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How to start business in instagram


How to Use Instagram for Business: A Complete Guide

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms with over 2 billion monthly active users (that’s 1/4 of the entire global population), which means it’s a great marketing channel to use for promoting your brand.

If you’re new to Instagram or you want to learn how to better market your brand on Instagram, we’ve put together a complete guide on how to use Instagram for business. From optimizing your profile to creating stellar content, we’ve got it all.

So let’s dig in.

How to use Instagram for business: 5 steps

Instagram is a visual social media platform with a heavy emphasis on photo and video content. This can seem tough for brands without a visual product, but even B2B businesses and service-based brands can benefit from this network.

As long as you follow our guide, you should be able to grow an audience and engage your followers in no time.

1. Create an Instagram business profile

There are three types of Instagram accounts: personal, creator and business. Creator and business accounts are the two types of professional accounts offered. Influencers and content creators would want to utilize the creator account, while as a brand, you’ll want to set up a business profile.

With an Instagram business profile, you get access to useful features like:

  • More sections to flesh out in your profile
  • Instagram insights/analytics
  • Instagram advertising
  • The ability to connect to a scheduling app
  • Instagram shop/tagging products in posts

Each feature can help your brand get the most out of its presence on Instagram.

2. Optimize your Instagram business profile

As I mentioned, there are more sections available in your business profile, so take advantage of them. This will provide plenty of information to potential followers upfront, giving them a clear idea of what your business does and why they should follow you.

Optimize your profile by using the following fields:

  • Profile photo: It’s best to use your company logo as your profile photo so people can easily identify your brand.
  • Name: Make this your business name, identical to your brand’s other social profiles.
  • Username: This should also be your business name. Note that your username cannot have any spaces.
  • Pronouns: This is included on every profile, but you’ll only want to use it if you’re the face of your business.
  • Website: This will be the only clickable URL on your Instagram page. Most businesses either use their website or link to their latest promotional page. You can also use a link in bio tool to link to multiple pages.
  • Bio: Your Instagram bio is where you will capture the attention of other users. You can either describe what your business does, hype up your website or slap your brand’s slogan here (or all of the above, actually).
  • Page: Connect your Instagram business profile to your Facebook business page.
  • Category: Select the category that best describes your brand’s industry or product/service offerings.
  • Contact options: Link all of the best ways for customers to contact you, like email, phone or physical address.
  • Action buttons: Add a call-to-action button right onto your Instagram profile, like “Order food,” “Book now,” “Reserve,” or “Get quote.”
  • Instagram story highlights: Add story highlights to your profile and categorize them based on the types of stories your brand typically creates.

Here’s an example of a brand that has its Instagram profile fully optimized:

3. Create a strong Instagram marketing strategy

Each marketing channel you have a presence on needs to have its own specific strategy—and your Instagram is no different. Because Instagram is such a visual platform, a lot of your strategy needs to revolve around finding or creating the visuals that you share.

However, there are a few more aspects to remember as well.

Define your target audience

First, make sure you’re creating content that your target audience will be interested in. But to do that, you first need to define that target audience. Look to your existing customer persona, then conduct research on Instagram to find profiles that align with that persona. Follow them and analyze the content they share. Check out which brands they’re following and analyze the content they share as well.

Then, use those analyses to help guide your own Instagram content strategy. Pay attention to which of your posts, stories or reels get the most attention so you can start creating more similar content.

Set goals and KPIs

What are you hoping to get out of your presence on Instagram? The most likely objectives may look something like:

  • Sales
  • Website traffic
  • Engagement
  • Followers
  • User-generated content
  • Influencer partnerships

All of the above can be easily done, but you need to adjust your Instagram strategy for each one.

For example, if your goal is sales through your social media initiatives, you’ll want to set up an Instagram shop and tag your products in each of your posts. If your goal is website traffic, make sure to create a link in bio page with multiple links to your website, blog posts and sales pages, as well as utilizing the link sticker in your Instagram stories.

Lay out your goals and KPIs, then create a strategy that satisfies them.

Track your performance and metrics

With your Instagram business account, you get access to built-in insights, data and analytics. Take advantage of this so you’re able to see how your strategy is performing. Take a look at your top posts, how much engagement each of your posts gets, insights on your followers and more.

You can also take advantage of Sprout Social’s social media analytics dashboard to get even more in-depth insights about your Instagram’s performance:

Create a content calendar and publishing schedule

The last part of your Instagram strategy is to determine the types of content you’ll create, build a social media content calendar and start scheduling your posts.

For e-commerce brands, this is most likely going to consist of product photos, like we see on Bloomscape’s Instagram below:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bloomscape (@bloomscape)

For service-based brands, this might consist more of branded graphics, like we see from Planoly’s feed:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Planoly – Planner for Insta (@planoly)

Find the types of content that make the most sense for your brand and start creating.

4. Post high-quality Instagram content and follow best practices

We briefly touched on content, but let’s dig a little deeper because Instagram provides a lot of opportunities for sharing new content with your audience. You’ll also want to be well-versed with Instagram’s best practices to see the best results.

Test using new Instagram features

It should come as no surprise that Instagram is constantly releasing new features. And to make the most of the platform, it’s a good idea to test all of them to see what resonates most with your followers, whether it’s Instagram Reels, link stickers in stories or something else.

Find the right tools and apps to create or edit Instagram posts

There are so many Instagram tools to take advantage of that can help you create even more stunning content. Some are perfect for editing photos while others are more ideal for creating branded graphics.

A few Instagram post tools to consider are:

  • Canva
  • Visme
  • Snapseed
  • VSCO

Test out a few different apps to find the ones that are easiest for your team to use.

