How to use instagram highlights for business

9 Ways to Engage Your Customers With Instagram Highlights

Instagram is one way people, businesses, and organizations connect and engage, whether it’s by posting pictures, shoppable tags, live videos, or IGTV. And Instagram continues to come up with new ways people can interact with one another on the social media platform, enhancing the customer experience for many brands and businesses.

One of the popular features Instagram offers—which gained a great deal of attention from its initial release and is now used by 500 million accounts every day—is Instagram Story Highlights.

WordStream’s own Instagram Highlights

In this post, we’ll share how you can use Instagram Highlights to promote your business and engage with customers. Now, let’s start by exploring what this feature is and how to use it, and then we’ll dive into nine ways you can use it for your business!

What are Instagram Story Highlights?

Instagram Story Highlights, also known simply as Instagram Highlights, are collections of pictures, videos, and posts that you’ve posted to your Instagram Story in the past. These curated collections are often referred to as “albums,” and these albums are usually different categories of topics.

Unlike Instagram Stories that vanish after 24 hours, Instagram Highlights live permanently on your profile, allowing you to add or delete content from them at any time. These albums sit right underneath your profile bio section and above your regular feed.

Google’s Instagram Story Highlights. Here you can see where Highlights appear.

RELATED: 32 Free & Easy Instagram Story Templates

How to add Highlights on Instagram

Before you can start sharing great content on your Highlights, you must first learn how to create them! The first step to this process is to make sure that Instagram’s auto-archiving feature is turned on. This feature automatically archives and saves each Story you post to your Instagram feed or story to the cloud, eliminating the worry of losing any valuable content. Once this feature is turned on, you can share and repost any content that you’ve posted even after it disappears from your Instagram Stories. To locate the archive feature, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the settings of your Instagram account.

2. Click on the “Story” button.

3. Make sure the “Save to Archive” button is turned on.

After you’ve made sure the “Save to Archive” button is turned on, your next step is to create an Instagram Story Highlight! To do this, go to your profile and tap the “Story Highlights” button below your username and bio. Then, tap the Stories that you want to add to your highlight. To continue, pick a cover photo for your Highlight, as well as a title. And after tapping “Done” or “Add,” you’re all set!

The best ways to use Instagram Story Highlights for your business

You could just include all your Instagram Stories in an Instagram Story Highlight, but that isn’t very appealing to your followers, and it certainly won’t encourage customer engagement. This feature is much more effective if you have multiple highlights that feature the different types of Instagram Stories you create. So here are nine Instagram Highlights ideas you can use to get your followers and customers engaged.

1. Showcase your products

One of the best ways to promote your business and engage with your customers is by creating an Instagram Story Highlight promoting your products or services. According to Instagram, 75% of users take an action, such as visiting a website or making a purchase, after looking at ads on the platform. Whether or not active Instagram users have engaged with your business before, if they’re browsing your profile and see a highlight dedicated to “Products,” they might be more likely to click through the content included in your highlight versus scrolling through your entire feed. Your highlight will be an easier and faster way to find information about your offerings, and you can direct customers to your website, to sign up for a newsletter, or, ideally, to make a purchase via Instagram. By tagging products in your highlights with the Instagram Stories stickers (interactive elements that you can add to engage with your followers), you can showcase your products more creatively and in less direct or salesy ways.

Let’s take a look at how Letterfolk, a home decor company that offers unique paper goods and gifts, showcases its products.

Letterfolk organizes its Instagram Story Highlights to showcase different products they offer—tile mats, calendars, ABC prints, and more. This allows users to find more information about the specific products they’re interested in. This is a good way to make separate product highlights focused on seasonal collections, new releases, product promotions, and more. Using a similar approach, depending on how many products your business offers, you might combine all product-related stories into a single album. A great way to include a CTA in these stories is to use the “See More” link, engaging with your followers and directing them to find more exciting information about your offerings on your website.

Lettfolk uses the “See More” link on their “New” Highlight.

2. Promote events

As we all know, social media is a great place to promote events and build brand awareness, especially because users look for information there. Although we’re restricted from gathering in large groups right now and your business might not be hosting in-person events, you can still use the Stories feature to showcase past events, promote upcoming ones, and help raise awareness about others. This will allow followers to get a better idea of what the events your business actually hosts are like—and increase interest for future ones!

Boston Business Women has a highlight showcasing all events organized by the group.

If your business hosts events, workshops, or training experiences (all can be virtual, too), dedicating an Instagram Story Highlight exclusively to event promotion is a strategic, fun, creative way to share more of your brand’s personality while also increasing brand awareness.

3. Show what you’ve been up to

Keeping clients informed is always one of the most important objectives of businesses, and offering a behind-the-scenes look at what your business has been up to while #WorkingFromHome is a great idea for an Instagram Story Highlight.

Chobani’s #chobaniathome Instagram Story Highlight

With Stories like these, your followers—and your customers—are able to picture people at your company or new initiatives, and both of these help humanize your brand.

