Since its inception, Instagram has been a powerful platform for businesses and creators to build their presence in front of a wider audience. At least 90% of users follow at least one business account. This shows how credible this platform is, even for startups and small businesses to showcase their products and services.
People from all age groups are on this platform to connect to different pages, be it diet, nutrition, outfits, jewelry, home decor, lifestyle, plantations, cosmetics, or beauty products to buy something for themselves.
So, whether you are an entrepreneur, a brand, or have been in business for a while, this robust marketing platform is for you.
In this article, we will explore why Instagram is the right platform for your business and how this platform is beneficial for your brand, along with reasons to optimize your profile.
Convert Your Instagram Personal Profile to a Business Profile
Instagram has more than 2 billion monthly active users. Each scroll unravels the vast display of content for all the users. So, why not take advantage of the benefit of converting a personal account to a business account to access more features? Here’s how to do it.
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Go to your Instagram profile and tap Menu from the bottom right corner.
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Tap Setting and Privacy
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Tap Account
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Click on Switch to Professional Account
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Tap Continue
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Select a Category for the business and tap Done
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Click OK to confirm
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Tap Business and click on Next
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Review your business account info. Add contact details, make necessary edits, and tap Next
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Optionally, log in to Facebook and follow the instructions. Instagram suggests connecting your Facebook Business Page in order to fully utilize its business features across Meta. It includes promoting your posts and stories and setting up Instagram shopping.
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Complete the optional steps to set up your professional account.
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Tap Done to complete your professional account.
How to Use Instagram for Business?
According to Oberlo, 70.1% of users use Instagram to post or share photos and videos. Instagram actually galvanizes people to do this, as this platform is visually appealing and connected with a wider audience. Instagram can be used in the following ways:
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Instagram Ads
Advertising on Instagram is relatively easy. It increases website traffic, generates leads, boosts sales, and most importantly, grows your audience. You can use various formats like photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, explore ads, collection ads, and story ads. You can use Facebook Ads Manager to choose your objective, audience base, budget, and running time. It offers additional configuration, demographic, and formation options.
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Review Analytics
Instagram analytics is a convenient way to review the performance of your content. It identifies what’s working and areas for improvement. Instagram enables you to check analytics for reach, impressions, engagement, and follower count. You can check the insights of each individual post to track your performance. You can also track the active times of your audience.
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Use Hashtags
Hashtags are known as the assets of Instagram businesses. They can help you reach a wider audience, engage with potential customers, and grow your audience. Using relevant hashtags can make your content visible in the search results. Instagram recommends using between 3-5 hashtags on a single post, but you can use 30 at a time. Use popular, trendy, and niche-relevant hashtags.
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Use Reels and Stories
Instagram stories comprise photos, videos, gifs, stickers, or countdowns that disappear after 24 hours. You can highlight some specific stories on your profile with their names to categorize them. Whereas reels are short, engaging videos mainly used to narrate a story. Both features create a vibrant aesthetic montage that grabs users’ attention. These features help you connect with your audience at a deeper level.
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Stream Live Videos
Using Instagram live streaming can build a strong connection with your users and humanize your brand’s approach. Live videos are more likely to be featured in the Explore section on Instagram. It helps you interact with your audience in real time by answering their queries, doing product demos, or responding to comments. You can also share behind the scenes to create a sense of community around your brand.
Why Your Business Should Be On Instagram?
There are 100 reasons to get an Instagram business account. It is indeed an excellent platform for finding customers who spend most of their time on Instagram. Brands and businesses can consider this audience a golden opportunity to showcase their products and services.
Here are 7 reasons:
1. Increase Brand Awareness
In order to stand out from your competitors, you need to have a strong brand identity. Optimize your profile with a username, website URL, and a short description of yourself. This short description should clearly define your brand’s story, including what you do. Many businesses build their brand identity through visuals, tone of voice, brand colors, and overall aesthetics.
The most encouraging practice is to use a variety of content by using reels, stories, feeds, or carousel posts. Aim to post on a regular basis, or several times a week. These contents can be engaging, informative, or entertaining, depending on the niche.
Prioritize quality over quantity, and make sure it is visually appealing. Posting high-quality content can engage more audiences.
Brands create their own hashtags to make themselves recognized among millions. These branded hashtags help them to be visible in search results when users search for any content using those hashtags.
2. Sell your Products
According to Instagram, 92% of people act at the moment of seeing something on Instagram. If you own a physical shop, then add a “Shop” tab to your profile to create a shoppable product catalog directly on Instagram.
