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Special Monday edition newsletter! And it might be my shortest ever? But Instagram whispered a big new change that’s prettyyyy important for your brand. Good news—it’s super simple strategically. Hell, I could probably get it all in this intro if I really wanted to, but I need you to scroll and click on at least one ad so I can keep this business humming, yeah? Don’t worry, I found a sponsor who’s giving away free case studies for small brands—take a look, then we’ll get to Instathings.

—Jack Appleby

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Instagram now supports 3:4 aspect ratio images—and your brand should, too.

Instagram quietly made a rather significant change that’ll affect every single static post you make on the platform.

You can now post 3:4 photos on Instagram, aka the default phone camera image size.

A long overdue move, though the timing’s a little surprising—it was only a few months ago that IG finally went to a 5:4 ratio with grid thumbnails. This addition of 3:4 means the most optimized post for feed isn’t quite perfect for grids, which is slightly annoying, but hey, feed over grid, right?

Let’s talk about what the 3:4 aspect ratio means for your brand.

All of your static content should now be 3:4.

We spent a decade thinking 1:1 squares on Instagram. Then IG went to the 5:4 ratio, giving us a whole lot more height to work with. Now, 3:4 gives us even more!

Strategically, it’s pretty simple: more is better. We now get more real estate for our content, meaning more chances to grab attention, meaning more room in the feed without anyone else’s content peeking through. So, every image your brand makes should be 3:4 now. Kinda a no brainer.

Yes, you can still share 1:1 squares, 4:5s, and even 1.91:1 landscapes… but why would you?

Carousels now support 3:4, too! So make 3:4 carousels

Same thinking as the above. More real estate means more storytelling, especially when you’re making carousels.

And while we’re talking carousels, I do hope your brand’s stopped with the single image posts. I really believe every single brand post should be either a short-form vertical video or a carousel due to the current algorithms & people’s content preference—check the below link for the strategy guide on the thinking.

The Cheat Sheet

Send your bosses and clients this newsletter (or steal all the thinking for your POVs, I genuinely just want this stuff to help you look smart at work). Here’s some easy bullets for ya:

• Instagram now supports 3:4 images

• 3:4 = more feed space = more attention

• All brand posts should switch to that format

• And yes, still carousels. Always carousels.

Nothing wild. Just a small shift that can help your content work a whole lot harder.