Today, digital content is available everywhere we look. Companies are trying to fight through the digital clutter to capture the interest of potential consumers. One of the most successful companies building engaged communities is Instagram. With millions of content creators, Instagram has been able to track the interest of its consumers to successfully monetize its services. One of the most successful up-and-coming influencers as of this moment is Jadestip_.
Jadestip_ is a great example of this new generation of social media influencers. With great attention to the details of the social media platform to capture audience interest, Jadestip_ is successfully creating the digital content audience she wants for social media. This digital content attracts brands and gives valuable insights into social media marketing for aspiring social media creators.
Jadestip_ provides great insights into what successful marketing looks like for social media. With millions of posts to sift through daily, users need to capture the attention of the consumers. With effective visuals, great social and marketing strategies, successful creators like Jadestip_ are able to be successful through the use of social media.
This guide will help you identify which of her photos fuel her growth, which engagement methods keep her audience interested, and the resources required to reproduce her success. Regardless of whether you are a fashion blogger or a tiny business owner, these methods will assist you in growing instead of just scrolling.
Best Photos: Resonating Themes
While watching an Instagram account perform well in the lifestyle niche, you can tell they aren’t just posting every now and then. There is a method to each and every grid update. Consistency in theme, and editing, as in Jadestip_’s feed, is a good way to build a personal brand.
1. The “Effortless” Fashion Shot
Most lifestyle feeds contain fashion content, and the ones that perform best have content that seems lived in and staged, not forced. Rather than stiff poses and bland walls, successful creators, such as Jadestip_, catch outfits in motion.
- The Vibe: Candid, street-style energy. It says, “I just threw this on and looked great.”
- Composition Tip: Avoid over-posing, and use natural light. Walking away from the camera or looking down at a phone can make the shot feel more authentic.
- Why it works: It gives followers the opportunity to visualize themselves in the clothes, which makes the content more “saveable,” a crucial factor for the Instagram algorithm.
2. The Internet’s Favorite Content: Relatable “Day in the Life”
While there are followers that appreciate the curated aesthetics of the feed, the polished versions of everything do not allow for connection. When content includes elements like a coffee run or a messy desk, it adds a layer of depth to the creator and humanizes them.
- The Vibe: Intimate and unpolished (but still aesthetic of course).
- Composition Tip: Detail shots. A close up of a cool watch or a flat lay of some daily items is always going to perform a wide shot of a whole scene. It makes the view feel more like it is exclusively for them.
- Why it works: It builds trust. When followers see the real person behind the screen, they are more likely to engage with the content.
3. High-Contrast Aesthetic
Designing a feed to have a consistent style and editing is highly indicative of most modern creators. A great example of this is for Jadestip_ where the “noir” or high-contrast aesthetic is a great example of adding some extra depth and sophistication.
- The Vibe: Cinematic and bold.
- Editing Style: Rich in texture, deep black, and slightly desaturated.
- Why it works: It stops the scroll. It is easy to fall into the trend of bright and pastel colors like a lot of other creators, but going with a more dark and moody style sets you apart. It is a great way to make a visual signature.
Engagement is All About Building a Community, Not a Following
Engagement is the key to being able to grow your account. Talk to your audience. Keep users on the app to maximize your potential with the algorithm and increase your engagement the right way.
Respond to Every Comment
McGuire believes that community management is one of the most impactful activities for growing a community because of the engagement that she receives. Stay online, especially within the first 30 minutes of your post, and respond to comments.
- The Strategy: Don’t just say “thanks!” Ask a question back. If someone compliments your outfit, tell them where you got it or ask what their favorite brand is.
- The Result: This doubles the comment count and signals to the algorithm that your post is sparking a conversation, pushing it out to more people.
Try Hook Captions
The days of using a single emoji as a caption are fading. To drive engagement, you need to give people a reason to stop and read.
- The Strategy: Start with a hook. This could be a controversial opinion (“Unpopular opinion: Skinny jeans are back”), a vulnerable story, or a direct question.
- The Result: Longer dwell time. The longer someone spends reading your caption, the more valuable Instagram thinks your post is.
Use Stories As a More Personal, Real Time Connection Form
Stories are the complete opposite of polished feed posts. They are raw and real and designed to engage your audience. Use Stories where your audience can actively participate, like Polls, Slider Questions, and Q&As.
- The Strategy: Use Stories to post a daily outfit poll.
- The Audience: Trains them to engage and interact with your content. Audience engagement with Stories bumps your Posts to the front of their feed.
Success Looks Like Real-Life Examples
We can’t see private analytics, but we can see visible success patterns in the creator economy. Now, let’s see how these principles are applied to real posts.
The Golden Hour Glow Up Posts
Good lighting is everything and one of the best, top engagement time posts are ones where the creator shot the content during the golden hour, the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset.
- The Shot: The creator is backlit by the sun, creating a soft and dreamy halo effect.
- The Tactic: Combining mental health quotes or positive affirmations with these kinds of images tend to yield good results, due to the positive nature of the photo and the sentiment expressed in the caption.
The Carousel Dump
The “photo dump,” a nearly genocidal practice, is perhaps the highlight of non-sustainability culture in Gen Z and Millennial influencers and in the eco system of Instagram. It’s a whole carousel where you upload anywhere between 4 to 10 images, with most of them having nothing to do with one another. Just a snapshot of the week.
- The Shot: A high-quality selfie, with a muted image of some food, a low-quality meme, and a blurry candid shot, all mixed together.
- The Tactic: The audience is encouraged to mistype numbers as means of “swiping” to increase the count of the “impressions.” This helps increase their time “spent” scrolling, even with organic time. The rounded numbers, and swiping to view images, feels authentic, and tends to perform better due to the increase of surface level “engagement.”
Tools and Resources to Level Up Your Game
You can reach Jadestip_– level feeds without hiring a professional photographer. You only need a proper toolkit.
Editing Apps
- VSCO / Tezza: For filtering your images and maintaining a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing profile.
- Snapseed: If you want to do some precise edits, like remove an object from the background and then shadow some of the photo that is darker than the rest.
- Lightroom Mobile: Generally, the standard for color grading is “Lightroom.” If you like the color grading that some influencers use, you can always buy “presets” from them.
Planning Tools
- Planoly / Later: Use these platforms to schedule in posts to plan your feed before you post. Use the grid to move around posts and see how posts look next to each other. This ensures that posts are visually appealing.
Engagement Trackers
- Flick: This is a useful app for finding hashtags that are relevant to your posts but are less competitive.
- Instagram Insights: Valuable, built-in data that should not go ignored. Identify posts that received the greatest number of saves and shares and use that to guide your content strategy.
Conclusion: Authenticity is the Ultimate Strategy
Accounts like Jadestip_ show that there are no shortcuts to growing your Instagram. To build a successful presence on the platform, you must be visually consistent, engage your followers, and most importantly, show a little personality.
Without a personal touch, all your beautiful photography and editing skills might go to waste, and your audience engagement will be lacking. Keep social standards, but use the comments to show the audience your personality.
Next time you are engrossed in the content of your favorite creator, take a moment to observe the content. Design your content for your audience based on your observations of how other great content creators engage their audience. Ask yourself if your audience will like, save, and engage in your content.
