McKenna Bleu

Lifestyle, Interior Design & Motherhood

5 Ways To Improve Your Instagram Game

/ Lifestyle

the-lilypad

A cute wall, the perfect latte design, OMG sweater weather #ootd, or let’s take a pic of our cocktails bc it’s Friday at 3 and we don’t give a what?! Insert drink emoji. Whatever your Instagram game is, we can all agree on one thing: the struggle is real! I’m sharing my top five tips on how you can improve your IG game and have a normal life aside from your phone. Because we’ve all been “that girl” that couldn’t put the phone down, I’m here to remind you, life is too short!

1. Establish a theme:

Whether you are just starting your Instagram account or looking to improve your feed, the first step is establishing a theme. What does your desired look, feel and content consist of? I love bright colors, so I try to incorporate color into my feed as much as possible. I tend to use the same filter and editing technique in order to achieve a cohesive feel. Are you light and airy, edgy and sharp, black and white? Whatever the case is, I recommend finding a theme and sticking to it!

I get a ton of requests on what filters I use, so here are a few of my favorites:

FaceTune

PicTapGo

AfterLight

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2. Quality Content vs. Fluff: 

This took me some time to understand and I still sometimes struggle with it. I try to show people what they want. Finding out what they react well to is key. They tend not to give a flying flip about what I ate for lunch, evident in the amount of likes. If I post an outfit picture of me in the moment, before I’m heading out for the day or dinner, I get a ton of likes and I think to myself: Ok, this is what the people enjoy and relate to. Therefore, I try to capture those moments of my life rather than the others. Nonetheless, there are others that receive less likes, but I enjoy: Beautiful scenery, a fresh bouquet of flowers, or a glass of my favorite wine. Sure that may be considered fluff in context of my fashion-focus posts, but it’s just me. I think it’s important to realize the difference, and not getting discouraged when you choose quality vs. fluff. You decide what’s important to you and your brand and find a good balance.

 

3. Your Time is Valuable:

Maybe you have the perfect Instagram husband who will spend his whole day helping you master the perfect shot, I know I do not! I’m not saying Muff doesn’t help, but he has better things in life to do than slay over a photo for me and I love him for helping me realize this. No matter who helps you take the photo, their time is as valuable as yours! If you follow me, you know I’m a SUPER wing-it kind of chick, but this is where I actually try to make a game plan. The key is knowing beforehand what you need and factoring in all the variables. Do you need a full body shoot or a detail shot, what’s the focus, what location works well, and how is your lighting? I try to game-play my feed a day ahead so I can make a plan, get it done, and live a normal life unglued to my phone. Afterward, I can go to Muff like, I need you to take a full body shot of my outfit on this blue wall, when you get home from work. There is the plan, it takes two seconds, everyone is happy, then we eat pizza. Ha! Also, I use the app, Snug, which is a great resource to import your feed and see what the next photo will look like next to your last. This makes posting pretty simple especially for visual people like me.

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4. Stop Trying to Make Fetch Happen:

Haha No, but really, the key is to know when to give it up, girlfriend. Have you ever had an idea for a photo and you try, try and try some more to make it happen but shit is not working in your favor?? Yes….that’s when I say STOP trying to make Fetch Happen Gretchen! Move the eff on, give it up and usually it’s not even that great; you’re just trying too hard. I find myself doing this in new locations because it’s unfamiliar and I’m overly excited to share new content. I’m not saying it’s not worth a try; everything is worth a solid go. “You just have to know when to fold ‘em.”

5. Be Present, It’s a Damn Good Day:

I saved the best for last because I think it is SO important! Being a blogger, my life is consumed with social media and being “on” all the time is a part of the life. Knowing when to put your phone down is vital to maintaining a balance between work and personal life. Using my #3 & #4 rule comes into play for this one. Having a plan, not wasting time, and getting it done makes it possible to be successful while also enjoying the moment. My brother has always been so good at helping me find this balance. Prime example is at our favorite concerts. You get SO excited to record and capture everything, but you’re missing it all – it’s live, it’s happening right in front of you! If you wanted to watch it on video, save yourself some $$ and watch Youtube videos of it. Put your phone done and be present! Sure you want to share the moment, take a quick snap or grab a 10 sec clip of your favorite song on Snapchat but then put it away.

