4 Instagram Themes to Try + Helpful Instagram Apps

For a long time before I even started my blog, Instagram was always my favorite social media platform. Once I began my blog and my blogs Instagram, I started working hard to 1. grow my audience 2. take/post quality images and 3. engage with others. In the past year and a half, I've gotten a pretty good idea of what my followers like to see and have toyed with different posting themes and ways to grow and make my feed as pretty as I possibly could! I'll admit it, Instagram has become my baby and one of my top priorities when it comes to my blog and biz. I spend a *lot* of time styling pictures, planning my feed, etc. and seeing results in turn is so rewarding!
It's so fun to plan your feed - I look forward to every Sunday/Monday because I spend time taking and editing pictures and then moving them around in my feed to see what looks best where (more on how I do that later!). It's actually sort of funny, because my personal Instagram is so unorganized and has no real brand or theme to it, which just goes to show that I had no idea what I was doing before I started my blogs account - and didn't care either, ha! My feed is most definitely a work in progress and I think it always will be as I continue to post, but since the start of the new year I started being even more mindful and working to create a more defined theme.

Types of themes to implement into your feed:

Post in threes. This is what I started doing since 2017 began, and I'm *loving* how it makes my feed look! The idea here is to make every three photos as similar as possible, or as matchy-matchy as possible (for lack of a better word ;). I think this works best for me and other bloggers like me who don't want to be limited in what they post. I define my blog as a life and style blog, so I don't just post beauty products on my Instagram. I don't just post style inspiration, and I don't only post life happenings. I like posting a variety of things; things I like and things I want to show my followers - so posting in threes has given my feed a sense of a theme and I'm loving it!

Pick and stick to a color palette. Whether it be black and white, neutral tons, hues of pastel, a specific color throughout or bright and vibrant colors; sticking to a color palette is something a lot of Instagrammers do and it can look *so* good. Megan from For All Things Lovely has one of the prettiest, neutral toned feeds I've ever, ever seen. Seriously, I could look at it all day! On the other hand, Elsie and Emma's Instagram, A Beautiful Mess is colorful and bright in every post. Two totally different color palettes that completely define a brand. That, my friends, is successful branding!

Use the same filter for your pictures. VSCO is my favorite app for picture filters, and this is sort of a way to combine both of the above. Here is a great guide for using VSCO filters to create themed Instagram pictures! It's super fun to use and I've been considering finding a filter I love and using it, while still implementing my groups of threes. It looks really pretty and gives your feed as a whole a super cohesive look.

Create a pattern in what you post. If you're going to be posting a variety (whether its two things or 9,000 different things) posting in a pattern can make your Insta-feed flow oh so nicely. On my personal account, I never pay attention to what sort of order I'm posting pictures in, but for your brand it makes a big difference. As an example and sort of, kind of what I go by is something like: yourself/your outfit - a flatlay - scenery/lifestyle picture. That's just an example to show the differences in patterns you could choose. Flatlays are my favorite pictures to take so if there's a type of picture you like posting the most, fit it into a pattern of images (i.e. flatlay, scenery, flatlay).

Three 'grammers accounts I love to swoon over:

Lauren Conrad:

Jillian Harris:

Glitter Guide:

The best apps to help with curating your feed:

We already mentioned VSCO, but that's definitely at the top of the list! To plan out the way your feed will look ahead of time, I *love* UNUM. This app is free, so easy to use and helps you visually see what your feed will look like. This is the app I use at the beginning of each week to plan my feed for the week. Latergramme is similar to UNUM, and you can schedule your posts too and set reminders so that you can simply open the app and post it to Instagram when you're ready. A Color Story is the best, non-Photoshop editing app if you ask me! There's tons of gorgeous, different themed presets you can buy (or browse the free presets) and it's a great way to style your feed. I've seen some pretty drastic differences in pictures in the before and after shots with this app - it's definitely worth the money!
No matter what theme you choose for your Instagram or what you post, making sure your pictures are clear, represent your brand well and make you happy are the most important components of making a beautiful feed and having a successful Instagram account!

What's your Insta-theme? XOXO