How to Create a Perfect Instagram Post
A perfect Instagram post is one with a fulfilling purpose, prompting engagement from the followers, backed by high quality images with stress on color psychology, along with a gripping caption that holds everything together and hashtags to drive the right traffic towards your IG post! Creating the picture-perfect, eye-catchy and a purposeful Instagram post is a practice that comes from the blend of these 6 factors, each more vital than the last. With over 1 billion monthly users, with the right post on your hook, you can attract your target audience towards your brand with unprecedented ease.
In this blog, we will explore the secrets of creating the perfect IG post, capable of encouraging engagement from your followers and gaining more audience.
Here are my top 6 tips that will enable you to create the perfect Instagram posts for your Instagram feed
1. Develop a story
i. Start with a goal
When you first start playing with the idea of creating an Instagram post, the first step should be to find a goal. What do you want to achieve with this post? Do you wish to gain Instagram followers, or potential leads? Is it to educate or to entertain? Asking these questions to yourself helps you to create a clear vision regarding the purpose of your post.
ii. Connect with your audience
Connecting with your audience is the most crucial factor to press upon, while creating a post. Until and unless your audience does not feel connected to you, they will not follow what you are trying to tell through your post. The best way to do so, is by adding a human touch to your post. To add a human touch to your content, you can add 3D illustrated human images to your post that complements your post purpose.
iii. Capitalize on trends
Capitalizing on latest trends is yet another way to engage your audience, by letting them in on a viral trend. You can develop a story around it and then invite your audience to engage and be a part of the trend!
2. Find high-quality pictures
i. Use visually appealing images in your Instagram post
The very first thing that catches a viewer’s attention is the image you use in your IG post. Hence, it has to be visually appealing. The perfect image should be of high resolution, as well as complement the over-arching idea and purpose of your post, so that your target audience connects with it instantly.
ii. Focus on color psychology
Certain colors evoke certain emotions in humans. This concept is known as color psychology. Use images of certain colors strategically in your IG post and dictate the direction and emotion of the post through colours. This helps your audience to connect on a subconscious level, encouraging them to engage.
iii. Swear by Rule of Thirds
Rule of Thirds is a standard thumb rule, that photographers employ while capturing images. As per Rule of Thirds, every image should be encompassed within a 3x3 square grid, with the main featured of subject lying along the lines of intersections, allowing attracting attention to major points of your image.
3. Create a fitting caption
i. Keep it crisp
Always keep your post caption short and crisp. Usually, users scroll through their IG feed at a pretty brisk pace. Thus, a long and detailed caption may lead to abandoning of your post. However, if you keep it clever and to the point, it will allow your post to penetrate your audience’s thoughts and linger in their minds.
ii. Resonate with audience
While writing a caption for your post, ask yourself- “Will my audience resonate with this?”. The easier it is for your audience to resonate with your caption, the more encouraged they would be to engage with your IG post.
iii. Identify brand voice
Yet another important factor to keep in mind while writing a caption for your post is to showcase the brand personality through it. On a broader perspective, this helps you to embody the values of your brand in the caption itself.
4. Add a CTA to stir engagement
i. Ask for like, comment & share
The simplest way to stir some engagement is to encourage your audience to like, comment and share your Instagram post. Often times they are on the fence and need a little encouragement that pushes them to like/comment or even share your post. Even simplest CTAs like “Comment YES if you agree”, can do wonders.
ii. Ask their opinion/story in the Instagram post
Asking your audience for their opinion or to share a similar story is yet another smart way to stir some engagement on your Instagram post. This not only makes them feel like a part of the post but also increases the organic engagement on the post. Moreover, when one person shares their opinion or story, it further encourages others to do the same as well.
iii. Ask to tag friends
Asking your audience to tag their friends by adding a CTA like “Tag your friends who might need this information”, may seem like a small step but it has huge impact. When a user tags their friend in the comment section, they are essentially broadening the reach of your IG post, leading to more engagement.
5. Tag in right #hashtags
i. Find quality hashtags
Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags in each post. However, this does not mean you have to always use 30 hashtags in each post. When you use so many hashtags on your post, you might stray from your niche and this will result in low quality followers and a fall in organic engagement. Thus, only use limited, necessary and high-quality hashtags.
ii. Use specific hashtags
Like I said in the previous point, using multiple and very broad hashtags can lead to accumulation of low-quality followers which will hurt your brand’s digital presence. Thus, always use very niched down and specific hashtags that will result in attracting high-quality traffic.
iii. Promote your branded hashtag
Hashtags are a way to connect with your target audience and broaden your brand’s scope. However, it is also a great place to promote your branded hashtag. This will encourage your followers to use your branded hashtags in their posts regarding your brand as well. This will allow you to understand the majority sentiment towards your brand through user generated content.
6. Schedule your Instagram post
i. Timing is important
Performance of a post is another essential factor that contributes in making it perfect. The timing of your post is important as the best time to publish your post is when your followers are most active. This way, your post reaches maximum followers and thus, gains maximum engagement.
ii. Utilize Instagram Analytics
In order to figure out when is your audience most active, analyze the performance of several posts together publish at different timings, in the Instagram Analytics. Weigh the average engagement produced by these IG posts against each other to find the right time for you to schedule your post on.
iii. Seek best practices
Explore your IG Insights further to find out the common practices among your best performing IG posts and swear by them. Your best performing posts will help you up your game and allow you to create the perfect Instagram post everytime.
Bonus tips for creating best Instagram posts
Create Carousel Posts
According to a report by Social Insider, carousel posts generate the maximum engagement in terms of likes, shares and comments- between 1.65% and 5.13%, depending on your reach. If you are wondering what are carousel posts, carousel posts are a combination of up to 10 images or videos in a single post. You can even find free templates for the same.
Repost from popular brands in your niche
It is completely possible to not have great ideas for a post every time, or not have your post ready on time. In such situations, I highly recommend that you stalk the popular brands in your niche, and repost their content relevant to your page, with due credits and permission of course. You can also accomplish this by stalking hashtags relevant to your niche. You can even collect such posts for future purposes. This practice will not only help you in times of need, but also enhance your content strategy.
Know the right dimensions
It is important to be aware of the standard dimensions of an image for Instagram. For a square image: 1080px by 1080px For a vertical image: 1350px by 1080px For a horizontal image: 566px by 1080px To conclude this blog, I would like to lay stress upon the fact that giving value to your followers is by far the most important part of crafting an attractive Instagram post for your brand.
I hope you found this as a helpful guide to creating the perfect Instagram post.
Feel free to pass it on!