Instagram Branding: Tips To Build Your Instagram Brand

With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram has become one of the most popular platforms for businesses and influencers alike.

From setting up an Instagram business account to optimizing your profile and choosing a theme, our comprehensive Instagram branding guide covers all aspects of building a strong online presence.

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Importance of Branding On Instagram

In today’s digital age, social media platforms have become an integral part of any business or brand’s marketing strategy. Among these platforms, Instagram has emerged as a popular choice for businesses to showcase their products and services, connect with customers, and build brand awareness.

Why is Instagram Branding Important?

Brand Recognition

A well-defined Instagram branding strategy can help your business stand out from the competition. By creating a consistent look and feel across all your posts, you can increase brand recognition among your target audience.

Better Engagement

When users follow an account that has a strong visual identity and engaging content, they are more likely to engage with the posts by liking, commenting, or sharing them on their own profiles. This not only increases engagement but also helps in building a community around your brand.

Increase in Followers

By consistently posting high-quality content that resonates with your target audience, along with relevant hashtags and calls-to-action (CTAs), you can attract new followers to your profile.

How to Set Up an Instagram Business Account

A standard account is fine for personal use, but if you’re using Instagram for branding specifically, switching to a business account is recommended.

A business account offers additional features, such as access to Instagram Insights and the ability to run ads.

Create or Switch Your Account

To set up an Instagram business account, follow these steps:

If you already have a profile, simply convert it into a business one by accessing the ‘Settings’ menu from the three lines in the top right corner of your screen.
From your personal profile, access the ‘Settings’ menu from the three lines in the top right corner of your screen. Then tap ‘Settings’ at the bottom of this menu.
Select ‘Account,’ then scroll down and choose ‘Switch To Professional Account.’ You will be prompted with two options: Creator or Business. Choose ‘Business.’
Connect your Facebook page (optional).
Add relevant contact information like email address and phone number so potential customers can easily reach out directly from your profile page.

Once you are done setting up your account, here are some key tips to get the maximum benefits out of your Instagram branding:

Steps To Build Your Brand On Instagram

1. Optimize Your Profile

Creating an impactful first impression is key when users visit your Instagram account, so it’s important to ensure that your profile stands out. To optimize your profile for branding purposes, follow these steps:

Choose a Memorable Username

Pick a username that reflects your brand and is easy for users to remember. Ideally, this should be consistent with your usernames on other social media platforms.

Create an Eye-Catching Profile Photo

Your profile photo should represent your brand well and be easily recognizable. For businesses, using a logo or mascot is usually the best choice.

Craft an Engaging Bio

An effective Instagram bio concisely communicates what you do while showcasing your brand tone and personality. Include relevant keywords related to your niche and consider adding emojis or special characters for visual appeal.

Add Contact Information and Website Link

Contact Info: Make sure to include an email address or phone number in case potential customers want to reach out directly.
Weblink: Add a link to either the homepage of your website or a specific landing page that can help drive traffic towards a desired action (e.g., product purchase).

By following these tips, you’ll create an Instagram branding strategy that effectively showcases who you are as a business owner, entrepreneur, marketer, or influencer on one of today’s most popular social media platforms. Your Instagram profile branding will help you stand out from the crowd and increase brand awareness among Instagram users.

2. Choose a Theme

When it comes to Instagram branding, consistency is key. Choosing a theme that complements your brand identity will help you create an aesthetically pleasing and cohesive Instagram grid. This not only makes your profile visually appealing but also helps in building brand recognition among users.

To establish a consistent theme, consider the following elements:

Brand Colors: Incorporate your brand colors into your posts to maintain visual consistency across all social media platforms. If you don’t have specific colors yet, create a color palette that represents your brand’s personality.
Fonts & Typography: Use fonts that align with your overall branding strategy and are easily readable on mobile devices. Stick to one or two font styles for consistency.
Framing & Composition: Develop a unique style of framing and composition for photos and videos to make them instantly recognizable as part of your brand.
Edit Style: Create uniformity by using similar filters or editing techniques on all images shared on Instagram, so they look like they belong together in followers’ feeds.

