Top tips for successful influencer collaborations - by an Influencer

Top tips for successful influencer collaborations - by an Influencer

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a technological rock (assuming one without wifi), you’ve probably heard a little about social media ‘influencers’ and the benefits that follow from collaborating with them to help endorse a particular product or service. This new avenue for content creation and distribution has been a blessing for advertising and marketing businesses, making for a unique, timely and cost effective service available to clients.

This week we're chatting to our Senior Content Creator Alice Honey about the in's and out's of influencer outreach.


As a Senior Content Creator and ‘Micro Influencer’, I find myself on both sides of the equation when it comes to understanding the logistics behind what it takes to facilitate successful influencer collaborations.  Here are a few tops tips, consisting of what I consider the most important factors to be considered by an agency or business when embarking into the world of digital collaboration with influencers and online personalities.

Pick the right influencers for your brand:

Whether you’re outsourcing for a client or your own business, it’s extremely important to consider what it is you hope to achieve from your influencer collaboration. Be sure to pick an individual to work with that you feel can meet your expectations. It’s essential to consider the visual style of the influencer and whether your product or service is something their online presence/brand would convincingly align with. Managing yours or your clients expectations by reaching out to well considered individuals sets you up for success.

Make the brief clear:

Once you’ve reached out to an influencer who is willing to work with your particular product or service, write a clear and concise brief that outlines your expectations of the work they produce (if any). This can be short and sweet, or in-depth depending on the size of the project. The more detail you can provide, the easier it will be for an influencer to work with your product and reduces the risk of receiving undesirable content for your brand. Creating a seamless brand-influencer relationship can open up future opportunities between both parties and create a sense of loyalty to your brand or client.

Pay for your collaboration:

I would strongly recommend considering adequate remuneration for an influencer’s time and work, in order to get the most of out the collaboration. By paying an individual for their content creation services, you are able to be more specific as to your requirements/brief outline, and in return will receive more considered and high quality work from your influencer. A reasonable price for influencer services can usually be determined via contacting them or their management directly, however it is important to keep in mind that the more well-known or ‘influential’ they are, the higher their price will likely be.

There are always going to be variables when it comes to collaborating with digital influencers. Taking adequate steps and being professional, yet approachable is without a doubt the best way to make the most of your collaboration and solidify positive brand-consumer relationships.


Want more handy hints on influencer outreach? Read more here.

Watch Alice's top tips on how to get the perfect shot for Instagram here.

Top tips for successful influencer collaborations - by an Influencer


The Importance of a Digital Strategy - Tips from our Senior Strategist

The Importance of a Digital Strategy

Being a digital marketing agency, it’s no secret we place great importance on digital strategy and planning. This week we're chatting with our Senior Creative Strategist, Michaela Skilney, who gives some insight into her approach to digital strategy and its significance.

  • What challenges do you face when developing a digital strategy?

One of the biggest challenges I face when developing digital strategies for clients is reconciling what’s a reasonable and realistic outcome for a campaign, and what the client expects to achieve. It’s essential to set goals and aspire to reach particular objectives, however social media isn’t an exact science.

More often than not, clients are under the false illusion that an agency can guarantee what content will go viral and how many followers they can attract. The truth is, if an agency can guarantee those types of outcomes, they’ll be employing the likes of automated bots, which are completely at odds with all platform’s T&Cs (and I would be running in the opposite direction!)

What a digital strategy can guarantee is that your social media presence is the greatest reflection of your brand, your offering and what appeals to your audience.

  • Does your approach differ client to client?

Every client, regardless of how similar their product, service or audience is, will have a unique set of goals, a unique promotional calendar and to be successful, unique selling points. It’s therefore impossible to adopt a one-size-fits-all-approach from client to client. It may be less efficient on paper this way, to view client’s in isolation, but that’s the difference between what you get with a boutique agency like ours versus a strategy template you can download online!

  • In your opinion, is having a digital strategy as significant as a traditional marketing plan?