The truth is people enjoy looking at your feed, but are they going to die if you don’t share it all – NO! They are just bored like all of us and are just randomly scrolling to pass time. Harsh reality, you’re really not that important, even you Kim K!

At the end of the day, the concert you’ve been so excited about, the weekend getaway trip you saved up for, or whatever it is…did you REALLY get to embrace it? If not, stop and smell the roses.

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A few other important points to mention:

Take good photos

I can’t lie, first impressions are important! Instagram is all about photos, so make them good and you’ll have a profile worth visiting! Quality is important. No one wants to scroll through a feed of blurry, unfocused photos! Take a variety of different photos! Don’t be in all the shots, vary your the focus of you photos!

Engage your followers

Followers love when you reach out them! Nothing can hurt by commenting back and engaging with your followers! Instagram creates a place for you and your followers to connect. Make it a two-sided relationship!

Share the love

You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Works the same with increasing your comments and likes, make a point to support your fellow IG accounts. With Instagram changing everyday and our profiles not being shared like before it’s hard to keep the engagement up. I don’t know the answer for solving this problem but I do know, sharing a little extra love can only help!

Hopefully these tips can help you with your IG game. I know we all have different views of this crazy social media world. This is how I mix my passion for my job and try to live a normal life along with it! I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you have any other tips to share??

 

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xo, McKenna

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Megan McQueen says

    Such a great post, girl! I always try to write out a “rough draft” of my Instagram posts for the week on Sunday! This has helped me out so much! Definitely going to try out the Snug app you mentioned!

  5. Lindsay Emow says

    #5 YAS YAS YAS! It is so hard something to just put down the lenses and actually enjoy yourself without worrying about capturing every moment. I have the hardest time with this one but definitely working on getting better!
    XoLindsay
    http://www.champagneandbluejeans.com

  11. Sarah K says

    OMG! This post is truly wonderful haha. I was laughing and saying “Amen!” while reading it! True and honest, yes the struggle is real.. especially for us newbie bloggers trying to find the balance and figure it allll out. Thanks Mckenna!!

  12. Victoria says

    Love this post! I recently starting rebranding my Insta and not only have I seen a lot more engagement on my page and clicks through to my site, but I enjoy posting more now because it all flows! I am definitely going to have to get better at planning ahead, but I downloaded Planoly and I’m so pumped to use it! Great tips!

    xx Victoria
    http://www.strungingold.com

  17. Kristy says

    Thanks for the tips girl! You are so right on! And I think more than anything it took me a while to learn that it all just takes time. You aren’t going to get 20K good followers over night. Keep at it, follow the tips you mentioned above and it really can work!
    xx – Kristy
    http://www.naturallyclassique.com

  20. Lisa says

    I love this post it really puts things into perspective!! Yes we MUST put down our phones and enjoy the moment. I’m in love with your IG feed it’s amazing and inspirational! Keep up the fabulous work. Also helps that you’re gorgeous and your photos are on point!!

  27. adriana says

    I LOVE your Insta feed so I was so excited that you wrote this post! Having a plan is such a great and important tip!!

  31. Chelsea says

    Omg McKenna! I was so excited when I saw you shared this post on Facebook bc you are my favorite fashion blogger on IG. Not only do I love your feed, but I think another reason why you are so successful is because you are not a conceited asshole. You are REAL, funny, and have an awesome personalty. I’ve unfollowed even the most gorgeous feeds because the person themselves annoys me. lol. Love ya girl!

    • McKenna says

      Haha there are enough conceited assholes in the world already girl! Thanks for your support girl!! Xoxo

  37. Emily says

    Thanks for keeping it real girl!! I genuinely appreciate and enjoy your honesty and humor. And of course your colorful feed!

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