3 Ways to Stand Out On Instagram Like a Real Star

SO EXCITED TO INTRODUCE YOU TO ELAINE DANESHRAD.

When I first met Elaine, it was with her co-host of The Fashionably Latte Show, Diana Espir. They interviewed me for their podcast at Blushington in West Hollywood. Immediately I took to them both. They were funny, sharp, witty & made me feel totally comfortable. They asked really good questions that made me laugh & I just really liked them.

After stalking their Instagrams, I liked them even more because of their unique & creative aesthetic, that just makes you want to devour more &more of their content.

Today I asked Elaine ( who is the QUEEN of creating high-quality, colorful content ) to come on The Skinny Confidential to tell you guys all about her Instagram tips & journey with the app.

This post is in depth, specific & something that so many of us want to know more about… Instagram.

Elaine’s blog & Instagram are just INSANE. They’re beyond aesthetically pleasing & filled with fun value from travel to beauty.

With that, let’s welcome Elaine…

In a world where all we do is “scroll, scroll, scroll” on our phones, sometimes it feels like it’s hard to “claim our space” on this interesting web of a page called #Instagram. With new posts that pop up every other second, it seems like now, more than ever, this digital space has become WAY overcrowded and oversaturated. And as someone who produces content on this app on a daily basis and has already built a pretty strong following from it, I even still find myself asking the question, “HOW CAN I STAND OUT?”

From the creation of Instagram Stories ( byeee Snapchat ) to the taunting archnemesis us Insta-bloggers like to call “the algorithm,” I’ve been there through it all. And while there’s definitely NO rulebook on how to “WIN” at this app and garner megastardom success, I HAVE definitely found a few good money takeaways that I do believe can help make you shine on these little 4×4 squares. So LISTEN UP as I bestow upon you below my TOP 3 TIPS on how to stand out on Instagram.               

♡ TIP #1: FIND YOUR VIBES

I CAN’T stress this portion enough, but it’s SO important for you to find out who YOU are and have that shine on your Instagram—not copying anyone else’s vibes and persona. When I first created Fashionlaine, I was doing sooo much extensive research and analyzation on all the top bloggers that were out there at the time, seeing what it was that they were doing and posting that made them “successful”. Because clearly, if I did whatever they were doing, then I’d gain the same amount of success they had achieved… right?

So there I went, striving to mimic the same minimalistic, gray scale photos I saw the top bloggers posting, hoping my version of the similar post would achieve the same success. Yet what I came to see was that, in fact, WASN’T helping me stand out at all, but instead, sinking me further into getting lost in the Instagram sea. PLUS, it wasn’t making me happy to post pictures in a grayscale scheme because I just loved color SO much. So overall, the content I was putting out there didn’t even match who I was.

It wasn’t until I really understood who I was, what I liked, and what I wanted to share that I was then able to understand that it wasn’t about mimicking others that would get me ahead, but separating myself amongst the crowd. Once I honed in on that, that’s when I went FULL FORCE to embrace my quirky sense of fashion and love for colors that is now fully visible in all of my posts. And once I did that, I’ve made the rainbow-vomit unicorn-loving Queen persona that everyone now knows me as, as TOTALLY my signature. 

♡ TIP #2: CREATE CREATIVE CONTENT

I don’t know about you, but I find myself getting completely BORED on Instagram these days—like how many more selfies by beach palm trees can we see, am I right? So for me, what’s kept me most excited when going on this app both as a content creator and an audience member is when I see something completely unique and different pop up on my feed. CREATIVITY IS KEY!

So for this, my advice here is to brainstorm what topics get you most excited and interested and go from there to create some unique material that your followers will get excited about too. With me, I have this quirky adoration for pop culture and love paying homage to iconic Hollywood moments. So what that has led to is recreating scenes with some of my favorite celebs and topical moments ( check out the Instagram hashtag #FashionlainesWorld for them all ).

Whether it’s me dressed as a version of Lady Gaga from the 2019 Golden Globes, or sitting on a floatie acting all bougie like Taylor Swift from her “You Need To Calm Down” video, or pairing up with my partner-in-crime @dianaespir to be the Ethel to my Lucy for the classic “I Love Lucy” chocolate factory scene, you’ll see me post these cheeky homages that are worth paying attention to. And while it may take some more time to post something other than the easy go-to basic pics we typically see on Instagram, I believe the time is worth the efforts because creativity is what will get you to stand out!

♡ TIP #3: MOST IMPORTANTLY, BE RELATABLE!

The world of social media has become more and more filtered, both in the context of the same orange monotone preset we now see everyone & their moms using on their photos, to the absolute perfectly curated poses and captions people put up to make it seem like their lives are nothing less than perfection. But let’s be real here… NONE of our lives are perfect and Instagram has slowly taken the imperfection concept away with every new curated photo we see go up. And while I think mastering how to create the “perfect photo” was a major trend in the early stages of Instagram, what’s ACTUALLY trending now more than anything is everything the OPPOSITE of perfection.  People are quenching for anything that seems a slight bit more real and relatable because I think we’re in a world now where we’re dying to feel a sense that people are going through the same sh**t we are outside of Instagram.

A really good firsthand case and proof I have of this is through an Instagram challenge I created last Summer called #WokeUpThisWayChallenge that asked people to “bring realness back to social media.” The challenge requested people to post an unfiltered photo of what they look like without their hair and makeup done and post an authentic caption to go with it. And to be honest, when I was first launching the challenge, I wasn’t sure how it was going to pan out, if people were willing to show something less than perfection on their Instagram pages. But within an instant, thousands of posts started to pour in with more and more people showing their best unfiltered selves on their pages. And I mean, it made such big waves that it even reached CINDY CRAWFORD (amongst a bunch of other celebs) who took part in the challenge too! So if this isn’t a sign that people really DO want realness, I don’t know what is!

I’ve been implementing this authenticity tactic more and more on my own Instagram page, taking the time to writer longer captions that show the realities behind the “perfect” pictures I post. And honestly, these posts, above all, are the ones that always perform the best for me and the ones that people recite back to me because it’s real and relatable.

Be a person on Instagram that people can feel like they can connect with on a deeper level than just the pretty clothes and cool travels you post. Because for me, I know the people I love, respect, and follow the most intently are the ones that I feel like I can relate on a deeper level. **Note, this all relates to Instagram Stories! The more stories of you sharing your thoughts and your real life, the better!**

So THERE YOU HAVE IT MY FRIENDS. Those are the my 3 tips & tricks that I see as $$$ to getting you to stand out on Instagram!

Be sure to follow Elaine & Diana on Instagram & check out their podcast.

x, lauryn

+ check out this post for my tips on Instagram Stories

++ scope my favorite apps here.

SHOP THE POST

LEAVE A COMMENT

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 replies to “3 Ways to Stand Out On Instagram Like a Real Star”