With the emergence and popularity of social media nowadays, it would be very beneficial for any project or company to create a strong presence on social media.

Instagram is one of the most used websites and apps that helps in creating a strong buyer base, especially if the business target audience is millennials.

In the article published by Startup Talky, writer Nico Mandal explained that the Facebook-owned Instagram platform boasts about one billion monthly active users and more than 500 million daily active users.

The age group between 18-24 years and the group between 25-34 years are the most active on the platform.

Instagram users and their age groups

The writer explained that recent reports indicate that brands witnessed an average participation of 4% of their followers on Instagram, which is much more than the rate of participation of followers on Facebook or Twitter, which is about 0.1%.

In fact, brands get 10 times more engagement on Instagram than other social media platforms, in other words Instagram is better for brands.

The writer emphasized that by creating a business account on Instagram, you can see real-time data on how your promoted stories and posts are performing, get data on how followers interact with your content, and you can also access features that are only available to companies that facilitate visibility and increase sales, and creating a business account is Instagram is free, and it can help you a lot to understand your audience.

The author explains how to use Instagram to help your business, as well as all the aspects that you need to consider when creating your plan, and will help you understand the features of Instagram for business as well.

How to use Instagram for business?

Now that we understand how big Instagram is and how important it is to businesses, it's time to dive into the basic steps that will help you use Instagram for your business:

Create an Instagram Business Account

If you already have a personal account, especially if the content of that account is attractive and relevant to your brand, you can simply convert it to a business account.

Then you will be able to access all the features and tools that are only available for Instagram Business accounts.

You can easily convert your personal account to a business account by following these steps:

  • In the Instagram mobile app, go to your profile.

  • Go to "Settings".

  • Go to "Account".

  • Click 'Transfer to Business Account' or 'Transfer to Content Creator Account' as you wish.

This will convert your profile into an Instagram page, which is a useful feature for startups and entrepreneurs, who are looking to use Instagram for their businesses.

Make your content eye catching

Most of the Instagram users are of the new generation, and since Instagram is primarily a photo-sharing app, users need to see your product before visiting your website.

It is therefore important to upload images of your business and products in an eye-catching way, to be able to stand out amidst the huge amount of content that is presented to users every day.

Besides, it is also necessary to maintain a consistent and aesthetic color layout to make the content page layout attractive;

When users find a post or photo that attracts them, they automatically open the profile and see more products, and usually the user views the photo for 3 to 4 seconds, but when he finds it attractive and interesting, he will spend an additional 6 to 7 seconds to browse your profile, so It is important to take care of these precious moments.

The writer cautioned that the person who wants to market his products must take into account the current circumstances, especially with regard to the epidemic and viruses spread all over the world, because they bring larger viewers, as people tend to watch posts related to the latest trends in the world of marketing, which is what It enables "Trends" (top-followed topics) to get more posts from its followers.

The writer believes that videos, although they can provide more information than images, are often less attractive to users compared to images, so the inclusion of images, especially of high quality, will increase your posts, it usually takes 10-20 viewers So companies should try to diversify the content at the beginning of their videos in order to keep viewers engaged for as long as possible.

Instagram Marketing

The author points out that you have to take into account that your Instagram page is not isolated, so do not hesitate to update it with the latest developments of the "hashtag" (the hashtag), the trend and the content, and all of these things can help you market your products or services.

Write captions

The writer stated that the captions for your posts, stories and videos on Instagram are very important, because they are the first things that followers read and on the basis of which they judge their importance, so do not miss this opportunity to draw their attention and get a good result.

Make your posts official and your stories casual

According to the writer, stories come and go, so making them too formal may bore your potential customers, but if you add some fun and embellishment, you may get a great opportunity and attract bigger customers.

Use hashtags

The writer emphasized that the use of the hashtag is one of the main ways to attract users, as it is widely circulated and can be seen by many users who are related to your business, and helps your page appear to more viewers.

And don't forget your photos and videos, display them creatively, and use eye-catching captions to get your viewers engaged, all of which helps score extra points.

stories

In addition, use Instagram Stories effectively and creatively to showcase your products or promote your business, in order to get new additions.

Key excerpts from the story

It's important to focus on and clearly identify the highlights of the story as part of your profile, because it's the first thing that grabs the audience's attention, so make it look interesting and use it to highlight any offerings in your brand.

Add Call-to-Action (CTAs)

If you want the largest number of users to click on your website or the products and services offered by your brand, you are required to draw their attention with business invitations, which are promotional advertisements.

Write an interesting CV

The writer explained that the first thing that users see in your account when visiting your profile is your resume, so make your resume clear and direct always, by describing your work, but do it in a creative manner that will interest users to explore your account and your website further, in addition to In addition, put a link in your bio, whether it's a link to your website, or a link featuring your latest or most popular products, all of this makes your work more accessible to the Instagram community, use elements to give information about yourself and add attractive emojis.

Put your company logo as your profile picture instead of changing it with each new product, to give your brand space to become known and easily recognized by users, as often seeing the same logo, over and over again, instills a sense of familiarity among users.

Use geolocation

Geolocation is one of the capabilities in the Instagram application, with geolocation, you can determine the location of each of your photos, and you can also specify your business address or the address where your company is headquartered, and this makes it easy for your followers and customers of your brand to know the location of Your business, to use geolocation, you can simply press the "Add Location" button, after which you can type in an address or select an address from a list of predefined Instagram addresses.

Tools provided by Instagram to monitor the spread

You can view the number of people who visit your profile by your statuses by swiping and checking view counts. This helps you view the nature of the content that attracts users, helping you gain more understanding of the factors that will help you gain more popularity.

Post views:

You can check how many people are viewing your page, see how many people are already following you, how many people you have reached through the Explore page or the hashtags you used, this will help improve your business, your brand and your Instagram account, to produce generally recommended content This will help you increase sales.

People who visited your page:

Instagram also shows the number of people who visited your profile in one week on your homepage.

Benefits of using Instagram for business

Easily build your brand reputation:

If you trust your product or service, no matter how big or small your business is, you have the key to success, Instagram has allowed businesses to grow freely, with equal opportunity for each one, all you have to do is just take advantage of the features Just in time and you are on your way to success, interacting with more and more people, posting high quality content regularly, making sure to use high resolution images, Instagram prefers quality over quantity, so make sure your content is visually appealing.

Get revenue directly from Instagram:

A few years ago, there was a limited opportunity for companies to succeed on Instagram, but now Instagram has allowed companies to make money directly from the platform itself, as they launched a new feature, the shoppable post, which enables you to add hashtags to the products in your photos with links including a product description, price and a "Shop Now" button or link, so your audience can buy products directly from your online store.

Show your creativity on Instagram:

Instagram is the best place where you can show your creativity as well as the attractiveness of your brand, show your enthusiasm while posting content, and make it as attractive as possible, you can also organize some contests, giveaways, special offers, etc., this will help you attract more And more visitors to your profile as well as to your online store.

Promote through influencers:

Influencers are people who have a large number of followers on social media and other online platforms, so when you start a project and want to market it to a large audience, influencers are the people who can help you with that, as many influencers promote They have an audience for brands and products to take on growth path, and so you have the opportunity to build your brand reputation.