Regardless of what medium you’re working in – traditional or digital marketing – a strategy is essential to give your efforts a sense of purpose. Without strategic thought and planning prior to the commencement of a campaign, you’re essentially setting yourself up to fail. Without the right preparation, you find you’ll always be in reactive mode and constantly behind the 8-ball!

  • When developing a digital strategy, what research is involved?

There’s a ton of research involved when developing a digital strategy, predominantly around target audiences and their digital user habits. Most of the time, clients know their brands intimately and can share the history of their business off the top of their heads. What they mightn’t know, where I come in, is who their current digital audience is, and whether that marries with who they want it to be. The purpose – and outcome – of any digital content, whether that be a social media post, a blog or an EDM (electronic direct mail), is that it will reach someone and be consumed. Research at the digital strategy phase allows for your content to be targeted and seen by those you want to engage.

  • Where’s the best place to start when constructing a digital strategy?

In order to create a digital strategy – a plan of attack for a brand that truly speaks to who they are and who they want to be – I need to fully immerse myself in what they do so that the end result feels as though it’s been crafted in-house. This usually begins by meeting with key business stakeholders for a complete brain dump on their part (their offering, their customer, their strengths, their weaknesses, their current digital output, their digital likes and dislikes, their projected sales etc.) as well as understanding what pre-planned promotions, product launches and events are in place for the next 3-6 months. These steps are the foundation on which I build my strategies, so you could say they’re non-negotiable!

  • Do you believe every business should have some sort of a digital plan?

Embracing all things digital can be overwhelming for some brands and business owners, but it’s unavoidable. Consumer habits have changed from bricks and mortar stores to online shopping, and information gathering shifting from magazines and catalogues to social media and blogs. If you want your brand to thrive, let alone be relevant, you need to have a digital presence – and what kind of presence you have all depends on a solid digital strategy.


Want to chat to Michaela and our team about putting together a bespoke digital strategy for your brand? Contact us: [email protected] to find out more.


The ultimate guide to Instagram stories

The ultimate guide to Instagram stories

Instagram continues to climb the ranks of popularity when it comes to social media platforms and it’s not hard to see why! Interestingly, more and more users are shifting their attention to Instagram stories, which means brands should be utilising the feature to help build brand awareness and increase engagement rates. We’ve put together a guide on all things Instagram stories to help you conquer this fun feature of Instagram!


Location, Mentions & Hashtags – Including hashtags, mentions or a location in your story is a great way to increase discoverability and get it seen by more people – even users that don’t follow you will be able to see it!

GIFs– These are huge right now. Everyone is having a lot of fun adding quirky GIFs to their stories whether it’s wine glasses clinking or a piece of pizza dancing. They’re something a bit different to your plain ol’ text and will make people smile so why not use them!

Polls– Who doesn’t love a good poll? Pasta or pizza? The Notebook or The Holiday? Polls are a fun way to encourage users to engage with your brand through stories. There’s a new poll feature too called the ‘emoji slider’. It allows users to decide how much they like or dislike something with the help of an animated emoji on a sliding scale.

Sharing posts to your story– An exciting new feature of Instagram Stories is that you can use it to cross-promote your content. From your profile, you can choose to share your latest post/s to your story. By doing so you can drive more engagement by encouraging your story viewers to view your post and ultimately get more eyes on your content.

Highlights – Back in the beginning, Instagram stories were ephemeral in nature as they only lasted for 24 hours. This is still the case, but Instagram created an option to extend their life and it’s called ‘highlights’. You can now save your stories and they will live permanently on your Instagram profile until you delete them. Your highlights section isa creative way to express your brand, show off products, drive traffic, or market your business!

It’s obvious that Instagram stories can benefit your business, and with Instagram introducing IGTV, we imagine a lot more people are going to migrate to Instagram and stay there. Instagram are trying to be a one stop shop for all things social, so now is the time to embrace all its affordances for your business!


If you think your business could benefit from a greater Instagram presence, and would like a little help doing so, shoot us an email – we’d love to chat with you about your digital strategy!

We’ve put together a guide on all things Instagram stories to help you conquer this fun feature of Instagram!


Our Senior Content Creators' top tips for creating social media content

Our Senior Content Creators' top tips for creating social media content

Every brand wants to be seen on social media, but  the key to really being heard lies in how attractive and engaging a brands' social media content is.

