instagram marketing strategy for small business

Instagram Marketing for Small Businesses: The Complete Guide

Published: November 25, 2022

Seventy-one percent of US businesses use Instagram  to market their products, services, and brand to more than one billion users on the app. With a variety of interactive features, Instagram marketing has become essential for small businesses .

Your team needs need to have an Instagram marketing strategy in place to harness the platform’s power. Read this guide to help you tackle the platform.

Table of Contents:

Why instagram marketing matters for small businesses, 15 instagram marketing strategies for small businesses, getting started.

In our digital-first world, Instagram is one of the first places people go to learn about a small business. Today, 90% of people  follow at least one business on Instagram. Further, 1 in 2 people use the app to discover new brands, products, and services.

As a small business owner, you need to use Instagram to get your business in front of customers and build brand loyalty. But without a clear Instagram marketing strategy in place, you may find yourself struggling to grow your audience, post content consistently, or generate quality engagement. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Over 90% of small businesses  struggle with these common social media challenges.

Here’s the good news: Even if you have a small budget, limited resources, or a one-person team, there are several Instagram marketing strategies that small businesses can use to grow their presence and find success on the platform. Let’s dive in.

1. Start with a goal.

There’s no doubt that Instagram is a powerful tool for small businesses. To get the most out of your Instagram marketing, there needs to be a clear goal in place for what you want to achieve on the platform.

Here are a few examples of goals you might choose for your Instagram marketing strategy:

• Increase sales.
• Drive website traffic.
• Generate brand awareness.
• Boost customer engagement.  

Once you have a goal in place, you can use that to guide the type of content you post, the people you want to reach, and the general messaging to use on your page.

2. Set up the basics of your profile.

A few basic elements of an Instagram business profile are a profile picture, business name, and business category. Your page should also include contact information like a phone number, email, and address (if you have a physical location).

Clothing brand Quince  includes a contact email in its bio so customers can easily reach out to the brand for support.

Image Source

Another way to get the most out of your Instagram profile is to make sure it’s search-friendly . Create a searchable username so people can easily find your business.

Your profile image should also be something recognizable like your logo so new followers instantly recognize your brand’s thumbnail as they scroll.

3. Optimize your bio.

Your Instagram bio is the first thing people see when they visit your profile — think of it like the homepage of your website.

If you only have a few seconds to capture a visitor’s attention, what are the main elements or pieces of information you want them to take away?

Use your bio to let new followers know who you are and what you do. Include your company’s tagline or put together a sentence or two that sum up the type of content people can expect to see by giving you a follow.  

You can also use your bio as an opportunity to share announcements, promotions, or product launches. Pet brand Wild One  includes special offers in their bio.

4. Be intentional with your bio link.

If one of your Instagram marketing goals is to drive more traffic to your small business’ website, then spend a little extra time optimizing the link section of your bio.

Because you can’t include clickable links in Instagram captions, the link in your bio is what users will click on to learn more about your brand, shop your products, or sign up for an email list.

Use the link section to direct people where you want them to go next.

If you have multiple pages or products you want to promote at once, use a tool like Linktree  or Later’s Link in Bio . These tools turn your main link into a mini website, giving users multiple options to click on within one link.

Newsletter brand Girls’ Night In  uses a link tool to make it easy for its followers to find and visit links for products and articles that were mentioned in their posts.

5. Host a giveaway

Want to grow your audience on Instagram? Host a giveaway.

According to one study, giveaways help Instagram accounts grow 70% faster in just three months .

And it’s easy to see why. Instagram giveaways increase brand awareness, boost organic engagement, and drive more people to your profile by encouraging likes, comments, and shares for a chance to win.

To generate even more engagement for your giveaway, team up with another brand for a joint prize like Oat Haus  and Califia Farms  did below.

Not only does more than one prize incentivize people to enter, but teaming up with another brand doubles the audience that will see your content or be introduced to your brand for the first time.

6. Geotag your posts.

If you have a physical location for your small business, be sure to create a geotag so you can include it in your Instagram posts . A geotag provides location data which helps users pinpoint exactly where to find your small business.

Not only that, but Instagram also organizes posts that use a certain geotag under one searchable tab so users can see all of the posts from that location.

