How to Create the Perfect Instagram Feed
By now, if you’re following me on insta, you know that I follow a pretty neutral color palette most of the time. While this makes up the bulk of my wardrobe, I’ve also been experimenting with introducing color themes into my feed while still keeping it cohesive.
Most recently, I noticed I was gravitating towards a lot of blues in my closet and I wanted to highlight that. Whether you’re like me and mostly stick to one neutral palette or if you like to throw in colors here and there (or let’s say you go on vacation), there’s still a way to create a cohesive instagram grid.
Since I get asked constantly how I keep a ‘minimal’ and ‘clean’ vibe on my page; I wanted to share with you guys some of my top tips:
1. Pick a color palette
Initially, I think it’s important to have three or four main colors that you stick to on your feed. 90% of your ig page should consist of these colors or have these tones in some way. My page colors are off white, beige, and warm brown. You can start to transition into other colors (like I did with the blue theme below), or if you travel, you can sort of break from that feed — but it’s important to establish your main palette first before venturing out.
2. Less is more
This is the ultimate rule for most minimalists haha, and typically I always see minimal style photos perform best on Instagram. When taking a photo, I try to zoom in so that there’s very little white space and less clutter. Also, since my theme has warm tones, I usually try to get a leak of sunlight in the photo if I can. I take most of my outfit shots and product shots with a plain background (a tan wall or on white sheets) for a clean aesthetic.
3. Plan Ahead
Working in social media marketing for the past couple of years, I’ve curated several feeds for many brands and I can guarantee you this is KEY. Some of my favorite tools to plan out my content include Planoly and UNUM. The most useful feature here is seeing your feed and how it’s going to turn out before hand. Use this to establish a pattern. I usually try to alternate between photos of myself and lifestyle imagery for a more artsy, tumblr vibe I guess haha. Some people do rows of three— you can play around with this until you figure out which pattern is best for you.
4. Use the same filter & edits
Actually a lot of people are probably surprised to hear this but I use veryy little editing on my photos. Sometimes I mess with the highlights and brightness but never by much. I usually edit in app or use VSCO but I love a natural feel for my pictures. However, it’s totally okay to edit them more! Just make sure it’s consistent with your whole feed. Pro tip: use VSCO to save your own presets so you can use the same edits on all your pics!
5. Describe your feed to yourself
I’ve worked in a lot of brand roles and one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to brand yourself and be able to explain it to people. I’d write 3-4 words out that describe your ideal feed. Mine are: minimal, clean, natural and warm. Once you figure out the overall vibe you want your feed to have, you’re half way there to making it happen! Ask yourself before you add each picture: is this photo minimal? does it have warm tones? does it feel natural? etc. It’s a good way to make sure you’re staying on brand.
Ultimately the key to growing on any platform is consistency. Try these tips and keep at it and over time it’ll get easier.
It’s been about a year or two of me curating my feed, (alongside working jobs where I did that daily haha) and truust it becomes a lot more seamless with practice. It’s okay to trial and error a little bit until you get it just right.
And if you’re still struggling, drop your ig handle in the comments and I’ll send you a DM with some tips on your personal feed and what I think can help. :) Lmk!
xo,
s.