Skip links

Instagram 101: Branding

What do Coca Cola, Kim Kardashian, and The Rock all have in common? They all have established their brand on their Instagram account. Having a clear-cut brand identity lets people know as soon as they land on your page exactly how they should feel about your company and product, which is why branding is the cornerstone of Instagram marketing. Without it, your business marketing strategy lacks definition, purpose, and direction.

But what does Instagram branding even mean?

Lets start off with what it doesn’t mean:

  • It doesn’t mean you must slap your logo on every picture you post
  • It doesn’t mean you should use your tagline in every post
  • It doesn’t mean you should be de-humanized and sales-y

What it does mean:

  • Having a theme for your posts
  • Honing in on 5 branding words that describe your company
  • Knowing your target market and catering to them

Easy enough? Maybe not. Let’s dissect each bullet point and get rid of any ambiguity.

1. Having a theme.

The standards for this platform in the past two years have skyrocketed. Gone are the days of having artsy pictures with neat filters and calling that a great post. The unspoken standard is now having all of your artsy filtered posts complement each other and play off of the main theme of your entire page. When a potential client lands on your Instagram page they will see your entire feed at a glance, capitalize on this and make it so that they are so captivated by it that they click the follow button instantly. Think of your feed as the landing page on your website, complete with a color scheme and specific style.

How to specifically do this

  • Pick two signature filters and stick with them. When a person lands on your account the pictures should all follow the same color scheme so they are visually appealing together.
  • Take pictures of similar types of content. This doesn’t mean limit yourself to only pictures of one thing, but don’t have a random feed with a mishmash of unrelated posts.
  • Try to keep everything somewhat uniform while still maintaining creativity. It’s a fine balance.

2. Having 5 branding words that describe your company.

Branding words are important because they are the feelings you are aiming to evoke in your clients with your business. Feelings are very important in the purchasing process because people tend to buy from people they know and trust. If you can ensure that your brand caters to people’s feelings and connects with them then you will experience more success. Humanizing your brand goes a very long way in making your company trustworthy and likable.

How to specifically do this:

  • Sit down and brainstorm the 5 words that come to you about your current Instagram brand
  • Ask around what descriptive words people/clients think of when it comes to your business and your Instagram. Gaining an outside perspective is invaluable.
  • Look at your 5 words and the words others used to describe you, then pick your favorite 5 words that you want to weave into your brand.
  • Make sure to include the feeling those 5 words create and apply them to every post. For example, if one of your branding words is “energetic” make sure to use vibrant energetic colors in your posts to simulate that feeling.

3. Knowing your target market and catering to them.

Your brand should be in line with the clients you are trying to attract on social media. For example, if you own a boutique that sells trendy clothes for 20-something’s, your brand and branding words will be geared towards them, whereas if you are a digital marketing company your target market is different so the same branding strategy will not apply. Knowing exactly the kinds of people you are targeting on Instagram will go a long way in helping drive quality traffic to your social media and business.

How to specifically do this

  • Create a client profile. Who is your ideal client, how old are they, what do they do for a living, etc. Know exactly who you are marketing to in order to be more effective.
  • Ask yourself, is your current Instagram appealing to the type of person you described in your client profile? Go from there.

Here are some examples of people that are killing it on Instagram and implementing all of these branding necessities.

  • @theinstagramexpert
  • @knoxvillebrew
  • @freshfitandfearless

Go check out those awesome accounts and follow them for some inspo! Start branding with a purpose and watch your business flourish on social media. Here at Smarter Searches, we help with social media branding and strategies. If you are looking for help with revamping your social media platforms, reach out to us and we would love to do a full assessment on what you’re currently doing and help you with strategies so you can crush it on Instagram and beyond.