Writing engaging Instagram captions

There’s an art to writing a good Instagram caption that actually gets your audience to engage with your content, follow you and make a purchase. A few tried-and-true tips are:

  • Keep it short and sweet. Just because it can be 2,200 characters doesn’t mean it should.
  • Ask a question or tell a story that will increase the likelihood that viewers will comment.
  • Incorporate emoji or social media lingo.
  • Use hashtags to help Instagram users find your content.

To get even more inspiration, here are 50+ Instagram caption ideas.

Explore the various Instagram post types

Instagram gives its users so many different ways to create and share content, so make sure you’re taking advantage of those. It can be boring for users to head over to your Instagram post and see just the same type of content again and again.

Instead, switch it up. Share stories, photos, branded graphics, videos, carousel posts, reels, guides, live video broadcasts and more. Add each different type of content to your content calendar so you can plan around it and keep a solid variety.

Increase sales with shoppable posts

Ecommerce brands can get even more out of Instagram through shoppable posts. Set up your Instagram shop, tag products in your Instagram posts and make it easier than ever for customers to make a purchase.

Through shoppable posts, your followers can tap on a product they see in one of your posts, click over to the product listing in your Instagram shop and make a purchase, all without ever leaving the platform.

5. Grow your Instagram follower count

And finally, you need to start growing your Instagram followers. While follower count is a vanity metric and doesn’t matter to your bottom line as much as engagement and conversions do, it’s still a good idea to work on growing your followers. It can aid in social proof and it can help you reach a wider audience on the platform.

A few tactics for growing your Instagram followers include:

  • Comment on Instagram posts of people who look like they’d be part of your target audience
  • Use relevant hashtags on your posts so that users searching for those hashtags can find your content
  • Post consistently and share a wide variety of content types
  • Collaborate with influencers to expand your reach to their audiences
  • Cross-promote your Instagram account on your website and other social media feeds
  • Pay attention to the content that gets the most engagement and create more like it
  • Start creating brand awareness ads on Instagram

Instagram for business frequently asked questions

Want to know even more about using Instagram for business? Here are a few FAQs to help you out.

Is Instagram free for business?

Yes, creating a business profile on Instagram is absolutely free. The only thing you’ll ever have to pay for is if you choose to run ads on the platform.

Is Instagram worth it for small businesses?

Absolutely! If small businesses take advantage of all the features available to them, they can really make a splash on the platform.

Which account is best for business on Instagram?

It’s best for businesses to create a Professional > Business account over a personal or creator account. This gives them the best features for brands, allowing them to build a following and make sales.

Start using Instagram for business

If you haven’t gotten started as a business on Instagram, don’t panic.

With an active, ever-growing user base, Instagram has proven itself as a staple of social marketing rather than a flash in the pan. For brands with a visual story to tell and a desire to grow a base of dedicated followers and customers, there’s still a place waiting for you on the platform.

If you’re still looking for ways to step up your Instagram game, use our Instagram for Brands guide and learn how to create a creative and engaging strategy.

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:

  1. Choose an element to test (image, caption, hashtags, etc.).
  2. 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).
  3. Track and analyze the results of each post.
  4. Choose the winning variation.
  5. Test another small variation to see if you can improve your results.
  6. Share what you learn throughout your organization to build a library of best practices for your brand.
  7. 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.

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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.

126 927 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.

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.

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?

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.
  • 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
  • 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.

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.
  • 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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

I have everything.

Use, upgrade Instagram, get more sales.

#instagram

How to make a business on Instagram? Tips on how to open and develop a business account on Instagram - Artjoker

More and more stores are moving to a new business platform - Instagram. The number of people – potential customers – has exceeded 800 million. Now is the time to start doing business on Instagram if you haven't already.

How do I create an account?

Creating a business account on Instagram is very simple. To do this, you must first go to the Facebook menu and create a page for your business. After that, in your Instagram profile settings, click "Switch to business profile". Next, you will have an absolutely standard registration, where you will be required to come up with a name and fill in a description. That's all - the creation of the Instagram online store is over!

What is it for?

In the form of a business account, Instagram has created the most powerful analytical tool that all social media people dreamed of. The thing is, on the new page, all the statistics are available to you. Literally everything!

It won't be easy!
Boring too! Author's TG channel of Roman Katerynchyk. Get insights first hand. Subscribe to TG channel

The application collects data, groups it, compares it with previous periods and puts it on a silver platter - for this it is definitely worth opening a business account on Instagram.

Available to you:

  • The number of subscribers, their attendance by hours and days;
  • Complete statistics on responses: public reach, clicks to an external site, views of your pictures;
  • Separately, there is also a selection of the most popular photos.

Another amazing feature is hotkeys - a call to action, without which no promotion of the Instagram store can do. You can choose from five buttons - call or write, or maybe immediately sign up. There is a choice for every client here.

Advertising and promotion

Targeted advertising migrated from the older brother of Facebook to Instagram. Now you can select the audience to which your publications will be distributed. Such targeted advertising on Instagram takes into account many factors: gender, age, interests, place of residence.

However, do not abuse advertising from the first minute. First, create content that you would like to trust. Keep a blog. Post the stories behind the product, but don't advertise it. Communicate with the public, future customers, go to the pages of people you are interested in and write comments. Before you make a business on Instagram, you need to build a reputation and credibility.

Create a unique style

In order for people to feel your philosophy, your approach to business, your publications must be in the same style. If you are not sure that there is enough creativity for every day, write a content plan. Think over the headings, their content for a month in advance.

Put the visual component first. Create posts that you yourself would like to admire. Before you open a business through Instagram, conquer the viewer with your unique style.

When there are about twenty photos in the feed, you can proceed to filling with goods.

Management tips

After creating and launching the store, you will face the most difficult task - to grow, to interest the viewer, to expand.

The following tips will be a great help in growing your business on Instagram: