IE 427: 5 Best Creative Business Tips for Instagram with Kimberly Espinel
Kimberly Espinel is a food photographer and food stylist at The Little Plantation. She teaches food photography and food reel creation through her online courses, workshops, and books. She is the host of the podcast Eat, Capture, Share; a podcast for food bloggers. She is the author of a book called How to Make Your Food Famous.
What types of creative content are most effective for driving engagement on Instagram?
Instagram is always changing so the answer given now might be different in 6 months or a year from now. In January 2025, the two types of content that are working tremendously well are reels and carousels.
Both are the types of content that engage a reaction. That could be a comment or providing the audience with something super valuable or entertaining so that people are compelled to share it with a neighbor or a friend.
When reels first came out, they were quick, short, snappy, dancing reels. That is not what we are talking about. You want value-driven content.
The same goes for carousels. You want anything infographic-type; tips, insights, funny memes, things that keep the audience engaged and make them want to save, share, and comment. That is what is working well now.
You want to mix up your content and experiment. Certain things that work for one audience may not work for another audience. If something is straight values, “How to style a sandwich,” for example, people might like it or even save it.
If you ask a question at the end, pique the interest of the audience, or make it cheeky or controversial, that seems to create more of a response. Some examples might be:
- Things you are getting wrong when you style a sandwich.
- Don’t make this mistake.
- This is so 2020.
- Why are you still styling like this?
The posts that go above and beyond or are transparent. The content you create needs to pull them in and show them how things can work the best for their audience.
By adding the cheeky, sarcasm, or controversy, you are giving the content a little bit more personality than if you give them a straight title that feels very generic. Adding a little bit of personality or tidbits is when the post becomes more personable, authentic, and creative. That is when people feel a connection.
They feel like you have something to say and that is intriguing. It is a connection point that AI cannot provide in the same way.
The more personality you can sprinkle into your content, the better engagement you will get. The personal brand strategy that shows your voice is what makes you stand out. The audience recognizes you and wants more from you. You don’t want to put out generic, quick content that may not connect with your audience.
How important is it to maintain a consistent aesthetic or theme on Instagram, and what are your tips for doing so?
Kimberly has done a lot of research as to what works and doesn’t work on Instagram. She doesn’t feel like there is just one way to succeed.
It is more about you having different building blocks and creating your own little success pyramid. For example, if you have a less consistent aesthetic, it doesn’t mean you cannot have success. It means you need more building blocks to make up for the lack of aesthetics.
It is about balancing it out and leaning into how you want to express yourself. You have to find the most helpful building blocks to success.
You can be super successful and have a laissez-faire approach to Instagram. You can have a gorgeous grid and have the same level of success. It doesn’t necessarily matter. It is more about how you define your brand.
It isn’t necessarily about revenue, growth, or reach impact. You can have all of that no matter what your Instagram looks like. It is more about your reach in the market and your brand positioning.
Kimberly likes to sit toward the middle to upper end. She shoots with a high-end camera, personally curates her content, and uses beautiful, personalized fonts because she wants people to land on her content and feel like she is a professional.
If you are more of a food content creator who is more approachable with a young dynamic, a more pristine and perfect vogue look isn’t going to resonate with who you are and the audience you want to build. It can feel forced and staged.
Both beautifully curated and rough around-the-edge types can be successful and work on Instagram right now.
Is there a format or structure to creating a reel as a content creator?
If you have been blogging or on Instagram for some time, it is the same principle that has always worked. It is just transformed into video content.
If you think about what Instagram used to be – posting a photo with a caption – you had to think about the first line in the caption to attract someone’s attention.
Now you are shifting that to stop someone from their scroll in the first 1-3 seconds. It has to be captivating, engaging, and instantly tell the audience who you are, what to expect, and why they should stop scrolling.
It can be a bold statement. “I bet you never knew that this is the perfect ingredient for the best soup,” for example. There has to be something captivating or engaging. That is step #1.
You also want to retain people on your content so they don’t scroll away. You want them to read the whole post. It is essential to fulfill the promise you made. You want to keep a motion or tension through the whole process.
You might change angles so the audience gets a different perspective and doesn’t get bored. You want to keep the excitement.
Finally, you want a resolution or a call to action. That is how to structure it. It is not only the message but also the camera skills within that.
Once you find what the audience likes, your magic formula, you can just repeat it. If you find that formula that resonates, you repeat it in a slightly different way and it will always hit the mark. You can start the same way and then transition differently each time.
What are the best ways to build a loyal and engaged audience on Instagram?
The most important thing that came out in Kimberly’s research was connection. People want to feel like the person they are following is their best friend.
Maybe it is a personal chef or someone who will help potty train your toddler. We want to feel seen and connected. We want to feel like they are our best friends.
If you look at the people who are having the best success, it is the ones who are showing their face in their content, in reels, carousels, stories, live, YouTube, or other areas. People who are stepping in front of the camera see a huge difference in building a loyal and engaged audience.
Showing up regularly on Instagram stories is a super important part of a successful strategy. You want to give people the sense that they are going on a journey with you and that you are letting them in on content they cannot find anywhere else.
That doesn’t mean you have to share all of your life – your kids, husband, and bank account. You just want to give them the sense they are on your life’s journey with you. It is incredibly powerful.
You want to have a little bit of vulnerability. If you are having a rotten day, you can share it. It doesn’t always have to be rainbows and unicorns. It makes you feel more real. It makes the connection more intense.
Kimberly also recommends giving a “behind the scenes” in your newsletter, reels, or stories. She will often set up her camera and just film a few “behind the scenes” things for the audience.
She doesn’t come up with a major caption or anything specific. People appreciate getting a glimpse into your life and it is powerful to build a connection.
It is one thing for people to “like and follow.” It is another thing for people to check in, see if you have new content, and continue to follow you. Stories are still highly effective and simple to make. They can help you get DM’s and conversations with your audience.
What tips do you have for crafting captions that resonate with followers?
It might sound counterintuitive but it still works. Reels from behind the scenes or “top tips” with a notation to check the caption for the tips.
Those reels perform relatively well because you are tapping into a pain point. People have to read the caption and stay longer.
Kimberly instead tries to provide the value in the reel itself and then has a call to action to go deeper. Short captions are more powerful. If you provide the value in the carousel slides or the reel, then caption it to use your call to action to give a freebie or ask a question.
You don’t want to cram your caption full of content. Less is more. You want there to be a hint of mystery, intrigue, connection, and communication.
Keep the captions minimal. You don’t want your audience to have to scroll. Provide the content in your video. People may ask questions because you are creating an opening for further discussions.
6 Free Essential Tools for Instagram
Learn how to curate your feed & stories and consistently grow your audience! There are lots of tools Kimberly uses daily and you can use them to elevate and make our content on Instagram more personal. The PDF has links to find the tools to help your business. Find it here.
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