This week, we're chatting to our Senior Content Creator Bree Munro, to get her top tips on how to create engaging social media content that will result in success.

How important is hashtagging when it comes to engaging social media content?

Hashtagging is essentially a way for prospective customers or clients to find you on social media. If you’re just starting out, a hashtag strategy is an essential part of building an audience around your page. Posts with at least one hashtag receive 12% more likes, shares and comments versus those without them! You can have up to 30 hashtags on Instagram, but the verdict is still out on whether you should use as many as you can. I would recommend a mix of branded and relevant engagement hashtags in the 10-20 range when starting out, to avoid looking too spammy, but still ensuring your content is getting the love it deserves.

What have you found works well when trying to create engaging content?

It’s all about video! In the last year we have seen the rise of the Youtuber, Instagram Stories, and now IGTV, with content ranging from behind-the-scenes, to Boomerangs, to engaging tutorial videos and everything in between. People don’t just want highly polished and curated feeds, they want to see what is happening behind the brands. Other than that, there has been a trend towards crisp and clean studio images, and we have been incorporating a lot more edgy graphic design elements into our content.

Is there anything you’ve found that doesn’t work so well?

When we are building a strategy for clients we like to remind them that it is ‘social’ media, not ‘sales’ media. Making every post about selling your product is the equivalent of putting pamphlets in someone’s mailbox every single day! Eventually they will get a “no junk mail” sticker (or unfollow you in this case). Build a community around your product or service, encourage engagement and conversations, and this will result in long term return customers, sales, and followers.

Are there any techniques out there that people use to generate content that you don’t agree with?

Sharing content and crediting its source is part of networking on social media, but there is nothing worse than an entire feed of re-grammed images from other people! Original content is key.

 When creating content where do you start? / What’s your first step?

The first step in creating content is identifying the targetaudience and putting yourself in their shoes. What do they want to see? What will they engage with? What will encourage them to act? Every market is different, and a digital content strategy should be adjusted accordingly.

 How important is variety when it comes to content creation?

Extremely! While it is important to have a consistent brand and theme across your social media channels, there is nothing more boring for a consumer than the same repetitive content. Not only that, but social media is an everchanging landscape and it is important to keep up with the trends. Mix it up, put some personality into it, and most importantly – have fun!


Would you like to chat to Bree and our team of social media content creation specialists at Melbourne Social Co? Get in touch with us today by emailing [email protected].

Want to check out our social media visual content monthly package? Click here.

Our Senior Content Creators' top tips for creating social media content


The Benefits Of A Boutique Agency

The Benefits Of A Boutique Agency

Thinking of outsourcing your brand's marketing requirements? Tossing up between working with a large or boutique agency? We're sharing a few tips on why boutique is the way to go!


When it comes to sourcing an agency to best represent your brand, its no secret there is a bit of an oversaturation in the world of marketing and social media.

More than often, it’s tempting to choose a large, well-known company to meet your marketing needs - but what about the alternatives? There HAS to be another option for value, satisfaction and success.

Here lies the secret weapon that is the Boutique Creative Marketing Agency.

With an intimate team of professionals directly at hand, the benefits of choosing a boutique agency are endless.


Direct access to the owner, specialist team members and closer client relationships

Too often the hierarchy at big agencies resembles more of a monarchy than an efficient, innovative space for creativity and client relations to flourish.

In larger businesses, strict structures and reporting protocol limit the contact and input a client can have when it comes to the services provided to them.

At a boutique agency, a smaller team of handpicked professionals can offer a more personal service and creative space for successful client relationships. Your creative team are able to position themselves as an extension of your business, leading to a more authentic content creation process.

Owners and senior members of staff have the ability to directly oversee projects within a smaller team, allowing a client’s input and best interests to be at the forefront of their minds; ultimately producing higher quality work that is the best representation of your business’ vision.

Lower Cost

Instead of the cost of overheads including extra support staff, lavish workspaces and expense accounts that you would find integrated into proposed quotes by larger agencies, outsourcing a boutique agency to market your business can be a much more cost effective option.

