With nearly 112.5 million users in 2020, Instagram is one of the most successful social media sites. Instagram  constantly releases tools to help company owners thrive on the photo-sharing social media website. From collecting data tools to marketing goods, Instagram is an exceptional place to market your business.

Ever since Facebook refocused on engaging users with posts and content from family or friends, Instagram has become “the place to be” for many brands. It’s the social media platform where engagement is strong, fans are brand-loyal, and actual business ambitions can be accomplished.

Whether you’re just getting started or need to fine-tune your current Instagram marketing plan, we’re here to help you succeed. Ahead, you’ll find a quick run-down that will give you everything you need to know about using Instagram to market your business.

What is Instagram?

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, then you’ve probably already heard of Instagram.

Instagram is a massively popular social media site for posting images and videos. Users share photo or video posts, as well as temporary Stories that last for 24 hours, Reels that are 15-second clips, IGTV videos, and even purchase directly from e-commerce brands through the app.

Instagram is owned by Facebook and has a user base of over 1 billion people.  Having a platform that big to market your business used to just be a dream, now it’s our reality… A reality you should take advantage of.

Why your business needs Instagram

Aside from the large audience, you’ll find that there is a lot to gain from using Instagram to market your business. Some of these benefits include:

It’s become industry standard to have an Instagram account

It’s expected that customers will use Instagram to find you. They could look for you by name or using hashtags linked to your business or location. In any case, not being able to locate your Instagram profile can be frustrating.

Having an Instagram account for your business will make it easier for your customers to find you.

Even if you don’t plan to be too involved on Instagram, it’s a smart idea to set up an account with your company name, contact details, and a few posts to highlight your brand.

In any case, you don’t want their search to come up empty – or worse, steer them to a different business.

It establishes authority & builds credibility

A verified Instagram account is just another indication that your company is real. This makes it easier for customers to trust your business.

Build your brand

Instagram is a visual social media platform that allows you to engage with consumers on a more intimate level. You can engage your  followers by sharing photos and videos with your staff and pleased consumers.

A visual feed will represent your brand’s individuality and help you stand out from the competition.

Instagram is an excellent platform for showcasing your brand’s story through creativity. Instagram Stories, in particular, are intended to increase user participation.

Sell your products through Instagram

If you’re an eCommerce brand, being able to post Instagram images and videos with direct links to your products is a huge benefit.

To use this feature, you must first build a product catalog on your Facebook page. This is where Instagram gets product information from.

Link back to your website

It’s not just products that you can market on Instagram; it’s also other content such as infographics, blog articles, and any other marketing material you publish on your website.

Instagram is yet another social media platform from which you can direct traffic back to your website.

It’s great for customer engagement

Let’s presume you provide excellent service to a client or a customer is ecstatic with a product they just purchased from you.

They’ll likely post a story on Instagram, along with their review for their followers to see your brand. This might attract you more followers, and probably even a customer.

That’s the sort of thing you’ll like to be tagged in so it can surface on your Instagram profile.

But here’s the thing: if you don’t have an Instagram account to begin with, your consumers won’t be able to tag you, which is a massive chance wasted.

Manage your brand’s reputation on Instagram

Getting an Instagram account with your brand name is a must-have when it comes to online reputation management and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes.

Since your reputation online is so important to your industry, you must be aware of what appears when consumers search for your company’s name.

Your social media sites, in addition to your website, typically feature on the first list of search engine results.

As a result, it’s important to set up company profiles for your brand name on all social media platforms, even though you don’t intend on using them regularly.

The goal is to have as much power as possible on the search engine results page by building profiles and content that link back to your brand.

That way, if you get poor press online, your website and social media pages would have a greater chance of ranking higher than the unfavorable posts.

Beat the competition

Simply put, if you don’t have an Instagram account but your rivals do, you’re giving them an advantage.

Look at what your rivals are doing if you’re stumped on what kind of Instagram material to share. Competitor research is a surefire way to get some inspiration for your own posts!

Connect with people from your industry

Instagram can also be used for networking. You can communicate with other like-minded companies or individuals (like bloggers or influencers) through liking, posting, and sending messages, and you can develop a friendship with them over time through positive interactions.

Keep up with the trends

Another benefit to using Instagram is that it will assist you in taking advantage of emerging trends. Jumping on trends is another great way to engage and interact with your followers.

How to create an Instagram Business Profile

Now that we’ve convinced you to start using Instagram, let’s move onto creating your Instagram profile.

From Scratch:

Businesses who want to create a business profile on Instagram will have to start by creating a personal Instagram account. Once you have your personal account, you can convert the account into a business profile.