Here are some great ways your business can do this today:

Tease viewers by giving them an inside look at some of your new products.
Share pictures, videos, or screenshots taken during company meetings.
Show where your employees have been working recently.

4. Interact with customers with interactive polls

Using ad interactive polls on your Instagram Stories not only allows you to engage with customers, it also allows you to collaborate with customers. You can gain a greater understanding of your audience and insight into their pain points, as well as ask them fun, different sorts of questions, inviting them to interact with your brand.

Mother Juice, located in Boston, interacts with followers by asking them what they miss most about their company.

Even more, the results you get from Instagram Story polls can help you reframe your marketing and advertising campaigns more effectively. Creating a highlight including all the ad polls you’ve posted on your Instagram Stories is a great way for followers and users to see that you’re interested in their opinions and feedback on your products or conversations.

If you want to learn more about ways you can use ad interactive polls to drive engagement with your customers, we’ve got a whole blog post on this topic waiting for you!

5. Answer your followers’ questions

Another interactive feature you can use to capture your followers’ attention is an Instagram Story Highlight with answers to common questions.

Remote Year’s Q&A Instagram Story Highlight

In 2018, Instagram introduced the “Questions” sticker, which allows your followers to submit questions to your business when you add this to your Instagram Story. A unique feature of the Questions sticker is that you can view the profiles of the users who responded; you can share someone’s questions or comments, but their photos and their profiles and usernames won’t be disclosed. This allows you to share the questions that users have asked, or their responses to questions you’ve asked, and their profiles won’t be shared publicly.

Our own Story Highlight answering customer questions.

A good place to start is by asking common questions about business hours, new products, features, or location, and begin by answering those. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and think of what you’d like to know if you clicked through your business Q&A highlight. A restaurant may ask, “What’s something you’d like to see on our menu? Or an agency might ask, “What’s your favorite social ad we’ve created for you?” Or a realtor could ask, “Is proximity to mass transit important to you?” Users can also type an answer instead of asking a question.

6. Feature product tutorials

Creating an album specifically for tips and tutorials for using your product or service helps to establish your credibility and build trust in your brand. Part of the album can be showcasing actual customers using your product or service to demonstrate the ease of product use. This Instagram Story Highlight also allows you to show a more in-depth look at the functionality of your product or service and gives customers an inside look, an idea of what to expect when they (hopefully) make a purchase.

Tagwalk has a collection of “How to Guides” in one of their Highlights.

For businesses selling higher price points or lesser-known brands, there’s a longer consideration phase before people buy. You can cut straight to the chase with your prospects (or at least try to) by giving them a sneak peek of what they get when they buy!

7. Highlight your customer testimonials

We all know the importance of sharing customer reviews, so be sure to share your company’s reviews with your followers, too! Creating a highlight dedicated to reposting screenshots or testimonials of your customers’ experiences using your product, service, or brand, and highlighting these on your Instagram account is a great way to share the stories of your happy customers. Customer testimonials are valuable to emphasize the benefits customers have received from your products or service.

These customer testimonials are also a great opportunity to use the “See More” button, allowing followers to swipe up and shop the product your customers were raving about.

Just be sure to ask customers if they’d be willing to be featured on your business’s Instagram profile, but hopefully you’ll have trust built with them already and they’ll say yes!

8. Share sales and discounts

One of the most effective ways to boost sales on Instagram and attract followers to engage with your content in some way is through offering discounts or giveaways.

Offering discounts and sales on your products provides greater visibility to your brand and has the potential to increase sales, generate leads, and boost traffic to your website.

Creating an Instagram Story Highlight dedicated to sharing current sales, discounts, and promotions is a great idea. Discounts or giveaways naturally attract prospects, prompts them to engage with the content on your Story, and then encourages them to buy your product or services.

9. Start a series

You’ve now read many tips on how to promote your products and services, advertise your events and highlight past ones, and communicate sales and discounts you’re having right now. Another creative way to engage with your customers on Instagram Stories and earn extra visibility is by creating a highlight dedicated to posting fun, relatable content. This can be related to your company’s offering, your company’s mission—or, it doesn’t necessarily have to be related with your particular business or industry.

Califa Farms has a Story Highlight named “Smile” dedicated to sharing daily moments of joy.

You can do this is by creating a story album dedicated to sharing motivational quotes related to your business, jumping on current trends happening on social media, or dedicating a highlight to sharing about your content, like a blog or video series.

Curds & Co. has a Story Highlight created for their website blog.

You can also share with your followers’ non-business motivational quotes, and funny quotes (humor goes a long way in engaging an audience). The key here is to stay consistent. Post those quotes regularly for the duration of your campaign or make a story every time you’re posting a new blog or video. This consistency keeps your customers coming back!

Put these Instagram Highlight tips into practice today!

As we know, social media is constantly evolving, and Instagram and the many features it offers are growing with it. I hope this post has given you some ideas on how to use Instagram Story Highlights to add a whole new dimension to how your business interacts with followers on Instagram. If you are looking for ways to grow your business, experimenting with the unique Story Highlight feature on Instagram is a great way to do so!