Beyond these elements, consider creating a content calendar with themes for each day or week. For example, post behind-the-scenes content every Monday or share customer testimonials every Wednesday. This approach can help keep both you and your audience engaged while reinforcing the core values of the business through different types of posts.

3. Use Popular Content Styles

Staying abreast of the content styles that captivate Instagram users is essential for crafting a successful branding approach on the platform. By incorporating these popular formats into your posts, you can increase engagement and showcase your brand in diverse ways.

Carousels

Carousels allow you to share multiple images or videos in a single post, providing an excellent opportunity for storytelling and showcasing various aspects of your brand.

Videos

Videos are highly engaging and can be shared as regular feed posts or through Instagram Stories. Consider creating short-form video content like tutorials, product demos, or behind-the-scenes footage using tools like Canva Video Maker.

Instagram Stories

With over 500 million daily active users watching stories every day, they offer great potential for increasing visibility and connecting with followers in real time. Experiment with features such as polls, question stickers, and countdowns to drive engagement.

User-generated content (UGC)

Sharing photos from satisfied customers not only showcases your products but also builds trust among potential buyers by displaying social proof. Encourage users to tag their photos using a branded hashtag, so you can easily find UGC worth sharing.

Aesthetic Photos & Quotes

Incorporating artistic photography along with inspirational quotes that align well within your niche audience helps build emotional connections between consumers & brands.

Instagram Reels

Instagram’s newest feature, Reels, allows users to create short, entertaining videos set to music. This format is perfect for showcasing your brand personality and engaging with younger audiences.

Incorporating these popular content styles into your Instagram branding strategy will help you stay relevant on the platform while providing diverse ways for followers to engage with your brand. Remember to post regularly and create engaging content that aligns with your brand voice, style guide, and target audience. By doing so, you can increase brand awareness, and recognition, and, ultimately, drive more traffic to your website or social media profiles.

4. Pay Attention to Captions & Hashtags

Captions provide context, showcase your brand voice, and encourage interaction with your content. Meanwhile, hashtags help users discover your posts while increasing engagement with followers.

Captions: Your Brand Tone Matters

Your captions should reflect the tone of your brand consistently across all social media platforms. This helps in creating a cohesive experience for users who follow you on multiple channels. For example, if you have an informal and friendly tone on other platforms like Twitter or Facebook, make sure that this is also reflected in your Instagram captions.

Hashtags: Boost Visibility & Engagement

Create a branded hashtag: A unique branded hashtag will help increase brand recognition among Instagram users as they can easily find all related content under one tag. You can include this hashtag in every post or even encourage user-generated content by asking followers to use it when sharing photos featuring your products/services.
Research popular industry hashtags: Use tools like Hashtagify, which allows you to search for trending hashtags within specific industries or niches, then incorporate these into appropriate posts to expand reach beyond just those following you directly.
Avoid overusing hashtags: While using several relevant tags can boost visibility significantly, over-posting may appear spammy and deter potential followers from engaging with the account further. Stick to between five and ten per post at most.

Incorporating well-crafted captions alongside strategic usage of both branded and industry-specific hashtags will greatly enhance your Instagram profile branding, helping you reach a wider audience and increase engagement with existing followers. This will also improve your Instagram insights and help you understand what your Instagram users follow and engage with the most.

5. Work with Influencers

By working with influencers, your brand can leverage its credibility to increase reach and trust among target customers. These individuals have already established credibility within their niche, making them ideal partners for promoting your products or services on Instagram.

Finding the Right Influencers

To ensure a successful partnership, it’s crucial to find influencers who align with your brand values and target audience. Start by researching popular accounts in your industry and analyzing their engagement rates, follower demographics, and content quality.

Tools like Social Blade can help you gather valuable insights about potential collaborators.

Negotiating Collaborations

Influencer partnerships can take various forms, such as sponsored posts, product reviews, giveaways, or even long-term ambassadorships. When negotiating collaborations, be clear about your expectations regarding content creation and promotion while also being open to creative input from the influencer themselves.

