How to Create a Fantastic Visual Brand Identity on Instagram

Are you a new brand?

Is your target audience Gen Z?

Are you using Instagram for business?

Yeah, Instagram!

Now don’t give me that strange look as you can’t use Instagram to give your brand a boost.

Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms by the age group you’re interested in.

And if you manage to create a compelling visual brand identity on Instagram, you can easily reduce your branding cost by half.

Sounds good?

Let’s continue our discussion and let me guide you how you can create a perfect visual brand identity on Instagram and up your branding game for both Millennials & Gen Z.

What is Visual Identity?

I know you’ve some idea about visual brand identity!

Let me give you a complete (but quick) tour to this alley before we start discussing the steps to create a perfect visual brand identity on Instagram.

So, what is visual identity and how is it important for Instagram branding?

Visual identity deals with the selection of images, colors, and fonts to form a positive image of the brand in the minds of the viewer. In other words, we seek help from visual elements to give your brand a personality to relate it with the target consumers on different platforms.

Sometimes, you might need to remove image backgrounds to make your visuals more consistent and ensure they align with your brand’s overall visual identity on the platform.

Since you’re trying to perfect your visual brand identity on Instagram, you need to focus on these elements more as the platform is based on images in the first place. So, the better visual stories you can narrate about your brand, the more chances are to grow your brand’s Instagram followers.

Why Should Brands Use Instagram?

If you’re having a second thought on your decision to market your brand on Instagram you’re headed in the wrong direction.

So, stop right there and look at the positive aspects of your decisions!

Before we talk about how to create an impactful visual brand identity on Instagram, here are some key reasons as to why this platform has every marketer’s vote.

• Instagram has up to 80% personal accounts which is more like a goldmine for brands to directly connect with the end consumer and expect more relevant marketing results.
• Instagram has 1 billion active users who always come to this app to pass time, stay updated on latest trends, and see trending posts. And this could be an opportunity for new marketers who are trying to establish their brands on Instagram with new followers.
• Instagram records up to 4.2 billion hearts, daily, from its 1 billion active users. Don’t you see it as an opportunity to attract a few thousand reactions for your brand by actively participating from your target consumers in the shapeof your followers?
• You can use a multitude of contentformats to attract, engage, and convert your followers into potential buyers on Instagram. Because half the users (500 million to be exact) watch stories on Instagram to entertain or seek new information from their favorite brands.
• About 90% of topbrands have an Instagram account to promote their brand to the Gen Z and Millennials. By not using Instagram for branding, you’re simply staying behind in the competition.
• Instagram is the favorite social media platform for influencerswhich gives you another good reason to be on this platform and leverage on influencer marketing and strengthen your brand.
• You can create fun challenges and take your brand’s engagement rate to the skies just like that egg post went viral and smashed the app with over 53 million likes.
• Hashtags are a great way to find your tribe on Instagram and create your own digital kingdom where everyone responds just like Apple did with #ShotOniPhone hashtag a few years back.

Optimizing Visual Brand Identity on Instagram

Now comes the fun part!

You know what visual brand identity is, you know why your brand needs to be on Instagram, so let’s move on to the main topic. Take these tips more like a step-by-step guide to optimize your brand’s visual identity for Instagram and attract new followers to convert them into potential buyers.

Let’s dive in!

Decide Your Brand Values

The very initial step would be to define what exactly you want to say and who will be the receiver of your message.

Suppose, you’re a toy maker and want to leverage Instagram for making your toy brand popular with the target consumers. So, you’ll want to show the world how cool toys you have to offer!

Also, your priority would be to guide the parents what particular toy is right for every child based on the age and gender.

Here’s an example of how Porsche does it on their Instagram handle!

Just like the post above, they focus their Instagram posts on cars to attract interested buyers. They make use of different locations and keep the cars in center to explain the class and elegance the driver can experience while driving a Porsche.

Jacob & Co. is another ideal example of how you can define your brand’s values for Instagram branding.