With a boutique agency, clients pay only for the team that actually works on a job, meaning no unjustified or hidden costs. Generally a Melbourne Social Co monthly retainer is equivalent to, or less than, the cost of a full time junior salary - a fee that gives you direct access to the experience of an entire creative team.

Faster turn around

Another major benefit when it comes to choosing a boutique agency over a larger competitor is the quick turn around time for projects and content.

Boutique agencies carefully hand-pick a manageable amount of clients they believe they can deliver genuine results to, so your project wont be put on hold or lost in the crowd. This tailored approach smaller agencies employ ensures your campaign will be given the attention and dedicate it deserves, leading to better results!


These are but a few benefits we can recommend when it comes to going ahead with a smaller, boutique marketing agency. For any queries, or additional information on how we at Melbourne Social Co can provide the very best service for your business or project, contact us today - [email protected]

The Benefits Of A Boutique Agency


Social Media Management - 8 reasons to outsource to a professional

8 Reasons To Hire A Social Media Manager

Thinking about whether to manage your social media accounts in-house or to outsource to a professional?


We're sharing a few points on why it's a good idea to outsource your social media management requirements to a professional or agency.

1. Content creation

Having a professional manage your social accounts opens the door to amazing, expert content creation. Not only will your content be creative and of a professional standard, it will also be visually consistent and add to the overall aesthetic of your social pages.

2. Stay ahead of the trends

When you work with a professional, you're tapping into their years of broad experience in social media! It's your social media manager's job to stay up to date with all of the latest digital trends and they will adapt this knowledge to your business.

3. Consistent & professional tone of voice

It is very important when managing a social account, that the tone of voice of the account is consistent and professional.  If a social account is managed internally and shared around amongst a team, the tone and professionalism of posts will differ. However, if the account management is outsourced, it will prevent variation in tone and keep the entire account consistent and professional.

4. Increase engagement

Managing your social media account is a daily task, but it can sometimes come second to the day-to-day tasks you have when running a business. Having a pro managing your social media means that no comment will go unanswered and social media can stay a priority without taking away time from the business. Not only will this make your business more personable and real, but it will increase your engagement rates, which will lead to your content appearing higher in your followers' feeds.

5. Reliability

Want to remove any unnecessary worry from your day? With a dedicated professional managing the account you can depend on them to post at the right times and provide a reliable account to engage with followers - this includes after hours!

6. It’s a time saver

Who doesn’t love saving time? By hiring a professional to head your social media it’s one less thing you, as a business, need to do.  With your social accounts in more than capable hands, it gives you time to focus on other pressing matters.

7. Accountability

The great thing about using a professional to manage your socials is the level of accountability they bring. Clients expect a certain level of responsibility when outsourcing and a professional will record and measure the work their doing. This helps them meet the client’s needs and also holds them accountable for the work their doing.

8. It’s Fun

To put it simply, social media is fun, especially to those who have made it their career. By hiring a professional to manage your social media, you are guaranteed a committed worker who absolutely loves what they're doing.


Ready to outsource your social media requirements to a professional agency? We're here to help! Contact us at [email protected] today.

Social Media Management - 8 reasons to outsource to a professional


Common Social Media Marketing Terms Decoded

Common Social Media Marketing Terms Decoded

If you’re involved in digital marketing, chances are you’ve heard terms like ‘SEO’, ‘engagement' and ‘analytics’ thrown around, often with no explanations or convoluted descriptions. We’ve put together the complete guide of need-to-know social media marketing terms and what they mean for you and your brand. You’ll be bragging about your EDM strategies, your cost per click and conversion rates in no time with our quick guide of digital marketing definitions!

Common Social Media Marketing Terms

A/B testing

A/B split testing refers to testing multiple ads on your target market, where the social media platform (e.g. Facebook) records your best performing ads, and refines your creative as a result. To undergo split testing, you’ll need multiple creative executions of the same ad (variations in copy, different imagery, differing hashtags), and you can run as many of these variations as you like. The platform you’re advertising on records your audience responses such as reactions, comments, shares, or whether people hide or complain about the ad. Split testing is highly recommended, as it means the ads being shown to your target market are the ads which are most likely to succeed.

