Your Instagram feed is the digital equivalent of a first impression, so investing some time to plan your visuals is a smart move. In fact, a well-thought-out and attractive feed can actually convert a visitor into a follower. In other words: the sooner you start, the better.

Plus, it’s pretty easy with these next tips.

Determine your aesthetic

Your specific aesthetic is your visual personality, your personal style of presenting content. Multiple factors make up an aesthetic: general theme, color scheme, editing style, preferred filters, use of borders, etc. One glance can make all the difference, so why not make it worthwhile. 

The best way to decide what you like is to have a look at your peers. What are they doing, and more importantly: what do or don’t you like about their feeds? Draw your conclusions and pick-and-choose to filter out your own preferences. Another way to do this is to create a mood board. Whether that’s on Pinterest, in your saved posts on Instagram, or even through an old-school collage of magazine clippings: a mood board will encapsulate and clarify your vision, which can get the inspiration flowing.

Once you’ve chosen what you like and want to imply, stick to it. A cohesive feed is way more impressive than an irregular one, so consistency is key here.

Create content that aligns with it

Now that you’ve determined your aesthetic, you can implement it immediately. Start creating content that aligns with it or repurpose other (old) content. It’s an opportunity to see things in a new light and broaden your possibilities. From a planned photoshoot to a repost or even a new format, the world is your oyster, even in a pandemic.

Plan it out

The key to visually planning your feed is in the sentence itself: you need to plan it. Basically, it would be best if you lay the puzzle beforehand. Decide which pictures will look best next to each other and in the whole of your feed.

Luckily, there are many free, easy, and decent planner apps out there to help you. One quick google search, and you’re all set. Some of our favorites are Later, Unum and Plann. All of them help you plan and visualize, but each app has its own strength, so spend some time researching what best matches your needs. 

After you’ve created fresh content, upload it to your new app and arrange it to look best in the Instagram grid. Besides, the way you organize your grid is another way to switch up your feed and make it stand out. You can publish each post individually or work in rows or even create a checkerboard feed in columns. The sky’s the limit.

Remember: there is no holy grail here. In the end, you still have to decide what you like and what you think looks best. And most importantly: it has to stay fun. By having fun, you’ll create a flow that people won’t be able to resist.