Over 200 million people everyday view a business account on Instagram and 60% of people say they’ve discovered a new product on the popular social media platform. So it’s no wonder that businesses see it as an important part of their online presence.

But what exactly is an Instagram Business account and do you need on?

An Instagram Business account is a feature that recognizes accounts as being part of a business. It gives the account additional usability specifically for businesses over standard personal Instagram accounts.

Setting Up Your Instagram Business Account

To be acknowledged as a business account simply navigate to the settings area on the Instagram app on your phone and find the ‘Switch To Business Account’ option and press select.

Next, you’ll want to add your company logo and fill out your bio section. Now that you’ve got a business account you can take advantage of some options that personal profiles can’t. You can add your business hours, phone number and location. This makes it easy for potential customers to quickly find vital information about your business.

You may have also seen accounts with a blue tick beside their profile name, this means that the account is verified by Instagram. Large brands with a lot of followers can ask to be verified which helps put imposters off making fake accounts and claiming to be your business.

Gaining Followers on Instagram

As Instagram is a great tool to show off your products or services to potential customers it’s a great idea to try and have a large following of people who are interested in your business. Thankfully there are a number of ways to do this.

First and foremost your account should have high-quality content that is relevant to your business and your followers. This is the most important step in making people want to follow your business.

Promoting your social media accounts through your business is a great way to let people know of your Instagram account. Add a link to your profile in your email signature, on your business cards, on your website and anywhere else you see fit.

Engaging with people on Instagram can create a conversation and help grow your followers. For instance, if you own a cafe in Toronto why not check out the #CoffeeToronto tag on Instagram and engage with people that way. You can also follow people who you think may be interested in your business. They’ll get a notification and might check out your page and business.

How To Use Hashtags As A Business

Hashtags are a popular part of social media. They allow people to follow certain interests and if your brand has a big enough draw you may even start your own hashtag. We’ll use the cafe in Toronto above (let’s call it Eight Oz.) as an example. They’ve become very popular and have a line up out the door most mornings and people have been posting pictures of the fantastic latte art online and using the hashtag #EightOzToronto.

By checking out the pictures with the hashtag the cafe has been able to repost some of the posts (with their consent) as a thank you to their customers.

Account Analytics

Another great feature of an Instagram Business account is being really able to see how well your account is performing. You can get invaluable insights into how both your profile and posts are doing. Insights like the demographics of your followers can be really useful. If your followers are mainly from one particular age group or speak a certain language, then you can tailor your content to them.

You can also see use analytics to see what you should post. If Eight Oz. get 50% more likes on pictures of the cafe than on pictures of their staff, then that’s a good indicator that they should post more cafe shots.

Instagram Business accounts are very useful and can be a really powerful tool. They can help your brand reach a new audience and inspire trust with your current followers. At Custom Fit Online we manage the Instagram Business accounts of many of our clients as well as their other social media platforms. Give us a call today and see how we can help you out with your Instagram account.

Filed in // Social Media Marketing, Strategy