Nine Squares

Should you care about your top 9 or the Instagram grid?

I have thought about this for an obscene amount of time for something that exists nowhere in actual life. I think about my client’s Instagram grids more than I think about the actual decor in my physical house that I sit in while playing with photos on my phone.

I do truly wonder: Is it worth it?

First off: When I talk about the Instagram grid or your top 9, I’m referring to the last 9 photos you posted as they are displayed on your profile page. They make a tidy square and are usually the photos people look at to decide whether or not they want to follow you.

The goal for those top 9 photos is to coordinate well with each other. This is accomplished by varying the photo’s perspective but keeping to the same general color palette. If you have branded your business, this is easy because you have already determined your brand colors and often some secondary colors.

What this accomplishes is two-fold: 1) Your grid looks visually pleasing and 2) if someone is scrolling, they could recognize a photo as coming from you without even looking at the account name. We have one second – literally only one second – to grab their attention and stop scrolling.

And that’s the goal, right? To grab their attention. If they don’t stop scrolling, they’re not going to read your post, let alone take another action such as click over to your profile.

But, is it important for those images to coordinate perfectly into a grid?

My Answer: Yes, when possible.

I surveyed you guys and asked for your thoughts on this. The results were interesting and kinda surprising! I’ll report out and give you my conclusions in tomorrow’s post.