5 Ways to Keep Your Instagram Account On-Brand

I know you want that “wow” factor. And not as in “wow, her content looks great”. But as in “wow I saw that post on the explore page and I could instantly tell it was hers.” 

See the difference? 

The first one has great content. Great for her. 

The second has content that’s so consistent, so on-brand, that her community can spot it a mile away. Or well…from a foot away? How far away do you hold your phone?

The point is, you want your Instagram account and Instagram content to be recognizable. You want people to see your photos, graphics, or to read your captions and instantly recognize you. That’s part of how you become a cult-fave brand. Especially in the highly competitive food & wellness space.

How do you achieve that? 

By creating a super on-brand, super consistent look & feel. And here’s five ways to do it. 

Use Instagram Post Templates

Instagram post templates are one of the best ways to keep your account on-brand. Whether you design them yourself, download a pack, or sign up for a subscription, having templates ensures that each and every post is on brand. 

Design benefits aside, my favourite reason for using post templates is it seriously cuts down on the time it takes to create each post. Each quarter, I design 3-5 story templates, post templates, and reel cover templates for myself and each client. 

Use Your Brand Fonts & Colours in Instagram Reels

In terms of design, one of the biggest “misses” I see on Instagram is accounts who use Instagram reel fonts and colours that don’t match their branding. At all. 

Truth be told, Instagram ~prefers~ when we create our reels in the app. They offer a variety of fonts to use so there should be one that’s close to your brand font. If not, or if your brand is a particularly particular brand (think professional & luxury brands), you can use your own font by adding it to your video in InShot. Here’s how.

Regardless of the font choice, I highly encourage you to use your own colours. Instagram allows you to do this in the app with the colour dropper feature, but you can do it in InShot too.

Use On-Brand Music and Instagram Audios

Speaking of Instagram reels, another frequent miss is the music brands choose for their reels. 

If your brand is fun, colourful, upbeat, and peppy, why are you using sad, melancholy music? No really, why? I’ll wait. 

Just because an audio is trending, or because you like it, doesn’t mean it’s a good choice for your business account. 

Choose your Instagram audio based on your brand guidelines. Ask yourself: if your brand was a type of music, what would it be? Now find that type of music for your Instagram reels. The same goes for Instagram audios – ya know, the lip syncing ones. If it’s sassy and unhinged, but your brand is super professional, skip it! Please, I beg.

Social Tip Because I Love Ya: While sticking within your brand guidelines, try to choose trending audios (you’ll know because of the upwards arrow next to the title) with under 10K posts. It’s got enough posts that you know it’s getting decent traction, but not too many that your post will get lost.

Write On-Brand Instagram Captions

Once you’ve got on-brand Instagram posts, turn your attention to the captions. 

What you say is just as (if not more) important than the post itself. The words you choose, the style of writing (long paragraphs or short bullets), the emojis you include, even the hashtags work together to tell the reader about your brand.

Is your brand sophisticated and luxurious? Scientific and exact? Chill and upbeat? Grounded and serious? 

Your captions will communicate that, which will tell the reader if you’re the brand for them. And remember – you want each social post to attract your ideal customers and repel people who aren’t your customers. That way you’ll have a community full of loyal customers who are obsessed with you, instead of just followers.

Learn how to write captions that convert here.

Create an On-Brand Instagram Profile

I started this blog post by talking about the ways you can keep your Instagram content on-brand because let’s be real, that’s a day-to-day thing. You’re creating and posting content all the time, and it’s how most people will interact with your brand on Instagram. 

But your Instagram profile absolutely, 100% needs to be on brand for your content to do its job. If your content says one thing (or looks one way) but your Instagram profile says another, it’ll confuse the viewer and keep them from following you.

To ensure your Instagram profile is on-brand, first complete a profile audit. Give yourself thirty minutes to an hour to complete all five steps. By the end, you’ll have a list of action items to get your profile on brand asap.

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