How can i use instagram for my business

How to Use Instagram for Business: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide

More than one billion people use Instagram every month, and roughly 90% of them follow at least one business. This means that, in 2021, using Instagram for business is a no-brainer.

In just over 10 years Instagram has grown from a photo-sharing app to a hub of business activity. Brands can run fundraisers in Instagram Live broadcasts, open shops from their profiles and let people book reservations from their accounts. Updates of new business tools, features and tips in the app have become pretty much routine.

It can be a lot to keep track of though, especially if running an Instagram business account is only one aspect of your job. So we’ve brought everything together here.

Learn how to use Instagram for business, from setting up an account from scratch to measuring your success.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

Step 1: Get an Instagram business account

Start a new account from scratch or switch from a personal to a business account by following these steps.

How to sign up for an Instagram business account:

1. Download the Instagram app for iOS, Android or Windows.

2. Open the app and tap Sign up.

3. Enter your email address. If you plan to grant access to multiple users or you want to connect your Instagram business account to your Facebook Page, make sure to use an admin email address to sign up or tap Log in with Facebook.

4. Choose your username and password and fill in your profile info. If you logged in with Facebook, you may be asked to sign in.

5. Tap Next.

Congrats! You’ve created a personal Instagram account. Follow the steps below to switch to a business account.

How to switching a personal account to an Instagram business account:

1. From your profile, tap the hamburger menu in the upper-right corner.

2. Tap Settings. Some accounts may see Switch to Professional Account from this menu. If you do, tap it. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

3. Tap Account.

4. Choose Business (unless it makes sense for you to choose Creator).

5. If you plan to connect your Instagram and Facebook business accounts, follow the steps to connect your account to your Facebook Page.

6. Select your business category and add relevant contact details.

7. Tap Done.

Learn more about the difference between Instagram business and creator accounts.

Step 2: Create a winning Instagram strategy

Define your target audience

A good social media strategy starts with a sound understanding of your audience.

Research Instagram’s audience demographics to get a sense of who uses the platform. For example, 25-34-year-olds represent the largest ad audience on the site. Identify the key segments that overlap with your customer base, or hone in on active niches.

Since defining your target market is one of the most important parts of your marketing strategy for any marketing tool, we’ve created a step-by-step guide that explains all the details. Here’s the short version:

Determine who already buys from you.
Check the analytics on your other social media channels to learn who follows you there.
Conduct competitor research and compare how your audiences vary.

Knowing who’s in your audience puts you in a better position to create content. Look at the type of content your customers post and engage with, and use these insights to inform your creative strategy.

Set goals and objectives

Your Instagram strategy should establish what you hope to achieve on the platform.

Start with your business objectives and identify how Instagram can help you accomplish them. We recommend applying the SMART framework to ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

Track the right performance metrics

With your goals defined, it’s easier to identify important social media metrics to monitor.

These vary for each business, but in broad terms, plan to focus on metrics related to the social funnel.

Align your goals to one of the four stages in the customer journey:

Awareness: Includes metrics like follower growth rate, post impressions and accounts reached.
Engagement: Includes metrics like engagement rate (based on likes and comments) and amplification rate (based on shares).
Conversion: In addition to conversion rate, this includes metrics like click-through rate and bounce rate. If you’re using paid ads, conversion metrics also include cost per click and CPM.
Customer: These metrics are based on actions customers take, such as retention, repeat customer rate, etc.

Create a content calendar

With your audience and goals defined, you can plan to publish on Instagram with purpose. A well-planned social media content calendar ensures you don’t miss important dates and allows you to allot enough time for creative production.

Start by plotting out and researching important events. This may include periods such as holiday planning or Black History Month, back to school or tax season, or specific days like Giving Tuesday or International Hug Your Cat Day. Look at sales data to see when your customers start planning for specific occasions.

Look for opportunities to develop themes or regular installments that you can build into a series. “Content buckets,” as some people call them, allow you to check certain boxes without having to overthink creation. The more planning you do upfront, the better you’ll be able to produce regular content and respond to last-minute or unplanned events.

Plan to publish when your followers are online. Because newsfeed algorithms consider “recency” an important ranking signal, posting when people are active is one of the best ways to improve organic reach.

With an Instagram business account, you can check the days and hours that are most popular for your audience:

1. From your profile, tap Insights.

2. Beside Your Audience, tap See All.

3. Scroll down to Most Active Times.

4. Toggle between hours and days to see if a specific time stands out.

Step 3: Optimize your Instagram profile to do business

An Instagram business profile gives you a small amount of space to accomplish a lot. It’s where people on Instagram go to learn more about your brand, visit your website or even book an appointment.

Write a great bio

The people reading your bio were curious enough to visit your profile. So, hook them in and show them why they should follow you.

In 150 characters or less, your Instagram bio should describe your brand (especially if it’s not obvious), and showcase your brand voice.

We’ve got a full guide to creating an effective Instagram bio for business, but here are some quick tips:

Cut straight to the point. Short and sweet is the name of the game.
Use line breaks. Line breaks are a good way to organize bios that include different types of info.
Include emoji. The right emoji can save space, inject personality, reinforce an idea or draw attention to important info. Make sure to find the right balance for your brand.
Add a CTA. Want people to click on your link? Tell them why they should.

Optimize your profile pic

When using Instagram for business, most brands use their logo as a profile picture. Keep your picture uniform across social media platforms to aid recognition.

Your profile photo displays as 110 x 110 pixels, but it’s stored at 320 x 320 pixels, so that’s the size you should aim to upload. Like most profile icons, your photo will be framed by a circle, so make sure you take that into account.

