How To Brand Yourself On Instagram

In the ever-growing world of social media, Instagram has become one of the most reliable platforms for individuals and businesses to share their stories and build an audience. With over two billion active users per month, unsurprisingly, many people are looking to use this platform to brand themselves.

Many businesses now solely rely on Instagram for their advertising and marketing needs, as it is an excellent way to connect and engage with potential customers. However, branding yourself on Instagram can be tricky if you don’t know the best practices.

So, how to brand yourself on Instagram and ensure that your efforts on Instagram lead to success? Today, we will cover the essential steps you need to take to grow an Instagram account and build a brand.

Why Should You Brand Yourself on Instagram?

If you’re wondering why you should brand yourself on Instagram, the answer is simple: visibility. Branding yourself on Instagram allows you to reach a larger audience and create a more personal connection with your customers.

Before we shed light on how to brand yourself on Instagram, let’s examine the benefits of doing so. Understanding the benefits of branding yourself on Instagram will help refine your branding strategy on this platform.

1. Excellent Organic Reach

Organic reach indicates the number of people who can organically see your posts without having you pay for ads or boost posts. It is not only about reaching a higher number of users but rather reaching a higher number of relevant users.

Instagram has an algorithm that determines what content its users see, so if you post quality content that resonates with followers, the chances are higher that they will engage with it and share it with their networks. This means more visibility and engagement, resulting in a larger audience.

2. Availability of Visual Tools

Instagram has visual tools to ensure your posts stand out from the crowd. For example, the stories section and newly introduced reels let you create video content and add text, stickers, polls, or GIFs. This is great for creating interactive posts that draw your audience’s attention.

3. In-depth Analytics

Analytics are essential for evaluating the performance of your content and understanding how to improve. Instagram provides in-depth analytics that allows you to track engagement, impressions, reach, followers, and more. This data can help you understand what works best with your audience so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly.

4. Rich Engagement

Instagram is all about user interactions and engaging with other brands or influencers. People love interacting with their favorite brands on this platform, from leaving comments to reacting to posts through likes and shares. Utilizing these features will create a better connection between you and your target audience.

5. Story-telling

Storytelling is a great way to engage with your followers and help them connect to you on a more personal level. Instagram Stories are short snippets of moments that can be used for engaging content.

Instagram stories and reels give users a glimpse into the life behind the brand or individual. Instagram stories can feature products, people, places, or even events related to your business or brand.

6. Availability of Social Influencers

Social influencers are individuals who have established credibility in their expertise and have access to an engaged audience. They typically share content related to their niche market and offer insights from their perspective, which resonates with their followers.

Instagram’s entire design and philosophy are highly suitable for social influencers to promote your brand on Instagram or help you build a reputation.

7. Accumulation of Trust and Reputation

Instagram is a great place to showcase your business’s credibility and trustworthiness. When followers interact with your content, they are more likely to trust what you say.

User-generated content, reviews, ratings of products or services, or even showing off awards or certifications that demonstrate expertise in the field can all help you build trust with followers and consistent brand awareness over time.

8. Redirection to Your Website

Unlike many other social platforms, Instagram allows businesses to conveniently redirect their posts to their website, which is a great way to direct more traffic and potential customers.

Source: Instagram Page of Dell

On Instagram, you can add a link in the bio section of your profile that allows users to click on it and be redirected directly to your website. This is an effective way for businesses or individuals looking for ways to increase their website traffic.

9. Competitors Do it Too!

One of the biggest reasons to brand yourself on Instagram is that your competitors are most likely doing it too. It’s essential to keep up with what other businesses in your industry are doing and use their strategies as inspiration for your own.

In addition, you can use similar hashtags and topics used by your competitors to reach a wider and more relevant audience.

10. Instagram Shopping and Storefront

Finally, Instagram has introduced a Shopping feature that serves like a regular eCommerce storefront, making it easy to showcase your products or services. You can link products directly in your posts and stories, enabling your followers to explore and purchase those quickly. This will help you increase sales, as well as build brand recognition on Instagram.

How to Brand Yourself on Instagram?

Now that we have discussed several compelling reasons to use Instagram for branding purposes, let’s look at the steps you should take to ensure your efforts are successful. We will now explore how to grow an Instagram account from scratch and how to build a brand on Instagram that leads to business success.

1. Start with Quality Research

Before posting on Instagram, it’s essential to conduct thorough research about the platform. This will help you understand how people use Instagram and what content they engage with. Understanding these insights is critical if you want your account to stand out from the competition and be successful.

There are three broad aspects of your Instagram research, which are:

Research Your Niche

Your niche is the specific industry in which you operate. It can be anything from fitness to fashion or food to travel. The more knowledge and insights you have about your particular niche, the better equipped you are to create content that resonates with your target audience.

Understanding the following characteristics of your niche will help you create compelling posts that are culturally relevant to your niche:

• What are their demographics?
• What kind of content do they engage with?
• When do they browse Instagram most frequently?
• What type of content do they share?

Research Competitors

Once you have a good understanding of your niche, it is time to look at what your competitors are doing. Analyzing the content and strategies that other successful accounts in your industry use can inform some of the decisions you make for branding yourself on Instagram.

Look for patterns in their posts, such as common topics or hashtags they use, and try to identify any potential opportunities that have been overlooked. Instagram competitor analysis will give you valuable insights into how to differentiate yourself from similar accounts and create content that stands out from the competition.

Identify the Right Hashtags

Hashtags are one of the most powerful tools for boosting engagement on Instagram. They allow users to find and interact with content related to their interests, which can help you reach a wider audience and grow your following.

