Hours are spent on Instagram weekly, with 63% of users using the app every day and it’s not set to decrease anytime soon, with businesses from every industry and individuals from every corner of the world logging on.

Instagram is the door into people’s lives and a business’s day-to-day. This in principle is fantastic – it’s a simple case of sharing pictures and letting others enjoy them.

However, in recent years the application has become saturated with influencers and brands that are ‘real’, meaning a 360 has happened on what users expect and want to see from who they follow.

The landscape has changed, algorithms, followers, liking and the rise of posts which deem themselves ‘real’ now dictate the way fashion, food and traveling looks. This being said its not all doom and gloom, Instagram has a lot of positives for a brand and they can be utilised pretty simply to communicate to your target market/demographic.

1. Appeasing aesthetic

It’s something that is hard to stick too – for anyone. Aesthetic is the new black when it comes to Instagram. You look at accounts like Dacre Montgomery, Made.com, Taylor Swift and BoohooMAN (to name a few) all have a very different focus but all have one thing in common – their aesthetic. It’s a trend each one keeps throughout its posts.

Whether its a rebrand like Taylor did with her 5^th studio album or using idyllic interior posts like Made.com which has led to design trends through social media. Each has made it, so you recognise their post as soon as it goes out.  Deciding your edit theme/image use and sticking to it benefits your page in the long run resulting in searches, likes and ultimately reach.

Apps to help you edit pictures on the go: VSCO Cam, Huji and Lightroom.

• Pleasant posting – story/feed

Guidelines say once or twice a week is how much you should be posting to your feed, especially with Instagram’s new algorithms, as you do not want to over post and force your audiences’ hand to click the unfollow button.

 However, now its all about being present and live – Instagram stories is where you will get the most reach and interaction with your desired audience because it offers an extra insight into the inner workings which breaks the barrier between the individual and the business.

There are plenty of apps to help create stories which stand out – within these stories it’s important to remember to keep it short and sweet. Make sure you are getting to the point of the story and not droning on, things to include – new product sneak peaks, new team member, achievements – it’s all great to see.

Above all, make sure you are asking your audience to do something– this can range from a human saying ‘stay tuned’ to linking to a website or own Instagram page.

Apps to help you create meaningful stories: Unfold and Canva.

• A Beautiful Bio

It’s always good to update your bio a new blog story a new service your business is offering – change the link and encourage people to visit your page. This helps push your page to the explore section letting you be seen by people you might not normally be seen by.

• Hierarchical Hashtags

On average brands/businesses use 30 hashtags per post to maximise reach.

Hashtags don’t have to be a permanent feature as they don’t always look most appealing add-on to a post, it’s easy to hide them within the comments or delete later. But to begin with it’s a great way to put emphasis a post.