10 Ways To Up Your Instagram Game

Wanting to up your Instagram game? I sat down with Farnaz Forooz, the face behind @farnananaz, to ask her for tips to keep your Instagram double-tap-worthy.

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Wanting to up your Instagram game? I sat down with Naz, the face behind @farnananaz to find out how!

This is Naz. She currently has 135, 000 followers and makes a living off social media. But how did this beauty build her brand? We asked her for tips to keeping your Instagram double-tap-worthy.

1. Keep up with the trends

Following trends is a useful way to ensure your content does not – quite literally – go out of style. Naz says: ‘I started keeping up to date with what was relevant, what the styles were, and just started posting stuff related to the latest trends.’ This keeps your audience interested and your Instagram ahead of the game!

2. Show off that personality

‘It’s super important to bring across a personality on Instagram,’ Naz advises. But how can you do that with just photos? Naz does it by interacting with her followers through comments, likes and messages. ‘It’s important to keep up to date with your followers … people may like the photos you produce, which is what causes them to follow you, but what makes them stay is your personality and how you come across.’

Mm-hmm, preach it.

3. Know your brand

Brand, what brand? You of course! An integral part of building any brand is formulating an image and deciding who your audience is, and your Instagram is no exception. As Naz points out: ‘You need to establish what you’re promoting, and whether who you are is relevant to what you’re promoting. If you’re not a big fan of makeup but you want to post makeup videos because it’s trendy, it’s not going to work for you much because it’ll show through eventually.’

‘It’s super important to know what your brand is … if you can’t tell someone what your Instagram is about, then something is off.’

4. Reach out to companies

When you begin promoting on Instagram, you are just a small fish in a big, over-crowded pond. To become noticed, you need to initiate the contact!

‘Not a lot of companies will reach out to you initially. You have to do that … my tip is to keep going and not give up, because it’s a good way to start. It’s a good way to get yourself out there and let yourself be known to companies. Once you have a decent track of company affiliations and collaborations, that’s when you’ll start receiving emails about whether you’d like to be affiliated,’ Naz says.

5. As for editing, keep your images simple!

‘You can edit to your heart’s desire, but make sure it’s simple … and can reflect what it truly looks like in real life. My favorite apps at the current moment are Afterlight and VSCO.’ What’s more, if you over-edit it can alter the colours of your make-up. Suddenly your peach tones look bright orange!

6. Know your lighting and angles

Her tips for lighting: ‘If you’re taking a photo outdoors, make sure it’s overcast. Or else the sun will produce a shadow over your face and make you look super hidden. If you’re indoors, make sure it’s brightly lit up…’ Naz also suggests finding an uncomplicated background that doesn’t have too many colours.

As for camera angles, she says it’s about what you’re confident with. ‘I suggest playing around with poses in the mirror and knowing what angle and what pose looks good on you.’

7. Find your theme

Find it, and stick to it! Experiment with colours, lighting and angles, and subjects to create an aesthetic that looks good. Start it small, by finding just one thing that is the same, or similar, in your posts. Then work on expanding it from there. ‘If you’re planning to build a brand from Instagram itself, it has to be presented well.’

8. Don’t be afraid of competition!

Naz says that despite the number of Instagrammers all aiming for the same goal, it doesn’t lower your chances at succeeding! There will always be someone with more followers or a better camera. That’s okay! You do you, and you’ll do great.

9. Support other Instagrammers

Furthermore, support your fellow Instagrammers! ‘Like their photos, share their content if you like it, and just be proud of one another. If you take @HudaBeauty for instance, her brand grew even more when she started sharing videos from makeup artists, and all the different things she found fascinating … now she has 18.5 million followers.’ Be a team player!

10. Stop comparing yourself

Comparing yourself to others on Instagram helps no one. ‘Everyone looks different. Everyone produces different content. It can be hard seeing all these talented people all over Instagram, and it can make you self-conscious. This is coming from someone who would always feel like she had to keep up with these people. Just remind yourself that everyone looks different, you don’t have to look like anything but you.’