How to Up Your Instagram Game.

Photography: Flaunter

Written by Simone Vinski

The most fascinating about Instagram is how it’s essentially a free tool that gives us control of how we want to be perceived to the world – how we see ourselves.

Our own PR, if you will. An impeccably curated Instagram feed tells a clear story and reveals an insight into someone’s creative and sparkly soul.

When you look at your feed, what do you see? It may sound a little excessive, but I have four Instagram accounts. Yes, four.

Each account serves a different purpose for me aesthetically, as I use them as outlets to express myself and bring a little order to my visuals. I even follow different accounts on each of my Instagram accounts so that my feeds are full of imagery that suit the particular page.

If you’re planning to create a fashion or travel blog – or even if you’re laying the groundwork for an exciting new business venture – then Instagram is the playground for you.

Before we get into the fun stuff like sourcing images and curating your feed, here’s a few tips for you to consider:

Figure out your ‘why’

Have you taken a hot minute to figure out exactly what you’re using your Instagram account for? Is it to showcase your artistic flair? To share your thoughts with the world? To express yourself with the perfect outfit shot (taken by a dedicated Instagram Boyfriend, understanding family member or wonderful best friend, of course)?

Great, now you’ve worked that, let’s crack onto the visuals!

Stockpile inspiration

If you haven’t already, I suggest starting a Pinterest account dedicated to your personal taste and vibe. And don’t be shy. Pinterest is a wonderful resource of images and advice – and the pièce de résistance of inspiration. Create an array of boards and you’re good to go. Or good to pin, as they say.

You can create boards based on outfits you plan to recreate, beautiful art, political beliefs, motivational quotes, colour schemes – anything that resonates with you!

Here’s some of my favourite people who are smashing it on Instagram. They have a clear direction and know who they are and what they love – and it shows in every image, caption and story they share.

Jasmine Dowling – Hand letterer, graphic designer, photographer and blogger based in Brisbane, Australia. @jasminedowling

Marie von Behrens – Fashion, lifestyle and photography blogger based in Germany. @mvb

Olivia Frost – Influencer and blogger based in London. @oliviabynature

Plan your gram

You now know what you want to post and why – next up is planning all that beautiful content. Seriously, planning is a Queen’s best friend. Plan your outfits according to your feed’s colour scheme. Plan your backgrounds and the types of shots you want to take. Once you’ve got a decent collection of images to play with, upload them into a scheduling app like Planoly (whos free plan allows you to schedule and post 30 images per month). Using a scheduling app will give you the freedom to see what your feed looks like before you publish posts, so you’ve got time to reconfigure and experiment before anyone sees!

(Make those) Picture(s) Perfect

There’s a huge misconception that in order to have a successful – and beautiful – Instagram account, that you need a professional camera and Photoshop. Wrong! Your iPhone camera and a few phone apps will do the trick perfectly.

If you’re still learning to edit, take advantage of free apps like VSCO and Colourtone. They offer a whole range of different filters to suit all tastes and aesthetics. On the other end of the spectrum, Adobe Lightroom is perfect for those with some experience behind them – or willing to learn.

Bonus tip: I’ve searched high and low and found that the cheapest – yet still excellent quality – premade filters are from The Presets Co. I got my favourite filter, “Marissa”, for $1.10.

P.S. Take these tips with a grain of salt. Instagram is supposed to be fun, after all! Decide how you want your page to look and stay in theme, but also don’t be afraid to change your theme completely if you’re no longer vibing with it. Believe in and trust your vision! You’ve got nothing to lose – but SO much to potentially gain.