To create your personal Instagram profile from scratch, follow these 4 steps.

1. Start by downloading the Instagram app on your phone or tablet.
2. Sign up by pressing the Sign up button.
3. Enter your business’ email address or an email address dedicated to your company’s social media pages. If you already have a company account on Facebook, you can use it to log in.
4. Create a username and password for yourself.

Now you have your “personal” Instagram account that you can turn into a business account. To convert your account, follow the steps below.

1. Proceed to your profile then click the three bars in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Click on Settings, then switch to business profile. Instagram also suggests that you connect your Instagram business profile to your company’s Facebook page. Including information about your business, such as your name, username, profile photo, website URL, and a brief biography. Have contact details so that your followers can get in touch with you.

Voila! You now have your Instagram business profile.

Instagram Terminology

It’s a smart thing to be acquainted with Instagram’s terminology to get the best out of the social media site. To help you out, click on the image below to see some of Instagram’s most common terms along with their definitions.

How To Market Your Business On Instagram

Now that you’ve set up your Instagram business profile and caught up on all the IG terminologies, you’re ready to market your business on Instagram. Read ahead for our simple 5 step guide you can follow.

Step 1: Plan your strategy!

To create a successful Instagram strategy you first need to ask yourself a few questions:

Who is my target audience?

You must consider who will see your Instagram content before deciding what kind of content to share. Knowing your audience is crucial to marketing. You wouldn’t want to market your business blindly and end up wasting all of your efforts on people who aren’t interested in your brand.

Once you know who your target audience is, it’s easier to curate content that your audience likes. This will lead to better engagement, more followers and likes, and you’ll be able to make a sale because you’re directing your efforts towards people who are interested in your business.

The vast majority of Instagram users are under the age of 35, with male and female users divided equally evenly. The United States has the most Instagram users, with India, Brazil, and Indonesia trailing closely behind. That’s a decent place to start, but you’ll need to go outside these generic Instagram demographics to identify a target audience that’s special to your brand.

We’ve built a step-by-step guide that describes all the specifics since identifying your target market is one of the most critical aspects of your marketing plan using any marketing method. Here’s a simplified version:

• Determine who your current customers are
• Check the other social media channels’ metrics to see who follows you there.
• Conduct detailed competitor analysis.
• Create a simple yet clear value statement for your brand.

Consider what kind of material the viewer would want to see from you once you’ve identified who your audience is. Check what kind of content they post on their own profiles and the kind of interactions they have with your competitors or other similar businesses.

What are my goals?

The first step in developing a successful Instagram marketing plan is determining what you want to achieve. Knowing and understanding your goals puts you on track and helps you to concentrate more of your energy on meeting actual business objectives.

To create goals that are efficient and effective, you have to follow the S.M.A.R.T framework. This means your goals have to be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

It’s perfect to set targets based on ego metrics like views, number of followers, or comments as you expand your Instagram following. But be sure that the priorities are tied to realistic goals.

What will be my content posting schedule?

After you’ve established a following on your Instagram, your followers will expect you to post consistently. You want your audience to remember your brand and be engaged with your content without overdoing it. Otherwise, your audience may reach the point of tuning out, or worse, unfollowing you.

There is no single perfect time to post. The right time to post on Instagram changes considerably depending on the business. You’re going to have to do your research to check what the best time to post is, what day, and the frequency.

In addition to benchmarking your account against other top brands in your field, you’ll need to do some research to see when your posts attract the most engagement.

The most important thing is to know when your target demographic is online. It’s important to bear in mind that they may not share the same time zone as you. Instagram Insights allows you to see the exact time your followers are online.

To see this information open your Instagram business profile, press the three bars on the top right corner, and then choose Insights. To see active times, go to the Audience tab then scroll down.

After you’ve determined the right time to upload and post content, it’s time you develop a content calendar to prepare and organize your Instagram content in advance.

How should I track my performance?

Tracking your performance is extremely helpful in fine tuning your marketing efforts. Knowing the results of your marketing strategy will help you make better marketing decisions in the future, like which kinds of ads work best or what kind of post gets more engagement.

Depending on your goal and business, the metrics you’re going to measure and track will likely vary. However, metrics relevant to the social funnel should be your priority.

That is to say, your goals should correspond to one of the four phases of the consumer journey:

• Awareness: Brand awareness, follower growth rate, and post reach are all examples of awareness metrics.
• Engagement: Includes metrics such as the engagement rate that’s based on likes and the rate of amplification which are based on shares.
• Conversion: Conversion involves metrics such as click-through rate and bounce rate in addition to conversion rate. It also includes metrics like cost per click and CPM if you’re running paid ads.
• Consumer Behavior: Customers’ actions, such as supplying testimonials, are used to calculate these metrics.

