Instagram has two billion monthly users worldwide – which means your business could be sitting on untapped potential if you’re not already active on the site. Instagram can help you reach people and demographics you previously thought unreachable, while also building your brand image and engaging your audience with captivating content.

Understanding Instagram for Business is the first step into this world. In this guide, we’ll explore how to get started setting up Instagram for Business. We’ll also share some of our top tips and tricks to help grow your brand.

What are the main features of Instagram for Business?

Instagram for Business is essentially the specific business version of Instagram. Not only does it offer the usual features, such as posts and Stories, but it’s an all-in-one platform that provides business accounts with an overview of their performance, and valuable insights. It’s a useful tool for organisations of all sizes – from independent businesses to larger companies.

Some of the main features of Instagram for Business include:

• Access to real-time data and insights. You can track your business account performance and figure out what’s working and what isn’t. This allows you to experiment with different marketing campaign tactics, to find out what’s the best fit for your audience.
• Selling capabilities. Instagram for Business allows you to sell your products directly from the platform. This can help you retain more customers, as it means fewer clicks to finish conversions.
• Instagram Ads. You can also build and completely customise your own Instagram Ad campaigns. The platform allows you to set flexible engagement goals, boost ads and posts, and specifically target certain consumers. All this, wrapped up in a neat analytics bow, with accessible insights and data features.

Why use Instagram for business growth?

Learning how to use Instagram for Business is straightforward, as the platform is tailored specifically to start growing your brand as soon as possible. Some of the growth opportunities and benefits of Instagram for Business include:

1. Accurate and accessible insights. The platform pulls account performance and audience data into accessible and manageable updates. No matter your experience with analytics, you’ll be able to instantly understand how posts and campaigns are performing.
2. Everything in one place. There’s no need to run everything through third-party platforms – Instagram for Business offers a comprehensive toolkit that has all the insights and numbers you need.
3. Build customer relationships. By creating targeted content powered by data insights, you can start showing your customers what they want to see. Alongside the ability to interact with your followers in comments and DMs, and to invite people to get in touch, this creates a well-rounded, personalised experience.
4. Budget-friendly. You can set your own budgets for ads and campaigns, and quickly boost or reduce them if you need to. All you need to do is decide what works best for your business and go from there.
5. Business-friendly tools. Instagram for Business is accessible to brands of all sizes. Whether you’re happy using the more ‘basic’ tools for building and tracking ads, or the more advanced features of Ads Manager these tools can be used by everyone.

Setting up your Instagram for Business account.

Setting up Instagram for Business is quick and easy. It takes just a few clicks to register your business account, so you can get started building your brand and growing your audience almost instantly.

1. Sign up to create a business account.

If you don’t already have an Instagram account, you’ll need to set one up. Just download the Instagram app from the App Store or Google Play and follow the instructions.

If you already have an account, all you need to do to set up Instagram for Business is go to Settings and Privacy > Account type and tools > Switch to professional account. Then, just choose a business category and you’re all set.

2. Write your business Instagram bio.

This is the first thing new followers and those who are just plain curious about your brand will read. It needs to be short, succinct and descriptive, and you’ll need to sum up what your business does in just a few lines.

If you’re stuck, we recommend looking at some similar brands and taking note of what they’ve done.

3. Add your profile picture.

It’s often best practice to simply use your brand logo as your business profile picture. It’s instantly recognisable and tells people immediately whose profile they’re on. You want to make sure everything is clearly visible, and nothing’s too blurry. Of course, you may decide to customise your profile picture during certain events or seasons, for example during Pride Month and Christmas.

If you’ve not yet created your brand logo, or fancy updating it for your shiny new Instagram for Business profile, you can create a logo for free with Adobe Express.

4. Add your links and contact details.

This is one of the most important steps. You want to keep potential customers moving forward through the funnel – with the end goal being a website visit or product purchase. So, you’ll need to make sure all your website and shop links are on your profile, as well as your email being up to date.

5. Create your first post.

The exciting bit. Some initial Instagram post ideas for your business could include a few introductions – for example, announcing you’re new to the platform, who you are and what to expect. You may then want to start letting people know what you sell and the benefits of your products and begin to encourage interactions with giveaways and polls.

Don’t forget to also use the Stories and Reels functions for maximum engagement.

This step is all about experimenting – so have fun with it!

Instagram post ideas for your small business.

7 ways to use Instagram for boosting your business.

1. Optimise your profile.

Your profile provides first-glance, bitesize ‘about’ info on your business, so you need to make sure it’s properly optimised to reduce people clicking away. Your profile picture should be clear and recognisable, your bio should be straightforward and descriptive, and your links and contact info should all be up to date.

2. Create a clear social strategy.

Before you get too excited and start creating posts, you need to have a plan in place. Your social media strategy should be flexible and reflect your business goals, with Instagram in mind. To get started, do your research on other similar brands to see what they’re doing, and how their content is performing.

For more information, check out our helpful blog on creating a social media marketing strategy.

3. Schedule your posts in advance.

Once you have your strategy, it’s time to plan out your specific posts. Alongside your strategy, you can use performance and audience data to work out when and what to post. You should try to create seasonal plans at least six months in advance using a content schedule, which can often also post content automatically for you.

4. Ensure your branding is consistent.

While you have the flexibility to keep trying new things, it’s important to maintain a strong brand image throughout all your content. Ensuring consistent branding helps build a familiarity and rapport between you and your audience, while also being key to solidifying and growing your image.

Similarly, posting consistently is also key to growth. As mentioned above, a good way to keep on top of this is by planning your content in advance and using a content scheduler that posts for you automatically.

5. Use geotags and hashtags.

Never underestimate a simple tag. Firstly, geotags enable you to add a specific location to your posts. This can increase engagement, as it helps posts show under that specific location. It’s also useful if you have a physical shop, as it can help drive foot traffic.

Hashtags are another vital way to get your posts noticed outside of your followers. Make sure to do your research on what tags competitors are using, what tags are popular and – importantly – what tags are most relevant to your brand.

6. Encourage interactions.

Having up-to-date contact info on your profile is only the beginning. Maintaining a noticeably active presence on Instagram in both comments and DMs is a great, personal way to build valuable customer relationships and encourage brand interaction. It also does wonders for your brand reputation. Creating interactive Stories and polls also encourages action, as do things like giveaways.

7. Utilise data.

One of the main features of Instagram for Business is its ability to gather and display relevant performance and audience data. These analytical insights can help you figure out what’s working, what’s not and what your next steps are. It’s really useful data that the platform presents straight to you – so make the most of it!

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Good to know.

What is the difference between an Instagram business account vs a personal account?

Instagram for Business is a platform specifically tailored for businesses. It offers the same ‘basic’ Instagram features as a personal account, such as posts, Stories, Reels, direct messages and so on, but with added extras to help you manage your brand’s online presence. For example, you can create and manage ad campaigns and analyse performance data.

When is it suitable to use Instagram for Business?

Instagram for Business is useful for any size company, no matter what stage of development they’re at. The platform can help you when you want to grow your online presence, reach more customers, drive sales and publish ad campaigns.

How can you increase your followers on Instagram for Business?

A few tactics that can help you increase your followers on Instagram for Business include:

• Posting consistently – using Stories, Reels and photos
• Making sure your business profile is optimised
• Using hashtags
• Tagging your shop location
• Interacting with customers through comments and DMs
• Hosting brand collaborations and giveaways.

Is Adobe Express free?

Yes, our free plan offers many core features including thousands of templates, photo editing and effects, animation, and 5GB of storage. See our pricing page for details and to compare plans.