How to Build a Personal Brand on Instagram

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, freelancer, consultant, or even a coach - having a personal brand on Instagram is essential. Not only does Instagram have over half a billion daily active users, it’s an extremely visual platform where people share a lot of personal content - making it easily the best social media platform to share about YOU.

Setting Clear Goals

Definition of Personal Branding

The whole point of a personal brand is for people to see you, resonate with you, and follow what you do. Just like in school, work, sports, and any other social gathering, some people will like you and some others won’t, it’s up to you to define who you want to be seen as.

Identifying Your Objectives

But before going all out on the internet, you need to know your “why”. Knowing why you’re putting yourself out there is arguably the most important step of the process. Not only will it give you motivation when you feel like giving up but it will also lead you to maintain your stance on certain opinions and thoughts when you get contradiction from the keyboard warriors (those who disagree with what you say, usually just because they want to spread negativity).

Aligning Goals with Personal Values

With your goals set, you can now ensure that they align with your core values and passions. Authenticity is key in personal branding and your audience will appreciate the genuine representation of who you are.

Defining Your Target Audience

Importance of Knowing Your Audience

As I mentioned earlier, not everybody will like you or what you have to say and knowing how to reach those that will be difficult at first. See it as market research for a business where you dive deep into the audience’s pains, desires, dreams, and aspirations. Who do you align with the most?

Go deep into who your IFP (ideal follower profile) actually is. How old are they? What’s their gender? What are their interests and where do they go to learn? This clarity will guide your content creation and engagement strategies.

Crafting a Unique Brand Identity

Designing a Consistent Visual Style

With Instagram being an extremely visual platform, your communications must be consistent. From colors and fonts to layouts and posting frequency, you must have everything detailed to ensure audiences know that it’s you when you appear in their feed (even if they do not follow you).

Optimizing Your Instagram Profile

Writing an Engaging Bio

Now coming onto your profile on Instagram. Your bio and profile are like your identity card, people will scan the information to know who you are, what you do, and what kind of results you’ve gotten in the past. Keep your bio up to 3 lines maximum to avoid users having to click the “see more” in your bio. Don't forget a call-to-action (CTA) and a link to your website or other important content.

Choosing the Right Profile Picture

Your profile picture is often the first thing people notice, make sure it's clear, high-quality, and reflective of your brand. A friendly and approachable picture of you with a solid color background works best.

Utilizing Instagram Highlights

The story highlights feature is great for making key information appear at the top of your profile. Lifestyle, insights, results, before and afters, etc - there are many possibilities of things to share. Share a maximum of 5 highlights to avoid saturating your account and keep it clear, the more choice a person has, the less they are likely to choose something.

Creating High-Quality Content

Importance of Quality Content

1080p is the absolute minimum for social media, no matter the platform you decide to post on, your content must be clear, well-edited (if needed), and engaging for the viewer. This is a visual platform so quality content is non-negotiable. High-resolution images and a unique aesthetic attract followers and will keep them engaged.

Investing time to learn the fundamentals of photography and editing will propel you miles ahead of your competition.

Consistency is Key

Maintaining a Regular Posting Schedule

Just like everything else, how consistent you are is what will dictate your success. Showing up daily for 30 minutes will compound and over time the algorithm will see how active you are and automatically show your content to more people.

Create a content calendar if needed and stick to it, using Google Calendar, Outlook, or even a pen & paper works great. find your rhythm that works for you and your followers.

Engaging with Your Audience

Responding to Your Viewers

Content is king but engagement is queen. The interactions you get on your content must receive a response, whether it’s a comment, a follow, or a DM, replying to that person will make them feel seen and show that you’re here to build a loyal community.

Collaborating with Other Users

Finding the Right Collaborators

Collaborations can significantly boost your visibility and quickly expose you to more people in your target audience. Partner with creators and/or brands that align with your values. It's a win-win when both parties benefit from the exposure.

Conclusion

Building a personal brand on Instagram takes time and there is no secret to it. Show up consistently, share quality content that is valuable to your audience, be authentic (aka just be yourself), and engage with as many people as you can. After 2-3 months you will see yourself blown away by the attention you’re getting.