The best way to stand out from the competition on Instagram is to show the personality behind your brand. This year business and personal accounts should work to hold more of an authentic presence with their content. Double-check your feed and make sure you're applying the appropriate tone of voice with each post. Putting a clever and true tone of voice behind the posts creates the perception of a personality behind what would have been a static and flat image.

The whole purpose of giving your feed a personality is to humanize your online relationship between creator and consumer. Online users can sniff out inauthenticity from miles away. When you turn your social media presence into content your consumers can trust, you will create long-lasting relationships, therefore generating more loyal customers bringing in business.

Ways you can be more authentic with your content on social media can vary with different types of companies. A general rule should be to stay away from posting over photoshopped content and look more towards behind the scenes snippets into your company. Manufacturing companies should focus on letting their consumers in on where their materials come from and companies that provide a service should shine a light on the creation of your customer experience.

Another way to stand out on social media is by telling a story through your content. Let people know why you started this company or platform and what message you’re trying to tell your audience. When a consumer believes in the brand they follow there more likely to stay with that business for a long time. The majority of new business comes from personal recommendations, focus on creating a brand image that people trust enough to tell their friends and family about.