Instagram is an awesome platform to reach potential clients that you haven’t yet connected with. Other platforms often require an established connection for your content to be seen, but hashtag searches on Instagram provide an easy way for you to get your content in front of people who are looking for it!

Because you can reach such a cold audience on Instagram, their first impression of you will determine whether or not they follow you.

Following you will lead to knowing, liking, and trusting you, which eventually leads to them being a loyal customer. So – your first impression is a big deal!

Creating an Instagram that entices followers is all about creating a visual pattern.

If you look at the top Instagram accounts, you’ll find accounts that are always on brand, recognizable, and consistent.

This may seem like an overwhelming task, and it definitely can be… but I’ve listed out some super simple steps you can take today to get yourself one amazing looking Instagram!

1. Have a Branded Photoshoot Done for Your Business

My first piece of advice is actually neither easy nor cheap… but it’s important!

I strongly recommend having your own brand photoshoot done. Really, you could do a photoshoot once or twice a year to keep your images fresh.

It’s well worth the investment just to get the first photoshoot done, even before you invest in any other visuals. You can convey the vibe of your brand while still being authentic, because your beautiful face will be the one in the pictures!

If you don’t have the budget to do a photoshoot, you can still make an amazing Instagram by creating a pattern in your feed with photos and graphics!

2. Use Canva.com to create custom + branded graphics

You’ll want to alternate between posting photos, and posting branded text graphics. These graphics could feature quotes, testimonials, etc.

The easiest way to create branded images is by using Canva.com. It’s a free, online, graphic design software with tons of pre-made templates and easy to use features.

The number one thing you want to keep in mind when creating your images is consistency!

Make sure to keep your colors, fonts, and patterns the same each time, and true to your brand. The easiest way to do this is by creating some branded templates.

You’ll want to create square graphics for Instagram. You’ll find lots of pre-made templates on the side of your screen in Canva.

If you choose one of the pre-made templates, be sure that you tailor it to your brand – don’t just use it as-is. So match the colors and fonts to your brand.

When creating your graphics, keep in mind that you’re creating something that you can duplicate and use on a regular basis.

For example, you may create quote templates that you use often to post different quotes you like other people posting.

Instead of reposting other people’s graphic and quotes, you can quickly take the quote and contributors name, and put it onto your branded graphic.

Now, you will have a branded feed, instead of an inconsistency in the style of your feed.

Even if sharing quotes isn’t really something that fits with your brand, you can still create text images with things like past client work, testimonials, blog titles, etc. Whatever your business shares on Instagram.

You’ll want to create a few different templates that are all consistent with your brand, but vary slightly.

For example, one template may highlight one color from your brand, another template highlights your secondary color, and another template may highlight both colors with a patterned border.

When you re-use a template for a new image, make sure to make a copy of the page and not just type over the previous content.This ensures that you have all your content so you can repost them in the future if you need to.

This may sound like a lot of work, but once you’ve created your templates, making your own branded images becomes super quick and easy. It can be something  you pass off to a virtual assistant or team member as well.

3. Use Later.com

Once you have all of your beautiful graphics created, you can go to later.com, which is a free online tool for scheduling your Instagram posts.

You’ll be able to schedule your posts out for an entire month, so you can plan out the alternating pattern of photo, branded graphic, photo. This will make your Instagram look amazing and consistent with your brand with little effort.

Using a scheduling tool will save you so much time since you can hammer out your content creation in one afternoon, instead of trying to come up with something on the fly every day.

4. Stay On Brand!

When posting your pictures on Instagram, try to stay away from using filters.

If you do decide to use a filter on your instagram feed, make sure to use the same one every time. Otherwise, your images will be inconsistent and won’t match your brand.

If you have a special image that you want to post, like for a birthday or special occasion, (but it doesn’t really match with your brand) you can simply make the image black and white.

This will prevent it from sticking out like a sore thumb in your feed. Additionally, you can put your black and white image in Canva.com and overlay the image with a transparent version of one of your brand colors. This will help keep your Instagram looking on-brand and amazing!

If you have something that you want to post, but don’t feel like taking the time to make it match your brand, you can always use it on Instastories.

Instastories are more of your real, candid life, while Instagram is for your on-brand images. So if you have something you love, but don’t want to mess up your carefully crafted feed, just post in on Instatories for the world to see.

