How to Make a Great Instagram Page for Business

If you want to talk numbers, 60% of people said they discovered a new product on Instagram, and more than 200 million Instagrammers visit a business profile daily. Pretty convincing if you ask us. And with new features like Instagram shopping on Instagram business, you can tag photos directly with the product and price and drastically cut down the steps in getting an Instagrammer to make a purchase. There has never been a better time to jump on the Instagram business bandwagon.

5 Essentials of an Instagram Business Profile  

Usually, we start off by asking you IF you even need an Instagram business account, but right off the bat, we’ll let you know that since Instagram has been the fastest growing social network by the end of 2018 with a billion monthly users, you should go ahead and make an Instagram for Business account. With a wide userbase, Instagram has gone from an aesthetically pleasing picture posting website thought to only be useful for photographers and travelers to an all-inclusive platform so simple an easy to use that even a chimpanzee could figure out how to scroll through and figure out how the platform works, no kidding. Check it out here!

Before we get into the main elements, it is of the utmost importance that you switch your Instagram profile to the Instagram business. You can simply go to Account Settings, Switch to Business Profile and then connect your Facebook account. This will also open up a world of new options and analytics to explore and then capitalize upon later. But first, the basics:

Some businesses also break up their bio into digestible pieces of information using emojis as icons like this:

• Get the Name and Bio in place
  Always use the same username across all your social media channels so finding your business isn’t a difficult task for your target audience. For example, you’ll find Willow at @willowdotco wherever you look for us, try it out and give us a follow!
  
  Next up, the bio. It is important to make the bio brief but complete. And even before you make an attempt at it, find out what you want to accomplish with Instagram business. You can take a number of routes:
  - Explain what your business does, what are the open hours
  - Inform visitors about your products and services
  - Brief them about your brand’s personality
  - Call to action, get them to take a specific action. Do you want them to visit your website, put the link there. Is there a new product you talk about in one of your posts, link it here.
  
  Some businesses also break up their bio into digestible pieces of information using emojis as icons like this:

         Find out if this works for you.

• Profile picture/Logo
  If you’re a solopreneur, go for an inviting picture of you that makes you seem approachable. If you have a logo however, go for the simple logo without the text preferably. Keep in mind that Instagram is a platform for pictures and videos, so keep text to a minimum inside the images. You’ll have plenty of space to make an impact with text elsewhere, we promise!
• Branded Hashtags
  7 out of 10 brands use a branded hashtag on their Instagram business profiles. As a small business you should already have started thinking about your brand, here’s your chance to start building it.
  Branded hashtags can be used to keep track of your content, and allow your customers to use them too for feedback of your product and reviews, the best of which you can post to your profile as user-generated content later.

• Create visually appealing content
  Instagram is about scrolling, and especially during peak hours, your content is competing against hundreds and thousands of others for attention. If your phone camera is that good, go ahead and use that, otherwise you can find some amazing free hi-res photos to use on Unsplash or Pixabay. Couple that with another free piece of software for editing such as Snapseed and you can find your creative rhythm.
• Hashtags
  Note how this is the second time in 5 tips that hashtags have come up. That’s exactly how important hashtags are on Instagram. When you post, use hashtags without remorse. There’s no such thing as the right number of hashtags for an Instagram post. Some say 9, others go as far as 30. You will figure out what works for you as you go. However, there are 3 types of hashtags you should look to include in your Instagram post:
  1. Post related hashtags
  2. Industry related hashtags
  3. Day of the week and location related hashtags
  Of course you can add more to this list as you see fit, but these will get your posts some traction by showing up in feeds of people already following them
  

We think you should be well-equipped after having gone through this checklist to make your Instagram business the happening platform you need it to be. This isn’t by any means an exhaustive list, and we’ll soon add some tips to grow your Instagram to the next level. Godspeed and good luck!