Step 2: Optimize!

When you first set up your Instagram business account, you filled out some simple profile details. Now you should fine-tune your profile to get the best possible results.

Set your profile picture

The best profile picture for most companies is a variation of their logo. Using the same image on all of your social profiles makes it easier for people to recognize your brand.

Your profile picture appears to be 110 x 110 pixels, but it is really 320 x 320 pixels in dimension. That means you can post a photo that is at least 320 pixels square to ensure that you are prepared if Instagram updates the way profile images are viewed.

On the app, your profile picture is cropped into a thumbnail, so make sure your logo is clear in its entirety.

Write an interesting and enticing bio

Even if your Instagram bio is just supposed to be 150 characters long, it has to be able to pack up a punch. It should be able to communicate who your brand is, what it stands for, and why they should care.

How do you express your brand’s personality while trying to cram so much detail into such a small space? Well, here are a few tips and tricks:

• Make use of your brand’s voice by showing your audience your brand’s personality. Depending on the nature of your company, you can be casual, professional, or even a little mischievous.
• Include hashtags in your bio. Hashtags in your Instagram bio are clickable and a perfect way to highlight user-generated material.
• Consider using emojis. These little icons will help you express a lot of details with just one character.
• Make the bio easy to read online by having spacing and line breaks.

Complete your profile

Make the most of all of the features on your Instagram business profile.

• The only aspects of your Instagram profile that are used in Instagram search are your name and username, so use them wisely and with caution. Have both your true brand name and any modifications, like an abbreviation. It’s easier for followers to find you if you use the same username (or handle) across all social media platforms.
• This is the only place on Instagram where you can post organic clickable links, so make it count! Have a link to your website, a new blog entry, a new initiative, or an exclusive Instagram landing page.

Make use of the Instagram Business profile features

When you use Instagram for business, you get access to several business profile features that personal accounts don’t have. Be sure to take advantage of these business-only solutions whether you’re converting a personal account or starting from scratch:

• Contact Information: Include your email address, phone number, or physical address in your profile so that followers can contact you directly. Instagram generates matching buttons for your profile when you add contact details.
• Category: This sits next to your name and tells people what you do at a glance.
• CTA Buttons: Users may use this to schedule appointments, make reservations, order tickets, and more straight from their Instagram account. Tap Edit Profile, then Contact Options, then Select a CTA button for your company profile.

One of our clients, J75 does everything we’ve mentioned above. Check out their profile below to see.

Step 3: Post Engaging Content

Build a visual identity for your business

Instagram is all about the images, so having a distinct visual identity is crucial.

First, consider what you’ll highlight in your posts. The material will be evident in some cases: a retail line will show off its garments, and a restaurant will show off its food.

If you have resources, start showcasing consumer testimonials (maybe gathered through a branded hashtag). Alternatively, go behind the scenes and show off office life or expose fans to the people who make the business run smoothly.

Once you’ve settled on a visual style, stick to it. This includes using consistent colors and filters, as well as an overall look that is easy to recognize as your followers browse through their Instagram feeds.

Simour Design is an interior design firm for medical, dental, and surgical centers. Look at their profile as an example, it’s very clean and minimalistic. Even the story highlights are consistent. They post photos of their work, as well as other content to convey the brand’s personality.

Take high-quality photos

Because Instagram is a visual social media platform, you literally need to have fantastic photographs to make Instagram work for your brand.

Not many businesses have the luxury of hiring a professional to get their IG photos taken. Luckily you don’t need to hire or be a professional photographer or have a lot of fancy equipment to do this.

Using your phone to take photos lets you immediately upload your photos. So when it comes to Instagram photography, your phone is your best friend. Here are some tricks for taking the best pictures with your phone:

• Natural light is your best friend: With a flash illuminating the oiliest areas of the face and throwing strange shadows on the nose and jaw, no one’s going to look fantastic. The same can be said for product photography. Natural light softens shadows, enriches colors, and improves the aesthetic appeal of pictures.
• Harsh lighting is your enemy: Have you ever heard of golden hour? Well, it’s the perfect time to take any photo. Cloudy days are preferable to sunny days for mid-day shooting.
• Incorporate the rule of thirds: In case you didn’t know, your phone camera has a grid built in to assist you in following this rule. Position your subject where the grid lines intersect to take an attractive picture that is off-center but still looks balanced.
• Try switching up the angles: Crouch back, stand on a chair, do whatever it takes to make the shot more compelling.

