Setting up Instagram for business: four pro tips
If you’re establishing or growing a business in today’s world, it’s highly likely that you’ll need to set up an Instagram account for business.
Being present on Instagram is an important way to connect with your audience, reach new potential customers and establish a personality for your brand.
But, if you're wondering how to get more followers on Instagram, setting up your business for success is a great place to start. After all, just having an Instagram account is only the start, then you need to grow it. Getting the best Instagram growth service may help to get rapid growth for your business.
Four tips for setting up Instagram for business
Even if you have a personal Instagram account, you’ll want to keep reading, because there are a few things that make setting up an Instagram business account a little different.
1. Switch to a business account
Setting up a business account on Instagram will most importantly allow you to see analytics on your posts, audience, and account in general. With a business account, you can also schedule posts, access advertising, share links in your Stories, and use shoppable posts.
Really, if you have a business, there’s no reason to not have a business account on Instagram.
How do I start an Instagram business account?
The good news is, switching to a business account is easy and will only take a few moments. First, create an Instagram account. Then, go to your profile and tap the three lines in the upper right corner.
From there, choose “Settings” and then “Account.” Scroll down a little and select “Switch to Professional Account.” At this point, just follow the prompts from Instagram to finalize your business account.
2. Optimise your Instagram bio
Once you have your account established, it’s time to liven up your Instagram bio. This is important because your Instagram bio is the first thing people will see when they go to your profile, and they’ll use it to decide whether or not to follow you. Let’s take a deeper look at the six parts of your Instagram bio that you can (and should) optimise.
1. Profile picture
Your profile is incredibly important because it’ll be on every one of your posts. Good options are either your logo or a person, if appropriate. Generally, Instagram users respond better to images of people’s faces, but sometimes that doesn’t work well for businesses.
Whether you use a face or a logo, make sure it’s centered and big enough that someone can see it without squinting - remember, this will be in the upper left corner of each of your posts.
2. Username
Just like your profile picture, your followers and everyone else on Instagram will see your username frequently. This is how people will remember your business. Ideally, use your business name. It’ll help with branding and make things easier for you and your audience.
However, if your business name has already been taken, you can get creative with dashes or periods. Avoid using underscores or numbers when possible.
3. Hashtags
Did you know you can use hashtags in your Instagram bio? This is a great place to add them if you’re going to be creating and using a branded hashtag.
A branded hashtag is one that you create and use on your posts, and you can encourage your followers to use it, too. By adding it to your bio, you can make it clear that you want people to use it.
4. Bio
Speaking of your bio, let’s talk a little more about the actual words on your profile. You only have 150 characters for your bio, so you’ll want to make them count. This is the place to express who you are, what you do and who you serve.
That’s a lot to fit into a small space, so choose short, impactful words and skip anything that’s unnecessary. Add emojis if you feel they fit with your brand’s voice and if they can save you characters.
5. Instagram highlights
You can’t post highlights right away, but they’re something you’ll want to keep in mind and work toward. As you post Instagram Stories, you can save certain posts to your highlights.
This will let your potential followers learn more about you easily. You could create a highlight on the history of your business and one about your mission. One could focus on customer testimonials, and another could showcase ways to use your product.
6. Link In bio
On Instagram, you have one place that can constantly include a clickable link: your bio. Take advantage of this and optimize your link. You can use a link in bio service or create a specific page on your website to put in your Instagram bio.
Then, you can change out links on that page, rather than always updating your bio. Additionally, by using this strategy, you can promote multiple links at once. Include your other social media platforms, most recent blog or your online storefront.
3. Create and plan your content ahead of tIme
When you’re using Instagram for business, you can’t just decide what and when to post on a whim. Instead, you’ll want to create and plan your content in advance.
Consistency is one of the most important parts of being successful on Instagram, and this tip alone can save you headaches and make your life easier.
Create quality Instagram content
All of this is for naught if you don’t create great content. Instagram is a visual platform, so audiences expect all images and videos to be visually appealing. Whether this is a photo or a graphic, it should look nice.
If you aren’t a graphic designer or you don’t have one on your team, there are many third party editing tools online you can use. Platforms like Canva and Lightroom can make designing and editing easy.
There are even templates and guidelines available to help you navigate the content creation process.
Schedule and organise your feed
Once you create your content, use an Instagram planner to arrange your content and plan out your captions. After all, if you have your content created, why wouldn’t you want to schedule it in advance?
This way, you don’t have to think about actually posting your content every day. You can work ahead of time and then let Instagram work for you.
With a good quality Instagram planner, you can lay out your grid nicely, schedule it by date and input your captions so you know exactly what will be happening on your platform.
4. Engage with your followers through Instagram Stories and IGTV
Finally, use Instagram Stories and IGTV to up-level your Instagram presence and connect with your audience.
With Instagram Stories, you can share quick looks into day-to-day business, answer questions or provide a place for your audience to answer questions and polls to give feedback.
IGTV is longer-form video content where you could post a full, extended Q&A, a product tutorial or a collection introduction, depending on what your audience wants to see.
Why you should use Instagram for business
So now you know how to establish and optimize your Instagram account for business, but let’s take a closer look at the three reasons why you should be setting up Instagram for business in the first place.
1. Connect with your customers
Instagram is a great platform to be able to get to know, engage with, and listen to your customers. From leaving comments to responding to questions in Stories to sending direct messages, there’s no shortage of ways for your audience to connect with you - and vice versa.
You can use this opportunity to ask for your customers’ input, respond to their concerns and thank them for their support. All of this can help you enhance your brand’s reputation.
2. Humanise your brand
Speaking of your brand’s reputation, with Instagram, you can add a human element to your brand. Show the people behind the brand. Many customers want to buy from other people. They want to know who’s creating their favorite products and services.
They want to know a brand’s values and see what they say. This is where social media, and particularly Instagram, can come into play. Between Stories, Instagram Live video and IGTV, there are so many extra ways you can add a human touch to your account and your brand.
3. Spread brand awareness
Finally, we’d be remiss to leave out brand awareness. Instagram is a great platform to grow your reach. You can do this through brand partnerships, hashtags, advertising or even just by creating interesting, quality content that your audience wants to share to their Stories and with their networks.
As you post consistently, your audience will begin to look forward to your posts, and Instagram will notice. If they think you’re creating important, valuable content, they’ll show it to other people on the app, which will help your reach.
Getting started
You have the knowledge now to start setting up Instagram for business. Once your account is established, you can optimize your profile and then start creating quality content that your audience will look forward to seeing.
Always remember that Instagram is a social media platform - emphasis on “social.” Engage with your audience, ask them questions, and respond when they leave comments or send you messages. If you do this, Instagram can be an excellent tool for your business.
