For our next Explore Instagram post, we’ll discuss how to think big picture when planning your Instagram posts – and by big picture, we mean the Instagram grid layout.
When you stumble upon a new Instagram account, what is the first thing you do? You probably glance at the bio and then start heavily scrolling through their Instagram grid layout looking for a few posts that are worthy of your double tap. You most likely click on a video or two because videos naturally reveal more than images. If the grid layout design is visually pleasing, maybe you even follow the account.
The important thing to note is that your Instagram grid layout is one of the first things people see when they visit your profile, and the last thing they see before they decide to follow you, or not. So, make your grid layout design stand out!
1. Design your Instagram grid layout
Your grid layout will be unique to your brand because of the contents of your posts. But it’s important to remember that each square video post plays a role in your overall grid layout design.
Wibbitz has a world-class media library of over 110 million photos, videos, and music to choose from when developing Instagram grid posts. Because of our vast library of content, we decided to create a grid layout based on color for the Wibbitz Instagram. This means the colors of our square posts will gradually change as you scroll through our Instagram grid. A colorful Instagram grid layout like this requires a little more strategic planning, but the end result will keep your followers coming back for more.
There are plenty of resources out there that can help you plan your grid layout design. Preview enables creators to plan their grid layout designs in advance with their drag and drop post organization feature. Find out what grid layout design works best for your brand with Preview.
2. Create your square videos
According to Later, the Instagram algorithm now calculates how long followers spend viewing your post as a way to determine whether other Instagram users might also want to engage with your content. Now, on top of creating beautiful and engaging content, brands also have to strategize ways to stop users from scrolling past their posts. Videos naturally take longer to consume than images, which makes them the ideal way for brands to increase the time spent on posts.
Square videos are the best format for Instagram because your videos will appear the same in your feed as they do in your grid layout. When uploading videos in landscape and portrait formats, your video will look great in your feed, but Instagram will distort the cover photo in your grid layout and make your overall design look messy and unplanned.
Basic Video Guidelines For Instagram:
Square video resolution: 600 x 600
Square video aspect ratio: 1:1
Max video file size: 4GB
Max video length: 60 seconds
Max video frames: 30fps
Video formats: .MP4 and .MOV
3. Don’t forget the cover photo
Instagram gives you the opportunity to choose the cover photo for a video before posting it to your brand’s grid. This step can sometimes get overlooked, however, choosing the right cover photo can make or break your Instagram grid layout design.
Think about what frame of the video best represents your brand’s grid design the best, i.e. text, color, subjects etc. When it comes to your Instagram grid layout, consistency is the key to capturing your audience’s attention.
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