Analytics

Social media analytics refer to the statistics gathered from your ad sets, which tell you more about your target market and their social media habits. Your digital analytics will tell you who is engaging with your content, how they’re engaging with it (e.g. are they sharing the content? clicking through to your website? are certain times more popular than others?), and from this data you can make more informed decisions regarding your advertising. Analytics are one of the most valuable resources in forming your marketing strategy, and is a major part of the rise of social media advertising over traditional medias (such as billboards or magazine ads).

Clickbait

‘Clickbait’ headlines or tags are a marketing strategy which aims to drive an audience to a site or external link, through creating intentionally vague & dramatic, sometimes misleading headlines. Examples include: “You’ll never guess what Kim wore!” or “Oprah’s live interview: We’re SHOCKED by what she does next!”.

While clickbait headlines can be effective in encouraging people to click through to the next page, headlines like this can also drive consumer distrust or frustration.

Content creation

Content creation simply refers to the creation of images, text, videos, audio files, or any other content to be shared on social media. A lot of advertising or marketing agencies may offer content creation services, which is done by writers, photographers, videographers, editors, animators and stylists, and is posted strategically to engage an audience with a brand.

Conversion rate

The definition of your ‘conversion rate’ will vary depending on your marketing strategies. For example, if you’re running an ad set to encourage people to sign up for your newsletter, your ‘conversion rate’ will refer to how many people fill out the sign-up form. However if your ad set is designed to redirect people to your website, your ‘conversion rate’ will be a record of how many people have visited your site as a result of your ad. Your conversion rates will usually take into account how many people your ad was shown to, and is used to develop your ‘cost per click’.

Cost per click

Your ‘cost per click’ is a summary of how much your ad’s are costing you for every ‘converstion’. Ideally, you would like your cost per click as low as possible, because this means you are getting a higher ROI. Part of what A/B split testing takes into account is your ‘cost per click’, so the ads which are ultimately run are the most cost effective ads for your page.

EDM’s (Email Direct Marketing)

Email direct marketing is advertising in the form of direct emails to your client base. A common use of EDM’s is to promote an upcoming sale or special offer, inform customers of new products and releases, or simply to create a positive brand image by sending out relevant content. EDM’s usually record how many people click-through on your email, which contribute to your marketing analytics.

Engagement & Reach

‘Engagement’ and ‘Reach’ are two of the most common terms in digital marketing, and are both measures of the success of your ads. Engagement refers to how people respond to your ad, so ‘healthy’ engagement means having a high amount of reactions/comments/reposts for the amount of people who’ve seen your ad, and is usually calculated as a percentage. Reach on the other hand refers to the amount of people who’ve seen your ad. Effective advertising usually means striking the right balance between having lots of people see your ads, but also having those people respond positively to it. Social media marketers will focus on generating engagement or reach depending on your campaign; if you’re launching a new product you might focus on achieving a high ad reach, whereas if you’re encouraging people to attend a local event, your ads may focus on driving engagement.

Impressions

Your ‘impressions’ amongst your target audience are similar to your ad frequency. Impressions simply refers to how often your ads are shown to your target market, which is used to develop your engagement rates & cost per click.

Influencer

An ‘influencer’ is refers to a social media account with a significant amount of followers or likes, usually due to the quality or unique value of their content. Generally, an influencer has a minimum of 10k followers, while a ‘mega-influencer’ usually has at least 100k followers. Some brands use influencers as a highly targeted way of advertising to their particular audiences. Influencer marketing can yield a high ROI (return on investment) and has a good track record of fostering consumer trust. We’ve written another piece about digital influencers, which you can find here

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

SEO (Search engine optimisation) is a popular digital marketing technique, and is usually completed by a digital marketer with specific experience or training in writing for SEO. By choosing specific words or phrases over others, and careful decisions about where these words appear on your site or page, your website may appear before others when consumers are searching for a particular product or service, via a search engine such as Google or Bing. Investing in SEO allows can increase the likelihood of consumers choosing your brand over competitors, however this service can sometimes be expensive, so make sure you review all your analytics if you take this path!


