With 800 million monthly active users and 40 billion photos uploaded on Instagram so far, it has become understandably challenging to make a feed stand out from the rest.
Slapping just about any photo on your feed without premeditation will no longer do if you want to be eye-catching and grow a loyal following. Remember, there are 500 million daily active Instagram users that are also sharing images on this platform. So, if want your feed to stand out, you need to be more methodical about it.
For starters, take time to examine the most trending Instagram accounts. Most likely, you’ll find that most popular accounts are the ones that are posting quality images on optimal times and frequency, and are maintaining a neatly organized and impeccably curated feed. The top accounts are the ones posting images that are planned and picked.
Certainly, creating social media posts that will click-particularly on Instagram involves a degree of curation. Each image posted has to be consistent with the one that came before it to create a sense of cohesion. Additionally, every post must fit the over-all predetermined theme or aesthetic of the feed.
While possessing an innate eye and acuity for visual art can make coming up with a curated feed easy, turning to tools to help you won’t hurt. On the contrary, utilizing tools can polish and sharpen your aesthetics. Not only that, they can help you plan and organize your feed so that you can bring your Instagram game up to a whole new level one post at a time.
Of course, that’s easier said than done. Luckily, we’ve listed the best tools to help you get started. Check out the tools on this list, as you’ll need them need to become a master Instagram curator.
- VSCO
To achieve cohesion in a series of images you plan to post, it helps to use either the same filter or a similar one.
VSCO is especially useful for this. Not only does VSCO give you a wide array of beautiful filters that can instantly enhance your photos, but it also helps a great deal in keeping the look of your feed consistent, as the app allows you to copy-paste edits from one photo to another. This nifty function ensures that everything—from exposure to contrast to saturation are consistent across your feed.
- Later
The most efficient way to curate your Instagram feed is to preview it in the grid before even hitting the share button. How many times have you posted a photo but ended up deleting it right after because you realized it doesn’t fit your feed aesthetic after all? Or how about the instances where you stopped in your tracks while editing a photo and checked your feed to see if your edits will be consistent with the photos you’ve previously posted?
We can bet that has happened to you once or twice, if not often. Previewing in grid definitely saves you from that hassle. That’s where Later’s visual Instagram planner becomes handy.
The visual planning feature makes it delightfully easy to organize and design your Instagram feed beforehand. On top of that, you can also auto-schedule images so that they are postedat ideal times.
- Plann
How incredibly convenient would it be to have one tool that has filters, other editing capabilities, a functionality that allows you to preview and pre-arrange your grid, and at the same time, lets you save your favorite set of hashtags so that you can easily copy-paste them into your future posts?
Well, that’s Plann for you. This tool lets you preview your feed and move your posts around until you find the grid configuration that screams “beautifully curated.”
Unless you’re a celebrity with an existing fan base or a creative agency, you’ll want to start curating your feed instead of churning random and slapdash posts if you wish to grow your Instagram following and engagement.
So, don’t forget to keep this list at hand. Or better yet, install these tools and have fun curating!
Paula Arce
MicroCreatives
tammyhudgin.com 