As the post above depicts, they try to highlight such intricate details of their watches and jewelry that makes them unique in the market. Also, it is a great way to attract buyers who are interested in aesthetics along with other features.

Define Several Buyer Personas

Relating with the key audience is one of the prime objectives of every branding endeavor!

So, the next step is to define who could be your target buyer (or say interested follower) on Instagram so you can plan everything according to their taste and likings.

This would increase your chances of appearing relatable and they’ll be more likely to respond to everything you post on IG that has some connection with their tastes.

Take a look at how Marvel Entertainment has aligned different posts for different audiences, below!

They use their Instagram handle to keep the fans updated about latest and upcoming shows and keep them hooked with news, set updates, and release dates about their favorite shows.

Marvel’s rival, DC Comics, goes one step ahead and teases different debates about their comic characters.

Look how they hook every buyer persona with different posts and generate massive engagement on their Instagram posts.

If you follow the same pattern, you can find a target audience on Instagram and convert them into your loyal consumers and create a strong brand loyalty via your Instagram visual brand identity with ease.

Select a Brand Tone

While working on your visual brand identity for Instagram, don’t forget to give your brand the right tone!

Despite having a fantastic body, we seek out how exactly someone speaks because the voice and way of speaking is a part of personality and this same applies to brands. So, decide what tone you’ll have while addressing your target audience, responding back to their comments and making announcements in your Instagram posts.

Take Xbox for example!

They keep the conversations going with a direct tone that’s focused on their game’s characters. Also, you’ll see how they maintain the element of excitement in their post captions which is another reason that people respond with the same energy whenever they have something to share.

Or, you may copy LEGO’s tone that includes some quirkiness and amusement in their posts!

They don’t just make announcements, they make it in a fun way to relate the message with the reader. And this gives their Instagram posts a new energy that is visible via the engagement rate with the views, likes, and comments on their posts.

Choose Accurate Brand Colors

Now, when you know what message to share with your Instagram followers, who are the key personas, and what tone your brand should have, it’s time to treat the eyes.

In order to make your visual brand identity engaging and appealing, you need to pick a color!

Or you may opt for a set of different colors each associated with a different product line that resonates with the relevant consumer and doesn’t make your IG feed dull.

You should look at Sunsilk Arabia’s Instagram feed to understand this point!

See how they’ve used different colors to make their products prominent and each post soothes the eyes with the color selection that is picked by keeping the key persona in mind.

Or check out Audemars Piguet’s posts and how well structured they’ve kept them with ideal color association with each product.

The post, above, signifies their fine color selection skills that makes the product prominent and gives the post an appealing element that pushes the viewer to hit the like, instantly.

Select Correct Font Options

Next up, you need to include a perfect font family in your Instagram posts to complete your visual brand identity!

Colors and imagery do play a vital role in narrating a visual story about your products but text makes it easy for the viewer to understand the context. But you need to pick the perfect font that compliments your post’s color selection and imagery and leaves a strong impression on the viewer.

There are unlimited range of fonts but don’t confuse yourself and stick to these basic types as I’ve mentioned below:

• Serif
• Sans Serif
• Display
• Script

See which font family goes with your brand’s personality and builds the right perception in the viewer’s mind.

Check out Tang India’s Instagram feeds if you’re not sure how fonts work in your favor!

They use custom fonts from the Display font family to make the text bold and appealing to the eyes. It is a nice way to reinforce the key message to the eyes even if the post is crowded with different images and other design elements.

Or, you may take font inspiration from Vaseline’s Instagram feed!

They use a custom font which probably comes from script family and offers a cream-like effect just like you’d have if you draw something via Vaseline itself.

Review Your Logo Design

While you gear up to craft a fantastic visual brand identity on Instagram, don’t forget about your corporate face, your logo!

Be sure that every post, every activity includes your logo design so people can easily recognize it whether they see your posts in suggestion or out of Instagram.  Because the logo is the easiest entity they can remember about your brand before exploring your products or another element of your business.