When creating hashtags for your posts, it is important to use relevant keywords that are specific enough to target the right people but not too long or complicated that they lose relevance.

Additionally, research popular hashtags in your industry and consider using them in combination with other targeted keywords. This will maximize your chances of reaching the right people and growing an engaged following on Instagram.

2. Identify Your Goals

Businesses may have different goals when it comes to branding themselves on Instagram. It’s important to identify what you want to achieve with your presence on the platform, whether it’s to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales.

Once you have identified your goals and objectives, you can create an action plan that will help you reach them. For example, viral campaigns may help you gain more followers, while influencer marketing can help you get quick sales.

3. Create a Brand Personality

A unique brand personality is essential when building a brand on Instagram. It can be helpful to think of yourself as an individual rather than just a business or organization and create posts that feature your values and beliefs.

The brand personality will give your followers an insight into who you are and make it easier for them to identify with your brand. It is essential to be consistent in the messages you share and the visuals used so your audience can quickly become familiar with your brand.

Build a Mood Board

A mood board will help you brainstorm ideas for your posts and ensure that all of your content is cohesive. Start by gathering images, color palettes, and fonts that reflect the look and feel of your brand.

A collection of relevant visual materials and design ideas will give you a starting point for every post or Story you create on Instagram so that it looks like it belongs in the same family as the rest of your content. You will find plenty of mood board creation tools online that let you create awesome mood boards in no time.

Source: Canva Mood Board Creation Tool

4. Optimize Your Profile

Your Instagram profile is your first impression, and it is essential that you make sure your profile looks professional. Take the time to create a catchy bio, use relevant hashtags, include a link to your website or blog, and choose an attractive profile photo.

The presentation and theme of your profile should also match the mood board you created earlier and the style of your brand. If you target a younger demographic, use bright colors and an eye-catching design. If you are targeting a more professional audience, use muted colors and a simpler design that is easy to read.

5. Maintain a Central Theme

When it comes to your content creation and design, make sure you have a consistent theme. This will help establish yourself as an authority in your niche and will also ensure that all of your posts are cohesive. It’s important not to stray too far away from this theme or create content that does not reflect your brand.

Apart from the designs, even your messages should be consistent to your brand ideology. For example, if you are promoting vegan recipes on your page, make sure that all of your images and captions have a unified message to promote vegan diets.

Source: Instagram profile of veganrecipesideas

6. Create Authentic Content

The key to success on Instagram is consistency, and it is important that you post content regularly. However, it’s not just about quantity – your content’s quality also matters.

Make sure to create aesthetically pleasing images, branded posts with a consistent theme and tone of voice, creating stories using engaging video or graphics, and captions that encourage people to engage with your account.

Watermarking your logo onto your content is also a great way to ensure that people recognize your brand and strengthen it.

7. Engage With Your Audience

Social media is all about engagement, and Instagram is no exception. It’s not enough to just post content – you need to interact with your audience too! Make sure to reply to comments on your posts, follow back accounts that comment or like your content, join conversations in the comments section of other accounts, and create captions that ask questions or encourage people to share their thoughts.

Higher levels of interaction will help you build stronger relationships with potential customers and grow a loyal following for your brand.

8. Leverage Influencer Marketing

Additionally, influencer marketing is an effective way to reach people that have already shown an interest in similar products or services. When working with influencers, make sure you choose someone with the same target audience that fits your brand’s style.

Source: Marques Brownlee’s (mkbhd) Instagram Page

Identifying a relevant influencer will ensure that your message reaches the right people and resonates better than if it had come from a generic celebrity endorsement.

9. Utilize Instagram Ads

Instagram ads are a great way to reach a wider audience as well as target potential customers who may be interested in your product or service. Instagram brand advertising allows you to target people based on interests, age, location, and other factors.

Creating ads with compelling visuals, catchy copy, and a clear call-to-action that encourages people to take action can help you increase brand awareness as well as generate more leads.

10. Make Use of a Few Handy Instagram Features

Finally, take advantage of the various features Instagram has to offer. Here are a few examples:

Swipe Up

Swiping Up allows you to link a website or URL in your stories. This is an excellent way to drive traffic to your blog or website and increase your overall reach. You can enable the feature after you verify your account and have at least 10,000 followers.

Tagging Large Brands

By tagging larger, more established brands in your posts, you can potentially get their attention and gain exposure in the process.

Tracking Analytics

Track the performance of each post with Instagram’s insights feature, so you know what works best for your audience and what doesn’t. Additionally, pay attention to user engagement, such as likes, comments, shares, etc., as it will help you understand what type of content resonates most with your followers.

Geo Tagging

Geotagging is an excellent way to get more exposure for your account and make it easier for people to find you. Simply tag the location of where each photo was taken and potential customers in that area may be able to discover your page.

Wrap-Up: Brand Yourself on Instagram

To wrap up, branding yourself on Instagram can be a challenging but rewarding process. To succeed, it’s essential that you optimize your profile, create unique and authentic content regularly, use the right hashtags, engage with other accounts in your niche, and watermark your logo onto your content.

By following these steps and using strategies such as running contests or giveaways, collaborating with other influencers, and using sponsored posts, you can be on your way to building a successful brand on Instagram.

Damian Over the past 17 years Damian has grown, funded, and sold businesses across three continents. From creative director to CMO, founder to an investor, Damian has experienced every side of scaling a business. These days you can find him at https://damobrennan.com/ helping others grow their businesses into profitable, money-making machines.