It’s a daily routine, scroll, stalk, like and repeat. However, for those trying to grow a brand or business, there’s more to Instagram than just posting pictures. Instagram has become a strategic business where having a strong visual identity and consistency is vital in remaining relevant and competitive. So, how do you do that exactly?

There are multiple third-party apps to aid in this step — my preferred tool is UNUM. This app allows you to move your pending posts around a faux-grid to see what your feed could potentially look like, as well as hide any dud photos you no longer think fit.

However, creating quality content takes time, pre-planning and a vision. You need to have a strategy for what your feed should visually look like. Decide who are you wanting to target, what identity you want to portray, and how that will connect with your audience. 

Now that you’ve some of the creative decisions, you need to figure out what filter and tint you want to use. Your filter is your trademark. People will begin to recognize your photo right away if you use the same filter all the time. This is essential in ensuring your overall feed looks cohesive when someone looks at your feed for the first time. If you don’t know what a filter is, it’s a particular effect that can be applied to an image or part of an image like color, lighting, etc.. 

Here you need to decide whether you want your images to be tropical, grunge, moody, pastels, monochrome, or whatever you decide would connect best with your theme. Make sure you choose wisely because this will be the same filter you use all the time to ensure every image looks the same. 

UNUM ↵

You can use UNUM to edit your photos, but I personally use Adobe Lightroom for $10 a month.

I use Lightroom to edit all my photos and I have my preset filter that I created saved in my presets folder. So whenever I have new photos to edit I just copy and paste onto every new image.

 ADOBE LIGHTROOM ↓

Now it’s time to start preparing your content for the week/month ahead and considering how they will sit alongside one another. In the empty grids is where you upload your new potential photos. After they’re uploaded, you can move them around to until you figure out the perfect spot for them.

Once you’ve figured out what you want to post, you can then schedule them accordingly.

UNUM also lets you track your statistics on best hashtags and time-of-day to post. This is helpful in better understanding your audience and how to advertise to them.

And as always, if you guys have any questions regarding Instagram please feel free to e-mail me at blackplusblackblog@gmail.com or leave a comment below!

xx, 

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