WAYS TO GIVE YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT A CREATIVE EDGE

As a brand, it is simply not enough to just be on social media. In fact, it’s not even adequate to post content every now and then and expect new customers to come flocking to you. To differentiate yourself from the competition, your brand needs a bold creative strategy. This includes creating eye-catching imagery and graphics custom to your company rather than simply recycling trending content.

According to Hootsuite, 500 million people create Instagram Stories every day. With so much noise and competition, your brand’s content must stop your followers in their tracks.   Creating compelling, original content — especially photos and video — positions you as a thought leader and differentiates you from industry competitors.

As experienced public relations and social media experts, we’ve outlined effective ways to give your Instagram content a creative edge. From well-designed, customized graphics to hidden Instagram Story features, an aesthetically pleasing feed and compiled links, these changes will make your social media page stand out from the rest.

CUSTOMIZE GRAPHICS WITH CANVA

Canva makes designing custom graphics with your brand’s colors, fonts and logo as simple as drag and drop. With hundreds of templates including Facebook cover photos, Instagram posts, Instagram Stories, Instagram Story highlight covers, YouTube thumbnails, Twitter posts and Pinterest graphics, it is easy to make customized visual elements that will boost your social media.

To make custom animations, you don’t need to be a graphic designer, either. Canva includes dozens of animated templates that will grab your audience’s attention and increase post engagement. Here are five other ways to use Canva for social media.

TAKE INSTAGRAM STORIES TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Instagram offers several great fonts to choose from. But nothing beats having your brand’s standard font on Instagram Stories to create a memorable, custom look. The Over mobile app allows you to AirDrop fonts from your desktop to your mobile device, allowing you to incorporate your branded fonts into Instagram Stories.

For custom colors, Later.com shares a hidden Instagram Story hack. Simply open your Instagram Story and select the brush tool. Then tap and hold any default color at the bottom of the screen. The color slider should appear, allowing you to select a custom color for your Story.

ADD LIGHTROOM PRESETS FOR A CONSISTENT AESTHETIC

It is not enough to simply post high-quality photos on your Instagram feed. To succeed, you’ll need to create a distinct brand aesthetic. Hubspot explains an Instagram aesthetic is just as important as your company’s website. In essence, it’s a combination of a mood and a general impression of your brand’s posts. When you create a seamless aesthetic, consistent with core brand values, you are building brand awareness.

To create a proper aesthetic, it’s important to know what your brand’s personality is. Are you sophisticated, adventurous or bold and innovative? Once this is narrowed down, you can move on to selecting a color palette and a Lightroom preset to give your feed consistency. There are so many photo presets to choose from, each creating a different mood. Desaturated photos heighten bold, serious emotions. Light, bright photos create an elegant, feminine feel. Etsy offers dozens of Lightroom preset packages, transforming photos with a click of a button.

If you want to plan out what your Instagram feed will look like ahead of time, Planoly is a visual planner that lets you see how your individual photos will look in a grid before you post. This creates a more cohesive Instagram feed and allows you to plan several posts together to create a large image on your homepage like this.

ADD MORE THAN ONE LINK TO INSTAGRAM WITH LINKTREE

Instagram is a great platform for calls to action, motivating your audience to visit your website or click specific links. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is infamous for only having one clickable link. This limits a brand’s ability to link to different products, promotions and pages.

Linktree lets you compile all necessary links into one page, making it easy to send your followers exactly where you want them to go. Linktree also saves you the hassle of changing the link in your Instagram bio every time you want users to visit a new web page.

Now that you’re equipped with different apps and tools to boost your Instagram creativity, it may be time to create a sound social media strategy. Crafting stunning visuals is just one aspect of social media. To reach your brand’s full social potential, invest time and effort into copywriting, analytics, preparing a content calendar, listening and engaging with your audience and determining a paid ad or influencer strategy.

Ready to start? We’re here to offer advice and guide you along your social media journey. From establishing your brand’s social media presence to elevating you to become the thought leader in your field, The Vox Agency is here to boost your social media efforts, thus your customer base and sales efforts. For more information on our social media marketing services, click here.