We’ve got a bit of an unpopular opinion on grid aesthetics.
Somewhere along the way, businesses became obsessed with how their Instagram grid looks. Don’t get us wrong, a good-looking grid can be cool. But outside of that, we somewhat struggle to see the value. Somewhere in all of that aesthetic, a lot of businesses forget what social media is actually for: communicating something useful to your audience.
We see it all the time, great content sitting in Google Drive and great videos sitting in camera rolls, all because they “don’t fit the grid”.
That’s not strategy. That’s procrastination, and the worst way to learn what your audience wants. To understand your audience, create as much content as possible, post it, and see what they react to best.
Over the years, we have seen a trend of aesthetically pleasing grids take priority over quality, engaging content (and even been guilty of this ourselves). However, the data has shown this to be a complete waste of time.
If you’re doing content shoots purely for aesthetics and getting stuck on how the grid looks, you’re missing the sole purpose of the platform: to communicate and connect with your audience.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about how your grid looks, it means looks should support the message, not replace it.
A beautiful grid that says nothing is still saying nothing.
Here’s the reality: every time we look at the data, it tells us the same results.
The posts that get the most reach, engagement and saves are almost never the “perfect” and “polished” ones. They’re useful, honest, timely or genuinely interesting. They’re rarely designed to fit the grid aesthetic. People don’t engage with content because it matches your grid. They engage because it communicates something they care about.
Social media is already competitive enough. The fastest way to fall behind is to overthink everything. Waiting for perfection is fixating on the wrong thing.
If you’ve created something good, useful or interesting, post it. See what works. Learn from it. Adjust next time. Content is wasted if it’s sitting in your camera roll or your Google Drive.
Get that shit out and post it.
So, what should you actually focus on? Useful content, real opinions, real people and real value. Not perfect grids, over-designed posts or content that exists purely to fill space.
Your social media isn’t a mood board. It’s a communication tool. Start treating it as such.
And fellow agency people, let’s stop talking about grid transformations and start talking about shit that actually matters… RESULTS!
Our portfolio is built on long-standing partnerships with brands that value creative thinking and meaningful outcomes. Below are some of the clients who have trusted Unknown Group over the past five years.
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