Instagram For Business - Ultimate Beginner's Guide For 2023

Instagram is becoming a prominent platform for just sharing photos and videos, but also for but also for new age pop marketing. You can reach your target audience in a very efficient, simple, and eye-catching way.

Many businesses struggle with marketing on Instagram as the algorithm seems to be not in their favor, in this article we will be talking about how to use Instagram as a marketing tool for your business.

Table of Contents

Why Use Instagram For Business?

Instagram For Business

With about one billion monthly active users, Instagram is the most popular social network worldwide. From gathering awareness to selling products, the app keeps introducing tools to help business owners succeed.

Is it beneficial for your business? Here are some of the reasons why small businesses should adopt this social media app-

Give a Face to Your Brand
Serves as a Trust Signal
You Can Reach a Lot of People
Networking with Like-Minded People
Boost Your Sales
Useful for Feedback and Insights

1. Give A Face To Your Brand

Your online reputation is crucial to your business, and because of this, you have to be vigilant about what comes up when a customer searches for your business or brand’s name online.

An eye-catching Insta feed can reflect your brand’s uniqueness and differentiate it from other businesses. A customer might search for your brand or business by name, or by hashtags relating to your business. In such a case, not finding you will be a bad experience and can lead them to a competitor’s page.

2. Serves As A Trust Signal

Having an Insta account for your business – especially a verified account – will help the customer to believe that your business is reputable, authentic, genuine, and transparent.

3. You Can Reach A Lot Of People

With millions of monthly users on the platform, Insta offers businesses a large potential audience. With the help of relevant hashtags, you can reach your target audience. You can even create targeted ads to reach your potential customers.

4. Networking With Like-Minded People

With the help of an Insta account, you can find people who share similar interests which, in turn, would expand your social network by collaborating with a brand or influencer to reach more users.

5. Boost Your Sales

With the help of Insta, you can promote your product or services on a large scale and drive more traffic to your website.

Even if you are launching a new product you can use this to provide a sneak peek into your latest launch.

6. Useful For Feedback And Insights

Your Instagram presence can help you keep track of your mentions on forums, blogs, and other social media platforms. People are probably posting pictures of the products they buy from you and recording videos about your brand. You can utilize this feature by getting feedback on your product and using them to improve.

Considering the above points, we can identify Instagram as an undeniably powerful tool to spread brand awareness.

Here’s how you can make the most of this tool:

Create a Business Instagram Account
Set Goals and Objectives
Advertise on the platform
Create a Content Calendar
Enhance Your Profile
Explore other Features
Post consistently
Use the Appropriate Hashtags

1. Create a Business Instagram Account

Set Up Your Instagram Business Account

Steps to create an Instagram business profile from scratch-

Download the app for Windows, iOS, or Android.
Open the app, and tap on ‘Sign up.
Enter your e-mail address. You can also log in with Facebook if you already have a business account there.
Choose a username and password and fill in other info.

By following these steps, you can create a “personal” account that can be further converted to a business profile. Below are the steps to convert your account into a business account.

Go to your profile and press the three bars in the upper right-hand corner.
Tap Settings, and tap on the Switch to Business profile option. You can also connect your business profile on Instagram with your business’s Facebook page. Add details about your business, including your name, username, profile picture, website URL, and a short bio.

2. Set Goals and Objectives

When using any marketing channel, it’s important to decide what goals you want to achieve by its use. The same goes for Instagram.

Common business goals are-

Increasing brand awareness;
Showcase company culture and values;
Sell products and services.

Write your goals down and continuously monitor them which would encourage you and your team to create more engaging and relevant content.

3. Advertise On Instagram

Sell Directly On Instagram Using Your Business Account

Like other social platforms, Meta also provides businesses with the option to advertise. There are three formats for advertising on Instagram:

Photo ads: An Insta photo ad looks similar to a post from any of the accounts you are already following but it includes a “Sponsored” notation in the corner to let people know they are looking at an advertisement.
Video ads: These look like regular video posts, but with a Sponsored label on top which allows businesses to give users a closer look at their brand, products, and services.
Carousel ads: Carousel ads make it easy and seamless to showcase more products by using more than one image or video.