Use your one link in bio wisely

For accounts with less than 10,000 followers, this is the only spot on Instagram where you can post an organic clickable link. So be sure to include one! Link to your website, your latest blog post, a current campaign or a special Instagram landing page.

Add relevant contact info

When using Instagram for business, it’s important to provide a way for people to contact you directly from your profile. Include your email address, phone number or physical address.

When you add contact information, Instagram creates corresponding buttons (Call, Text, Email or Get Directions) for your profile.

Configure action buttons

Instagram business accounts can include buttons so that customers can book or reserve appointments. To use this feature, you need an account with one of Instagram’s partners.

From your business profile, tap Edit Profile, then scroll down to Action Buttons.

Add Story Highlights and covers

Instagram Story Highlights are another way to maximize your Instagram business profile’s real estate. Organize Stories into saved collections on your page, whether it’s recipes, tips, frequently asked questions or user-generated content.

Whatever you decide, add some polish to your profile with Highlight covers.

Step 4: Share high-quality content

Create a visual aesthetic for your brand

Instagram is all about visuals, so it’s important to have a recognizable visual identity.

Bonus: Download a free checklist that reveals the exact steps a fitness influencer used to grow from 0 to 600,000+ followers on Instagram with no budget and no expensive gear.

Get the free guide right now!

Try to establish recurring themes of pillars that you can alternate. In some cases, the content will be obvious. A clothing line might showcase its clothes, and a restaurant might post photos of its food. If you offer services, try showcasing customer stories, or go behind the scenes to highlight office life and the people who make your company tick.

Look at other brands for inspiration. Air France, for example, alternates between destination shots, window seat views, travel amenities and airplane pictures.

Source: Air France Instagram

Once you decide on your themes, create a consistent visual look. That includes a color palette and an overall aesthetic that your fans will instantly recognize when they see it in their Instagram feeds.

Take thumb-stopping photos

To make Instagram work for your business, you’ve simply got to have great photos. But you don’t need to be a professional photographer, and you don’t need a lot of equipment.

Your mobile phone is your best friend when it comes to Instagram photography since you can post straight from your device.

Here are some tips to get the best photos when shooting with your phone:

Use natural light. No one looks great with a flash lighting up the oiliest parts of their face and casting weird shadows on their nose and chin. The same is true for product shots. Natural light just makes shadows softer, colors richer and photos nicer to look at.
Avoid harsh light. Late afternoon is an unbeatable time to take photos. Cloudy days are better than sunny ones for mid-day shooting.
Use the rule of thirds. Your phone camera has a grid built in to help you follow this rule. Place your subject where the grid lines meet to create an interesting photo that’s off-center but still balanced.
Try different angles. Crouch down, stand on a chair — do whatever it takes to get the most interesting version of your shot (as long as it’s safe to do so, of course).
Keep it simple. Make sure your visual is easy to take in at a glance.
Make sure there’s enough contrast. Contrast provides balance, makes content more legible and is more accessible.

If you have the budget, support artists and hire photographers or illustrators.

Use tools to help you edit your photos

No matter how great your photos are, it’s likely you’ll need to edit them at some point. Editing tools can help you maintain your aesthetic, add frames or logos, or even create infographics and other original content.

Fortunately, there are a lot of free resources available, including Instagram’s built-in editing tools. When those tools don’t cut it, experiment with mobile photo editing apps, many of which are either free or very affordable.

Here are a few more pointers for editing your Instagram photos.

Write compelling captions

Instagram may be a visual platform, but that doesn’t mean you can neglect your captions.

Captions allow you to tell the story that makes the photo meaningful. Good copy can build empathy, community, and trust. Or it can just be funny.

In two words, this Reformation caption is wry, seasonal, and alludes to the brand’s environmental commitment.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Reformation (@reformation)

Develop a clear brand voice so you can stay consistent. Do you use emoji in your captions? Is there a style guide that your brand follows? What hashtags do you use? A good set of guidelines will help keep your captions distinct and on-brand.

Borrow inspiration from the best copywriters out there. Read our Instagram caption guide for brand examples and copywriting tools.

Trying to figure out how to add line breaks? Uncover this and more Instagram hacks here.

Save more casual content for Instagram Stories

More than 500 million people watch Instagram Stories every day. For perspective, all of Twitter counts an average of 192 million daily users.

People have taken to the casual, disappearing nature of the format, even when it comes to brand content. A 2018 survey by Facebook found that 58% of participants became interested in a brand or product after seeing it in a Story.

Not surprisingly, this format is a great platform for storytelling. Tell authentic brand stories that have a beginning, middle and end. Engage your audience with Stories stickers and provide value for your viewers to get them in the habit of watching your Stories consistently.

Don’t forget, if you have more than 10,000 Instagram followers, you can also include links in your Instagram Stories.

Explore other formats

Instagram may have started as a simple photo-sharing app, but now the platform hosts everything from live broadcasts to Reels. Here’s a rundown of some of the formats that might be a good fit for your brand:

Instagram Carousels: Publish up to 10 photos in a single post. Hootsuite experiments have found these posts often have higher engagement.
Instagram Reels: This TikTok-esque format now has its own tab on the platform.
IGTV: Instagram TV is a long-form video format, ideal for recurring content series.
Instagram Live: Now up to four people can broadcast live on Instagram.
Instagram Guides: Brands have found several ways to share products, company news, how-to’s and more with this format.

Stay informed about all the latest Instagram product updates.

