5 Ways to make your personal Instagram look killer in 2022 (+ free worksheet)

I was at a picnic with a friend of mine recently who mentioned she was feeling really stuck with her Instagram feed. She’s an up and coming musician so having a beautiful and engaging Instagram can lead to more people seeing her promote gigs or music releases. But if you’re not the most organically visual person, creating an aesthetically pleasing Instagram can be quite difficult and frustrating hence why she came to me. She mentioned wanting to book a photoshoot with me and professional photos are fantastic content, however, not everyone has the budget to exclusively have professional photoshoots constantly. So I’ve made a plan of how you can improve the overall feel and narrative of your online presence and you can do this with the help of a photographer or on your own.

1. Let’s define your vibe

If you are completely lost in terms of what you’d like your Instagram to be, I highly suggest you pull up a couple of your favourite accounts especially ones that have aspects you want to emulate and write down the keywords that come to mind when you look at those accounts and what you like about them. 

For example, my friend sent me a handful of accounts and the words that described them were: Personality, fun, playful, colourful and unpolished. These are also words that I would use to describe my friend and now it’s about finding a visual direction for her to create content using this as the framework from which she draws inspiration. These words can and will change over time but this is a great starting point. 

2. What is your content?

When it comes to creating posts for your social media, having a strong visual or aesthetic plan needs to be accompanied by a thoughtful content plan. Content is what you’re actually posing about, in the case of my friend who inspired this post she’s a musician and that will be at the core of her content however, she’s a three dimensional personal with other interests that we can use to paint a more engaging image of who she is. She recently got into rollerblading (as many of us have during lockdown) and that activity links back to the keywords we made to dictate the tone of her feed. I also know that she loves doing creative makeup looks, she’s a massive foodie and she loves her cats. All of these things can be used to create an engaging and unique Instagram.  

3. How does your Instagram look?

Having a visually consistent Instagram can be difficult so to help we are going to answer some questions to get clarity about a look that’s going to excite us. Here are questions to help you brainstorm.

Is there a particular decade that you want to draw inspiration from? 

Maybe you really like a 70’s Cher vibe or you're having lots of fun with a 2000’s Paris Hilton look. 

Is there a colour palette that you’re drawn to? 

Perhaps you love how sleek neutrals can be, maybe you prefer bright spring colours or pastels. 

Is there a fashion or makeup niche that you like?

Cottage core, euphoria makeup, minimalism 

What inspires you?

All sorts of things can inspire your visual taste. It could be a fashion show from the ’90s or a movie like the virgin suicides or breakfast at tiffanys. You may be drawn to an actor or musician, a specific music video, an exhibition or an artist. Really anything  

With all of those questions answered it’s time to make a mood board. You can make a physical mood board with cutouts from magazines or a digital one. Even a Pinterest board is enough. This collection of images is going to be so crucial in your planning and design for your Instagram 

4. Investing in developing a specific clothing style 

Once you have a clear picture of your visual style you may want to start investing in clothing and accessories, keeping in mind that it takes time and money to build a wardrobe in a particular aesthetic. Many influencers or celebrities work with stylists or get given clothing for free as a part of brand deals. It’s important to remember that and to not put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect. If you are already happy with the clothes you have, experiment with how you put your outfits together to create new looks. If you are getting frustrated it may be time to hire a stylist to help you if that’s within your means. 

Set design and interior decoration is another area you can invest in. Having a place in your home that you know photographs well and has nice lighting will make taking photos easier. Alternatively, you can hire a location and bulk make content there. This could be a photo studio or Airbnb 

Using apps to plan out your posts ahead of time is a no brainer, I use Planoly and The Grid the plan out my feed. Both do the same thing and have free versions. I find being able to play around with the composition of my feed to be essential in balancing out my content. 

5. Adding filler posts

Adding filler posts gives context to who you are and your lifestyle, they also can be used to balance the composition of your grid and break up photos of you. They are relatively easy to make and good for days when you don’t feel like posting photos of your face. These photos could be of fun foods (examples: cakes, doughnuts, pastries), pretty drinks such as ice coffee or colourful cocktails. You can share what books you’re reading or if you get a new tattoo if you go to the farmers market or buy flowers. Photos of pets or sharing something you're passionate about can add a lot of personality to your feed and enhance the connection with your audience. 

There’s no limit to what good planning can do so if you’d like to, there's a worksheet you can download which compiles all the recommended steps to transform your Instagram. You may want to fill it out over a couple of days to mull over ideas or you can do it all at once. Lastly, try to make this as fun as possible and don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be perfect. It makes it hard to post if you’re not enjoying taking photos or getting too stressed about how everything looks.