Your grid and your feed is your portfolio; it's the gateway to your website and effectively the virtual shopfront of your business. But beautiful Instagram grids and profiles that instantly let your customers connect with your brand don't just make themselves - they require careful curating and planning, and a varied combination of high-quality video + photography content.

So here's how to make the most of your social media content and get it working for you:

PLAN YOUR CONTENT

Planning your content is not just about making an attractive grid, it's about making sure every (or most) posts are carefully considered and part of a wider marketing strategy. Posting adhoc content creates an inconsistent aesthetic and unclear messaging, diluting your campaign and leaving your customers unsure of what to expect from your brand.

Now, you don't have to know what EVERY post is going to be for the next 12 months, but planning ahead at the start of a campaign, quarter, month, or week, will allow you to consider each piece of content and how it delivers your message.

CREATE BULK CONTENT IN ADVANCE

Creating content in bulk provides a great anchor for the rest of your posts. If you have a consistent quality and aesthetic across your feed, you can afford to post more candid, quick snaps in-between because the rest of your content will feel cohesive and allows for some deviation from the plan. Whereas approaching your social media feed without bulk planned content can mean ending up with a series of individual posts that don't look like they're a part of the same conversation.

We recommend creating a Content Library: a collection of 10-50 short brand-aligned video clips, specifically created in bulk for social media, all ready to be scheduled and released. It's like getting all the content for your campaign in one shoot, to avoid having to invest in continuous new productions. You can read more about it here.

SCHEDULE + RELEASE

Scheduling your social media posts in advance is the best way to save time (and therefore: money), so once you've created your library of bulk content, all that's left to do is schedule away!

There are some great scheduling apps available (we use buffer.com) to help you plan out your content and choose the specific date and time of day you want to release it into the world. Often you can post the same piece of content to more than one platform at a time whilst still allowing customisation for each social media site. This is a great way to maximise your output and get your content out to your audience efficiently.

Once you've scheduled your content, don't set it and forget it completely. Stay aware of current events and changes that might make your posts distasteful or inconsiderate, and pause your scheduled queue of posts for a later date. For example, you don't want a scheduled post of a throwback from a work retreat in the Blue Mountains to go live in the middle of the bushfires.

THE IMPORTANT ROLE VIDEO PLAYS ON INSTAGRAM

Videos on Instagram serve a different purpose to photos. A photo is the end of the conversation. A video is just the start. And you need both to play a role in your marketing strategy, but it's important to understand the different purposes of each medium.

Photos are very upfront about what they are and instantly elicit a response from the viewer. There's no more to see, nothing more to consider, it's a take-me-at-face-value conversation.

Videos however, invite the viewer to go on a journey. It's about building a relationship with your audience and extending the story beyond still images. Videos capture an experience and teach the viewer about a product in a deep and connective way. They elicit an emotional response, putting the viewer right into the driver's seat of an experience and transporting them to another place. It's a deeper and more vulnerable conversation that asks more of the viewer, which is why video is so powerful at building stronger connections with your audience.

And better yet, Instagram has finally revealed that when it comes to their elusive algorithm, photos and videos are equal! It was thought for some time that photos performed better on Instagram, but content performance actually depends on your audience and how each person interacts with the platform. If any of your customers tend to watch more video content on Instagram, then the algorithm will favour video over photo content, and vice versa. So, having a combination of both mediums ensures that you can capitalise on the unique opportunities each of them bring to the party.

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And there we have it. Making the most of your social media content doesn’t need to be daunting, and it shouldn’t be swept to the bottom of the pile. Taking the time to plan your content and produce it in bulk will keep your social media prioritised all the way through the year, while your precious time can be focused elsewhere!

And next time you're on the scroll and you stumble across a beautiful grid, know that, it in this instance, it's not just down to genetics. When it comes to Instagram, anyone can make a beautiful grid! Woohoo!

We’d love to help you beautifying your grid! Feel free to get in touch to get started!