And if you’re looking for more inspiration, we’ve got 73 Instagram Story ideas to keep your followers coming back!

A Guide to Instagram Highlights for Small Businesses

Summary

Unlike regular Stories that disappear after 24hrs, Stories Highlights can live on your Instagram profile permanently. Highlights offer a great opportunity to drive attention to important content and details about your brand.

You will learn

How to use Instagram's Stories archiving feature
How to create Highlights cover images
How to use Highlights on your Instagram profile

One-third of the most-viewed Instagram Stories are produced by businesses. But Stories disappear after 24 hours. With Instagram Highlights, you can give your best-received Stories a permanent place on your Instagram profile.

Small businesses can take advantage of Instagram users’ interest in Stories by creating curated collections of top content with Instagram Highlights. While Instagram Stories lean into the original “instant” aspect of Instagram, Instagram Highlights serve as a fixed place for businesses to feature their best content, important resources, and more.

How to add Highlights to Instagram

Before we dive into what to include in your Highlights, here’s a quick overview of how to add highlights to Instagram.

To add active Stories to Highlights:

Open the Story
Tap Highlight at the bottom of the Story
Choose a current Highlight or create a new one

Instagram Stories remain active on your profile for only 24 hours, but if you use the Archiving feature, you can store expired content for later use.

Access archived Stories by tapping the horizontal lines on your Instagram profile, then select Archive. Open any Story, and tap the heart labeled “Highlight” to add to your Instagram highlights.

To add Archived Stories to Highlights:

Go to your profile, and tap on the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner
Select Archive.
Open the Story you want to add to Highlights.
Tap Highlight.
Choose a current Highlight or create a new one.

6 Ways small businesses can use Instagram Highlights

Not sure how to decide which Instagram Stories are highlight-worthy? Or do you need help making your Instagram Highlights stand out? Try these tactics.

1. Create Instagram Highlight cover images

Instead of using awkward thumbnails as your cover photos, create brand-specific covers so you have a consistent look across all Highlights. You wouldn’t add just any image or use a random font on your website, so why would you do that on Instagram? Highlight icons give your profile a neat, professional look while also displaying your business’s branding and style.

iFundWomen, Sass & Belle, and Pineapple Collaborative all use Instagram Highlights cover images to create a consistent look across their Highlights.

You can create Instagram Highlights covers using Instagram’s built-in text on Instagram Stories, or you can take it a step further with free image tools such as Canva. To make an image the cover photo, simply add the image to the new Highlight as your first image.

If you're designing your own Instragm Highlights covers, the dimensions should be 1080 pixels x by 1920 pixels tall with a 9:16 aspect ratio. You should also centre all of the elements so that your cover looks great when it's cropped.

2. Keep your audience updated

Instagram Stories are a great avenue for sharing announcements. If you want to keep your latest news at your audience’s fingertips, make space in your Instagram Highlights for weekly updates.

“We update our highlights at least once a week to make sure that at the least the first viewable highlights are up to date and clean."

“We update our highlights at least once a week to make sure that at the least the first viewable highlights are up to date and clean,” says Shakivla Todd, marketing associate at funding marketplace iFundWomen.

iFundWomen uses Highlights to share what's going on each week.

You can use Instagram Highlights to showcase your best content by creating a literal Highlights reel from the past week. This also allows you to keep ongoing promotions, upcoming events, and other business news on your profile longer.

“Every Tuesday, we run a campaign titled What We're Up To,” Todd says. “It spotlights our events or workshops that week. It always lives at the top of our Highlights so people can get to it quickly."

3. Reserve a spot for go-to resources

People often find small businesses via social media, so Instagram business accounts should have a lot of the same resources as a website. Think of the information you usually have in your menu bar or footer — About Us, FAQs, Return Policies, etc. — and use your Highlights to keep that content readily available.

Exotic animal rescuer JuniperFoxx uses Highlights to compile Stories of each animal and to answer questions. Not only do these Highlights help new followers learn about the animals on their own, but it also saves JuniperFoxx from having to answer the same questions over and over again.

Ban.do uses Highlights to answer customer FAQs.

Instagram Highlights are also a good place to feature your small business’s return policy, mission statement, and other important information. For instance, online boutique shop Ban.do answers questions about products, shipping, and customer service in its FAQ Highlight.

You can also use Instagram Highlights to feature your key products and services. For example, Buffer’s Instagram account includes Highlights for our Hashtag Manager, Shop Grid, Schedule Stories, and more.

4. Repurpose content

Technically, all Instagram Highlights are repurposed Instagram Stories, but why stop there? Make the most of your content by formatting it for Instagram Highlights.

Start with images. Do you have any pictures from photoshoots that didn’t make the cut elsewhere? Instagram Highlights give you a chance to use photos that might not fit neatly into the aesthetic you’ve created for your Instagram grid.

