Remember when Instagram came out? It was all about beautiful curated photos. Seven years later, awesome pictures are still crucial for your Instagram visual content strategy, but there are other elements you should consider when posting to your social media.
What should you consider when developing your social marketing media plans? Here a few formulas I use when strategizing content:
Photography
Yes, surprising, well-lit photography is STILL a pivotal element to branding your Instagram feed, but you want to make sure you’re featuring a variety of imagery such as using people in your photos, flat lay photography, and scenery. One thing I want to stress, don’t post the same types of images over and over (such as “flat-lay city” as I call it or just scenery). Your audience will get bored with your content and move on. And lastly, try to avoid stock photography when possible. Since it is so accessible, it this type of photography gets overused.
Pro tip: don’t want to show faces of your models, use their hands, feet, back of the head to bring the human element factor into your imagery.
Video or Motion
Along with your photography, consider motion such as a short video, boomerang or rewinds, GIFS or stop motion to grab users attention and stand out. Studies show that video also gets more engagement than a single image https://www.videoshop.net/features
Pro tip: I use the VideoShop App to make fun stop-motion videos. With tools like a tripod and white form board, practice the easy art of stop-motion animation.
Graphics
Want to tease a blog post you spent time writing, editing, etc. or want to highlight a quote that means a lot to you? Pull quotes out of the post and develop consistent on-brand graphics in a free web-based graphics program like Canva. Sure, you could re-share a post from someone else but why not take the extra time to make it your own and stand out with some consistency. Going the extra mile will be worth it.
Pro tip: take some time to learn the free web-based graphics program, Canva.
Multiple Images
Have several photos available from your photoshoot on the topic you're writing about? You can upload up to 10 images for one Instagram post. Just like I stated above with video, there have been studies that show multi-image posts do get more engagement.
If you’re struggling to have a variety of visual content in your Instagram and social media channels, I hope this blog has given you some ideas to spice it up a bit.