You’ve got an Instagram account for your business or organization, and you regularly post captivating pictures of your staff, new inventory, ever-changing and ever-creative window displays, you name it. But have you thought about what your Instagram profile looks like as a whole? If not, you might want to start.

These days, Instagram themes are in vogue. But before you chalk them up to a passing fad, know that establishing a theme, or overall aesthetic, for your feed is one of the best and fastest ways to gain followers. People gravitate toward well-thought-out and well-planned images with clear and unique points of view. Not to mention, your “Follow” button is located at the top of your main feed, not on your individual posts. In other words, people are looking at your entire layout when they decide if they want to follow your account. What’s more, themes offer lots of opportunity for innovation that can keep your followers engaged with your content.

Here’s a look at three of the most popular Instagram themes you can start implementing right now:

Your Quick Guide to Instagram ThemesOne and the Same

This thematic approach is all about consistency, which you can achieve in a variety of ways. For example, you can focus on color—or the absence of it. Plan out your photos so they’re all muted and pastel, vivid and bold, or black and white. Another way to achieve cohesiveness is by applying the same filter, or same rotating selection of filters, to all of your images; this helps create a look that’s distinctively yours. Still yet another option is to keep your photo content consistent. If you own a clothing shop, maybe that means you only post photos of customers modeling the latest outfits. Or, perhaps you employ an extremely popular style of Instagram photography called flat lay for your images. It’s just as it sounds: carefully styled items arranged on a surface and photographed from directly above – find great examples HERE. The approach helps you tell a powerful story without the need for people or a sunny day.

Line ‘Em Up

Vertical and horizontal line grid themes are an easy way to stand out on Instagram. Typically, vertical line themes are constructed by posting three images consecutively, with the second image varying significantly from the other two in some way. Perhaps you post mostly bright and colorful flat lay images, but your second post is always an inspirational quote pertaining to your line of work in black and white. As you continue to post this way, you create a vertical row in your feed that pops. This approach certainly entices new visitors to keep scrolling and scrolling, curious how long you’ve kept it up.

Horizontal line themes are similar. The best way to utilize this approach is to narrate a story in three successive posts, with the same subject or mood—or maybe one long quote broken up into three short segments. Each individual post is still captivating and interesting, but taken together from left to right, your followers get something extra special.

Puzzled Over

Here’s a look at three of the most popular Instagram themes you can start implementing right now:

We saved this for last because it involves a serious amount of creative planning. Visitors to your profile can see between nine and 12 photos at a time without having to scroll. In this theme, all those photos together create one image. That means oh-so-carefully planning your photos, or editing one picture into several pictures, so they fit together like a puzzle. Celebrity musicians often do this—trickling out sections of their new album art until the full cover is finally revealed. It’s a great way to keep your fans on the edge of their seats, but it’s certainly too painstaking to make a regular thing. Consider implementing this theme if you have a new campaign starting or another big announcement.

PS: If all this sounds too complicated, don’t panic. There are a variety of online tools that can help you plan your Instagram feed and pull off themes without breaking a sweat. Try several and see which one works best for you; well-known options include VSCO, Planoly, Plann, Onlypult, and UNUM.

If you’d like to discuss how we can help increase your brand of small business market share through online communications, digital marketing, social media, content marketing, and PR communications, we would love to hear from you. Call us now at (828) 215-7329 or fill out our contact form.

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