Instagram Highlights also come in handy for repurposing blog posts. Try sharing snippets from posts as teasers. Notebook and creative office supply company Baronfig repurposes blog posts in its Eureka Bytes Highlights by turning key points from articles into simple images.

Baronfig turns key points from blog posts into images for Instagram Highlights.

Screenshots from blog posts or other social media platforms work fine, but you can make repurposed content easier on the eyes with Buffer Remix. Our Remix tool transforms content into social-media-friendly images. We even have an Instagram Highlight explaining how to use it. So meta.

Use Instagram Highlights to share bonus content with your fans that they can’t find anywhere else.

Let your audience in on what happens behind the scenes at your business. You can use Instagram Highlights to show off how you create your products and pack up orders, or you can introduce the employees who keep your business running. Instagram Highlights are also the perfect place to share “Instagram versus Reality” content, such as pre-edited photos next to the final image or the un-cropped photoshoot set up.

Gift and homeware designer Sass & Belle uses one of its Instagram Highlights to share cute phone wallpapers that fans can screenshot and use for free. For a company focused on design, this is a great way to feature the company’s style while sharing something with customers.

Sass & Belle frequently adds free phone wallpapers to their Wallpapers Instagram Highlights.

Another way to offer your fans extra value is to keep tutorials in your Instagram Highlights. For instance, embroidery artist and seller Rosanna Diggs features stitch guides so her followers can easily locate her tutorials.

6. Share the spotlight

Featuring influencers and people from your community not only brings fresh voices to your profile but also shows your fans that you want to amplify voices other than your own.

Influencer marketing on Instagram is a big deal. If you’re already working with collaborators and influencers, stretch that content further by giving it a permanent home on your Instagram Highlights. Here at Buffer, we use some of our Instagram Highlights to feature customer stories, like this Jot Coffee spotlight.

At Buffer, we use Highlights to showcase our Brand Spotlight series.

Food-lover community Pineapple Collaborative uses its Instagram Highlights to keep Instagram takeovers at the top of their profile. Each takeover starts with a template that includes the Instagram account of the person taking over, along with the recipe they are demonstrating.

According to a Facebook survey, 62% of people have “become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories.” With Instagram Highlights, you can extend the life of your best Stories and give potential customers more chances to see the content you worked so hard to create.

For small businesses, making time for social media is challenging. Anytime you can find a way to make your efforts stretch a bit further, you should take it. Start scheduling and measuring the impact of your Instagram Stories and more with a Buffer Publish and Analyze account. Get started with a 14-day trial.

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HOW TO USE INSTAGRAM FOR BUSINESS

Instagram is a famous photo-based social media platform, but it provides more than just a way to keep up with what your friends are doing. Influencers and small businesses use Instagram as a platform to connect with their audience and increase engagement and revenue. You can only access Instagram's robust business features by creating a corporate or artist account. In this article, you will learn how to create, publish and use Instagram for free to promote your business, as well as the disadvantages associated with using it. nine0003

How to use Instagram for business

Instagram provides many potential posts, ads and stories to promote small businesses. You can start using Instagram for business by keeping the following key points in mind.

#1. Include photos that appear professional.

Instagram is a social networking platform where users can share photos, so it's important to share visually appealing information there. Do not use shared photos. To keep your Instagram grid harmonious, take photos, edit them, and give yourself enough time. nine0003

#2 Useful Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are an effective tool for both personal and business accounts. Images, videos, and other types of information can be found on Instagram Stories, but they disappear 24 hours after being posted. Instagram Stories can be used to create a striking montage that will grab viewers' attention and offer more detail than a regular post. Text, music, recorded videos, out-of-focus photos, still images, live videos, boomerangs (looped videos), and recorded videos are all acceptable. nine0003

#3. Streaming live video.

Along with Instagram Stories, users can now record and share a live video that disappears, just like Facebook Live and Snapchat. Showcase products, respond to comments with real-time questions, or give customers insight into interesting aspects of your business.

№ 4. Use hashtags.

Instagram hashtags are a fantastic resource for helping consumers find content. Hashtags can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores. You don't need to allow other characters. Since people can search for hashtags and click on hashtags they see in posts, using relevant hashtags can be a very effective strategy for highlighting. But make sure you use hashtags that are appropriate for your brand. nine0003

No. 5. Use Instagram videos.

Instagram Reels, quick and funny movies, can breathe life into your company. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the production process or your products. You can add transitions and effects, tag inventory, highlight sponsored partnerships, and more. Videos are a great way to create a campaign for a specific target market or expand on the topic of an Instagram post about a product or service.

№ 6. Advertising on Instagram. nine0009

Like other social networking sites, businesses can use Instagram for advertising. You can choose from many possibilities. Instagram ads can be done in one of three main formats: photo, video, or carousel.

Ad Photo
Promotional Videos
Carousel Ads

#7. Find out who your audience is.

Anyone with a business account can see information about their audience and engagement levels. Click the menu on your Instagram business account and select Insights to access analytics from your followers and their engagement with your posts. Click View Insights for this post to view statistics for that post. nine0003

No. 8. Promote your products on Instagram.

