Ever stumbled across an Instagram feed that made you stop, stare, and exhale a breathy ‘wow’ because it looked so dang good? Chances are it made such an impact on you because the brand or creator in question had nailed down a brand-aligned, aesthetically pleasing Instagram theme.
This is a smart move for many reasons. A well-curated theme can help build brand recognition, make your content seem more shareable, attract your target audience, and bring your eye-catching brand identity to life. It’s a no-brainer for brands looking to level up their Insta game and bleed all the hard design work they’re doing in other areas across onto social media.
So, how do you figure out what your brand’s Instagram theme should be, and how do you bring it to life on your feed? We’ve got all the hot tips to help you out. Keep reading to learn more about how to create a unique Instagram theme, and spy on some great work from brands and creators we love on Instagram.
What is an Instagram theme?
An Instagram theme is a carefully curated aesthetic that spans all your feed posts, so that when a user clicks on your profile, they get a clear and cohesive visual picture of your brand.
In the early days of influencing, the theme was king – and it wasn’t unusual to spend hours poring over your Instagram photos to make sure they’d slot in perfectly with the rest of your grid. While social media personalities tend to have a more laissez-faire approach to their feeds now, for brands, Instagram themes are still super relevant.
Viral drink brand Poppi’s maximalist Instagram theme is the perfect compliment to their quirky yet laid-back vibe.
Why should you build a recognizable Instagram theme for your brand?
While it might take a little bit of effort, posting with a clear visual strategy on Instagram will help build your brand’s identity and reputation – fast.
Here are a few of the many benefits of curating a theme on Instagram, including:
- Double-down on your brand awareness so you’re instantly recognizable to customers. Studies tell us that 60% of users discover new products on Instagram, so it pays to be both visible and distinctive on the platform.
- Stand out from your competitors on socials, where the market is undoubtedly crowded. There are 200 million businesses active on Instagram – could a stunning theme help you set yours apart from the rest?
- Establish a strong visual identity for your brand that can be used across all channels, such as your other social media feeds, your website, and your marketing collateral.
- Increase the ‘shareability’ of your posts through cohesive and reliable visuals.
How to build a unique Instagram theme: step-by-step guide
Step 1. Conduct competitor and audience research
Before you start developing an engaging Instagram theme, it’s important to get the lay of the land through competitor analysis. Figure out what your competitors are doing and how they’re using Instagram themes to convey their brand identity. As you scroll, you might notice some trends appear, or spy a visual gap in the market that your brand’s social media feeds could fill.
You should also research your target audiences to learn more about their likes, dislikes, and where they spend their time and money. Different aesthetics will resonate with different audience groups, and there’s no point in carefully tailoring a feed to appeal to Gen Z when you’re actually trying to attract baby boomers!
Plann Tip: We recommend reviewing a broad range of affinity brands for your target audiences, and seeing whether any Instagram theme trends emerge that you could incorporate into your own aesthetics.
Step 2. Clarify your brand identity
Once you’re solid on what works within your niche and for your audience, it’s time to get clear on your brand’s visual identity. By ‘visual identity’ (AKA brand identity), we mean the collective aesthetic of your brand that extends across each element of your marketing, from your website to packaging, signage, digital advertising and beyond.
Your visual identity is made up of crucial elements that work together to establish your unique position in the market. These elements include your color scheme, fonts, logos, branded graphics, and visual devices.
Whatever aesthetic you choose for your Instagram theme, it should always be reflective of your brand identity. Without cohesion across your marketing channels, you put your brand at risk of appearing messy, unprofessional, vague, and inauthentic.
Instead, strive to create an Instagram theme that heroes your fonts, color palettes, and other elements in a way that’s consistent with the rest of your marketing collateral. Repeat after us: strong visual guidelines build memorable brands!
Step 3. Get inspired by Instagram theme ideas
Now for the fun part—getting inspired! As if you haven’t trawled enough Instagram feeds already, whip out your phone and get to stalking some other brands.
After a quick scroll, you’ll probably notice a few common aesthetics pop up. Let’s explore a few of our favorite Instagram theme ideas.
The Monochrome Theme
Hero your primary brand color (ya know, the one that’s on all your packaging or splashed across your website) in your Instagram theme by opting for a monochrome feed. Most of your posts should incorporate a pop of this color in some way, whether it’s the background of a text post or a small element in a photo.
Go-To Skincare have got their Instagram theme down-pat, with pops of perky peach reflected across all of their posts
Aussie skincare brand Go-To does this incredibly well, to the point where their main brand color has been affectionately dubbed ‘Go-To peach’ by the community, and they have a monopoly on any shade of orangey-pink within the skincare niche.
