Creating a stunning Instagram feed isn’t just for businesses or bloggers. Creative ideas for Instagram posts can come from anyone.
If you want to present yourself as a genuine person—not a client-hungry service provider—on social media, then it’s better to give your feed an organic feel.
It’s not a secret that a lot of potential clients do background checks through a person’s social media account. It’s the easiest way to get to know someone’s vibe after all. Plus, Instagram is already your business platform for your private practice.
So how do we make your personal branding shine through your personal and business account?
This blog post is all about creating an Instagram feed that’s real and all YOU. That way, engaging with your followers would feel natural.
Planning your post
1. Establish your subject/s
@_soobeauty’s Instagram
Ask yourself the big question: what will you be posting?
There are several angles you can take. You can post about yourself, your clients or products, your hobbies (assuming it correlates with your work), quotes you like, or about your life in general.
Whatever you decide your followers will see, make sure that it feels real. It’s okay to not always put your best foot forward. After all, you want to ensure only relevant people would follow you.
Take Soo for example. She’s a Korean beauty blogger with her own skincare brand. In theory, she should be all about promoting how effective products are on her to ‘gain credibility’.
But she isn’t shy to post photos of her with giant zits. Or even document her weight gain instead of weight loss which, in turn, increased her popularity.
In the end, what matters is that you stay true to yourself and your lifestyle.
2. Identify your aesthetic
@willtenny’s Instagram
You’ll hear this often and for good reason. There should always be consistency in your Instagram feed.
From this point on, it’ll be all about your personal branding. List down adjectives you’d like to have associated with yourself then strategize on how to communicate this to your audience.
Will Tennyson‘s feed is simple. He’s a fitness YouTuber and his aesthetic is the fitness blogger aesthetic. It’s straight to the point and isn’t heavy on filters. He also doesn’t take himself too seriously all the time based on the drizzle of comedy in his posts.
Having an aesthetic doesn’t always mean that you have to go deep into any trending look like Japan in the 80s, Paris Hilton in the 2000s, gothic vampire in the Victorian era, and so on.
As an exercise, you can check out the friends, public figures, and brands you follow. Simply observe what their aesthetic is then it’s easier to decide what you like and don’t like for your feed. Afterward, you can make mood boards and list down pegs.
3. Choose a color palette
@kyliejenner’s Instagram
This step is an exciting necessity because it’s another way to personalize your Instagram feed on a deeper level. What could be more personal than having your very own brand colors?
Then comes the time that choosing or taking photos poses a challenge just because your brand colors aren’t anywhere in the photo. On one hand, it guides you. On the other hand, it can feel constrictive.
So how many colors do you actually need?
Having at least one or two colors that are in every photo you post can help your feed look unified. But most Instagram strategists advise that you should have two to five colors in your palette.
In Kylie Jenner‘s Instagram, it may not be striking but she almost always has white or pink in every post—and that’s enough. It doesn’t have to be a specific shade like how Kylie incorporates the color white in her posts.
4. Use or create presets
@asiyami_gold’s Instagram
Photo editing is another no-brainer skill you need to have in order to thrive in a photography platform. But editing photos individually has its pitfalls.
Sure it looks great now. But after taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture a.k.a your Instagram feed, you’ll see how it’s not going to work in the long run. Basically, it’ll give a disconnected feel.
Making presets that work with any photo is a great way to give your posts a sense of uniformity. You don’t have to stick to it like it’s the law. You’re free to make individual adjustments to each photo so long as you don’t stray too far from your preset’s vibe.
One Instagrammer who makes use of awesome presets is Asiyami Gold. Her use of presets for all of her posts also emphasizes points two and three.
Pinterest is a great source of presets which you can then apply to VSCO or other photo editing apps.
5. Consider planning a grid layout
@solidstarts Instagram
This last step isn’t as mandatory as the others because it kind of goes against the natural and organic feel you’re gunning for in this post. Applying a grid layout generally means that you pattern your posts e.g. photo-quote-photo, selfie-object-selfie, etc.
The pro of applying a grid layout is that it helps you establish the foundation of your feed. Anyway, you can always shirk it off if you get bored of the pattern.
Solid Starts is an account run by a team of experts who make content for parents. They educate their followers on introducing babies to real food so having posts that have more graphic designs works better for them.
To pre-plan how your posts will look, you can use third-party apps like Later and Preview. They also have a ton of features that you might find useful in running your account.
Unlimited Graphic Designs with DotYeti
DotYeti offers not only great graphic designs for your Instagram feed but also great brand strategies. If you ever need more creative ideas for Instagram posts, we’ve got your back.
If you’re unsure where to start with your personal branding, our art directors and Creative Yetis can help you boost your account’s overall look. Check out our portfolio and case studies to see how our awesome design platform has helped others grow.
Visit our pricing page to see the best package that suits your design needs. And if you can’t find the right one, feel free to reach out today! Our Yetis are more than happy to create a custom package—just for you.