You can make your posts shoppable by adding product tags to your reels, stories, and posts, or you can sell your products via the Shop tab. It has a set of requirements, and you must be eligible for all of them. The following steps are required in order to create your Instagram shop:
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Go to “Create Your Shop Page” and click Next
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Choose the checkout method and click Next
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Select your business account, then click Next
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Create a new product catalog and again click Next
You'll be required to provide the URL of your website and the countries to which you ship. The summary will be on the last page; review it and select "Finish Setup."
Instagram manually evaluates new Commerce Manager applications; however, you will get a response within a few business days.
3. Get New Customers
Customers and followers actually market your brand and drive traffic to your website. Indeed, Instagram offers a large and engaged audience for businesses of all sizes.
To get new customers on your Instagram business account, you need to create a strong brand presence and create high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience. A common practice to grow your reach is the use of hashtags to get visible in search results.
You can also create challenges, contests, and giveaway competitions to engage users in multiple activities. This will also help you increase your brand presence.
Collaborating with your niche-related influencers can give you an edge to get new customers on your account. These influencers have a huge fan following, and marketers prefer to promote their products through them.
4. Build Relationships
Aim to post content consistently on a regular basis to get visible in the user’s feed. This will help you stay top-of-mind with your Instagram followers and build engagement. Strong brands prefer to satisfy their customer’s needs and build good relationships with them.
You can respond to customers’ queries, questions, and confusions in a polite manner. If they tag you in any post, engage with them through comments and take an active part in discussions.
If you receive negative feedback, don’t get afraid; instead, be mindful and offer to help. Businesses and entrepreneurs acknowledge negative feedback and listen to their concerns if they receive it.
Sharing quality content that inspires, entertains, and engages your customers. It will be something that they find valuable and share with others. When you show your audience that you care about them, they feel connected to you.
5. Stay Ahead of The Competition
Instagram has over 200 million business accounts. Businesses are constantly innovating to stay competitive. But everyone has their own unique selling point. You can find out how your competitors are promoting their products and services through competitor analysis. You will find many opportunities to grasp their weak points.
Take the initiative to be proactive in launching new products on the market and constantly look for ways to improve. Focus on the customer’s needs and try to find out their pain points.
By analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs), you can also refine your strategies and improve your content. You can also ask for feedback from customers to identify their demands.
Additionally, you can also identify trends and understand your customers on a deeper level. If you observe carefully, you will find many opportunities to fill those gaps.
6. Tell Your Brand Story
The first step to conveying your brand’s story is to focus on creating and sharing content that is authentic, engaging, and visually appealing. Additionally, you can use all the features of Instagram, like stories, reels, IGTV, explore, and in-feed posts, to share behind-the-scenes content. In this way, you can connect with your audience and tell your story in an immersive way.
Businesses create a cohesive narrative that highlights the brand’s value, mission, and vision. It reflects in all of the content that they post on Instagram.
Adopt this strategy and determine your objective to describe your values. You can also share customer feedback in the form of stories, photos, or videos to accentuate your brand’s value.
When businesses tell their story, they keep their target audience in mind in order to persuade them why they want you. Share some information, highlight their needs, and gradually build a relationship with them.
7. Drive Traffic to Your Website
The first and foremost step for driving traffic to your website is to add a URL to your bio. Encourage people to click on the link to make a purchase. You can also add a call to action button to each post, so users find it easy to visit your site.
With Instagram shopping, you can tag your products in stories and posts. When people tap on a tagged product, they will be taken to a product page where they can learn more about the product and make a purchase.
Instagram ads allow businesses to target the right audience based on demographics specific to users' interests. Ads are also a great way to reach your potential customers and showcase your products and services.
Do you know that reels get 22% more interaction than standard video postings? This short-form video can make an impression on viewers’ minds. It allows them to click on the link mentioned in the caption.
You can also post teasers, updates, demos, or customer testimonials to increase users’ curiosity. This will encourage them to read a caption, write a comment, and visit your website for more details.
Final Thoughts
Instagram is a powerful platform to grow your reach and connect with a wider audience. It offers all the features that your brand needs to grow. Embrace this constantly changing world and adapt social platforms to bring change.
Excel at your social media marketing strategies and create your business profile on Instagram. Using a business account on Instagram can also give you an edge in analyzing how your brand is performing.
Create a strong presence on Instagram and stay ahead of competitors to promote a range of your products and services to the right audience.