Instagram is a great platform to start selling online. In November 2020, Instagram released the "Shop" feature, allowing users to browse and buy brands' merchandise through the app. Possibly in response to the continued growth of social media and mobile commerce, Instagram introduced the Store feature.

How to create an Instagram page for business

You can change your personal profile to a business account to access resources to help you grow your business on Instagram. Access to free business resources including:

Data analysis that can alert you to Instagram users who are enthusiastic about your business.

Access the learning content section of the Professional Dashboard curated by Instagram, where you can track your progress, view and use professional tools, and explore.
Choose whether to publish your business type and contact information for your profile.
Before you start

2. To create an Instagram business account, you either register with the service or log into an existing account.

3. How to set up a business account on Instagram. To open a business account, follow these steps:

Select "Menu" in the top right menu of your profile by going there.
Select Settings.
For some accounts, the option to switch to a professional account is located in Settings. nine0034
please click.
Click Professional Account to select it.
Choose Continue.
Click Finish after selecting a category for your business.
Press OK to confirm.
Select Business.
Select Next.

4. The following section contains contact information. To prevent this from happening, tap . Please don't contact me.

5. Following the instructions, you will be able to connect your company's Facebook page to your business account. If you choose to take this optional step, it will be easier for you to use all the features provided to businesses in Meta. Keep in mind that currently only one Facebook page can be linked to your company account. nine0003

6. Click the X in the top right corner to return to your profile.

7. To reveal or hide information about your company, go to your profile and click Edit Profile. By selecting Show profile from the list of public company information, you can decide whether to show or hide your category label and contact information. After that, click Done.

What to post on Instagram for business

With 95% of Instagram users saying they follow at least one business, marketers have the opportunity to engage with consumers to strengthen connections with current customers and engage potential customers. Following are the ways to post your business on Instagram. nine0003

#1. Run a giveaway

To improve engagement, provide a free gift when you post a product or service on Instagram for your business. By encouraging visitors to follow, share, and tag your page, you can increase interest in your products and bring in new customers at a low cost. In terms of recommendations for Instagram content, this one offers a return on investment.

#2: Build Relationships with Branded Content

A feature called Branded Content Partnerships makes it easy for creators to add branded content to their Instagram feeds. By working with content creators and coming up with Instagram post ideas, you can increase the number of people who see your products and business services. Be on the lookout for a new Instagram tool that will allow businesses to use data and filters to identify top performers for upcoming promotions. It is now being evaluated by a select group of American brands and creators. nine0003

#3. Share memes.

To humanize and humorously position your brand, share relevant memes with your audience. Memes can increase brand awareness and attract customers when used effectively. If you can evoke an emotional response from your audience, you will come across as more sincere. Make an effort to keep them funny, timely, and relevant. Optimal circumstances? You are promoting a lot. Worst case. Your facial expression is disgusting. So maybe get a second opinion before posting. nine0003

No. 4. Q&A

Use the Instagram comment area for this creative post. Instagram business owners can now post new videos in response to reviews of their old ones. Sometimes it is impossible to accurately convey the question in words alone. By using video responses, you can go beyond the “show, don’t tell” principle.

No. 5. Post a save date notice.

If you're hosting an event live on Instagram or in person, remind your audience. Posting gives followers a chance to look back if they forget the event because stories are fleeting. If more information is needed, they can also add it to their saved articles, which has the added benefit of helping you progress through the algorithm. nine0003

No. 6. Build a carousel.

Instagram carousels allow you to share multiple photos or videos at the same time. Users only need to swipe left to see them all. This post type is handy because it allows you to upload up to 10 photos when one is not enough to illustrate your point. One variation of the carousel is to create a slideshow presentation, like the freelance website Contra, which is used when presenting clients. nine0003

On the other hand, the Slovenian Tourist Board uses a carousel to enhance the visual storytelling of ski holiday promotions.

Are you interested in discovering free ways to promote your business on Instagram? Build your social media marketing strategy using the free Instagram promotion tips below.

#1. Run Campaigns or Challenges

One of the quickest and easiest ways to promote or post your business on Instagram is to run a free contest or giveaway. Most Instagram users are willing to participate in giveaways in order to be eligible to win, which arouses the curiosity of your target audience. nine0003

#2. Add Instagram Feeds to Your Website

Another strategy for promoting or publishing your business on Instagram for free is to embed Instagram photos and videos on your website. This way, website users can view your Instagram posts without leaving the site and, if they like what they see, follow you on Instagram.

No. 3. Use hashtags wisely.

Using hashtags is another free way to get the attention your Instagram content deserves to promote your business. In the meantime, many small firms are going overboard and inserting meaningless tags into their post titles. Broad hashtags alone won't reach your target audience, and that's the problem. Even if you get multiple visits, users won't linger because they're not interested enough in your area. nine0003

#4. Participate in Stories and Stickers.

