Note from Rachel: Today begins the first column from our creative director, Alex West! Alex is a student at Pace University – and the most determined and savvy young woman I know. She’ll be writing about the up and coming social media trends, how to appeal to the younger generations and ways to enhance your personal brand. I hope you’ll enjoy, “West with What’s Next!”
Understanding the characteristics that people in the millennial and Gen Z generations are looking for on social media is the key to finding business success on the internet in the modern world. These generations consume endless content online and often turn to social media as their main source of news. They also use social media as a medium to form trust with brands and companies.
Instagram has become especially pivotal to the brand/customer relationship. It’s an online staple for younger generations drawn to visual content. To appeal to this demographic on Instagram, it requires analyzing what will generate interest and build trust—and that begins with a fundamental focus on the Instagram feed.
Tips for Putting Your Best Foot Forward in Your Instagram Feed
Keep in mind the following considerations when deciding what to post in your Instagram feed:
Relevancy
The content you choose to post should be relevant to your brand and your audience. Be sure to cater your feed content to your audience so that you stay top of mind. If your page has a lot of irrelevant posts, you’ll discover it’s difficult to attract—and maintain—a core base of followers.
Consistency
People who view your page to gauge your brand’s trustworthiness will look for consistent posting. While everything you post may be relevant to your brand, is it also consistent? Be sure to create content that fits your brand’s niche and communicates your purpose exactly. Your posts should not contradict each other or look too drastically different.
For example:
If you usually only post photos of people, posting a random picture of a quote might appear out of character for your brand. If you want to incorporate quotes into your feed, consider doing so every other post or every three posts to display purpose and consistency.
Aesthetics
By being consistent, an aesthetic begins to build. This is key when connecting with younger generations online. When viewing your profile, millennials and Gen Zers assess if your page is pleasing to the eye. By taking the time to make every post and photo professional, clean, and color-coordinated, it communicates to your audience that you are a serious company that understands how to engage with customers in the modern world. To accomplish this, consider using a consistent color scheme in all photos, applying the same filter, or using the same style of photo.
Exclusivity
Your Instagram page content should be unique to your brand. To convert people who view your profile into followers, you also have give them a reason to want to see your content. You can also use your following on Instagram. Avoid posting the exact same content across all of your online platforms. Also, be wary of reposting too often; it can look sloppy to your audience. Younger generations understand that crafting original content isn’t very difficult. If you’re not able to keep up with them, it will make your brand appear behind the times and lazy.
Limited Promotional Content
One of the most important things to remember is that not every post should be a direct advertisement for your product or service. In fact, most posts shouldn’t be. Make sure that you primarily create content that will provide value to your audience. In turn, that will demonstrate the value your company offers. Constant flashes of advertisements will create a sense of distrust in your audience and cause them to tune out. Finding content that is relevant to your brand in other ways communicates to your followers that you are there for them and have expertise in your field.
Final Thoughts on a Picture-Perfect Instagram Feed
Keep those five pieces of advice in mind when planning your content. By staying conscious of developing content that’s relevant, consistent, unique, visually appealing, and follower-focused, you’ll be able to build trust with the critical audience that uses social media heavily when making buying decisions.
