4 Quick Tips To Creating An Insta-Worthy Account

After your 6 a.m. alarm goes off, are you scrolling through Instagram to see what new posts have emerged? Or maybe on your bus ride home, you’re posting a photo from the party you attended over the weekend. Whatever the scenario might be, chances are you’re one of the 500 million active users scrolling, commenting, posting and liking on Instagram.

Among the millions of users on this social channel, there are certain accounts that stand out among the rest. Sometimes it’s a pop of color that catches your eye or a clever tagline that does the trick. Whether you’re managing a company’s Instagram account or are looking to revamp your own profile, here are four simple tips that will have users pausing a little longer at your photos when scrolling through their feed.

1. Identify your tone: Creating a voice for your account can be just as significant as the image or video itself. Before deciding what tone of voice you want to use, ask yourself this: What is the main message I want to get across? Is it to inspire others, make them laugh, raise awareness? Figuring out the goal of your Instagram will help to determine the voice that goes along with it. Just remember to keep it authentic. Here are a few examples of companies using a tone that match their brand:

• Funny: Old Spice

• Awareness: Human Rights Campaign

• Inspirational: National Geographic

2: Develop a theme: Creating an aesthetic with your images and feed can be done multiple ways. Sticking to a color theme or using the same filter for all your photos is a great way to make your brand recognizable.

Take Everlane, for example. The neutral tones and reoccurring gray products create a theme that users can immediately recognize. A great example of a personal brand account is Jaden Smith. Instead of focusing on each individual photos, he takes into account what his profile will look like as a whole. This is done through creating patterns of blank photos, duplicate images and color schemes.

3. Widen your reach: So you have the photos and captions down, now it’s time to find your audience. A simple way to gain followers relevant to your brand is through hashtags. Find out what your target audience is hashtagging and begin using those in relevant posts.

An important point to note: Unless it’s relevant to the image in the post, refrain from loading your caption with a long list of hashtags. Once the image is live, hide your hashtags but add them to the comment section of your posts. Hiding hashtags can also be done through adding extra spaces in your captions. Instructions on how to do so can be found here.

4. Keep timing in mind: Finding the optimal time to post on Instagram helps to get the more eyes on your post and boosts engagement. Latergramme, a management tool for Instagram, determined that the most ideal times to post are on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. ET. Alternatively, the worst times to post are at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET. Check out these graphs to find more options for the best time and days to post on Instagram.