When you think about it, brands are powerful things. People associate your brand with a certain identity, and this identity sticks with them for life.
For instance, when a person wants a perception of an adventurous individual, they post pictures of themselves travelling to different countries or cities, trying different foods, or even watching different shows – as long as they show you they are doing extraordinary things. Even if they spend much of their time in their home watching TV, the audience does not really know that – so they will see this person as a traveller.
That perception never leaves the mind, and businesses that are successful understand this, and always want to show the best of their brand.
Why choose Instagram to craft brand identity?
Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram offers an individual or business the perfect opportunity to showcase their brand identity – that includes their individual or company personalities.
As long as your brand looks interesting, the audience will connect with it, and it can even encourage them to follow you and become your loyal customers. One-time customers can also get the encouragement to become regulars, because they will form emotional attachments to your brand.
So how do you craft a brand identity?
Similar to other social media platforms, the key to establishing your brand among many and making it stand out is consistency.
Consistency in messaging helps
If you want your brand to stand out, follow the rules of a typical business. Make sure that all the content on your account matches you brand and reaffirms it.
The most important question you need to ask yourself when establishing your brand identity is what you want people to know you for, and what you want to get from your endeavour.
For instance, when you want to recruit young people to your business, they need to know that your company is a fun and enjoyable place of work and gives them plenty of freedom to express themselves. When you establish this, you can put pictures of your employees doing fun activities or getting out of their comfort zone, such as team building activities.
Consistency in visual representation
Branding involves a visual element as well. Your Instagram followers should look at your pictures and recognize them as yours, without looking at the logo for confirmation. That means, strive to get your own watermark, your own identity.
One way you can achieve this is giving all your photos a similar filter, because this will give them a similar feel. When posting images, the artistic feel and theme needs to be consistent, even if the images themselves are different. Use the same color schemes as well throughout, and this will cement a certain feel that is unique to you.
Consistency in fonts
Instagram is purely a visual medium, so the words you use in your pictures can break or make your brand. For this reason, use a consistent one or two fonts throughout your brand identity, or you can pick some that are thee standard of your industry in case you do not have one.
Consistency in timing
This is one factor that kills many businesses – unpredictability in posting. You do not want your audience to not look forward to your posts, as the bulk of your exposure comes shortly after you post a new picture.
When you post on certain days and ours, your followers begin to expect a certain timing to your content, and they will always anticipate it.
Engage with the audience
Instagram is a social media platform for a reason. You need to engage with your followers, and that means posting things such as Instagram stories can be helpful here.
Instagram has a wide user base, not just in the US, but globally. In fact, over 600 million people around the world use it, and this can represent a great business opportunity for you if you handle it well.
Instagram stories in particular, give brands an excellent chance to provide links (an option that you cannot use much on the site), and show people behind-the-scenes content of your work. It is an even better option than the bio section, and it can encourage people to go to your main website, watch videos on YouTube, or download resources.
Hire a pro
In case you do not have the expertise of capturing amazing photographs, or you are not the creative type that makes the images capture enough attention, then consider hiring a professional to do the job for you.
Social media managers are experts at this, especially those that have backgrounds in photography or design. Keep in mind that it is difficult enough to keep your followers and turn them into customers, so it is a good option to begin early enough.
When you outsource visual assets, they can do photo shoots for you and give you images that are high quality and you can use them on your website or Instagram page. You can always find someone that is willing to partner with you in the journey.
Hashtags – do not underestimate them
These will help other users discover your brand, even if they do not follow you on the platform. The maximum you can use per post is 30, but remember that less is more in this case.
Aim to use a maximum of ten and see if the post performs well, and you can even see how many new followers you get from that post. In addition, the hashtags do not need to be complicated, they can be simple. Keep in mind that the most popular hashtags have more people checking them out, so use more of them in your posts as long as they are relevant.
Consider partnering with other brands
Nothing seals a good reputation like working for a good cause. Partner or support brands that have good reputations on Instagram, as it also works as a connector to like-minded people, extends your reach and encourages users to check out your business.
Final thoughts
Extending the reach that your brand has is not an uphill task; you can simply go with some company who can build a targeted strategy for you in instragram such as Famed.co, so you can achieve your goals, resulting in an increase in your Instagram followers and a strong community. For your business, this reach is invaluable and will assist you to expand your community base for the long-term.