The rule, here, is that your is legible enough for your Instagram posts that they can easily spot it’s you!

Take Emirates as an inspiration and how they keep the wordmark in the center of every post!

From showcasing their aircrafts to in-flight updates, they very strategically keep the logo in the center. And this move automatically turns their post into a branding effort that people feel privileged to interact with.

Or you may follow Tag Heuer and how they’ve included the logo in every post they share!

They not just display the beautiful watches via their Instagram posts but also ensure that their logo is visible in the product, too. This is a great way to reinforce the logo design in the viewer’s memory that helps the brand in improving the brand recognition score.

Decide IG Feed View

Since you’ve covered the colors, fonts and imagery part in creating a compelling visual brand identity for Instagram, it’s time to become a curator. Just like an art gallery owner places relevant paintings next to each other to maintain symmetry, you’ve to repeat this rule while maintaining your brand’s Instagram account.

In other words, your Instagram feed should follow a pattern that the visitor keeps scrolling down and down and down until he reaches the very first post you ever did on Instagram.

Take Bugatti’s IG handle as an inspiration!

Once you visit their profile, you’ll keep scrolling down and appreciating all the vehicles they’ve posted. And who knows you might want to order your next Bugatti by the end of your scrolling venture?

Or look at Lamborghini’s Instagram feed!

They even show their vehicles in action while posting their awesome car models. And one can easily confirm they’ve done a fantastic job while working on their visual brand identity for Instagram.

Narrate Visual Stories

While you work on your visual brand identity for Instagram, never forget that stories can initiate discussion, push people to share their experiences and keep them hooked to your brand.

You can narrate visual stories via different content types and take people with you (virtually) to experience the awesome products in making. Or you may also guide your followers how something is done the correct way as you do which makes you the prime choice in the industry.

Take Etihad Airways as an example and how they use Instagram to promote their brand, below!

They share different locations, updates about their flights and the features the traveler will likely experience upon choosing them as a flight partner.

This instantly creates an urge in the viewer’s mind to plan a trip to the destination being shown in the post. And also, it is a great way to understand what the followers want from the brand via the comment section.

Write IG Style Guide

Working without a written plan may exhaust you in the first week as you initiate your Instagram branding!

Solution?

You should have a style guide in place that tells you what color to use in a certain post and what font to pair with it.

Not having a style guide may cost you your energy, time and above all, the consistency that’s needed to strengthen your visual brand identity. So, work on your Instagram branding’s style book and prevent exhaustion and falling for every trendy design that may turn your IG feed into a chaos.

Look at Snickers and how they maintain a relevance in each post with correct background color and font pairing in the post.

They’ve kept everything around their products to create a synergy between what they offer and what the end consumer wants to discover in their Instagram feed. They know what color to include in the post and what font would accompany the imagery in the post all because of having a style guide.

Test Different Content Types

All the above steps were an essential part to craft an exceptional visual brand identity for your Instagram account.

But the real learning comes from practice so start experimenting with different content formats by applying the above steps in your Instagram posts.

For Gen Z, the IG Stories feature is quite popular and for Millennials, like you & I, we respond to pictures and videos more conveniently.

Take Kit Kat as an example!

They not just promote their delicious chocolates but also share the BTS and even announce the winners of different challenges they organize from time to time.

Follow their pattern and you’ll discover what content performs well and what just goes flat.

Final Words

So, this was all that I had to share and I hope you’ll be able to craft a fantastic visual brand identity for your Instagram account via these steps.

Instagram is a magical place where brands can connect directly with the key consumers and change their perception. Be sure to incorporate all the steps that I’ve narrated above and see yourself what works for your brand and what doesn’t.

If you’re still clueless about visual brand identity on Instagram, Full Stop Inc. has the right team to guide you along the way. So, contact one of the Instagram branding experts at Full Stop Inc. and skyrocket your branding success, today. Adios!