I can’t wait to see your killer-looking feed! What are some things you do to make your Instagram feed look stylized?

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Melissa is a graphic designer who crafts strategic and profit-driven brands and websites for business owners who want a remarkable first impression. On the blog, Melissa shares branding, business and marketing tips to help businesses grow, reach more people and earn more profit at the same time. She is passionate about teaching how consumers decision to buy is based highly off of the visuals. Join her free Facebook community here.
 

Want to attract your ideal client?It’s simple – brand for them.

But… how exactly do you do that?
I’ve listed the steps you should take to make sure your brand is reaching your best clients, so you can be charging what you’re worth doing what you love!

 

1. Figure Out Who Your Ideal Client Is

To narrow down your ideal client, create a one person avatar to whom you will be speaking to and targeting with all your content, visuals, emails, etc. Make it a detailed profile! You will often find that this avatar is your past self.

Once you’ve created this avatar, don’t be afraid to target just this one profile. You cannot serve everyone. When you try to do that, most people do not resonate with your message since you are trying to talk to anyone and everyone.

Instead, when you focus on reaching your ideal client, plenty of people are going to resonate with you for the right reasons.

Need help getting started? Use this workbook here. 

2. Brand for Your Ideal Client with Visuals and Content

When choosing elements for your brand visuals, such as colors, ask yourself the following questions:

• What problem are you going to solve for your ideal client?
• What colors are they attracted to?
• What style do they like?

Be sure to use color psychology to understand what colors evoke certain feelings. 

While you certainly want your brand to align with the interests of your target audience, you also want your brand to be authentic to you.

For example, pink is a color that would have worked well for my brand since I worked with only women when I first started. However, I personally do not like the color pink. I do not use it because it is not authentic to me. It also seems like everyone uses that color… so I went a different route. I love my brand because I not only feel like it reaches my ideal clients, but I feel like it’s true to me.

While you certainly want your brand to align with the interests of your target audience, you also want your brand to be authentic to you.

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You also need to be talking to your ideal client with your content: emails, FB posts, sales page, website, social media profiles, etc. Show up where they show up. Is this on Pinterest, instagram, or  Facebook?

Narrow your options down to one or two social media platforms and master them. You can’t be everywhere, and your ideal clients will benefit more from amazing content in a few places, than mediocre content in a lot of places.  

3. BE CONSISTENT – In Visuals, Content, and How Often You Show Up

Consistency is key to creating a trustworthy brand with a loyal following, lots of referrals, and repeat customers. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself or re-use content – your clients probably don’t see ALL your posts on every platform.

Remember, social media is saturated with content! So, you need to be consistently giving value, content and engaging with people. Make sure everything you put out there matches your brand visuals and your story/mission. You do this by sticking to your brand colors, style, and repeat design elements. 

You want to be known for what you do best and how you can help solve your dream clients problems.

Get out there and build your empire!

You may also like: Why Branding Is So Important for Your Biz, 3 Reasons You Need a Mood Board and How to Make One

 

The Business Dictionary defines branding as: “The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumer’s mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme.

Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

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Yes, branding involves your logo but it also involves your color palette, your imagery, your style, your voice, your tone, your presentation, your content, & your authentic feel. It is more than the visuals.

It is your essence.

When someone sees a picture on Instagram, people should be able to tell that it is your image without even seeing your name attached.

When this unique essence of yours is GEARED towards driving the attention of your ideal audience to your business, then that is when you will be getting to work with your dream clients.

Rebranding. This word scares many. It is a word that is often associated with lots of work & thinking. It means change. It means hiring someone. It means a long process. All of those things can be scary.

However, sometimes all those things can be necessary to take your business from stagnant or hobby-level, to thriving. Here are 5 reasons that you may need to take on that scary word & rebrand.

 

 

1. Your brand is Not Attracting The Right Clients

The number one reason you should rebrand is simple. You are not attracting the right clients. The ones you are attracting seem to be the people you do NOT want to work with. They seem to be the people who do not really respect what you do or fuel your passion.

Perhaps you KNOW who you want to work with but they don’t seem to be out there. Or they seem to all be taken by other people in your industry.

You are quick to worry if this entrepreneur journey is even for you. You wonder if maybe you are not cut out for success. Maybe you are just meant to work with the clients you are getting. Who don’t really value your work.

I am hear to tell you that these lies are NOT true.

