Instagram is a visual playground for 800 million users and account, according to stats compiled by Smart Insights. While part of the social network's draw may be following celebrity accounts, there's another upside:the platform offers stellar examples of personal customization.
I'm not talking about those celebrities who do it for a living. I mean regular, ordinary people who incorporate Instagram into their daily lives. They may not be household names, but following each of their feeds is always a fascinating journey.
The following six Instagram accounts show how those of us who aren't famous can successfully use the platform. -shape to boost our personal brands.
1. Jenna Kutcher (@jennakutcher)
Jenna Kutcher is a photographer, podcaster (Goal Seeker ) and educator based in a small town in Minnesota. And while she can photograph weddings, her personal Instagram account isn't full of brides. Instead, she posts high-quality, stylistically similar images of herself and her family, along with inspirational quotes and landscapes. She includes personal captions with each photo, delving into her life and struggling as if talking with close friends.
Kutcher's business background gives her the credibility to host webinars and classes on anything which touches on marketing and entrepreneurship, as well as photography. And when she has something to promote, she doesn't hesitate to include a call to action and a URL asking her followers to sign up.
Don't be afraid to follow her lead; after all, how can you get your subscribers to take the next step if they don't know what that step is?
2. LeJuan James (@lejuanjames)
LeJuan James is a social media sensation. As a comedian “representing Hispanics around the world,” videos are his thing — he started on YouTube, then shifted his audience to Instagram. He knows what type of content is his forte, and he sticks to what he's good at.
Often on social media, users feel pressured to copy cool new trends they see in posts others, but it's a recipe for failure when it comes to brand consistency. Like James, if you know you're strongest at a type of content, you can make it your priority, even if it means bypassing platform trends.
3. Nora McInerny (@noraborealis)
Nora McInerny is a writer, host of Terrible, Thanks for Asking podcast and founder of Still Kickin and Hot Young Widows Club. Her Instagram bio is short and sweet, but she pairs her profile and brand with a T, which shows how she makes the most of her life and how she helps others do the same. She talks about going through some very difficult things, like loss and grieving, but her feed is also full of photos of her kids and her motherhood and this beautiful thing we call life.
Your Instagram needs to be an enlarged view of your product, not your product itself. If you run a dry cleaning business, no one wants to see a bunch of photos of the exterior of the building. You have to show them the people, the before and after photos, the lint balls and behind the scenes.
4. Jasmine Star (@jasminestar)
Jasmine Star is a photographer, so her photos are high quality, but her highlights don't just show sides of her life — they teach too. Star is also a business strategist, and she offers easy-to-try advice for entrepreneurs through her articles and bio. She regularly writes captions over 300 words and she very deliberately speaks to her audience, which is a big part of personal branding.
Yes, long captions can turn some people off. But they will keep others. If you know what your audience members want to hear, give it to them directly in a long post if that's what it takes. Remember that the only path to failure is to try to be everything to everyone.
5. Elizabeth Gray (@thegraytergood)
At first glance, hand-lettering artist Elizabeth Gray's profile may seem to focus solely on her art, but the real heart of her Instagram account lies in her Instagram stories. There, she posts everything from tutorial videos to inspirational quotes to snapshots of her cats and coffee. She keeps her photo posts focused on her work, letting the art shine, and she lets fans peek into her life through her stories, adding depth to her profile.
Instagram's Stories platform is becoming a popular place for consumers and brands to connect with others. Use yours to offer complementary content to your main posts, giving your audience another channel through which to interact with you.