More than 500 million users use Instagram Stories every day, and the number is growing. Use Instagram Stories to communicate informally with your audience if you haven't already. Add stickers to your stories while you're doing them to make them even more enticing. To spice up your stories, Instagram includes a ton of stickers including polls, quizzes, location, countdown, and more. nine0003

#5. Use Instagram highlights to help you choose content

Instagram highlights are previous stories that have been posted to the top of your profile to prevent deletion. They allow you to effectively group stories into "collections" that anyone can access at any time.

You can create an infinite number of Instagram Highlight Albums, and unlike regular Stories, they won't disappear after 24 hours. Brands can use these collections to highlight different product categories, limited-time offers, and even user-generated content. nine0003

#6: Leverage Instagram's Video Power

If you haven't already, start using Instagram video to promote your business. This is especially true now for promoting your business on Instagram, where anyone with a tablet or smartphone can make a short video for free. Once you post your first IGTV video, Instagram will instantly create your own channel. You can then upload new videos, post current videos to Instagram, and even cross-promote your YouTube videos to increase your viewership. nine0003

What are the disadvantages of using Instagram for business?

Below are the pros and cons of setting up an Instagram business account.

Benefits of using Instagram for business

#1. Instagram Posting Schedule

By changing your Instagram profile to Business, you can post buyable posts, including "flip up links" in your stories, and more. The ability to schedule posts through the app is the main benefit of an Instagram Business account. nine0003

#2 Linking Permissions for Facebook Pages

You must link your Instagram profile to your Facebook page in order to use Instagram as a business account. By doing this, you will instantly give access to manage your Instagram Business account to all editors and administrators of your company's Facebook page. When you have a social media team to manage multiple accounts, this is very helpful.

No. 3. Providing a contact address

Users with Instagram business accounts can add a contact button to their profile. Here you can enter a phone number, email address or directions to the store.

No. 4. There is access to a smart dashboard.

You must be aware of the earning potential of your publications. You can view all your interaction related statistics, such as how many accounts have been reached by your content, how many interactions have been with your posts, and other information in the Professional Dashboard for your posts, videos, IGTV, promotions, and Stories. nine0003

No. 5. Secondary mailbox access

For many small businesses and retailers, Instagram has become a primary marketing channel. This requires constant communication between your employees and potential customers. You might be able to streamline your conversations and reduce clutter by using an additional mailbox with both the Basic and General tabs.

No. 6. Query Sorting

This is one of the most intriguing benefits of having an Instagram Business account. You can use both chronological order and account popularity to group subscription requests. If you want to find influencers and micro-influencers in your network, this is helpful. nine0003

Disadvantages of an Instagram business account

The following are the disadvantages of an Instagram business account:

#1. Your account cannot be made private.

One of the disadvantages of using an Instagram account for business is that it cannot be hidden, unlike personal and creator accounts. Be aware that if you switch your account to a business just to experiment with features, your account will become public. nine0003

#2 Standard Follower Option

As previously reported, Instagram Business accounts have the ability to customize the scroll links for Instagram Stories. You should be aware that these features are only available for large business accounts with more than 10,000 users.

#3. General permissions

Anyone with access to your Facebook page as an editor or moderator will also have access to your Instagram business account, as already explained in the benefits section, which can be one of the disadvantages of advertising your business. nine0003

No. 4. Reduce visibility

Instagram marketers have been debating the pros and cons of hiding business accounts from view for a long time. Considering that Instagram uses business accounts solely to make money, it seems that the reduction in the organic reach of these accounts will encourage more of them to buy sponsored listings.

No. 5. The need for regular posting

One of the disadvantages of using Instagram to advertise your business is that it can be expensive. Also, posting new content is often the only way to naturally increase visibility if it drops. It may take a lot of work for one person to perform this operation. nine0003

Is business on Instagram free?

Instagram business accounts are free to use. Create an Instagram business account to access additional resources, connect with clients, share knowledge, and promote your company.

How to make your Instagram business successful?

Five-step strategy for Instagram success:

Create a content strategy.
Use branded hashtags.
Your own call to action. nine0034
Join Instagram users.
Reach out to influential people.

Should I create a new Instagram account for my business?

Switching to an Instagram business account has many benefits, such as: You get information and data about your followers. Plus, you get insights about impressions, reach, website clicks, and browsing patterns without leaving the app.

Which Instagram account is best for business? nine0005

Gary Vaynerchuk: @garyvee. …
Honest company: @honest. …
Oreo: @oreo.
WeWork: @wework. …
Netflix: @netflix. …
Entrepreneur: @entrepreneur. …
Sharpy: @sharpy. …

Why do companies lose followers on Instagram?

Spend more time interacting if you're losing followers on Instagram due to low engagement. Engage with content in hashtags and your Instagram feed, as well as comments and direct messages. There is a lot of room for growth because most corporate accounts have only 1% engagement rates in messages. nine0003

How many followers does an Instagram business need?

Before Instagram gives you access to this feature, your business profile must have 10,000 followers.