Create inclusive content

Brand content works best when people can imagine themselves using your products or services. And it’s harder for people to do that if they don’t feel represented or recognized.

Aim for your content to be inclusive in every sense of the word. Celebrate all walks of life, but avoid clichés or stereotypes. Add alt-text image descriptions and automatic captions, and follow best practices to make your posts accessible.

Post consistently

If you’re serious about running an Instagram account for your business, you need to show your followers that you’re serious too. It’s not enough to just post quality content every once in a while. You need to post it consistently, so your audience knows they can expect a steady stream of interesting and helpful content from you on a regular basis — making your brand worth a follow.

That being said, humans who run Instagram accounts for business also need to take vacations and…sleep. That’s where scheduling your posts in advance comes in. Scheduling your Instagram posts with a social media management tool not only helps you stick to a consistent content calendar, but it saves you time and lets you take a break every once in a while.

This 3-minute video shows how to schedule and publish Instagram posts using Hootsuite. Bonus: with Hootsuite, you can schedule posts to all your social networks in one place, saving even more time.

Step 5: Grown and engage your audience

Respond to comments and mentions

Respond to comments and mentions of your business on Instagram, so users feel motivated to keep engaging with your brand.

You might be tempted to automate your engagement using bots. Don’t do it. We tried it, and it doesn’t work out so well. Dedicate some time to responding authentically when someone mentions or tags your brand.

Make sure to have social media guidelines, troll policies and mental health resources in place to support the person in this role so they can manage a positive community.

Use the right hashtags

Hashtags help make your Instagram content easier to find.

Captions on Instagram are not searchable, but hashtags are. When someone clicks on or searches for a hashtag, they see all the associated content. It’s a great way to get your content in front of people who don’t follow you — yet.

You might want to consider creating your own branded hashtag. A branded hashtag embodies your brand and encourages followers to share photos and videos that fit that image. It can be a great source of user-generated content and encourage community among your fans.

Tableware brand Fable encourages customers to post with the #dinewithfable hashtag and shares their posts in Stories.

Source: Fable Instagram

Want to know more? Check out our full guide on how to use hashtags on Instagram.

Promote your Instagram business account on other channels

If you’ve got an established following on other social networks, let those people know about your Instagram business account.

Make sure to tell them what kind of content you’ll share on your Insta profile, so they know why it’s worth their time to follow you in more than one place.

If you have a blog, try embedding Instagram posts directly in your posts to showcase your best content and make it super-easy for readers to follow you, like this:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hootsuite 🦉 (@hootsuite)

Include your Instagram handle in your email signature, and don’t forget about print materials like business cards, flyers and event signage.

Collaborate with Instagram influencers

Influencer marketing is a powerful way to gain access to an engaged and loyal Instagram following.

Identify influencers and creators whose fans might be interested in your brand. Start with your own customer base. It’s possible you already have influential brand ambassadors, it’s only a matter of making the collaboration official. The more genuine the relationship is the better.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Instagram for Business (@instagramforbusiness)

Even small brands with limited budgets can use influencer marketing by working with micro-influencers: people with a smaller but dedicated following.

While they may have a relatively smaller audience, these influencers can hold a lot of sway in their domain. So much so that big brands are keen to work with them, too.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MJ (@rebellemj)

For real-world insights on how to best work with Instagram influencers to grow your Instagram business following, check out our insider tips in this post from influencer Lee Vosburgh, creator of the 10×10 Style Challenge.

Use Instagram ads to get in front of a large, targeted audience

It’s no secret that organic reach is in decline and has been for a while. Investing in Instagram ads ensures you can get your content in front of a wide yet targeted audience.

In addition to extending the reach of your content, Instagram ads include call-to-action buttons that allow users to take action straight from Instagram, reducing the number of steps required to get them to your website or store.

Get all the details on how to use Instagram ads for your business in our detailed guide.

Run an Instagram-specific campaign

Instagram campaigns can help you achieve specific goals.

Campaigns often involve ads, but they’re not only about paid content. They put intense focus on a specific goal for a set period of time, in both your organic and paid posts.

You might create an Instagram campaign to:

Increase your overall visibility on Instagram.
Promote a sale using shoppable Instagram posts.
Drive engagement with an Instagram contest.
Collect user-generated content with a branded hashtag.

Here are 35 Instagram community-building tips that actually work.

Step 6: Measure success and make adjustments

Track results with analytics tools

When you’re using Instagram for business, it’s important that you track your progress on achieving your goals.

With an Instagram business profile, you have access to the platform’s built-in analytics tool. Keep in mind that Instagram Insights only tracks data back 30 days.

There are several other analytics tools available, including Hootsuite’s, that can track longer time frames, automate reporting and make it easier to compare Instagram metrics across other platforms.

We’ve rounded up 6 Instagram analytics tools here.

Use A/B testing to learn what works

One of the best ways to improve your results is to test different types of content to see how they perform. As you learn what works best for your specific audience, you can refine your overall strategy.

Here’s how to run an A/B test on Instagram:

Choose an element to test (image, caption, hashtags, etc.).
Create two variations based on what your research tells you. Keep the two versions the same except for the one element you want to test (e.g. the same image with a different caption).
Track and analyze the results of each post.
Choose the winning variation.
Test another small variation to see if you can improve your results.
Share what you learn throughout your organization to build a library of best practices for your brand.
Start the process over again.

Learn more about social media A/B testing.

Experiment with new tactics and tools

Go beyond A/B testing. Social media has always involved experimenting and learning as you go. So keep an open mind and never miss the opportunity to test the effect of new formats on the platform.