All three ad formats appear in users’ home feeds.

4. Create a Content Calendar

A well-planned Instagram content calendar ensures that you do not miss important dates and events and allows you to make creative content with enough time.

Post your content when users are online. The algorithms consider “regency” a significant ranking signal, which is why posting when people are active on Instagram is one of the best ways to increase organic reach.

With a business account, you have the option to check the most popular days and hours for your audience:

Go to your profile and tap on Insights.
Beside Your Audience, click on See All.
Scroll down to Most Active Times.

5. Enhance Your Profile

Write a great bio
Add a recognizable profile photo
Use Story Highlights and covers

1. Write a great bio

You get 150 characters with which you need to showcase your brand voice. It should include:

A short and straight-to-the-point description of what your company does;
Your category (Shopping, Retail, Restaurant, etc.);
A tone that shows off your brand’s culture Contact information (phone number, email, address, etc.); and
Add a CTA. You can keep a static link to your homepage.

2. Add a recognizable profile photo

It’s an important aspect that people instantly recognize your profile picture when they visit your Instagram profile. Most brands use their logo as a profile picture which is a great option to aid recognition.

3. Use Story Highlights and covers

It is one of the most popular features.

By organizing stories and highlights you can convert them into saved collections of your products, reviews, tips, frequently asked questions, etc. You can also easily interact with your users with the help of Instagram stickers for polls, questions, and sliding bars and get feedback. One such sticker says “Ask Me Anything”, which is a fun way to answer common questions.

6. Explore other Features

The app started as a simple photo-sharing app and now provides everything from live broadcasts to Reels. Here’s an overview of some of the formats that are great for your business advertisement:

Reels: Reels are short videos on Instagram, where one can express their creativity and bring their brand to life.
Stories: Insta stories can help you give a small behind-the-scenes as well as help redirect you to different websites using their link share tap.
Live Stream: Up to four people can broadcast live on Instagram which can be used to display your products to your followers.
Guides: It is a great way to organize your products based on bestsellers, new releases, categories, or demographics, for your users.

7. Post consistently

It’s not enough to just post quality content every once in a while. You need to post it consistently, so your audience knows that your brand is worth following.

According to the algorithm, posting regularly helps you show up in people’s feeds which gives them more chances to engage with you. The more constant you are with your content, the more often they’ll see it in their feed.

8. Involve in influencer marketing

Marketing With Instagram

This goes without saying how much Instagram influencers affect your branding. Making a list of micro, small, and large influencers whose personal branding compliments yours. for eg. Finance influencers are the best suited for you if you are an accounting software like ProfitBooks or provide other fintech solutions.

The collaboration will give you brand visibility the companies which are wholeheartedly using this technic are Skillshare, Netflix, etc.

8. Use the Appropriate Hashtags

Using hashtags make your content easier to find. Captions on the platform can not be searched, but hashtags can be. When someone clicks on or searches for a hashtag, they see all the connected content. You could start by adding hashtags like #instagood (used in over one billion posts), or #tbt (Throwback Thursday). If you are in an IT-related business, the hashtag #IT or #tech will be a good fit.

Conclusion:

With the help of the right marketing strategy, businesses can promote their products and services, boost their brand awareness, and increase sales on Instagram. But building up a business account and tracking your analytics isn’t as simple as it appears.

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FAQs

How can Instagram help my small business?
Instagram is a powerful platform that can help small businesses reach a wider audience, build brand awareness, engage with customers, and drive sales. By creating high-quality content, using relevant hashtags, and engaging with followers, small businesses can establish a strong presence on the app and attract new customers.
What types of content should I post on Instagram for my small business?
Small businesses should focus on creating content that is visually appealing, engaging, and relevant to their target audience. This can include product photos, behind-the-scenes glimpses, customer testimonials, and industry news or trends. It’s also important to mix up your content and incorporate different formats like videos, Stories, and Reels.
How can I measure the success of my Instagram marketing efforts?
To measure the success of your Instagram marketing efforts, you can track metrics such as engagement rate, follower growth, website traffic, and sales. Insights provide valuable data on your account’s performance, including reach, impressions, and profile visits.