Let's be real. Every really attractive Instagram is eye catching because it flows and it's cohesive.
This means that there is a colour theme and the photos are placed in a way that are enticing to the eye. Creating an Instagram that attracts followers is super crucial to your business because it's a gateway to see who you are, and what you offer. If it's not aesthetically pleasing, then you might drive some followers/consumers away! It takes a bit of work to curate a flowing Instagram but I'm going to show you how to do it with just a few easy steps:
You don't have to be a master editor or need to take a course for photography to make your Instagram look amazing, there are a few apps you need to download first:
Adobe Lightroom/ and or VSCO
Preview/ or Plann
1. Story Telling
Let's start with Pinterest. I go here for all my inspiration. First you need to decide what "story" you are telling through your Instagram. Are you a lash artist, fitness enthusiast, fashion blogger? Start with narrowing down your niche. This will help make things flow well together when you are posting and your followers will find it easy to well... follow!
I have 2 Instagram pages. My business, @ThatLashGirl and my personal page @Sydney.Nanton where I share my running and fitness journey. Both tell very different stories, so both will have very different posts.
Let's focus on That Lash Girl. My story is that I'm a lash artist in Mississauga, I'm a lash addict that promotes healthy lash applications and lash education, as well as posting eye catching photos of my work for clients to see what I do. I like posting tips about my business, how to's, and showing off my art.
Now that we know our story, lets go to Pinterest and find a "colour theme" we think best represents that story. A tip to finding your colour theme- it should be colours that align with your business colour theme. If you don't have one then now is the best time to start!
You can type into Pinterest "Instagram colour themes" and a bunch of results will pop up. The top results will show you presets for 2 apps, Lightroom and VSCO.
Personally I love using Lightroom over VSCO, but VSCO does have cool features and there are a lot of free resources on Pinterest on how to create those presets.
Once you have narrowed down a colour theme that you like, focus on the colours.
For example, That Lash Girl's colours are simple. Black, White, and Neutral tones.
Remember a colour theme needs supporting colours. Not just 1.
So just because you have a preset now doesn't mean you can choose ANY photo and put that preset on expecting it to flow with the rest of your feed.
You need to have those colours present in your photo for it to flow into your feed.
I purposefully choose photos that have my colours in it so they are accented well.
You don't want to put a muted toned preset like beige or brown, on a rainbow coloured photo.
2. Ok let's get to editing
On Pinterest there will be lots of content showing you the exact settings to use on VSCO to create a preset, so follow the instructions on your favourite one and apply that to all your photos. You may need to use 2 similar presets to create a bit more diversity on your page.
Let's try this one...
Here's how to create it on VSCO:
For Lightroom you can search on YouTube or Pinterest on how to create certain presets and save them. You can also save the time and hassle by purchasing some on different platforms like Etsy and download them to your app. I love Lightroom because once you have created a preset you can SAVE it and then editing in the future is now only 1 click away.
Let's play around with Lightroom and I'll show you how to create a preset below.
3. Now that you have your preset, lets start making our page flow!
Here are some photo ideas for lash artists to post on your feed:
- Close up lash photo
- A quote (written photo)
- A photo of yourself (introduce yourself to your audience)
- A photo of you in action (photo of your hands while lashing)
- A mug shot photo of your client (to show what both eyes look like)
- A before and after swipe photo
- A educational post (lash care, proper lash application, etc)
- A lash meme
- A side view of your client's eye
- A how to post (how to clean your lashes, how to edit your photos)
You need a diverse set of photos. Think of Instagram like a collage. You don't want to just post clients eyes because that is boring. You don't want to just post a lash client's eye every other photo or make a "pattern" because that's a dated theme to have on your feed now. USE all your colours in your theme! If your theme is neutral tones make sure you use photos that contain: White, nude, grey, black etc. And play around with it. Create contrast on your feed. You don't want every photo to be the same colour, again that can be boring. Thats why it's important to have your own theme "colour wheel".
Use a app like PREVIEW or PLANN to upload your photos and to a play around. You want colours to flow and pop and surprise the viewer. You don't want to be predictable. Move your photos freely to different spots to see if they flow well together. Try not to post 2 of the exact thing beside or near each other. Space things out. (unless intended)
Here's a couple good posting strategies:
These apps are also great for curating content ahead of time so you're not stressed to post something willy nilly and throw your feed off. Pre-write your captions and plan your hashtags. You can even schedule a time for posting to optimize audience engagement times.*
*(I'll show you how to do that in another blog)
So go get creative! Right now is the perfect time to start thinking of ideas or give your social media a makeover. Tag me in your photos! I love to see what you all create :)
Follow @thatlashgirl on instagram
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