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Reading 12 minutes

Why develop a business on Instagram
How to create and develop a business account on zero
How to promote the goods via Instagram
- advertising of posts and Storiza Bloches
- Common mistakes when promoting a profile on Instagram
  - Mass liking and mass following
  - Incorrect hashtags
  - Provocative posts
- Summary

Why grow your business with Instagram

According to the Global Digital Report, more than 800 million people use Instagram every month in 2019. 49% of web users are millennials, who make up the majority of ecommerce shoppers, according to Markswebb Rank & Report. So Instagram will be useful for retailers targeting a younger audience.

The social network itself presented the official @shop account in May. Here, Instagram representatives collect offers from designers and stores with the ability to make a purchase directly from the application. The description of the store clearly outlines which niches are successfully arranged in the network. nine0003 Shop account - a selection of clothes, cosmetics and home accessories from designers from countries where Instagram Shopping is available

In Ukraine, Kazakhstan and most countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, it is not yet possible to shop on Instagram. Sellers have to either divert traffic to the main site, or negotiate each purchase with customers personally and process requests from the social network manually. In both cases, you will need the functionality of an Instagram business account. Consider step by step how to create a business page. nine0003

How to create and develop a business account on Instagram from scratch

A business account gives its user functionality that is not available to users with personal accounts.

Collection of statistics . In addition to the number of likes and comments, business accounts can track the number of impressions of posts and stories, as well as adding them to bookmarks. After a week of using a business account, the user will have access to audience statistics, its distribution by gender and age.

External communication

Stories archive. Stories from personal accounts are hidden but not deleted after 24 hours of posting. They are stored in an archive, which becomes available after switching to a professional account. Some of the stories can be pinned to the "header" of the account - many people use this to publish additional information, such as reviews or price lists. nine0034
Advertising. Users with personal accounts cannot promote their posts, this functionality is only available in business and author accounts. Although you can promote posts on Instagram without an account, if you create a campaign through the Facebook advertising account and lead subscribers directly to your site.

To understand how effective social media campaigns are, use end-to-end analytics. It will automatically pull in your Instagram spending data and match it with your CRM revenue. Thanks to integrations, users of end-to-end analytics receive clear reports with data on the payback of advertising and the cost of calls from it. nine0003

Ringostat's end-to-end analytics also allows you to manually upload expenses from almost any system. For example, this is how you can analyze the payback of SEO, banner advertising, etc.

To create a business account, you do not need to scan documents and correspond with technical support - just press a few keys in the application. First you need to create a regular Instagram account. Download the app from Google Play or Apple Store and register. When registering, you will need to enter a phone number - it is better to immediately allocate a separate work number for the company. This will allow you to separately record calls coming from this particular source, similar to static call tracking. nine0003

Then you need to go to your account settings - open your profile and click "menu" in the upper right corner of the screen. The sider will open, at the very bottom of which click "Settings" . Select "Account" .

Instagram business page: create

Another menu opens, at the very bottom of which you need to select "Convert to a business account".

IMPORTANT: will offer to link your account to your Facebook account - you can skip this step at first, but in the future the link will be needed to promote posts on Instagram. nine0003

Instagram offers a choice between a business account and an author account. They are similar, but there are a number of key differences.

The author can hide his contacts and field of activity, they are always displayed for companies.
The company can add hours of operation, which is not available in the author's account.
The authors divide personal messages into two groups - "main", for communication with friends, and "general", where messages from subscribers fall. Companies do not have such a division. nine0034

If you are a private entrepreneur and are going to work on a personal brand, build an image of an expert, use the author's account. Otherwise, select a business account.

How to promote a product through Instagram

Instagram is tailored for visual content, and for successful promotion, you will need to produce it constantly. The social network itself advises using the following publications in its courses:

the product itself;
reports "behind the scenes", production processes; nine0034
confirmation of experience and qualifications - photos of awards, reviews;
events and promotions;
interesting facts about the company.

These stories have already become a kind of "gold standard", the basis for unique promotion strategies.

Logaster service marketer Igor Volkov previously described “How to design business profiles in social networks: tips and examples” .

Promotion of a business profile usually starts with the use of popular hashtags and communication in the comments. A classic technique is to combine popular, niche and highly specialized hashtags under posts. There are even special tools to test their popularity and effectiveness. nine0003

But over time, free tools exhaust themselves and it's time for targeted advertising. Consider the main advertising mechanisms that are available on Instagram.

Advertising posts and stories

Targeted Instagram advertising is a quick way to collect followers, promote an Instagram account to sell goods and services to readers. An important distinguishing feature of the social network is that popular blocker applications have not yet learned how to hide its ads. Paid publications differ from posts in the feed only by a small addition “advertising”, which excludes even the possibility of banner blindness. nine0003

To show a post not to your followers, but to a wider audience, you need to click on the blue "Promote" button, which is displayed on the right under each post.