For example, Hootsuite ran a loose experiment to see what overall effect posting Reels had on account growth. We even analyzed what effect writing “link in bio” in your Instagram caption has on post engagement.

If you have a hunch that something’s working, it’s a good practice to do your research and take a look at the data so you can understand why.

Save time managing Instagram for business using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts directly to Instagram, engage your audience, measure performance and run all your other social media profiles. Try it free today.

Get Started

Grow on Instagram

Easily create, analyze, and schedule Instagram posts, Stories, and Reels with Hootsuite. Save time and get results.

Free 30-Day Trial

13 Ways to Use Instagram for Small Business

By now, you’ve seen the power of Instagram. From customer complaints to a product going viral, the platform offers many features for small businesses, leveling the proverbial digital playing field between small and large businesses. But because it’s been around for a while, there’s loads of information available to you on how brands can use it. In this guide, we break down how to use Instagram for your small business from taking advantage of the platform’s features to specific ideas on how to increase your digital footprint.

Why should you use Instagram for your small business?

When your presence properly planned and managed, Instagram offers a wide set of advantages to small businesses. If you’re using the platform as a marketing outlet, then you need a documented Instagram marketing strategy. Yes, even if it’s only you running the account. According to Instagram’s own study, 81% of users said that Instagram helps them research products and services. You don’t want to miss out on a whole set of customers just because you’re not active on the network. Read on for tips to maximize small business accounts on Instagram.

1. Basics: Set up your profile

You might roll your eyes at this but it’s a necessary reminder. Once you’re set up as a business account, take a moment to comb through your Instagram profile. New features and settings are changed all the time, sometimes without notice. It doesn’t hurt to check if you’ve got some new features to try out. Other standard essential business profile items to consider include updating the business categories, hours, location(s), a contact method and linking any service or product catalogs. While you’re over here, check and make sure your profile elements, such as your bio and profile picture, are in line with your general social media branding.

2. Optimize your link in bio

Social media managers have gotten creative on how to take full advantage of the single link field that Instagram offers. It’s become common to refer to your “link in bio” in posts, and use this link to serve up a landing page with a mix of recent content and evergreen links to your most important product and service pages. If your business is one that shares links, has multiple links you want to provide to customers, has multiple offerings or all of the above, then the landing page approach is for you. There are several tools that let you create a link in bio landing page. Sprout Social’s SproutLink makes setting one up easy by offering a landing page that replicates your grid and provides clickable links for each post to highlight and drive traffic to your most important content. Plus, you can stay within Sprout’s Instagram publishing workflow to optimize and schedule the rest of your content. Just like you want to set up your profile with essential business information, small businesses should share the most important information with customers via link in bio.

3. Geotag your posts

When you post from your small business physical location, add the location name to the post. If you didn’t do this when posting before, you can scroll into past posts and edit them. What does geotagging do? Instagram compiles all of the posts tagged at that location, sorting them into top and recent. Your brand photos live among customer photos. The “View Information” towards the top links to information about the tagged business. All of this adds up to brand awareness and helps customers research your business. Don’t know what to order at a restaurant? Just browse the most recent photos and see what people recommend.

4. Use the save post feature

This strategy is not public-facing but could be useful for boosting your small business’s Instagram content strategy. Instagram offers the ability to “save” a post and sort them into a collection for you to view later. While it is not necessary to create collections, it’s advisable. There are many ways to use this feature for research and inspiration. Some collection ideas include:

What your competitors are posting about
Visual inspiration for photos
Great captions you’ve come across
Ideas for future posts
Customer reviews
Both happy and unhappy customer posts
Potential influencers

As you can see, there are quite a few options for you. If you find yourself thinking, “Oh, this is a great post,” hit that save button.

5. Use Highlights to showcase what your business is all about

Instagram’s Stories Highlights feature offers you a chance to share even more about your company. Highlights prolong the life of your Stories by featuring them on your profile after they would normally disappear, and can help you collect those Stories into an easy source of evergreen content. Since they display above your grid, start with the basics, such as:

About: Just a few posts on your values, hours and brand
Locations or highlights per location: If you have multiple locations, talk about each one and share photos from them
Customer reviews or posts: Repost from customer feed posts or create a graphic that highlights reviews from elsewhere
FAQs: Share information that customers often request. This also saves you time when responding to customers because you can then redirect them to this Highlight
Product/service features: Do an overall one or a Highlight per product or service. Some things you just can’t fit into one post. This is where you can go deep into the details.

And now that you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to get even more creative. A good place to start from is what content topics you’re already creating in your feed. Are you doing a series on each staff member? Save this all to a Highlight. Maybe you’re an event planner. Go behind-the-scenes on your process to demonstrate what you do for the client. Have fun with your Highlights. This is where your brand voice can shine.

6. Create guides

Much like Instagram Highlights, Guides gives you a chance to compile your favorite posts into one piece of featured content. But there are some key differences. It’s more editorial in format, almost as if you were reading an article. You can include photos and posts from your own feed and from others’ feeds that you’ve saved. Each embed allows a caption, where you could write even more about the product or location that you’re featuring. In addition to the ideas already mentioned in the Highlights section, Guides are great for compiling a list of location recommendations. They can be all of your locations or the local businesses you recommend. You can expand the topic to an introduction to your city, exploring the neighborhood you’re in or influencer recommendations. And if you’re hesitant about using this feature? No worries. Guides are able to be saved as drafts until you’re ready to publish them.