Measuring Success

Sales: Track any increase in sales that result from an influencer campaign using promo codes or affiliate links.
Awareness: Monitor changes in brand awareness by tracking mentions of your company name or branded hashtag across social media platforms during the collaboration period.
Growth: Analyze growth in followers’ count on both your and the influencer’s Instagram account before and after the partnership.
Engagement: Assess the engagement levels on influencer posts featuring your brand, including likes, comments, and shares.

Incorporating influencers into your Instagram branding strategy can significantly boost brand recognition and credibility. Selecting the right partners and cultivating authentic connections with them is essential to achieving success in this competitive social media arena.

6. Post at the Right Times

Posting your content at optimal times is crucial for maximizing engagement and visibility on Instagram. By analyzing Instagram Insights, you can determine when your audience is most active, allowing you to tailor your posting schedule accordingly.

To get started, follow these steps:

Analyze your Instagram Insights to identify peak activity hours for your followers.
Create a consistent posting schedule based on this data.
Monitor engagement levels and adjust the timing of posts as needed.
Once you’ve identified optimal posting times, maintain a consistent schedule by planning ahead with tools like HopperHQ.

According to Later, an Instagram scheduling tool, the best times to post for optimal engagement are between 9 AM and 11 AM EST during weekdays.

Bear in mind that ideal posting times may vary depending on factors such as time zones, industry, and target audience demographics. You should also consider how the Instagram algorithm prioritizes fresh content in users’ feeds; therefore, it’s essential to post regularly without over-posting or spamming followers’ feeds with low-quality content.

7. Consider Instagram Ads

If you want to take your Instagram branding strategy to the next level, consider investing in Instagram ads. These ads can help increase brand awareness and reach a larger audience beyond your existing followers’ feeds.

Types of Instagram Ads

Photo Ads: Share a single image with a call-to-action (CTA) button that directs users to your website or product page.
Video Ads: Showcase up to 60 seconds of video content, perfect for demonstrating products or sharing engaging stories about your brand.
Carousel Ads: Display multiple images or videos in one ad, allowing users to swipe through different pieces of content within the same post.
Collections Ads: Combine photos and videos into an immersive shopping experience that drives sales directly from the app.

8. Set Realistic KPIs

To effectively measure the success of your Instagram branding strategy, it’s crucial to set realistic key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics will help you track progress and make data-driven decisions for improvement. When setting KPIs, consider factors such as brand awareness, engagement rate, follower growth, and conversions.

Achievable Goals

Establishing achievable goals is essential for maintaining motivation and ensuring that your efforts are focused on what matters most. For instance, if increasing Instagram insights like post likes or comments is a priority, focus on creating engaging content that resonates with your target audience.

Follower Growth Rate

Gaining new followers is an important aspect of building brand recognition on social media platforms like Instagram. However, avoid obsessing over vanity metrics; instead, concentrate on growing a loyal community by providing value through high-quality posts and genuine interactions with users who follow your account.

Engagement Rate

Likes: Track the number of likes each post receives to gauge how well it resonates with your audience.
Comments: Analyze comment activity to determine which topics generate the most conversation among Instagram users following your account.
Saves: Monitor how often people save your posts, as this indicates a strong interest in the content shared.

Campaign Conversions & ROI

If running paid ads or influencer campaigns as part of your Instagram branding efforts, tracking conversions and ROI is essential. Measuring the performance of your campaigns and return on investment is critical to determine how successful your Instagram branding strategies are, so you can make wise decisions about where to allocate resources in the future.

Build Your Brand Identity On Instagram Today!

In conclusion, building a strong Instagram brand requires careful planning and execution.

If you need help developing an effective branding strategy for your business or personal account on Instagram, feel free to contact us at Laird&Partners!

Our experienced specialists will aid you in constructing a consistent brand identity across all of your social media channels, while generating content that speaks totally in the interests of your potential customers!