Standing out on Instagram is getting harder. If earlier it was enough to have several templates and decide on a filter for photos, now there are few even produced photo sessions and thoughtful layouts of publications.

The originality of the content presentation helps to create and fuel interest in your profile. And already in the skilled hands of a marketer, this attention can turn into high sales and brand awareness. Today, everyone needs a minimal conceptual account, since many Instagram pages from one sphere look like clones of each other. The same angles of the models, a similar presentation of the text and the obvious processing of the photo in the same editors. So if you ve decided that your profile needs a twist, here are some tips to help you.

Collect references

It s not a shame to be inspired by other profiles and borrow interesting tricks. This is what great photographers, directors and artists are doing to this day. If you do not mindlessly copy the idea you saw, but add something from yourself to it, you can get a completely original and unique story.

Collect a mood board from your favorite photos and other people s concepts, follow those profiles whose submission you like the most. Develop your insight and save interesting solutions so that there is always an opportunity to return to them. Also look for ideas not only from colleagues in the shop, but also in magazines, websites, galleries and other media. Sometimes great ideas for your own content can be “caught” in the most unexpected places.

Don t use boilerplate solutions

All the effects from popular photo editors have time to get bored before they become massive. The only exception can be a recently released new filter or a new application. We agree that the main thing is how the filter is used and how appropriate it is in each individual photo. But many people use them so often that the audience shows a rejection of such processing. Think of the once popular Prisma app or the ubiquitous glitch effects. The visual techniques themselves looked interesting and effective, but at the same time such content filled the news feed so much that people just got tired of looking at it.

Decide on the tone of voice

In addition to the visual concept, the profile can also have a twist in the text component. And for some reason, many people ignore this moment. Often brands think about photography and design, but they forget about the text and the format of communication with the audience.

The voice of the brand is not only for YOU or for YOU with the client. This is the general style of text presentation, the mood of the messages, the scope of what is acceptable and the atmosphere in the profile as a whole. Choose your format of communication with users, which will be correct, but at the same time interesting and appropriate for you.

Come up with a character or story

Good storytelling always grabs the audience s attention. On the basis of an invented character or story, you can build a further narrative. Posts can be from a mascot talking about a product. Or you can embed the product into the storytelling itself, as, for example, the St. Petersburg food delivery Dostoevsky does. They came up with a mini web series with characters through which they talked about their proposal.

See also how other brands manage their Instagram accounts in our inspirational selection.

But coming up with a script or creating a character is not an easy task. If you are unable to develop this story on your own, seek professional help. Otherwise, the storytelling will turn out to be ridiculous and uninteresting.

Combine ideas from different fields

This symbiosis of solutions from different industries is doomed to success. Thus, you go beyond the usual foundations of your niche, and this always attracts attention and looks fresh. This technique is applicable not only in social media promotion, but in any undertaking in principle. Thanks to this approach, the world has seen many inventions, finds and controversial solutions.

As an example, a travel goods store might sell in the style of a “couch shop”. Do not publish another photo of boots against the background of rocks or stones, but shoot a mini-video with a deliberately feigned presentation, perhaps even outdoors. This will set you apart from a dozen other similar stores, because they conduct social networks in a familiar manner. It is not known exactly how successful such a solution will be and whether the audience will go at all, but this is only a hypothesis, the effectiveness of which we will learn only after tests.

Conclusion

Creating a concept for your Instagram is not an easy task itself. It s easier to do like everyone else, since these solutions have passed the test of time and seem to even work. But sooner or later, all this will bore the audience, which is why they simply do not notice your posts in the news feed. A conceptual profile is more difficult to maintain and is always an experiment, but it can lead to high results.