7. Pay attention to captions

Your first line in the caption is the one that grabs people’s attention and decides whether they expand to read more. In addition to paying attention to the first line, you should check the rest of your caption. With the recent addition of keyword search in Instagram, what you write in your Instagram caption is more important than ever. Before, you could be cutesy with your words or stylized, and while it’s not to say that you can’t still do this, you should make sure you’re including words that you want others to associate you with. Similar to conducting basic keyword research, this could include your brand and product names, or general terms related to your business category.

8. Use Instagram Live constantly

Going Live for brands skyrocketed in popularity in 2020 when marketing managers and business owners found themselves working from home but still needed to connect with customers on a personal level. There are numerous benefits to using Instagram Live. The biggest one is that followers receive a notification when an account they follow goes Live. This instant communication is vital especially when you’re trying to stand out on the network. A few ideas to start you off on Live:

Go behind the scenes: Do a tour of your space or showcase a creative process. Anything that the customer does not have public access to is where you should start.
Run a Q&A: Instagram has a Q&A feature where if you’re using the associated sticker, the story post also changes to reflect it. Live Q&As can be ask me anything (AMA) or centered around certain products.
Conduct an interview: Share the live stream with another account. Having a guest on the Live allows you a chance to interview them on the spot or gives them the mic to feature what they’re passionate about.
Showcase a product or service: Is it easier to show than tell for your product or service? Use Live to detail this. If comments are on, your viewers will also give you tips on what they want to see.

9. Offer “followers-only” promotions

Everyone loves a good sale. But an exclusive sale? That’s using the marketing tactic of FOMO and urgency. If you run a followers-only promotion for a limited time, it gives your followers another reason to stay engaged and stick around for the next one. Utilize the countdown Stories sticker if you want to build up hype or do a flash sale so the promotions become unpredictable.

10. Host a giveaway

One of the best ways to organically grow your Instagram account is by hosting a giveaway. Something that people love more than a good sale is free stuff. Depending on how you structure the giveaway, it could create additional post engagement for you. Beyond asking people to follow your account, add requirements like saving a post, commenting on a post or sending it to a friend. Instagram contests are low-hanging fruit for small businesses. You can also pair up with other small businesses that share a similar audience to further your brand awareness. Of course, you should not rely on this strategy as your sole social media strategy. Give your new followers more reasons to stick around beyond only hosting giveaways.

11. Host a takeover

Another way to increase brand exposure to your small business is to host a takeover or take over another business’ account. Typically, social media takeovers consist of a series of scheduled posts over a period of time. Some take all day while others post daily for a week. These posts can be feed-only, stories-only, Live or a combo of all of the posting features that Instagram offers. When hosting a takeover, think of it like structuring a story. You need to introduce the person, talk about what they’ll be covering, post the takeover contents and then end with a conclusive goodbye. Common takeover guests include fellow industry experts, representatives from other small businesses that you’re friendly with and staff members.

12. Increase your DM usage

Community building is a slow process and one of the aspects of it is creating that connection between you and your customer. What better way to do this than personal messaging?

In our Sprout Social Index™: Social Media Trends for 2022 & Beyond, private or direct messaging accounts for 38% of brands’ social media strategy. Add that to the nearly three-quarters of consumers who expect a response on social media within 24 hours. Increasing your DM usage doesn’t mean only responding. You should also actively engage with the customer on their own feed and stories. As your Instagram DM usage builds, you’ll find yourself needing a way to manage all the messages. This is where Sprout’s Smart Inbox feature comes into play. Manage your Instagram DMs using a workflow so you can spend more time responding to customers.

13. Track your analytics

It’s worth repeating this advice that’s found in other guides: track those Instagram analytics. Without data to back up your gut feeling of success, your strategies don’t hold up. If you’re just starting out, you can wade into your native insights through either the Instagram app or Facebook. You also want to be sure that you understand the differences between impressions, reach and other network-specific metrics. Sprout’s Instagram Business Profiles Report tracks engagement, hashtag performance and top post performance. You can compare your Instagram performance to your other networks with the Profile Performance Report in Sprout, too. Examine your Instagram data for more insights on what’s working or where you can improve your strategy.

Taking your Instagram for small business strategy further

This list is a great place to start with Instagram marketing tactics that small businesses can use to improve their presence on the network. Beefing up your Instagram strategy with tips like using Stories Highlights and using Instagram Live regularly will help you establish a connection with your customers. Are you starting your Instagram brand strategy completely from scratch? Create a personalized Instagram marketing strategy with our in-depth resources. Learn how to set goals, create a content plan and more.

How to start a business on Instagram from scratch and get real results - Marketing on vc.ru

Writing about the promotion of social networks is a thankless task. And not because there are now more experts than customers - just the speed with which the platforms roll out updates kills all romance.

128 137 views

And everything would be fine, I would work quietly further, but somewhere between the analysis of the next account and communication with a marketer on Facebook (by the way, were you also offered such a unique opportunity?) I realized one important thing. The problem of most entrepreneurs is in a fragmented picture. nine0003

They read bloggers, brand articles, watch free webinars, save posts with snippets of information, and test everything they see. Pieces, without understanding the basics, without a system.

And yes, tests are good. But strategies need to be tested - concepts and tools within the framework of these strategies, and not just the next "finds" of information gypsies.

Therefore, here I share a step-by-step launch and promotion system. Everything is as it is.

