If you want to use Instagram for your business, think about how you use the app personally.

When you go on Instagram, you see a mix of things you like. This can include posts from friends, creators, cute animals, and different brands.

You don’t have to follow business accounts, but if you do, it’s because you want to. When you see their posts or Stories, you choose to keep following them.

But here’s the important question: Why do you do this?

When you’re using Instagram for your business, it’s important to know why people keep coming back. What makes them engage with your content regularly?

We’ve put together some top tips for using Instagram for your business. These will help you effectively promote your company on the platform.

1. Pick a specific goal and stick with it

When you’re using any way to promote your business, like Instagram, it’s really important to have clear things you want to make happen. It’s just like having a plan. If you’re going to spend your time and money on Instagram, you should ask yourself, “What do we want to get out of it?”

Here are some usual goals businesses have on Instagram:

1. Make more people know about your brand.
2. Create a group of people who really like your stuff.
3. Show what your company believes in and what it’s like to work there.
4. Sell the things you offer, like products or services.

Make sure to write down your goals and keep checking on them. Think of these written goals as a way to stay on track. They help you and your team be more purposeful with what you share on Instagram because you can always look back and make sure that everything you post is helping you reach those goals.

2. Optimize your profile

If Instagram is part of your business strategy, consider your profile as your main page. You have 150 characters, one link, and a few buttons to convince potential customers. So, it’s crucial that your profile leaves a positive impression.

Firstly, switch to an Instagram business profile. These accounts offer extra features that let you expand your profile, track how your content is doing, and even sell on Instagram.

After that, craft an excellent Instagram biography. Your profile should contain:

1. A quick explanation of what your company does.
2. The category or industry you belong to (like Shopping & Retail, Business Service, Restaurant, etc.).
3. A style that showcases your brand’s personality.
4. Contact details (phone number, email, address, etc.).
5. A link.

However, link-in-bio tools such as Later help you use the link more strategically by turning the single link into a catalog of resources.

Bonus: Use a recognizable profile image

When deciding on a profile picture, it’s crucial that people can immediately recognize it when they land on your Instagram profile. For many businesses, this usually involves picking from these choices:

1. Logo
2. Logomark (the logo without any words)
3. Mascot

There’s no definite right or wrong, and you’re not obligated to stick to just these options. However, consider what will aid visitors in recognizing your brand right away when they come to your page.

3. Find your visual aesthetic

Instagram thrives on visuals, yet what suits one business may not suit another. Reflect on the visual style you wish to portray on your business page, then establish branding rules to maintain uniformity.

Give careful consideration to your chosen color palette. Many triumphant Instagram accounts opt for a specific color range for their images, contributing to the development of a unique visual identity.

4. Post consistently

Adhering to a consistent posting routine aids in your presence within your intended audience’s timelines. Instagram aims to display content that aligns with individual preferences, prioritizing recent and pertinent posts.

Instagram’s algorithm employs machine learning to perpetually analyze each user’s actions and personalizes their timeline accordingly. If content isn’t seen, it can’t be appreciated; maintaining a steady posting schedule increases your visibility in users’ feeds, creating additional opportunities for engagement. The more they interact with your content, the more frequently it appears in their Instagram feed.

You can effectively manage your content by planning and scheduling posts in groups, ensuring your account remains active even during busy periods. Moreover, scheduling provides the convenience of trying out different posting times.

5. Leverage hashtags to reach new audiences

Hashtags have evolved into a standardized method for categorizing content across numerous social media platforms. They enable Instagram users to explore content and find accounts of interest. Research indicates that posts containing more than 11 hashtags typically receive higher levels of engagement.

6. Engage with your community

Engagement cues serve as an excellent method to stimulate interaction. Experiment with interactive stickers within Instagram Stories, like polls, questions, or sliding scale rankings, to foster engagement.

When creating posts, utilize your caption to pose questions and encourage individuals to express their opinions in the comments. Although it might seem a bit cliché, envision it as a genuine face-to-face conversation. Imagine how odd it would be to speak at someone instead of engaging in a two-way discussion.

Merely because you’re leveraging Instagram for business doesn’t imply that everything must originate from your end. User-generated content (UGC), which encompasses content crafted by enthusiasts or contributors, stands as an effective means to show appreciation to your supporters and kindle greater engagement. Motivate your community to share remarkable instances and encounters tied to your brand on Instagram, and seek consent to re-share some of the finest content on your own platforms.

8. Experiment with different content types

Instagram goes far beyond just photos. The platform now offers an extensive variety of content formats, encompassing:

1. Videos
2. Reels
3. Stories
4. IGTV

To enhance your reach and interaction on the platform, it’s vital to distribute a diverse array of content formats.

Every content format holds its own benefits, and individual preferences on Instagram differ. While some may be enthusiastic about Reels, others might solely focus on Stories and skip the feed. To optimize your reach and engagement, the most effective approach is to employ a mix of content types.

Bonus: Write great captions

Captions present an opportunity to enrich your content even more, and brands employ various methods to utilize them. Some treat captions as a platform for narrative sharing and micro-blogging, while others use them to append concise, catchy headlines to their posts. Certain brands leverage captions to pose inquiries and provoke responses. The potential is boundless, but the key lies in ensuring that the text harmonizes with your brand.

Important Note: Instagram captions have a character limit of 2,200, and after three lines, they’re shortened with an ellipsis.

8. Analyze your results

Here’s one of the top Instagram for business tips: Make sure to regularly delve into your Instagram analytics. If your aim is to grow your follower count, maintain strong engagement with your audience, and effectively market your business on Instagram, it’s crucial to keep track of how well your content is doing.

While Instagram Insights, the platform’s built-in analytics tool, is a good beginning point, it’s only accessible through mobile devices. Moreover, you’ll need to access each post separately to review important metrics like likes, comments, shares, and saves.

Always keep in mind that metrics truly matter when they provide valuable insights. While likes can give you a sense of gratification, are they your primary goal when using Instagram for business? To gather more meaningful information, focus on metrics that uncover the reasons behind your followers’ consistent engagement with your content and their willingness to invest in what you offer.

For example, let’s say you create a tutorial video on IGTV. The number of saves and shares can indicate how practical the tutorial is and how much value it holds for repeated visits, whereas likes might signify a more passive interaction. On the flip side, if your objective is to boost brand awareness, the significance lies in likes and new followers as indicators of success. When assessing outcomes, it’s crucial to analyze them within the context of your specific goals.

Make the most of Instagram for business

Gathering likes on your delightful brunch photos or views on a puppy video is quite straightforward with friends. However, establishing a robust business account demands more effort. Nonetheless, we’re confident that you probably follow several brands on your personal account—just like 90% of Instagram users do. We’re not suggesting you replicate these favored companies, but it’s worth contemplating what attributes make those business accounts worth tracking, drawing inspiration from them. Then, merge this inspiration with the guidance we’ve outlined here to devise an Instagram marketing strategy tailored to your own company.