That Perfect Instagram Feed…
We’ve all been there…stuck with a terrible Instagram feed while everyone else seems to have theirs completely perfect. Ever wonder how business owners are able to achieve this? I used to struggle with this all the time. I couldn’t figure out how people were able to get their images to go together flawlessly. Just look at the left feed below…that was MY feed last year. It’s all over the place with colors, image shapes/sizes, and content. Fast forward to now (right image) and we can all agree it looks a lot better! All of the images are visually similar, they’re all the same size, and it includes a good mixture of content. Is it a “perfectly curated feed” — no. I wouldn’t say it is, but I am much happier with the way it looks now!
So you may be wondering, “Emily…HOW did you do this?! HOW is this done?!” Well, listen up, because I’m about to tell you! The secret to making your feed look more organized is planning ahead. It’s about choosing a series of images that are going to work together in those top 6 spots. Maybe you already do this, but it’s hard to visualize what it’ll look like. This is where Planoly comes in!
Planoly
Planoly is a free app that will help you plan out that feed! You can upload images to the app to visualize what it will look like. You can even upload the images to your Instagram from the app. Let’s walk through how it’s done together:
How to Use Planoly
Start by clicking the “+” sign at the bottom. If you are uploading the image from your “albums” folder, you will have to allow the app to access your photos in order to plan out your feed! You upload images from Dropbox and Google drive, too. The app will also allow you to put a placeholder into your feed. From there you can select the images you want to upload into your feed. You can upload multiple images at a time, or you can upload a single image.
After you select the images you want to upload, you will be taken to a crop screen. If the images aren’t square already, you may need to crop them before you can upload them. In the image below, you can see that my vertical image has two black bars on the side. This is added if you decide not to crop the image.
To crop, simply “zoom in” on your image and hit the “Crop” button. After you crop your image, click “Upload.” If you’re uploading several images at once, you will need to go through and crop each one of them before you upload.
Now your images are uploaded, but they aren’t scheduled yet! If you look at your feed, you can see the images you just uploaded now have a pink “U” in the upper left hand corner. Because they are in your Planoly app, you can move them around by holding down and dragging them around.
Once your feed is exactly how you like it, you can click on each image to update the caption. Once you’re finished, you can either click “Post Now” or schedule your post. If you choose to schedule it, you will get a push notification for the time you select. The app does not post to Instagram automatically for you, and you will still have to manually post it yourself!
Analytics
You can also view your Instagram analytics through Planoly! If you have the free version, you are limited to the information you can see. The upgraded version allows you to see your monthly and yearly totals, whereas the free version only lets you see weekly totals. The free version will also only let you upload 30 images a month, so if you need to plan more than that, I would recommend upgrading to the pro version!
Girll this is amazing and this app looks so helpful. I love that you have the before & after of how your feed looks, such a difference! I’ll definitely be checking out Planoly, thank you!!
Very helpful tips! I’ll be sure to plan ahead of time for instagram posts. Planoly sounds like a great product.
This is amazing! I am going to download this app right this second. Also, your feed definitely looks much better this year. Great post!
Thanks for these great tips! I’m so terrible at planning my Instagram feed, it’s all over the place!
Very interesting insights…thank you for sharing!
planoly has been a total game changer for me! i don’t know what’ i’d do without it
This will be so helpful, I absolutely have to check this app out.. it looks amazing.
I love this, I had never thought of using an app for this-great idea! I really appreciated how you explained things and talked us through it.
Planoly seems like this is the app for me! I like how you can control the layout of your instagram feed as well as see the analytics! As a business owner it look like this will be super helpful!
Giiiirl! Planoly is the bomb.com for sure! Such a helpful app! Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge
This app seems so convenient and helpful! Thank you for sharing!
The change in your insta feed is amazing! I love the clean, vibrant, organized look you have now. I currently use a different instagram planning software, but they don’t have the analytics you mentioned Planoly has. I think it’s time to check out something new! Thanks for sharing!!
I’ve been wanting to get more organized and plan out posts and captions in advance. This is great! I can’t wait to try it!
What a great way to make sure your feed is curated! I know a lot of people struggle with this and I remember back when my feed was looking super janky, a tool like this would have been perfect. Thanks for sharing!