Instagram Basics For Your Business

Add your Instagram handle to your web properties and other social media profiles for cross-promotion. You can also send out a message or two asking your existing following on those networks to also follow you on Instagram. From a single dashboard you can monitor comments and hashtags, engage the audience, measure performance, and schedule or publish photos directly to Instagram. All of your Instagram efforts should be driven by strategic goals.

What is your business hoping to achieve by using Instagram? Set goals that tie back to overarching business or departmental goals. But you need to have a more deliberate marketing plan for Instagram if you expect to build a strong community and see real results for your business.

How to set up an Instagram account for your business

Your strategy should cover four key things. The smartest way to figure out what works best for your business is by testing posts at different intervals and times and then tracking the results. Rotating through different content themes will keep things interesting for your followers, and help you achieve different goals. For example, a post-secondary institution aiming to increase awareness and attract new students might use contests, alumni stories, and campus life as its main content themes. Do you use emoji in your captions? Are there grammatical guidelines your brand follows?

What hashtags do you use? What types of photos do you post? Are there visual cues that every post should adhere to? Your style guidelines should cover all of the ways your brand makes itself distinct and consistent.

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Instagram is all about the visuals, so aim to build a cohesive and recognizable brand identity. Here are a few ways to do that. A visual social media report from WebDam found that 60 percent of the top brands on Instagram use the same filter for every post. By using the same filters over and over, you can establish a style that will become recognizable to your followers. Since your goal is to get Instagram users to stop scrolling once they see your image in order to engage with it by liking or commenting , the more instantly recognizable your photos are, the better.

Take a look at 33 Acres Brewing Company, which uses white borders and a very white color pallet in the majority of their Instagram photos. Scrolling through their feed, the style quickly becomes familiar and you start to associate images that meet these characteristics with the brewery. Mobile photo editing apps like VSCOcam or Enhance can provide additional filters or editing options to help you find your style.

See these principles in the video. Creating quality content on Instagram doesn't have to be difficult. You can take professional-looking photos and videos just using your phone. Learn how in the video. View more advertising tips.

You can take free, online training courses to help you better understand how to use Instagram to build your business. Get the latest announcements, updates and best practices from Instagram. Here's how to get started and a few steps your business can take to get the most from the platform. Companies of all sizes can be recognised with a business profile, get insights about followers and posts and promote posts to drive business objectives — all within the Instagram mobile app. We've studied ways that advertisers can make direct response adverts even more effective on Instagram.

Get answers to common questions below, or get help from the Help Centre or one of our Instagram Partners. Go to the Help Centre for answers to your questions. If you're short on time or need additional help, find an Instagram Partner to help you with everything from buying ads to sourcing and delivering creative. All our Instagram Partners are proven experts in their field and are vetted by us. Download the Instagram icon and other brand assets to use on your website, in your shop window and in other marketing material.

Stay up to date on Success Stories, news and tips from our business community. Getting started Why Instagram? Success stories Advertising success. Inspiration Businesses love Instagram. Once you define what it is your brand wants to do, you can begin to better speak the language of your followers. The common thread between the biggest brands on Instagram is that they have some sort of narrative. For example, check out Airbnb captivates its audience through adventure-driven, motivational content:.

The air on Table Mountain feels special. It could be the low-lying clouds rolling over the summit, or the peak elevation of 3, feet 1, meters above sea level. Once you reach the top, your host Greg will have lunch and freshly brewed tea ready for you.

Take a sip as you breathe it all in. A post shared by Airbnb airbnb on May 26, at 9: A post shared by ModCloth modcloth on May 5, at 9: Even something as simple as being a helping hand providing tips to your followers is a smart move as highlighted by the folks at Beardbrand:. Adding a brush to your routine can make a huge difference. A post shared by Beardbrand beardbrand on May 23, at Having a defined narrative makes it easier to craft captions and choose between photos, all the while reinforcing your identity to people who might not be familiar with you.

Creativity counts on Instagram unlike any other platform. Of course, straight-up promo posts to announce your latest launch, contest or giveaway are staples of modern Instagram marketing.

A post shared by Brooklinen brooklinen on May 14, at 7: Video content is insanely popular on Instagram right now. Creative visions in our head lead to dreams realized on paper.

A post shared by Sharpie sharpie on Apr 30, at Brands like Chubbies rely on memes and off-the-cuff videos to put their products on display. A post shared by Chubbies chubbies on Apr 24, at 4: