10 top tips to make your Instagram pop!

In an age where everyone and their aunt has the tools to become a social media influencer, standing out from the crowd has become harder than ever. With the ability to share content quickly, efficiently and in real-time, social media has become a huge part of our lives. From the moment we get up to the second our head hit the pillow, we’re constantly consuming posts, statuses and images, so making your Instagram pop can be a tricky task.

Thankfully, the HDY team know a thing or two when it comes to getting creative on social media. Here are 10 powerful Instagram top tips that you can use to make the most of your social posts.

1) Know your audience

Whether it’s teenage girls learning new Tik Tok routines, or mums trying hot-pod yoga for the first time, getting to know your audience is the key to connecting with them and building a super-strong rapport. This can be as simple as the language you use, to the type of images you post. Community management and building relationships with your followers will help to increase impressions and engagement, as well as growing your reputation.

2) Be confident in your USPs

Just like brands, USPs are equally as important to influencers and bloggers. Whether it’s vegan beauty or thrift shop fashion, finding your niche (and sticking to it), can really help with the success of your page. Make sure to post the content YOU love and do it with passion! This will make maintaining your page a pleasure and not a chore.

3) Quality over quantity

Like most things in life, the best things come in small packages. Simply put, it is better to post something that reflects your best work rather than putting something out there that is bog-standard. You don’t want to tarnish your page by putting out content for the sake of posting daily. Be mindful and the engagement will follow naturally.

4) Post regularly

Once you’ve cracked creating top-notch content, regularly posting is the next step! Depending on your audience, aim to post around once a day. The trick is to keep your audience engaged without bombarding their feed with wishy-washy content. Avoid overselling products. This can put followers off and feel pushy and impersonal.

5) Engage with you audience

Excellent community management is key! Simply taking the time to reply to comments and messages can make followers feel valued and appreciated. Engaging with your audience is also a great opportunity to showcase your personality and values. In turn, this will help to build stronger relationships, loyalty and repeat visits.

6) Take great photos

Not everyone has an eye for photography, but there are a few things that you can do to make sure your photos are Insta-worthy. First things first, use natural light and bare this in mind when taking photos indoors. But remember, photos that are too bright and overexposed are pretty much useless, no amount of editing can fix it. But by keeping photos underexposed, you can always brighten and tweak it later when you edit. Finally, always make sure that you lead your audience to the subject of the photo. Top tip: use the grid feature when taking photos, this will help to keep it central.

7) Use editing software

To get the most out of your images, use editing software to your advantage. Retouching photos can make a real difference. Useful tools include brightening up an image to make it more visible, adjusting the hue and saturation to really make colours pop, centralising an image to focus on the subject and adding filters for consistency.

8) Create awesome captions

Try to use emotive, fun and clever captions to bring your post to life. A catchy pun to make your audience smile, or interesting information will help you to use that space to its full advantage. Hashtags are a good way to gain additional impressions as it promotes your page to people who are interested in similar subjects, who aren’t already following you. Remember to always tag or places people featured in the posts, this helps to reach a larger audience.

9) Create a theme (and stick to it!)

It’s always nice to find an Instagram page that looks the part. Themes can be as simple as using the same filter and colour scheme, to using the same style of photography or images. Keeping a consistent style helps to make your page look professional and easily recognisable across platforms. It’s also aesthetically pleasing.

10) Plan ahead

Always take the time to acknowledge world events or national holidays that are relevant to your brand. Not only does this create great content, but it also helps to boost engagement. Planning ahead is crucial. Take the time to research cultural events and create content calendars. This way, you can prepare awesome posts and organise your content so that it doesn’t clash or seem repetitive.

If you need an extra set of hands to help out creating, organising and managing stellar content for your Instagram, get in touch with the HDY team via email or phone and we’d be happy to show you the ropes!