Edit your photos

You’ll always want to edit your pictures before uploading them to Instagram, no matter how nice they already look. One way to keep your brand aesthetic and make your pictures visible is to edit them consistently.

Additional filters and editing options are available in smartphone photo editing applications like VSCOcam and Photoshop Express, which will help you find your own personal style. Instagram allows you to upload images that have been edited or filtered elsewhere and post them to your feed.

Make use of Instagram’s story feature

Every day, more than 400 million users utilize Instagram Stories, and 39 percent of those polled said seeing a product or brand on Stories piqued their interest in it. In reality, businesses post a third of the most popular Instagram Stories.

Instagram Stories is the best place to take artistic chances with attention-grabbing images and videos because content fades after 24 hours.

What’s the perfect way to make the most of Instagram Stories? This appropriately named feature is, unsurprisingly, an excellent storytelling platform. Build true brand tales with a beginning, middle, and end. Get innovative with your Stories and give real value to your fans to inspire them to watch your Stories daily

To turn your Stories views into concrete market achievements, end them with a powerful call-to-action.

Want to keep your Instagram Stories content alive for more than 24 hours? With Instagram Stories Highlights, you can do just that.

Captions are the key to success

While Instagram is mostly a visual medium, that does not mean you should ignore your captions. Captions allow you to tell the story behind the picture. Your followers will wonder, chuckle, and feel a bond to your brand if you use captions effectively.

You must cultivate a distinct brand voice to write convincing captions. Consistency is the most significant aspect. Use emojis when you write your captions, follow grammatical rules that your company adheres to, or use hashtags. Your captions would be more memorable and on-brand if you follow a set of style guidelines.

Step 4: Engage and Gain!

Connect with Instagram accounts relevant to your business

Social networks are all about culture and community. It’s highly likely for you to find an existing community relevant to your brand on Instagram. What you have to do now is look for them. Engaging with customers and companies they already follow is one way to do this.

Begin by keeping an eye on industry hashtags and commenting on relevant Instagram stories. Join the people who take part in these discussions. This way you can let your presence be known to people who may be interested in your content.

When you get more active in Instagram communities, you’ll begin to find which hashtags produce the most interaction.

Use relevant hashtags

Hashtags aid in the discovery of your Instagram posts.

Instagram captions aren’t searchable, but hashtags are. When anyone looks for or clicks on a hashtag, they can see all of the information that is affiliated with it. It’s a perfect way to get people who don’t already follow you to see your stuff.

Create your own unique hashtag if you want to stand out. A branded hashtag represents the company’s image and invites followers to post images that reflect it. It can be a fantastic way to get user-generated content and build community with your followers.

Reply to your followers

Bear in mind that this is social media marketing. The social element must not be overlooked. This entails reacting to feedback and mentions of your brand on Instagram so that people are encouraged to continue communicating with it.

You may be tempted to use bots to simplify your engagement. It’s not a good idea. It normally does not go as planned. Set aside some time to react authentically when your brand is mentioned or tagged.

Partner with influencers

Working with an Influencer whose followers may be interested in your brand is a strong way of getting access to an active and dedicated Instagram fanbase.

Small businesses with minimal resources may work with micro-influencers or individuals with a smaller but devoted audience.

Advertise!

Instagram will help your company grow organically, but it’s also worth investing in Instagram advertising to ensure your content reaches a larger, yet highly targeted market.

Instagram ads have call-to-action buttons that encourage people to take action directly from Instagram, minimizing the number of steps taken to get them to your website or promotion.

Step 5: Track and Analyze

Measure your results!

Once you’ve started using Instagram to market your brand, you’ll want to check in regularly to see how your success is tracking toward your goals and objectives.

There are a lot of analytic softwares to help you track the success of your Instagram marketing. This is a crucial step, so never skip out on doing this. Tracking your progress can help you further into your campaign. You’ll get insight into what works and what doesn’t, and it’s all based on numbers.

Final Thoughts

You have a lot of options to experiment with when it comes to Instagram marketing, and that’s a good thing. By now you should have some brilliant ideas and tactics for keeping the company’s Instagram account up and running.

Keep in mind that Instagram’s social nature helps to boost intangible marketing metrics including customer satisfaction, brand equity, and lifetime user value.

Your brand’s culture and relationships are just as vital as its goods, and Instagram is the platform for promoting that identity. Customers will quickly come to you rather than the other way around.

Now we want to hear from you! What are some of the problems you experience when it comes to marketing your Instagram account? Sound off in the comments section below!

Check this page out to find more tips and tricks that can help your business grow.