If you are branding for the correct audience, then you should be attracting the right audience.

A lot of people don’t understand that branding is so much more than just a logo.

Branding is an experience. It is how you communicate to your target audience. It is meant to attract the people you want and if our brand is lacking market research behind it, we can often be missing the mark with it.

 

2. your brand often confuses people About What You Do

If people are constantly looking at your site or your social media platforms & are still not sure about what you do, it is clear that you need to rebrand.

Your branding needs to be so clear about what you do & who you are targeting that there is no question.

People should be able to go to your site & say “Ok, she works with _____ doing _______.” If your branding is done correctly, then this should be the case. If not, chances are your branding, either your visuals or content, is not consistent or is missing something.

 

3. Your brand is not allowing your business to grow

When you have a consistent brand that is unique AND you are continuously putting out more content on social media, reaching out to people, & using different strategies to grow a following, then you should be organically gaining more & more followers at a steady rate.

If you are always working on your following & you don’t seem to be growing much at all, (whether it be your email list, your social media followers, or your web page views) you may need to rebrand.

If your brand is truly consistent & authentically you, people should be running from everywhere to be a part of it. To be a fan. To be a follower.

There can be many reasons why a brand goes wrong. Hiring a branding specialist & strategist can help you hone in your problem areas.

 

4. People Are Not Seeing Your brand as Valuable or high-end and are not willing To Pay Your Prices

Branding communicates so much. People rely on visual communications today more than ever. Images stick in people’s minds better than a paragraph they read. All of this is why branding is so important for your business message.

If people are not willing to pay your service or product fees, your brand is not communicating to them that your brand is high-end enough.

Your brand needs to communicate to your ideal audience AND communicate about the service or product you are selling. For example, a brand that looks juvenile would not do well selling a sophisticated women’s perfume. The childish characteristics of the brand visuals would not speak of the product the business is selling.

 

5. You Have an Outdated Brand

There are times when brands just become outdated. Technology & Pinterest (I would argue) seems to make trends come & go quicker than ever now.

Perhaps your brand worked great for you in 2000, but now it needs a facelift. It may be looking very outdated which can turn off many potential customers when they see it.

To the people that come across your brand, they may think that you are not within the times of today & perhaps won’t be able to provide them with the service or product they are longing for. Your outdated brand turns away many potential customers.

Sometimes a whole rebranding does not need to happen. Instead, minor updates can work wonders. Just a few years ago Wendy’s & Arbys revamped their branding image by updating their logos.

Some brand designs are timeless, so perhaps your brand still works nicely. (You will know based off of the growth of your business and your sales.)

The Effects of Rebranding Too Often

Like I said, rebranding scares many, although It doesn’t have to. It is an investment worth looking into if it is going to help your business thrive and grow.

There are also those who get excited when they hear this word. In fact, I know some people who struggle with wanting to rebrand themselves over & over again.

Rebranding over & over again just because you are inspired by all these trendy brands you keep seeing on Pinterest is unhealthy for your business … AND your wallet. The reason is, you are not giving your followers time to develop trust and brand awareness with your image because you keep changing it on them!

Rebranding too much can create an atmosphere where followers don’t know if they should trust your business. People like predictability. They like to know what to expect from a business and brand

People like predictability. They like to know what to expect from a business and brand.

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This same reason is why it is uncommon to see a businesses rebrand with entirely new colors, logos, etc. They usually just update their brand and bring familiar past branding elements into the refresh.

If you have not already signed up for my free guide to 5 steps to getting paid more, sign up below. It discusses the ins & outs of branding & how it sets your business up for success!

You may Also Like: 5 Characteristics of a Successful Brand,  Why Branding is So Important

 

 

The Main Goal for Your Website is to Make Sales for You

Your website is a powerful tool. It has the power to create the perfect atmosphere for easy sales. We can use amazing and strategic design to make it easy for website visitors to make you their choice. But, you have to be able to catch their attention and direct them to the information they want to know most – and fast.

Your website visitors are already warm leads. Something sparked their attention and got them to visit your website. They are curious and want to see how you can help them. Your website’s job is to lead them to where they need to go, and do it in a non-overwhelming way. It should literally act as your best salesman – selling for you when you are not there to speak of how awesome your service or product is – like a perfect extension of you.