Developments went through fire, water and a couple of dozens of trials in real businesses. They will come in handy for entrepreneurs who are just entering Instagram, and for those who have already managed to screw up with bots, cheats and masslooking. nine0003

In general, I will write briefly and to the point. Get comfortable. And if anyone needs it later, extended information can be taken in PDF.

Strategy

Everything always starts with a strategy, even shopping. What can we say about business?!

But!

Before the strategy, you should have a clear understanding of the audience (oh my bastard, I wrote this) and defined promotion goals. With goals, I'm sure everything is clear, but with people it's harder. Businesses need to find those who will willingly leave their money with them. But is the one who pays always the initiator of the purchase? nine0003

Does a big and busy politician himself choose gifts for his ladies? Or is he looking for a place for dinner? And does mommy overwhelmed with duties look out for handmade gliders herself?

No.

Wives, girlfriends or even helpers come to the politician with their requests; to mom - the daughter comes and points her finger at the account in which you need to order something.

Therefore, before defining your audience, ask yourself a couple of questions:

Who pays for your product or service. nine0042
Who makes the purchase decision.
Who influences the choice and to what extent.

And now the strategy

It should grow on the overall marketing strategy and be tightly tied to the sales plan.

There are three basic scenarios that you can promote on Instagram today, adjusting any of them to fit your reality.

Development of a full-fledged blog, a community of people with the same interests

These are always accounts with a useful component. Regular posting and high-quality content are important here - tons of unique photos and engaging texts - to keep the interest of the existing audience and attract new subscribers. Focus on organic reach and all the perks that go with it.

The option, you understand, is not simple and definitely not cheap.

Creating a showcase - posting if necessary

When there is something to say, something to show and something to share. In this version, the focus is not on the community, but on a quick result. nine0003

We put ads on each post and control the volume of traffic, coverage, recognition, interactions, responses to invitations, sales, and so on.

The strategy is suitable for businesses that simply have nothing to write blogs about - developers, sales of special equipment, transportation - or those who do not have a budget for a constant flow of content.

Combined version

Keep a blog, gather an interested audience around it, and advertise some of your publications to enhance the effect. Here are the results of content boosting we received in a travel blog about Italy:

RK for involvement even for a couple of bucks gives excellent results Marina Velitchenko

OK, we have chosen a strategy, created a business account, let's move on to the settings.

Preparing page

In Instagram, the system is important.

The system is the parts that work together in a large mechanism.

Therefore, everything influences the process and the final result of promotion.

Normal design, competent filling of information, use of all the tools that Instagram offers - pinned stories, TV, marks, branded content, and more.

All page elements should match in style with adjacent objects and send readers a magical vibe, just kidding - should clearly present the business. Be understandable and pleasing to the eye for a specific audience.

We all like to watch beautiful accounts, and even more so to buy from a business that has not stinted on a normal brand packaging. Personally, I just love the @petroglyph_water page. nine0003

Conciseness, naturalness and "wild" atmosphere permeate every element - from a brief description of the page to the style of photo processing and truly live content.

Two short sentences in a header, but how catchy

When not just pink and blue presets from the network, but normal author's processing of photos in the same style

I will not describe how to correctly fill in the account description or set tags here - everything is in the document. But let's talk about content and its design. nine0003

Content

Promotion does not happen without a thoughtful content plan. Even if you or your copywriter are truly brilliant, there will come a time—in a month or three—when the ideas run out, the showcase products run out, and you still need to go on air regularly.

For these purposes, they are working on a strategic content plan. Not just a set of ideas from the Internet, but a sales system through text. Make a plan at least a month in advance. Ideally, three to six months. How to do it correctly, I already wrote on vc.ru. nine0003

What to publish

Many things. Who needs ideas - a lot of ideas - for content, write to me, I'll give you huge collections. But the main thing is that all these posts should be positive. As Anketologist reports in one of the latest studies, Russians have already formed their own feed and are accustomed to its appearance and effect. They see and want to see more positive things.

I would venture to suggest that people have enough problems and "pains" that someone is already pressing on in everyday life. In social networks, they want to relax. Give them that opportunity. nine0003

How often to post

It is not so important with what frequency, the main thing is with the same frequency. Every day, every three days... if once a week, then strictly once a week, on the same day. It is important. Failures in posting are fixed by algorithms and reduce organic reach.

Y - uniqueness of posts

And their naturalness. Real product photos sell better than polished stock photos. Galleries get less coverage, videos, on the contrary, get more coverage and charge live emotions, which is always good for business. nine0003

And unpacking videos from customers show the result even cooler, because they combine both social proof and motion, which our attention clings to more readily.

But all this must be unique, like the content on the sites, in order to be properly indexed and get more impressions.

Visually

In brand style. Filters, of course, can be used, but this is already out of date. Endless tapes also sunk into ... somewhere very far away. nine0003

Now the trend is block design - publication of 9-12 photos from one photoset or location. I found the most beautiful example of this concept from @brunellocucinelli_brand.

You can play with color and shape, you can shoot your product on one - preferably inactive - background, as here:

You can get confused with the design, take multi-layered photos, alternate near, far and macro shots, or you can just make a neat look of a classic checkerboard. And you can never go wrong with light colors:

If this is very difficult, long, unbearable, order a set of neutral templates from the designer. It's not expensive, but it helps out when there are not enough product photos.

Optimization

In social networks, these are hashtags. The same search queries and keywords by which new subscribers will find you. Instagram is one of two social networks where these tags work to their full potential.

