Creative Ways To Use Photos On Instagram In 2023
While Instagram announced that they are no longer prioritizing photos as their main content type, there’s still a lot of room for them in your content strategy.
Especially when you’re building a personal brand and you want to create that consistent look and feel for your brand, photos are a key element to that. Plus, your website still requires high-quality photos, and you might wanna take your own so you don’t have to use overused stock images.
With that being said, you might have heard about personal branding photos. These are branded photos that you can use on social media and your website, that represent your business. Personal branding photos are a great way to show what you do and show people a little glimpse into your personality.
Why you need to get creative
Listen, let’s not going sit here and ignore the fact that Instagram announced they were prioritizing video format. We all know things changing, and fast! But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other ways to utilise your photos on the platform.
Like I said I still really believe in the power of personal branding photos to elevate your client experiences on your website and on your social media, and to streamline your business processes in order to make your life easier.
Keep reading for a quick run through all the different locations to use your personal branding photos on Instagram.
Creative ways to use your photos on Instagram
Reels
Reels have been one of the most popular features on Instagram, and for good reason… As our attention spans get shorter, we crave shorter forms of entertainment.
And reels are a truly powerful way to reach new audiences and also show up as a leader and an expert in your niche.
So let’s break down how you can use photos specifically in a video format such as Reels.
Voice over
The first way to use your photos and a video format is to create a voice over. so this is a great way to Showcase your process if you're a service provider for example, you could upload some photos of yourself and then explain what you do.
To give you an example, if you are a business coach, you can show new audiences the process that you take your clients through. You could have a first step being your onboarding call, the second step welcoming them into your offer and then the third step showcasing how they will feel after your program.
And feel free to get creative with this and add your brand elements to make it a lot more specific to you. I will make another post on brand elements because they can be really really useful to be top of mind for your audience, even when you're not in the room (which ensures that people invest in you rather than someone else).
Synch photos with music
The second way that you can use your photos in a video format is by synching the photos with music. You can find examples of this when you look at trending sounds that are synched with a set of photos.
Again, feel free to get creative to showcase what you do, who you are, tell your story, explain how you help your clients and what you do differently than others in your industry.
There are so many ways that you can use photos synced to sound to create a video.
This works well when you are a photographer or someone who works with visual elements, like a graphic designer. But with a little creativity, this trick can be adapted to work for any industry.
Cover images for lives/videos/reels
The next way to use your photos on Instagram is as covers for your videos and reels. This is especially useful when you like to have a cohesive feed. It also makes it much easier to keep your branding consistent across different types of content.
You could upload your photos into a editing platform light canva and then create your covers by adding the photo and some text. This way, so that people who come across your page know exactly what to expect when they click on a certain video.
Story Backgrounds
Another way that you can use photos on Instagram is in your stories. Specifically you can use photos as story background songs to make them more interesting and capture people's attention.
You could create something called that pattern interrupt where you have the first two stories in your day where you actually show your face and talk to the camera, then upload a photo on top of which you write your to-do list, and then go back to face to cam.
A pattern interrupt is a great way to keep people engaged longer, which is great for the Instagram algorithm to show your content to more people.
Posts / Carousels
Lastly, a more traditional way of using your photos on Instagram is obviously posting photos on your feed or using them in carousels.
Even though Instagram is prioritizing video, posts and especially carousels are an incredible tool to show your knowledge and help solve your audience’s problem.
And when people scroll through your carousel, that still counts as engagement! This means this is another great way to grow on Instagram and get discovered, because as people scroll, Instagram pushes your post out to more people.
Post and carousels are also a great way to show what you do and build that connection and trust with your audience.
So now what?
As you saw in this post, there are still plenty of ways for you to use brand photos on your Instagram. Even though the platform constantly changes and you’re always going to need to adapt, that's just another opportunity for all of us to get creative and make the most out of the situations we are in.
When you are feeling a little overwhelmed by all the changes try to find a way to make it more fun. The key to making your content more entertaining and magnetic is to match your energy with what your brand stands for.
Plus, these new formats don't mean you have to go changing up your entire contents strategy. They are simply an addition to your strategy that you can slowly implement at your own pace and find your way into them.
Hopefully this post was helpful to you! Don’t forget to save it to Pinterest so that you can come back to it at any time. And if you want daily tips and a look behind the scenes of building an aligned brand and getting rid of the resistance to showing up, come join my community on Instagram. I look forward to seeing you over there.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hi there, I’m Dorothea!
I am a personal branding photographer and mentor for ambitious female entrepreneurs, who are ready to take their business and life to the next level.
My mission is to help my clients highlight their uniqueness so that they can stand out in the online space, and start attracting those dream clients.
My wish is to help my clients create a business that is aligned with their values, so they can do work they love and have the freedom to live the life they’ve always dreamed of.