Want to pencil in some time to chat to our team about your marketing strategy in 2018? Contact us at [email protected] or visit our Consulting Sessions page to make a booking.

Common Social Media Marketing Terms Decoded


The Latest Instagram Algorithm Changes

The Latest Instagram Algorithm Changes

Want to know how Instagram's latest algorithm will decide what photos and videos show up in your feed? We’ve got all the answers!

Done in an effort to refresh the app and improve chronology, Instagram is opening up about what’s new and why.

A personalised feed

The new algorithm places a focus on ensuring everyone’s feed is unique and relevant to the user. This personalisation is done through monitoring who you interact with and past behaviors. Basically, a users level of engagement with certain accounts will determine how much or how little they will see of that content.

A big part of this new and improved personalised feed is to prioritise posts from your ‘friends and family’. The updated algorithm claims that users will now see 90% of the posts from their ‘friends and family’ (as determined by Instagram), as opposed to 50%, which was the percentage prior to the algorithm change.

Breaking it down - interest, timeliness and relationship

To help us further understand the new algorithm, Instagram has broken it down into three important determining classifications: interest, timeliness and relationship.

Interest = how interested they think you’ll be in the post

If Instagram thinks you’ll be interested in a post, they will prioritise it and it will appear higher in your feed. How do they determine what they think you will like? Well, they base this on your past behavior and engagement with similar content.

Timeliness = relating to how recently a photo was posted

This new aspect of the algorithm intends to limit how often users are seeing ‘old’ posts from weeks ago and helps keep users feeds more recent and up to date.

Relationship = determining the ‘friends and family’ category

Instagram is taking more notice of users relationships with other users. For example, if you frequently comment or are tagged in a person’s photos instagram takes that to mean you have some sort of a relationship with them and they will be categorised as your ‘friends and family’.


So what can your business do to make sure your posts are being seen and heard in the Instagram feed? Why not pencil in a chat with our team to discuss your Instagram strategy.

Want to know how Instagram's latest algorithm will decide what photos and videos show up in your feed? We’ve got all the answers! Done in an effort to refresh the app and improve chronology, Instagram is opening up about what’s new and why.


Three Easy Ways to Increase Office Productivity

Three Easy Ways to Increase Office Productivity

Feeling like you need to boost your productivity? You know the feeling. It’s just after 2pm and you’re left staring into the abyss that is your iMac screen, wishing reports would magically write themselves and you had a time turner to push 5pm that little bit closer.

Don’t feel guilty, we’ve all been there- boredom and distraction happens to even the most dedicated employees. Luckily for you, we’ve popped together three of our favourite tips to increase office productivity and keep you occupied and focused all shift long!

Keep Things Tidy

We know the last thing you feel like doing is giving your desk a once over with the Windex when you have piles of work to be and major writer’s block. But, trust us, this little tip could make all the difference!

Recent studies have confirmed the correlation between increased anxiety levels and a messy environment (at home or in the workspace). Clutter and untidiness can subconsciously affect mental clarity, making it all the more difficult to focus on an urgent task at hand.

We recommend keeping a small dustbin close by so you can manage your disposable mess, whilst adhering to a clear and simple organisational structure for files and documents. Even if this means spending an extra 5 -10 minutes at the end of the day tidying and putting things back into place, you and the quality of your work will be so much better for it!

Stay Nourished and Hydrated

Hitting the snooze button on a chilly winter’s morning instead of getting up 15 minutes early to grab something quick to eat is a common occurrence for many of us. Whilst you may run out the door feeling full, once you’ve properly awoken and arrived at work, hunger will soon rear its ugly head.

Hunger can drastically affect mood and concentration, so instead of you (and your work) suffering until lunchtime, be sure to leave some healthy snacks in your handbag or office drawer to snack on and keep your energy levels on track.

Eating small amounts regularly fuels our metabolism and largely contributes to our blood sugar and energy levels, equalling increased concentration and motivation.