Would you like to see how it works? I give screenshots of the current project with a statue of literally a couple of previous weeks. nine0003

Want to be even tougher? The same 500-600 subscribers, and this is the buzz:

Geotagging

Here, too, everything is extremely simple - they work, and not bad. It is important to mark not cities or countries, but specific locations: maternity hospitals, art schools for children's goods; cigar clubs, expensive restaurants and country resorts for a luxury shoe manufacturer.

Aim consciously and you will be happy.

But Instagram notifies restaurant owners about marks. Vasya tagged the men's club in his Stories, a notification about Vasya arrived on the club's account. nine0003

Good way to track your audience, collect user generated content and even find advertising partners.

Stories

Instagram Stories. Why do you need them if you sell pizza ovens? Not everything is so simple here - Stories have ceased to be a toy for children and lifestyle bloggers, they are constantly turning into ... turning ... into a powerful marketing tool - Stories are viewed by more than 500 million users a day.

In the summer of 2018 it was 400 million, and in the fall of 2017 it was about 300 million, in 2016 it was 250 million. The pace is reactive, right?!

Let's see how they help you:

What to do with it all

Play . Now it is in trend. Screenshots of predictions, rebuses with emoticons, mazes, chains of questions with stickers - all this appeals to the audience and algorithms.
Telling stories . Literally. Stories are used for multi-page storytelling - such a consistent story on several spreads. You can write about anything in the storytelling format. nine0200
Put active links to products or other social networks. The feature is also available for accounts with less than 10,000 followers. If you confirm your page with documents - get a blue checkmark - you can put links even with 20 subscribers. This works for brands as well as people.
Run long advertisements . You can now start targeting from the Facebook account for Instagram Stories on videos 60-120 seconds long, instead of 15, as it was before. nine0042

Promotion

Promotion methods directly depend on the business goals. What do you want from social networks - recognition, subscribers, traffic to other resources, sales? What? Decided? Then choose from the list.

Paid and effective methods: targeting (works especially well by geo), bloggers, advertising in public, mailings in direct (a mini analogue of email marketing), native advertising on websites, in articles, in videos - everywhere, where the hands and imagination will reach. nine0042
Free , but slow options: optimized profile header, beautifully designed page, normal content, tags - hashtags, geotags, name tags - post relinking, external links to an Instagram account, cross-posting, guerrilla marketing, commenting, liking and following (preferably in manual mode), networking, contests, mutual PR and joint promotions.
Gray and frankly toxic methods of developing a subscription base: giveaways - they are also star contests with expensive gifts and a bunch of sponsors - activity chats, like-times, etc. d.

Useful resources

I left the full list of services in the document, here I will quickly go through the most useful ones. I’ll tell you about the little-known ones in more detail, so that you understand what to expect from them.

Microlendings

To group contacts and business cards if there is no site: Mssg.me, Taplink, Linkin.bio. Or a direct link to WhatsApp: https://wa.me/[your number].

In addition, a whole WhatsApp ecosystem is now developing, where you can assemble a convenient landing page, connect a bot and completely forget about other sites. nine0003

Official delayed posting

Facebook Creator Studio or Boompublic - Content can be purchased from creators. Business sets the price. There is a convenient editor, a calendar for planning, cross-posting to all social networks and, most importantly, safe posting on Instagram.

Crossposting

Content reposts from Instagram to other social networks are limited, so onemorepost.ru helps a lot. It knows how to distribute even old posts in auto mode to VKontakte groups, to most popular social networks and instant messengers. nine0003

Moderation

This is a pain for every SMM manager, and even more so for a businessman who manages social networks himself and often misses important questions in the comments. It is advisable to use the official Pages mobile app from Facebook, but it also often loses comments. There is a legal alternative.

Morecom.ru - collects and does not lose comments, sends them to VKontakte or Telegram. Works officially, approved by Facebook to use the Graph API.

The bot helps answer questions directly from Telegram, the answers fall exactly into the original comment thread, and do not fly apart. You can work with a team and multiple accounts. nine0003

There are extended statistics on the page and search by comments - by phrase, nickname, tags. Soon they promise push notifications and binding to Slack. Our sales team is very helpful.

Analytics

Livedune is the only Russian-speaking Instagram partner in the niche, and the most adequate in terms of price and features.

For target

Deep links or spacers to open ads directly in the Instagram app - as much as some colleagues may protest against these assistants, I recommend using urlgeni.us. Why am I there - Facebook marketers recommend! nine0003

Audience parsers

There is no way without them now. Pepper.ninja or InstaParserPro are good but expensive.

SERM - online reputation management

YouScan, Brand Analytics will show what was said about you, even if it has been removed.

Marketing base

Without the basics of doing business, no promotion will be successful, so here is a link to a free business development program. Joint project of Google and Sberbank. nine0003

I have everything.

Use, upgrade Instagram, get more sales.

#instagram

How to use Instagram to promote your business: 13 practical tips

Instagram is one of the most promising social platforms for business promotion. First, the popularity of this network is steadily growing. At the same time, Instagram users demonstrate high involvement in interaction with each other and with brands. Secondly, Instagram allows you to publish and consume visual content that is perceived by users tens of thousands of times faster than text content. Add to this the ability to use Instagram literally on the go using mobile gadgets. It turns out almost an ideal social platform for a modern person living at a frantic pace. Third, unlike traditional social media, visual content sharing platforms are successful at generating immediate conversions. nine0003

After reading this article, you will no longer doubt the effectiveness of promotion on Instagram. You will also learn how to promote projects using Instagram.