It takes people only seconds to decide if they want to stay on your site and explore a bit, or if they want to hit the ‘x’ at the top. So how can we get them to stay?

Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Website

Think about the information they need to see and make it easy for them to find it. People want to be sure that you are the choice for them before they hand over their wallet. So think about the questions they may want answered to rest assured. For example they may want to know:

1. What qualifies you for the product or service you are offering?

Speak of your story, experience, or your degree. Why are you more qualified than someone else to help them? Keep the answer about them and how to solve their problem instead of how amazing you are.

2. Who have you worked with before and what were your client’s results?

A great way to answer this question is through getting testimonials from people who have purchased from you and what they have to say about you or your product. This builds that trust factor. It is just like product reviews that you read from Amazon before purchasing a product. People need to know that others have had a good experience before they purchase.

3. Why are you the right choice for the client?

What makes you different? There are many more people who sell something similar to you, so why should they buy from you? What is unique about you?

For example, anyone can build a website. What makes me different is that I am not just a graphic designer that creates good looking designs. I am a strategic designer that takes marketing into account and how your brand and website will be working on converting and attracting your dream clients.

4. What does the process look like?

Sometimes people are positive that they want to work with you, but the unknown of what the process looks like is holding them back from hitting that purchase button. Let them know how long the process is, how much time it will take to finish their project, etc.

Make it Easy for Your Website Visitors to Say Yes

Remember, your website is a tool to get these warm leads to say yes, and you need to make it easy for them. Your website has a lot of power. It needs to be exactly what they need to see to know you are the right choice and that you can help them.

It’s only one part of the puzzle to have the information on your website. You can have all the right words to say and great testimonials but 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.

It’s only one part of the puzzle to have the information on your website. You can have all the right words to say and great testimonials but 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.

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We are visual creatures. We need information to be visually appealing and have supporting visual elements. It helps us focus and remember the information better.

The Effects of Bad Website Design

94% of people cited poor design as the reason they mistrusted or rejected a website.
Ouch. That means that only 6% of people don’t care what your website looks like.

Black text on a white background with a few images here and there, is not going to do much for the visitors.

Branding is all about experience, and people like to enjoy their experience.

If your website looks homemade or outdated, your visitors are not going to take you as the professional that you know you are.

They are subconsciously thinking that you are not a professional, you lack experience, and therefore are not the person for them. Whether these are true or not, this is what they are thinking.

How A Good Brand Experience Leads to More High-End Sales

Take a moment to think about off brand and name brand products. A lot of the times the content is exactly the same thing, but we trust the on brand names more and would rather pay more money for the experience of the name brand and the perceived value of it.

For example, I am trying to drink more water so I am trying to make it fun. So I started buying sparkling water. I have two choices when I go to my grocery store – Pur Aqua and La Croix. I would rather buy La Croix because of the packaging and the experience of it – the brand. Their cans are slim and tall and have pretty red soda tab on the top.

The colors they use are enticing and the words they use to describe their flavors are more interesting. I know they don’t taste that different, but the experience of drinking something “high-end” plays a big part in my decision. I would rather pay more than double the money for the La Croix.

Your Website is like the Packaging of Your Business

It’s the same thing with your website. It gives major hints and clues to visitors how high-end you are, how well you will treat them, etc.

When people are making the choice to buy from you, your brand and website are playing a huge part in if they choose to trust you or not.

Sometimes you have all the knowledge needed for a great product or service, but the reason you are not seeing the success you know you are capable of could be because of your lack of strategic and professional branding.

Sometimes you have all the knowledge needed for a great product or service, but the reason you are not seeing the success you know you are capable of could be because of your lack of strategic and professional branding.

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What You Can Do To Fix Your Website

If that is you, let’s get on the phone and see how we can update your branding and website.

I create visually appealing websites designed to convert more visitors to become buyers.

Results of Clients Who Have Revamped Their Website and Brand

One of my previous clients made her biggest month yet (8k), the same month we launched her new brand and website.

The result of making her business and website look the part was more sales with higher end clients.

All we did was design her website that made the choice easy for her clients to pay her premium prices.

We all believe in what we sell, otherwise we would not be doing it. You know the impact it can make on their life.

If your business and website is overwhelming and unattractive, you are letting your visitors get away by hitting the “x” at the top.

Related Articles: The 5 Characteristics of a Successful Brand, Why Branding is so Important for Your Business