7 Tips You Need to Apply To Your Instagram Personal Brand Right Now

Bio 

This should be short and sweet. Instagram is an image-based platform, so you’ll be wanting to communicate your brand via pictures! Give interested parties a short description of who you are, your values, and any links that are relevant to your personal brand- such as your other social media, or your personal website 

Profile photo 

This is the image your following will see whenever they see your content on Instagram, so it should be relevant to your personal brand. If you’re a fashion influencer, pick your best modelling shot/ If you’re a travelling influencer, pick a photo of you having fun in an exotic location. 

Instagram posts 

As Instagram is a visual platform, your photos will need to look professional, or at least like there’s some effort of thought behind them! No grainy old camera shots! Consider hiring a professional photographer if this is within your budget. 

It’s also important to strike the right balance with how often you post- post too little and your followers might think you’re dormant and unfollow you, but post too much and your followers might feel overwhelmed and do the same. 

Captions are also important. They should give your photos context and be short and sweet. There’s no use posting a photo of yourself on a beach if no one knows where the beach is! You might want to encourage engagement with your posts by asking your audience questions. For example, if you’ve posted a photo of an ice cream from an ice cream parlour, consider asking your followers what their favourite flavour is. You should aim to post at least once a day to maintain your audience’s attention. 

Hashtags 

Hashtags are a key navigation tool for Instagram. They will bring in new followers interested in your posts if used correctly. It’s wise to consider that using a hashtag that is popular may mean that your post will be swamped by others posting similar content, but that using uncommon hashtags will not bring as many followers to your account. It’s also a good idea to invent your own hashtags, so you can better enforce your branding. 

Instagram stories and IGTV

Instagram stories can be more casual than your posts, and can thus portray you in a more friendly and accessible light. You can use live stories to converse with your followers in real-time- a fantastic platform for raising interest and engagement. Over half of Instagram story viewers view the entire story, so it’s an excellent way of promoting yourself. 

In addition to stories, IGTV videos can last up to 60 minutes and although are not as popular as short and sweet stories, have the potential to engage your followers and show your commitment to your personal brand. 

Engagement 

It’s incredibly important to interact with your followers once you’ve gained them, if someone asks a question or compliments a post, be sure to answer them/thank them. This will keep followers around. Remember that the more you’re seen to interact with your followers, the more they will trust you and by extension your brand. Good engagement with followers will also make you look appealing to brands that may want to contact you to promote them. 

To increase the likelihood of this happening, consider adding CTA to your captions. 

Choosing the right brands to partner with 

It’s important to carefully consider the brands you partner with. This will ensure that your content and your promotional content matches up and means that you’ll attract followers from the brands you promote. Consistency in content is key.