“I ate a man on promoting a business using Instagram.” Everyone can use this network

Why a business needs Instagram

You can answer this question with the help of statistics. According to the Pew Research Center, 17% of total social media users over the age of 18 check their Instagram account daily. The core audience of this social network is represented by young people aged 18 to 29years. We are talking about the generation of millennials, who often make buying decisions under the influence of social platforms. Gender-wise, Instagram is dominated by women. Instagram users are very active on this network. 57% of owners check their account at least once a day, and 35% do it several times a day.

Instagram users are engaged

Pinterest vs. Instagram: which of these platforms is better to use in online marketing

Hopes & Fears makes a simple and clear case for using Instagram to promote a business on the Russian Internet:

Haute Future online clothing store attracts about 80% of customers using Instagram.
Buy-by-me resale store attracts 65% of customers using Instagram.
Hand made goods store Lapatanova, represented by the founder Katya Kotova, attracts customers exclusively through Instagram.

Of course, these figures are not derived from a study with a representative sample. Rather, we are talking about examples that confirm the possibility of effectively using Instagram to promote a business in RuNet.

Free social media audit

Drawing of 3 places until 24.08. The rest of the participants of the drawing - 50% discount

More nine0313 Practical Tips for Using Instagram to Promote Your Business

If you sell services such as endowment life insurance, online trading or laptop repair, look for customers on Facebook and other traditional social networks. Visual social platforms, including Instagram, are more suitable for selling products. Clothing, cosmetics, DIY and handmade products, photographs, decorative items are some of the categories of products that can be promoted on Instagram. nine0003

The following practical tips will help you attract clients in practice:

1. Subscribe to Instagram for business blog updates

On the Instagram for business blog you will find recommendations on how to use this network to promote projects. You will also be able to receive notifications about new features and examples of successful use of Instagram by established brands.

In our Instagram, we publish news from the world of Internet marketing and follow the innovations in the social network. nine0003

2. Optimize your company profile on Instagram

Optimization will make your company profile visible to search engine users. In addition, the optimized profile will not let them get lost after landing. To optimize your profile, do the following:

Set your company logo as your profile photo. If you don't have a logo, use an image of one of your products.
Use the name of your company and/or words that express the essence of the business as a nickname. nine0042
Briefly describe the nature of your proposal. Users want to know what you are selling.
Include your contact information, including the website URL, in the description.

Pay attention to your privacy settings. Your photos must be available to all users.

Website promotion: 69 steps to reach the top

3. Post photos of your products

Turn your Instagram account into a shop window. Invest in professional photography. When you photograph a homemade cake with a digital camera, it looks beautiful. When the photo is taken by a professional, the cake looks so delicious that people want to buy it. nine0003

4. Add hashtags to your photos

Hashtags help your target audience find your products. According to the marketing company TrackMaven, 4-5 tags under the photo are enough.

6. Periodically post entertaining photos

Try to give your audience a reason to smile. It's good if funny photos are related to your business. Did the customer support manager spill coffee on the keyboard? Show users that company employees try not to ignore a single request, so they cannot go to the buffet even for 5 minutes. nine0003

If your colleague spilled coffee on the keyboard, you have a good story for an Instagram post in your pocket

6. Attract followers

The effectiveness of using Instagram directly depends on the number of followers of your account. To increase the number of followers, follow these recommendations:

Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook timeline.
Tag your published photos with popular hashtags.
Subscribe to updates from other users, comment and mark your favorite photos.

Cross-posting photos on Facebook is a very effective way to get the attention of your friends on the world's largest social network who don't yet know about your Instagram account.

7. Post videos

Since mid-2013, Instagram users have been able to create and post 15-second videos. Share videos with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, include them in email newsletters. Don't forget about the ability to embed Instagram videos on your blog or website pages. nine0003

Does Instagram advertising work for bloggers?

8. Use filters

According to TrackMaven, Mayfair, Normal and Inkwell are the most effective filters for photo processing. They most often generate user response. According to market research firm Simply Measured, brands most commonly use Lo-fi, Valencia, Rise and Amaro filters.

9. Invite the audience to participate in contests

Winning contests that offer valuable prizes effectively stimulate user activity. Use this tool to attract additional subscribers and get feedback from the audience. Offer contestants the conditions of the competition, excluding cheating. For example, announce that the best photo will be selected by a jury that includes you, your cat, and a canary. Or promise to determine the winner by drawing lots.

10. Offer your subscribers discounts and bonuses

According to the University of Massachusetts Darmouth, 64% of Facebook users follow brands to receive discounts. Instagram users will also follow your account more actively if you promise them bonuses. Don't just give away coupons. Ask the subscriber to leave a few comments, repost your photos, etc.

11. Show the kitchen of your business

Commissioning of equipment, opening of a new office, weekly meeting - use such information occasions to highlight the activities of the project. Post photos of employees at work. Customers want to know they are talking to real people, not a faceless company X.

12. Show off your product

Drive demand by showing off your product. Show how high foam the coffee machine makes, let customers evaluate clothes not on hangers, but on models, demonstrate the speed of the vegetable cutter, show hairstyles and makeup that you can do in your beauty salon.

13. Measure the effectiveness of business promotion on Instagram

Focus on standard social media marketing performance metrics: the number of likes, comments, shares, visits to the company's website, leads and conversions. Use analytics services to evaluate the performance of notes with visual content. nine0003

Evaluate an effective communication channel

Try to interact with your audience through Instagram. You will be able to attract customers if you sell clothes, handmade goods, decor items, beauty and body care services. Optimize your profile, post photos of your products, tag them with hashtags, run contests, and offer discounts to your customers.