Here at Hip & Healthy, we are self-confessed instagram addicts. We take pride in posting photos to instagram that we hope will inspire you to be the best versions of yourselves and we love keeping up to date with what our friends all over the world are up to. We often get asked about how we built up our strong social media following, so after numerous requests, we thought it was about time to fill you in on a few of our secrets. Read on for the lowdown…
- Consistency is key
The best instagram accounts are those that have a consistent theme or colour scheme throughout that inspires you to keep scrolling. For example, accounts that focus on healthy eating and fitness or on style and fashion, or that have a colour scheme – check out @basebodybabes for this – all their pictures are light, beautiful and focused around health – a winning formula (they have 578k followers and counting!).
- Take the Aussie’s lead
It is no secret that the BEST accounts out there belong to the Australians. So beautiful are their accounts that we want to live in them, and often find ourselves wondering if they all took classes in instagram as part of their syllabus. Well, we have an Aussie in our office and she confirms they did not. So what is it that makes them so great? Three things… 1.Their feeds are consistent (see point one!), 2. They never post a bad photo – nothing is out of focus, pixilated or lit badly, and 3. They are not afraid to play around with cropping and framing… which leads me to…
- Top of the Crops
When it comes to framing your subject try thinking outside the box – instead of placing a smoothie bowl in the centre, try it slightly off centre and maybe not fitting in the whole frame. When taking selfies, don’t assume you need to get your entire head, face, neck and shoulders in – some of the best selfies have the subjects forehead cropped out – check it out next time you’re scrolling insta.
- Go Pro with Props
Never underestimate the value of a prop. It can turn a mundane glass of water into a refreshing jug of hydrating goodness (enter lemons, mint, beautiful jug and marble surface). Stock up on props that you think will compliment your photos – and you don’t need them to always appear entirely in the frame, props work best when they look natural and don’t steal the limelight.
- The power of the #Hashtag
When used wisely, the hashtag can be a powerful thing. Instagram now includes the number of times a certain hashtag has been used when you search for it, and lists other popular similar hashtags below. This is brilliant as it helps you understand which hashtags are particularly popular and therefore, most searched for. Plus it also shows you a few that you hadn’t perhaps realized were searched for yet totally relate to your type of feed.
Now, whilst we know we have a strong insta-following, we quizzed our friend Mckel over at @nutritionstripped who currently boasts a whopping 193K about her top tip for insta-success…
“Be you. Simple as that! Find your unique style, content, and post just that- own your uniqueness! And remember, it’s just social media. Don’t take it too seriously, real life always trumps social media.”
Happy posting!
Words by Sadie Reid
Follow our favourite top healthy Instagram accounts here
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