What Belongs (and doesn't belong) on Your Instagram Grid

For many of my clients and the women in my world - their Instagram grid (all the squares of pictures that you see when you go to someone's profile) is a bit of a mystery.

What should they put on there?

How do they use it to sell?

How can they make it look good?

I've created some do's and don'ts for you, that I hope are helpful! I'll explain each below.

What does it mean to niche down? All it really means is to decide WHO you are talking to, so that you can curate content that serves them. This will make your content creation so much easier because you can literally create with them in mind ...always asking yourself - does this serve my audience?

This might be an unpopular opinion, but it comes back to - Instagram is not the same as FB. Birthday shoutouts, anniversaries, etc - those don't have a place on the grid. Your ideal customer doesn't care. Save that for your stories, where you connect on a personal level.

You want to offer value to your audience - create the kinds of posts that leaves people coming back for more! You want to be an account that they seek out because they get something from it. One of the ways to be that, is to create Content Pillars that you are knowledgable about, and teach on those subjects. That's value.

Nothing will get people to run the other way faster than a grid full of company graphics! This screams - "buy my stuff, buy my stuff" So for the most part I recommend staying away from products on your grid - unless they're photos of you with the products, or the products are in the background. But - let's not make it the focus of the grid.

Another way to offer value on your grid (other than focusing on educating, or in addition to educating) is to entertain your audience. This will get them coming back for more, and get them to share your content into their stories too. (which can help with growth)

Your grid is for YOUR content. End of story. Even if this means that you need to take a piece of content and recreate it to become your own.

Bring people on a journey with you. Facts sell, stories sell is so so true. When your audience connects to you (and this it the goal with our social media strategy) and you bring them into your world with a story - this story will give you a platform to sell.

Just some final tips!

• You need to show your face - if not in your grid, then in your stories for sure.
• Ideally your grid has some aesthetic appeal. This can be through a pattern or a colour palette.
• Hop into the video & reel trend, that content is pushed out further.
• Be consistent!

Let me know if you've been making any of these mistakes, or if you have any questions about what fits inside an Instagram grid!

Above all else, have fun! Social media is meant to be fun!