5 huge reasons why having an ‘Instagram Brand Plan’ is more important than you think
Loving Instagram?With 500 million people on the platform, you’re not alone.Building an audience is definitely not an easy feat, but there’s one very important concept that will set you apart from your competition when growing your account.Branding.Think about the last time you scrolled through your Instagram feed and knew exactly whose image you were scrolling passed - without even reading the name of the account?That’s no accident. That’s excellent branding at work and something you can start implementing right away. Branding is a strong strategic move - one thing most large accounts attribute as their top driver to Instagram growth (coupled with a tight hashtag strategy and killer content!)If you’re still working out your brand strategy, here are 5 huge reasons your brand plan needs to become the next thing on your to-do list.
- If you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no-one
- Understanding your brand also means understanding your customer, the special person that you are talking to and the special way you speak directly to them.Your brand isn’t going to appeal to everyone (and that’s a good thing!), so make sure you laser focus on your person, the topics your brand talks about, and the way your brand talks about them - it all forms part of your overall brand strategy.If you try and cover everything by speaking about every topic and use every type of imagery (unedited travel pics, your cat, a selfie, what you had for lunch), then you’re going to lose followers quickly because they just can’t relate to your account.
- Branding recognition is subconscious
- On Instagram, image branding is huge. Choosing a theme or color scheme that you like (one that you believe your target audience will also love) and staying consistent is a huge player in brand recognition.
Case Study
@lizzie_darden is an incredibly popular Instagrammer, the branding she chose is incredibly youthful, fun and playful and attracts attention from likeminded brands.Her cute, mostly-centered images on pink backgrounds make sure you know it’s her as soon as she appears in your feed, usually featuring a sugary sweet product she’s made creative content from.
- What does ‘have consistency’ actually mean?
- Consistency doesn't mean you have to post the exact same thing over and over. Instagram is a creative platform and is a great place to express your individuality!Having a selection of brand colours, themes and ideas that all fit within one family home makes life easier for you not only to create and post content - but for your audience to recognise you too.Choose a colour scheme, choose a filter, and stay within the same family of posts. It’s perfectly fine to experiment with this - watch your analytics closely and you’ll soon see which your audience likes the best.Once you’re onto a winner, I highly recommend creating and printing a brand moodboard for your wall so if you ever have confusion about what to post - you have a handy visual reference.
- How to have a cohesive, branded Instagram theme
- Lizzie uses the app Plann, a visual designer and scheduler for Instagram to ensure she stays on brand, while also creating a beautiful feed.(Plann is an app that lets you drag and drop images to easily curate your brand on Instagram - it’s also a scheduling tool so you can draft captions and store hashtags and is used by thousands of top Instagrammers)You’ll notice that Lizzie doesn’t always use pink backgrounds, she mixes it up by adding a purple, or white (still on brand), for every 3-4th image.
- How to use your brand to find followers
- Once you’ve established a brand, you’ll start to notice other Instagrammers that have a similar voice or creative direction to you. Followers of theirs, are more likely to become followers of yours.You can definitely use this to your advantage.Engage with those already following similar accounts, reach out to feature accounts or even reach out to the account holder for collaborations to cross promote on each others social media accounts.
Go forth and brand!
Author: Christy Laurence is the creator of Plann, an award winning Instagram strategy app.With over 10 years in digital marketing strategy (and a content creator herself), she understands the importance of a strong brand presence. Christy left her day-job and decided to pour her energy into helping thousands of Instagrammers around the world curate and design effective Instagram businesses.You can connect with Christy directly at @plannthatFor more information about Plann, visit www.plannthat.com.