We recommend foods high in ‘good’ fats such as almonds and avocados and berries and green vegetables rich in vitamins K & C. These kinds of Superfoods promote healthy brain function and minimise bodily stress through the benefits of antioxidants.

Stretch Your Legs

Although the thought of an afternoon stroll sounds entirely counterproductive when you have serious deadlines looming, taking a quick break can actually improve concentration. Even if it’s just five minutes around the block, up and down the stairs, or to the local coffee shop and back, moving around every few hours is very important for those with a desk job and sedentary lifestyle.

Studies have found that those who take short, regular breaks in the workspace maintain a more constant level of performance than those who don’t. Plus, moving around increases blood flow, which promotes good cardiovascular health, and all in all increases cognitive awareness and mental clarity. Plus, who would say no to an extra coffee break?!


So there you have them, our tried and tested, simple yet sure-fire ways to increase productivity, stay focused and motivated during your daily grind, courtesy of the team at Melbourne Social Co.

Three Easy Ways to Increase Office Productivity

Want to know more about our strategy or content creation services? Send us an email today to [email protected]


Instagram Aesthetics - The Importance of a Cohesive Theme

Instagram Aesthetics - The Importance of a Cohesive Theme

If you’re an Instagram addict like all of us at Melbourne Social Co., you may have noticed that many of the app’s most popular accounts have more in common with each other than just a high follower count. 


Successful Instagram feeds are, above all, aesthetically pleasing, but in a cohesive way that accurately reflects the aesthetics, vision and message of the person or brand.

One of the main ways to achieve such a visually consistent and impactful feed is by implementing an Instagram ‘theme’. What this means is that there is a visual common thread between all of your posts, so that when someone views your feed it will look cohesive and organised. All your posts will in some way look like they go together.

But what's the right approach for your brand? We discuss a few different ways to implement an Instagram theme below.


Pick a colour

There’s an infinite number of themes to choose from for your feed, but you’ll want to pick one that suits your content and aesthetic. For example, you could have a colour coordinated theme, where a certain colour (or colours) appear in every post. These colours should reflect your aesthetic, and perhaps the design of your brand’s product or logo. The repeating colours will help make your feed look visually stimulating and organised, as well as creating an association between you/your brand and those specific colours.

A common subject

Alternatively, your theme may govern the content of the images you post. For example, your theme could be based around a specific object that appears in every post, such as coffee, plants, water or food; whatever you like! This type of theme tends to be best suited to Instagram accounts that function to promote a specific type of product.

Post & repeat

Another popular theme that guides the content you post creates a repeating pattern of two or three different types of images. For example, this could be set out with two photos of people or scenery for every text post. The text post is usually positioned in between the two photos so that when the feed is viewed as a whole the text posts create a line down the middle. This theme allows for some diversity of content, while also maintaining an organised and symmetrical look to your feed.

A theme for your Instagram page is important for more reasons than just creating a uniform feed and guiding the content you post. Remember that the follow button is located at the top of your main feed, so people are viewing your account and most recent posts as one entity that represents your brand as a whole when they are deciding whether or not to follow you. For that reason, you want to put your best foot forward with the type of cohesive, visually pleasing and professional feed that a theme can help you achieve.

Improve your engagement 

One of the other key reasons an Instagram theme is so important is because it can help improve engagement and your connection with your audience. A consistent theme will help your posts stand out to your followers in their feeds littered with hundreds of other accounts’ posts. The element of repetition in your theme will also mean your audience will know what to expect from your posts, allowing them to easily understand the messages you are trying to communicate relating to your brand.

Because Instagram is one of the most powerful platforms available to you to promote yourself and your brand, it is important that your feed reflects who you are and effectively communicates the messages you are trying to get across to your audience. A theme allows you to achieve this in the most aesthetically pleasing way possible, while still appearing professional and creating interesting content for your audience. So, if you haven’t started planning a gorgeous new theme for your feed already – what are you waiting for?!


Do you need help developing a theme for your Instagram account, or creating gorgeous content to fill your feed? Get in touch with us here at Melbourne Social Co!

Contact us today: [email protected]

Instagram Aesthetics - The Importance of a Cohesive Theme