Instagram will prompt you to create a Facebook account or link to an existing one, unless you linked them when converting your account from personal to business. This is necessary to connect the advertising account, which the platforms have in common. First of all, you need to choose a "destination" - the goal of the campaign. Users are offered to attract people to their account, to their website or in private messages. nine0003 Setting up an advertising campaign through the Instagram mobile app

Now it's time to set up the targeting. In the audience settings, the “Automatic” item is checked by default, but you can also choose those to whom the social network will show the post. Through the application, the location of the audience, 4-10 interests, age and gender are configured.

The next step is to set up the budget and campaign duration. Based on these characteristics, Instagram predicts how many people a post will show. The minimum promotion duration is 1 day, and the minimum price per day is $1. nine0003

Click "Next" in the upper left corner, which will open a summary of campaign settings. Check them and click "Promote", after which the post will begin to appear in the feed and the "Interesting" section of the selected audience, as well as among friends' stories.

Instagram advertising account can be integrated with analytics services for more accurate results. For example, Ringostat, thanks to integration with the Instagram advertising account, can display the CPPC (Cost Per Proper Call) metric in the End-to-End Analytics section. This allows you to link sales with advertising sources of customers and analyze the effectiveness of promotion channels. nine0003

We wrote more in the article "Integrating Ringostat with Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram" .

Advertising from bloggers

Interaction with bloggers, influencers and opinion leaders is one of the most popular ways to promote on social networks. Instagram does not have automated tools for searching and coordinating work with bloggers, so you need to look for future ambassadors and agree on publication personally.

The terms of such agreements - the frequency and cost of publications, KPI and other technical nuances are usually not disclosed, everyone works based on their experience and budget. nine0003

A lecture by Yuri Gladkikh, CEO and co-owner of the creative solutions agency GRAPE, from the 8P conference can serve as a guide. Earlier, we published a summary of his report on working with influencers.

The most popular formats for working with opinion leaders according to Yuri Gladky

Common mistakes when promoting a profile on Instagram

Wanting to get more subscribers, bloggers and companies can unknowingly violate Instagram rules and get banned. Moreover, rumors about the so-called "shadow bath" are widespread in the professional environment. nine0003

Shadowban is a concept that describes a sharp drop in Instagram views for no apparent reason. Those who claim to be under the shadowban say that their posts stop appearing in the feed of subscribers and when searching for hashtags, although the profile does not receive any comments or warnings from the administration. Instagram itself does not confirm or refute rumors about the existence of such a method of influencing non-users.

Algorithms are especially closely monitoring young accounts, so at first it is most important to behave in accordance with the rules of the social network and avoid risky promotion methods. Let us consider in more detail the actions for which you can get not only a shadow, but also a completely ordinary ban. nine0003

Mass liking and mass following

One of the obvious ways to promote on Instagram is to like and follow potential customers. The logic here is simple:

the user sees a new subscriber;
goes to profile;
is interested in the account and subscribes himself.

Further, this person can be “warmed up” with content in the hope that he will become a lead, and later a client.

Some services offer to automate this process by trusting the robot to search and like the relevant audience. And although most of them position themselves as a safe and reliable way to promote, this is not always the case. Instagram has been fighting mass liking and mass following since 2017, explaining this with the recommendation: “Maintain meaningful, genuine interaction.” Excessive activity can attract attention and lead to sanctions. nine0003

Incorrect hashtags

Instagram does not prohibit using dozens of hashtags under a post and duplicating the same tags on all posts. But it is precisely with this that those who fell under the “shadow ban” associate their plight.

Moreover, according to experts, since 2013 a list of banned hashtags has been in existence and is constantly updated. It included an English-language obscenity, hints of pornography, calls to like and other words that do not fit into the norms of the community.

We haven't found any official information from Instagram about banned hashtags, but a number of services claim to compile such lists using the Instagram API. The list of 118 banned hashtags according to The Data Pack is especially popular. nine0003

Provocative posts

Instagram positions itself as a socially responsible brand and reserves the right to delete content that is inappropriate, according to moderators. Numerous complaints about posts can lead to a ban - and you'll be lucky if the "shadow" one.

So the opinion that black PR is also PR should be left to other promotion channels. Focus on the product, its benefits, and the new lifestyle the product will bring to customers. If there is the slightest suspicion that the post may offend some group of people, it is better not to post it. Be especially careful about the following topics:

races;
ethnicity;
national origin;
floors;
gender identity;
sexual orientation;
religious beliefs;
disability;
diseases.

Instagram also reserves the right to remove posts that contain:

full and partial nudity, if it is not a work of art;
full and partial nudity of children - children's subscriptions to the pool will have to be advertised with drawings; nine0034
violent material, including jokes about violence;
slander, harassment, condemnation, insulting other people - only celebrity criticism is allowed;
alien, non-unique content.

Resume

Instagram for business is an extensive channel for lead generation and brand awareness.
Instagram business account allows you to collect statistics about user interaction with the account. Also, companies and bloggers have the ability to pin stories to the top of the page, which is not available in personal accounts. In addition, companies can add hours of operation, address, and contacts. nine0034
To promote posts on Instagram, you need to have a Facebook ad account.
Learn more