw up any old photo. You want to make sure that it fits your branding. Things that help: 1. Using your brand colors and fonts. 2. Taking a picture that adds to the subject of your post rather than distracting from it. 3. Having a template for text-only posts so that they are the same every time - include your logo on those.
Pro tip: When you're out shopping, look for little items in your brand colors such as pens, a cute mug, a notebook, books on your field, etc. These are easy objects to include in a quick photo to bring your colors into it and help create that brand recognition that you're looking for.
In action:
In this photo, I used a mug in one of my branding colors and included a stack of books on photography along with my camera. Color and subject help create brand recognition, and this image would be a great one to post alongside anything talking about photography.
Pro tip: The less distracting the background the better - let the subject really shine!
Personal vs. Branded Grid
Personal
This first grid is my personal one. There are all sorts of different photos. Some that I took on my phone, some on my camera, me, family, pets, etc. While some of these photos are great, they don’t have anything to do with my business.
On Brand
The second grid is strictly business. The photos of myself are branded, I’m wearing a shirt in my brand colors, there's nothing distracting in them, they show me working, and give a glimpse into my brand and business. The other images are ones that I have taken for clients, showing what my work looks like.
Utilize Stories
I know I just told you not to post a ton of random personal photos. But there actually is a place for some of them. People still love getting to know you personally. So utilizing stories to share more personal content is the perfect solution. Those photos in my first grid will make fun IG and FB stories, letting people see me as a mom, wife, creative, etc. That helps to build community and trust. People hire people they trust! Your curated business grid will give them confidence that you know what you're talking about when it comes to your business, and the personal content you share in stories will create that meaningful connection. Now they trust that you know what you’re talking about while also feeling like they know you before they even hire you.
The other way to use stories to optimize social media for your business is to make a story that is informative and helpful for your followers. This could be anything from a post about how many days until taxes are due to a link to an article you know would help them out. Show your followers that you are the expert in your field! Build trust by giving them helpful information on your page. This will keep them interested and engaged so that they are actively following you. Now when you post a call to action, they will be excited to see what your newest offering is. And because they trust you and know how helpful you’ve already been, they are much more likely to hire you / buy from you!
Stories are also a great place to share reviews that you have received on various sites like Google Business and Facebook.
Highlights
Make sure you’re utilizing the Stories Highlight feature as well! You can save your stories so that the most helpful or fun stories are there for everyone to see whenever they want. This is great for saving reviews, helpful tips, and different personal stories in an organized manner.
Make Reels that Help Your Clients
Reels are extremely important to the IG algorithm right now. Making informational reels that help your clients is a great way to gain engagement, which will help your content reach more people. Reels can be included on your main feed or kept in the reels tab. I choose to keep mine in the reels tab because of how I have my grid set up. But if you use a good, on brand, cover image you can include it in your main grid and it will look great..
Some quick Reels ideas:
Introduce yourself
Show behind the scenes of your business
Let them know what your business can do for them, the problem it solves
Share tips and tricks
Join in some of the trending fun reels
Show them your favorite local coffee spot
Make a story asking for questions and make a reel answering them
Share some fun facts about your business/you
Share more in-depth help
