Our team frequently receives questions about how to create a consistent aesthetic on Instagram and Facebook. Many of our clients have clear direction on their brand standards, brilliantly designed logos, and a plethora of compelling content. However, a beautiful, cohesive aesthetic on social media still seems hard to wrap the mind around. This is an understandable and important dilemma to address. Your social media feed is often the first thing a customer lands on when they search for your business. You want to make a good impression! If you have the resources, definitely hire a graphic designer to create a logo and brand standard package for you. This will give your brand clear focus and a competitive edge of professionalism and sophistication. Here are some simple tips on where to go from there:
Seek inspiration
Jump into a little research on different businesses whose aesthetic you admire on social media. Assess why you enjoy the style and tone they set with the right balance of colors, textures, and photos. Take some notes on how to curate an aesthetic that shows off your brand’s unique style.
Choose a color palette
Take a look at the colors your designer chose for your brand and stick to one or two that keep the tone of your brand consistent on social media. When you involve too many colors, your feed will start to look messy. Keep it simple and clean!
Choose the mood
Hop on Pinterest to develop a mood board for the look and feel of your feed. Decide whether your direction is bright and airy, dark and moody, clean and fun, or minimalist. Your graphic designer will have already helped you with many of these decisions. The mood board exists to support that vision in the social media realm. You can add colors, textures, and quotes to your board that will clarify and enhance your look. A mood board is also a great way to establish the settings you want for the photos on your page. This leads us to our next point…
Good photos make all the difference
You’ve probably heard the phrase before and it’s true: good photos make all the difference! Hire a photographer to take some photos of your business in action and then choose photo settings based off of the look and feel they’ve created. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or editor to create a consistent aesthetic with your photos. You just need a few simple tricks up your sleeve! Here’s one, get a good phone camera and take your own photos. Try NOT to use stock photos on your social media pages. Stock photos are difficult to manipulate to fit your unique brand. With your own photos and a general understanding of the settings that fit your aesthetic, you can pop onto an app like Adobe Lightroom: Photo Editor to create the look you desire.
Try a visual feed planner
This is a wonderful way to set up a strategy and theme on social media. A visual feed planner gives you the opportunity to see how a post would affect the look and feel of your feed before you even post it. This tool can also help you maintain balance on your page. Too many pictures of one product or too many quotes can clutter your feed. Try a website like www.Later.com to kickstart your visual feed planning ideas!
Too many fonts create chaos
One way to establish some font consistency is to use a tool like Canva. Canva can help you find one or two fonts that are similar to your brand standard fonts. Stick to these two fonts for all of your graphics and overlay posts. This strategy will keep your posts looking polished! On Canva, you can also create a few templates to use for different campaigns in your posts and your stories.
We live in an era where people turn immediately to social media when they want to learn more about business. These tips can help you catch and hold a customer’s attention once they land on your page. BONUS: Your audience is more likely to visit your website if they like what they see on Instagram. Never underestimate the power of a clear, consistent, beautiful aesthetic.
For more tips on keeping your marketing simple and disciplined, download our Out & Out Marketing white paper!
