(Update on November 14, 2021 at 9:00AM PT: This blog post was published in 2019. For up-to-date information, please download our guide on how businesses can make the most of Instagram.)

Read this guide for tips on how you can create content consistently and build a brand for your business on Instagram.

Maintaining a consistent look and voice across your photos and videos is important to build your brand on Instagram. Keep your look and voice consistent with these 4 tips:

Take a closer look at the aesthetic you’ve already created for your business on and off Instagram. If you feature a specific color scheme in your physical products, logo, website or physical store, incorporate that palette throughout your posts.

Use a consistent color palette across photos and videos.

For example, take a look at how @blooms_france features pink hues through their grid. You can even use the eyedrop tool in stories to get colors that match your products.

Take photos and videos that have a consistent theme.

Think about how you can take photos or videos in a very distinct way, so that your community recognizes your posts right away. For instance, you can regularly post bird-eye shots or share before and after shots.

Whether it’s through captions, responses to comments, or Direct when messaging specific people in your community, maintain a consistent tone when speaking to people on Instagram.

Creating content consistently can feel challenging, especially if you are already busy running your business. Planning your posts and stories in advance with a content calendar can help with this.

Take a look at this sample content calendar that a restaurant created. Download a PDF version of a content calendar you can use here.

Here is how you can use the content calendar above:

In the content calendar above, identify overarching themes.

Think about the type of posts you want your business to share, like behind-the-scenes coverage or product shots. This way, you can remember to incorporate those themes through your photos and videos. For instance, @blooms_france likes to promote the theme of DIY, so they regularly create videos of DIY projects.

Determine the best visual format and type to convey your message.

Consider all your options — carousel posts to get people swiping through your photos and videos, stories to capture real-time moments, videos to grab people’s attention, and more — to make sure you get your message across.

Compose your captions ahead of sharing your content.

This way, you can just copy and paste the caption when the time comes to share your post or story. Don’t forget to include hashtags to reach more people.

Determine when you’re going to share posts or stories, depending on your business’ calendar. Don’t forget to also set a date for when you will have all the visuals ready. Make sure to also integrate any holidays that your community may be celebrating. @blooms_france, for instance, planned a series of posts for the Christmas season.

You can shoot a specific number of photos or stories each day, carve time do it all at once, or both.

When Bloom’s customers receive their bouquets, they get tutorial videos on how to arrange their bouquets. Bloom’s creates these videos themselves. “We have a very small set up because we want to promote the DIY side of the business,” Bloom’s founder, Clement Roussel, said. “And we create the content ourselves every week, every day.”

Here are things that you can consider including at your in-home studio: