Why I Created an Instagram 9 Grid
And how it's transformed my Instagram account
Ahh, it was the summer of 2021 and I decided to take the whole of August off social media.
Not only is school closed for summer and my youngest daughter at home, but we also live by the sea and there are carnivals, festivals and events happening that we love to attend, plus, friends to chill out and picnic with and books to be leisurely read on the beach and park.
And let’s face it, a healthy dose of time off socials is never a bad thing.
So, I posted on all my accounts how I was planning to squeeze in a whole lotta life over the summer and finish building a new course, and that I’d see everyone in September.
With that, I deleted the apps off my phone so I wouldn’t mindlessly scroll.
Hot tip: I never have notifications on for social media. In fact, I only have a few select apps that I have notifications on for at all!
Then September rolled around.
Was I eager to get back on socials? Had I felt the FOMO? Was I ready to come back with a spring in my step?
Nope.
Truth be told. I hadn’t really missed it at all. Especially Instagram. And I felt differently about social media somehow.
I questioned how much we really needed social media, what we got from it, and if anyone actually notices when we’re gone, given that they still have hundreds or thousands of other people posting in their feeds.
Maybe social media had just become too noisy? To disconnected?
Either way, my posts became less and less frequent for the next year, and by the end of 2022, I had pretty much stopped using Instagram altogether.
I think Reels put the final nail in the coffin, to be honest. I was a writer, a content creator and a marketer - but not an entertainer, especially as an introvert.
Short-form videos like Reels, TikToc, and YouTube shorts might be the content of the moment, but it’s not a game I want to play, so I was done with Insta.
I started to concentrate on other platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter, and spend time doing other stuff like writing a book, but I didn’t want people to come across my Instagram profile and think I’d dropped off the edge of the planet.
…In steps the 9 grid 🙌
I saw a couple of people post about their 9 grid in a business group I’m in and I knew instantly that I needed one!
This would let people know what I’m up to, and that I’m not currently posting to my Instagram feed. It would act as a mini landing page to direct potential clients to my offerings and let them know what I was about.
Brilliant, I thought, and so it sat on my to-do list for WEEKS! I had a couple of plays around in Canva, but I just wasn’t feeling what I’d created.
Then the gods delivered, and Tara Reid popped into my inbox with the perfect solution, Canva 9 grid templates. Yes, please! I bought them immediately.
I chose the one I thought would work best for me, adjusted a couple of elements, added my brand colours and fonts, and changed the words to make it my own. Voila. I had an Instagram 9 grid…
You can see how it looks on my profile.
I can’t tell you how much of a relief this feels.
I no longer need to worry about my account looking abandoned.
I can freely use stories if I want to (as that’s one thing I like about Instagram) and comment on other people’s posts, knowing that those who click on my profile will know what I do and where to find me.
Want to jump on the bandwagon?
Follow these steps to create your own 9 grid:
Grab a pen and paper and brainstorm what you want to say/show and where you want to point people to
Use Canva (free) to create a 3240 x 3240 px image and add your own text, elements and photos, or buy a Canva template as I did
Download the image and split it into 9 squares. I used Image Splitter from Postcron but there are plenty of apps that can do the same
Upload your images to Instagram. You can schedule them or do them manually. And you can drop them in one go or tease them out more slowly. Just be sure to do them in the right order.
Don’t forget your captions. I simply said in my captions to sign up for my newsletter if they wanted to know why and how I did my 9 grid. I got new subscribers instantly! And now this is published, I’ll go back and amend the captions.
There you have it! Let me know if you create a 9 grid, and share this with anyone else who might like this.
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