The Minimalist Theme
Gone are the days of low-saturation filters and black and white grids – but that doesn’t mean you can’t curate a minimalist Instagram theme in 2024. Instead of removing color altogether, think of minimalism as a clean, uncluttered feed with few visual elements.
Understated and effortlessly cool, Ellison Studios has one of our favorite minimalist Instagram theme pages.
Luxury furniture brand Ellison Studios is embracing minimalism in a unique, smart way on Instagram. They use a simple color palette and don’t overcomplicate their feed with visual devices, graphics, or even text. All their images are photos that let their classic furniture pieces shine.
The Filtered Theme
If using one color isn’t your jam, create a cohesive Instagram theme with a uniform filter. This is a popular choice for influencers because it toes the line between ‘personality’ and ‘brand’. Using the same filter across your photos creates consistency and subtly builds your personal brand recognition whilst still maintaining an authentic, relatable feel.
Monica Roams keeps her Instagram theme consistent by using the same bright, saturated filters across all her incredible travel pics.
We love how travel influencer Monica Roams uses oversaturation and warm hues to create a bright, welcoming Instagram theme. While every photo or Reel includes different colors, they all have a similar feel because of the harmonious way they’re edited.
The Text Post Theme
Trying to help your audience become smarter, better at what they do, or more informed? The text post Instagram theme could help you get your point across. Abundantly used by news companies and creators trying to ‘show not tell’, text posts visualize written information in a brand-aligned way for shareability and resonance.
Matt Bernstein’s clever text post-based Instagram theme helps cement his brand and establish authority without compromising on engagement.
Political commentator Matt Bernstein (@mattxiv) proves that a text post-based feed doesn’t have to be one-note. His brand identity is beautiful, drawing on shades of pink, blue, and purple, and uses fun pops of color, black and white photos, and shape outlines to create visual interest.
Plann Tip: Take screenshots as you sift through Instagram and use them to build a moodboard for your theme using Canva or Photoshop. Once you’ve collected a few faves, it’ll be easy to identify the overarching aesthetics you like and incorporate them into your own Instagram theme.
Step 4. Build your own eye-catching Instagram feed templates
Feeling inspired to channel your brand’s aesthetic into an engaging Instagram theme? With your research complete and a solid idea of your visual identity, you’re ready to execute.
Depending on the type of content you post, we recommend creating a handful of adaptable social media templates on Canva. Not only does this take all the guesswork out of showing up on Instagram, but it also guarantees a consistent feed.
Create beautiful social media templates on Canva without leaving the Plann desktop app by using our seamless Plann x Canva integration. Simply open up Plann for desktop and log into your Canva account. You’ll be able to create your designs before uploading them directly to Plann to schedule. Technology’s a marvel, isn’t it?
Step 5. Plan ahead to curate an eye-catching, cohesive Instagram theme
With your theme locked in, all there’s left to do is replicate! To guarantee you don’t fall off the wagon, aim to batch content in advance using your new social media templates.
If you want to make things a little easier, we’ve got a suite of tools that can help you strategize, visualize, and schedule your content way ahead of time. Within Plann, you’ll find features to smooth the content creation process, including:
- Instagram planning tools: Use our drag-and-drop functionality to envision your new post amongst your Instagram feed, week at a glance to see what’s coming up, and mobile view to check everything aligns on your device.
- Social media scheduling: No time to post? No problem. Schedule everything in and Plann will auto-post it for you so you can keep your Instagram momentum going. We’ll even add hashtags in your first comment.
- Marketing calendars: Ditch the spreadsheets and keep everything in the one place with our built-in marketing calendar view, which lets you easily filter by platform or campaign, and shuffle posts around to stay agile.
- Strategic support: Whether you need content ideas in a hurry, are trying to organize your thoughts, or want to dig deep into your performance, we’ve got your back.
Level up your social media marketing game with Plann
Whether you’re struggling to keep up with the fast-paced nature of social media or simply want to devote more time to growing your business and focusing on those tasks that take place offline, Plann’s range of features is sure to help save you time with an automated social media strategy.
From AI-generated captions to cross-posting, analytics, hashtags and more, Plann can help you maintain a consistent posting schedule while you remain focused on business growth. We even auto-post your Instagram Reels to take the hassle out of growing organically on the platform!
Go on, and redeem your 7-day free trial of Plann Plus. If you don’t like it, keep using Plann for free!
