​How to develop a theme for your Instagram business account

Instagram is a great way to promote your (tourism) business as it’s purely visual and everyone LOVES photos and videos! It takes a bit of thinking and researching to develop a theme that represents your brand, what you stand for and how you want to stand out! But if you're going to spend time on Instagram for your business, you might as well do it well!

A theme will reinforce your brand and help people recognise and remember you.
Like anything in business: planning is the key to achieve what you want. If you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to get there?
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So, when it comes to Instagram themes and posts, the same applies. Plan your theme for results!
Here are 6 tips to help you develop a theme that people will want to follow!

1. Research and follow Instagram accounts that inspire and appeal to you. For example: https://www.instagram.com/muradosmann/?hl=en
2. Look at your own brand, your colour scheme, what you sell, what you stand for, the people you work with, your customers, etc.
3. Plan WHAT you’re going to post. Make a list of the types of photos you’d like to post to best represent your product and brand.
   If you’re already on Instagram, review your posts and check which ones get the most likes & comments.
4. Have your own ‘identity’ and theme  for your posts and stories (different from your competition). Keep in mind:
   1. Only post photos that are aligned with your business and target market
   2. Only use high quality photos with a creative angle
   3. Your imagery could focus on your brand colours
   4. Type of images: close ups, people, unique locations
   5. Use of filters, split screens etc.
5. Think about the messages you’d like to get across. You could use a graphic design programme like www.canva.com to design some great graphics for promotions or ads and for Instagram Stories. Don’t have too much writing on images as this puts people off.
6. Plan WHEN you’re going to post. Keep in mind: quality over quantity. Post every second day if you can.

 
So, spend a little time developing your Instagram theme that your customers will want to follow and share!
 
Final tip: put a live feed on your website! This will keep your content fresh and encourage people to follow you!

​Till next time, Marijke