Mastering the Instagram Three Grid: The Secret to a Scroll-Stopping Profile That Converts

When someone lands on your Instagram profile, you’ve got three seconds to make a first impression—and your top three pinned posts (aka your three grid) are prime real estate for doing just that.

In this episode of The Consistency Corner Podcast, Ruthie Sterrett breaks down how to use the Instagram three-grid to instantly communicate who you are, who you help, and how you serve. You’ll learn why these three posts act like a window display for your business—and how to design them with intention, whether you’re launching, pausing, or pivoting.

If you’ve ever wondered what to pin, how to design your grid, or how to make sure your profile does the heavy lifting for your brand—this episode walks you through exactly what to include, how to structure it, and why it matters.

Perfect for: Founders and CEOs of brands that serve moms who are ready to make Instagram work smarter—not harder.

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode, and follow along over on Instagram!
@ruthie.sterrett
@theconsistencycorner

Transcript

Ruthie Sterrett (00:01.368)

When someone lands on your Instagram profile, they've got maybe three seconds to make a first impression. And listen, your top three pinned posts, which are also known as a three grid, are like a window display into your little corner of the internet. Think about if you're walking by a boutique downtown or walking through the mall. The stores with a beautiful intentional window are the ones that are gonna get you to stop, look, and maybe even walk in.

and the ones with nothing in the window, you're probably gonna keep walking. And your Instagram profile works the exact same way. Hey, welcome back to the Consistency Corner podcast. I'm Ruthie, your social media strategist and friend that helps founders and CEOs of brands that serve moms take the overwhelm out of social media, get it off your to-do list, and make it actually work for your business. Today we are digging into one of my favorite Instagram strategies,

the three grid or the three pinned posts at the top of your profile. Now, some creators don't think you need the pinned posts. I'm gonna have to go ahead and say I disagree because I really think every single brand or business can benefit from them, whether it's a designed grid that looks cohesive across the space or just three simple strategic pinned posts. Either way, it's prime real estate.

and I'm gonna show you how to put it to work. So why use a three grid? Here's five use cases that I see again and again, and these use cases are going to determine what goes in your three grid because it's not a one size fits all. So reason number one is you want critical information always at the top of your profile, no matter how consistent or inconsistent you are posting. Number two,

If you're managing multiple profiles, like your girl over here who has a personal profile and the agency profile, and you need clarity right from the start of what someone can expect on that profile. Number three, if you're taking a break from posting and you don't want your account to look abandoned, it's okay to say in your three grid, hey, I'm taking a little break or hey, I'm hanging out somewhere else and let people know that although it looks like you haven't posted in a while, there is some intention behind that.

Ruthie Sterrett (02:24.214)

Number four, the grid is a great place for launching a new offer, a freebie, a service, or that you want front and center. You can make those whole three posts about something really specific that you are launching. And then number five, if you're promoting something time sensitive, like an event, and you need people to see it right away, and you want those dates called out right there in the graphic so people understand, hey, this is what I should be looking at.

So no matter where you are in your business, one of these likely fits for you. So what goes in those three posts? Typically, post number one is gonna be some sort of intro, who you are, who you help. Post number two is like validating with your ideal audience, your ideal client, connecting with her and maybe sharing a resource that she can see that you understand her problem and how to support her.

And then post number three is typically the solution that you offer or the next step. Like what transformation can you really provide for her and how can she take action with you? Now again, not one size fits all. Those five use cases that I talked about are gonna determine a little bit of nuance in those three posts, but that's the basic gist of what should go into a three grid. Now, the design. Okay, this is flexible.

They can be reels, they can be carousels, they can be static posts. Simple is okay. But if you wanna go the extra mile, like I can be a little bit extra sometimes, and you want a more intentional visual strategy, you might wanna create the three-pin posts as a one cohesive design. Now, here's the catch. Instagram likes to make things complicated for us and change things all the time. Back in the day when the posts were square,

and the grid was square, this was really easy. Now, the way it works out is the posts in the feed are in a four-five ratio, but the preview on the grid is a three-four ratio, meaning images get cropped in weird ways. Now, I break this all down in detail inside the Instagram three grid toolkit where I actually share the exact dimensions.

Ruthie Sterrett (04:51.254)

and tools you can use in Canva templates to create a cohesive visual three grid that looks connected without actually pulling your hair out. So that'll be linked in the show notes if you want to check it out. But the thing is about a three grid is it's not about being cute or being on trend. It's your storefront. When someone lands on your profile, you want them to immediately know who you are, who you serve, and what is the next step in how you can support them.

And that is the job of the three grid. Think of it like dressing the mannequin in the front window. You want the best outfit on her, right? Can y'all tell I worked in retail? I was a visual merchandising manager for years and I think a lot about window displays. But that's not the point here. The point is, if you don't have a three grid yet or three strategic pinned posts or your top of your grid is pinned but maybe it's random and outdated, it is time.

to give it a refresh and give it a job. Think about those three posts at the top of your feed and just like we want social media to have a job, we want every single post to have a job and what are we asking those posts to do? You don't have to refresh them all the time, but maybe look at it quarterly and see is the content still relevant? Are the images still fresh? Do they need an update? And refresh it once a quarter or once a season. Now.

If you want help with your 3Grid, I can totally do that. We have the toolkit that gives you some guidance in DIYing your 3Grid with some templates and a walkthrough in what to do in Canva, how to split up the images and exactly what to put in the captions. And I also do done for you 3Grid. So if you're just like, hey, can you just do this for me? Yeah, we're here to help. Either way, remember your 3Grid is not just about decoration. It's like the front door.

or the front window into your corner of the internet. And we want to be intentional about inviting people in. I actually really love that analogy of it being like the front door or the front window. And we talk a lot about this with my clients where we talk about the difference between the feed and stories. And the feed is more like your front porch where stories is more like your living room. Like we're not gonna invite everybody into our living room, but we're gonna invite our followers, our friends into our living room in stories.

Ruthie Sterrett (07:14.04)

And that's a whole nother topic for a whole nother day. Maybe we'll do an episode all about strategies of what to share in stories, but I appreciate you being here today. This was a quick and dirty episode for you so you can get on with your day, get a three grid pin and ready to go and tag me when you put it up, share it to your stories and tag me so I can celebrate you. And if you'd like me to do it for you and take that task off your plate, you know where to find me. The links are in the show notes. Thanks so much for being here and see you in the next episode.