By contributing to the tag, you can show people what they can expect when visiting your business. For instance, if you have a restaurant, use your geotag to show off menu items or give people a glimpse at what the dining atmosphere is like.

7. Tap into user-generated content.

Content creation is at the heart of Instagram marketing, but it’s no small feat. From brainstorming creative ideas to shooting images or taking videos, there’s a lot that goes into a single post.

This is where user-generated content (UGC) comes in handy.

UGC is content that’s been created and posted by Instagram users. It’s usually in the form of an image or video of someone using your product or visiting your business.

You can scope out UGC by checking out posts that you’re tagged in or browsing through content that uses your geotag.

Self-care brand Chillhouse  regularly reposts customer photos that align with the rest of its Instagram content.

Not only is UGC a time-saver when it comes to content creation, but it also helps build social proof and brand credibility by showing followers authentic content  from real people.

8. Offer exclusive promotions.

If you want to give people a reason to follow you on Instagram, offer exclusive promotions for followers.

Share a discount code that followers can mention if they visit your business in person or use at checkout when shopping online. To make the promotion even more exclusive, use Stories to share discount codes. Because Stories disappear after 24 hours, followers may feel a sense of FOMO if they don’t act on it quickly.

Promotions give your followers a reason to stay engaged and look forward to what and when you’ll post next, which helps build brand loyalty for your small business.

9.  Take advantage of hashtags.

Hashtags are essential for your small business’s Instagram marketing strategy. Hashtags can help you join in on a conversation or topic that’s relevant to your brand. They also help Instagram categorize your content. When users search or browse a hashtag they’re interested in, they may see your posts.

Not only are hashtags a tool for users to discover new brands and content on the platform, but they also allow your small business to build brand awareness and recognition.

Consider creating a branded hashtag and encourage followers to use it when they post about your brand. This helps build brand recognition and encourages people to share UGC.

Shoe brand Tecovas  created a branded hashtag for an Instagram campaign that encouraged followers to share their game-day outfits using the hashtag #TecovasTailgate.

10. Engage with influencers.

Every industry has its influencers, from food to beauty to business. Influencers are highly effective at connecting with an audience and building trust with their followers. In fact, 37% of consumers trust social media influencers  over brands.

If you have extra room in your marketing budget, consider partnering with an influencer for sponsored content.

As a small business, micro-influencers (influencers with around 10,000 followers or less) may be best to collaborate with or form a partnership with. Not only are they more relatable to your audience than a mega influencer or celebrity, but micro-influencers tend to generate more engagement  than those with hundreds of thousands of followers.

11. Make your posts shoppable.

Each month, 130 million people  use Instagram’s shopping features. If you operate an e-commerce business and want to reach even a fraction of these engaged shoppers, take advantage of Instagram’s commerce tools .

Instagram Shopping makes it easy for your followers to browse and purchase products directly through the app. After setting up your shop on your profile, you can add product tags to your posts like the outdoor brand Kammok  does below.

12. Talk to your followers.

With all of the features that are available on Instagram these days, it can be easy to overlook one of the foundational elements of the platform: being social.

Engage with your audience wherever and whenever you can – in the comments section, in Stories replies, or even in DMs. By connecting with your audience on a personal level, you humanize your small business and build strong customer relationships.

You can start the conversation by directly asking for follower input. Use the interactive features on Stories, like polls and questions, to gather feedback and generate ideas from your audience.

Encouraging participation is another way to connect on a more personal level. Your followers will feel like they’re part of your community.

13. Experiment with Reels.

Instagram has rolled out several new features over the years including Stories, Lives, and now Reels.

Reels are short-form videos that can be creatively edited to form a compilation of clips that tell a story.

Here are a few ideas for Instagram Reels:

• Show a day in the life of a small business owner.
• Share a behind-the-scenes look at your process.
• Tell the story behind the brand.
• Introduce team members.
• Give a tour of your space (office, storefront, restaurant, etc.).

Small businesses can also use Reels to share how-to videos that educate their followers. In the Reels below, P.F. Candle Co.  demonstrates how to safely relight one of their candles.

Image Source  

14. Get creative with your captions.

For small businesses, your Instagram captions  are an opportunity to add personality to the brand.

Rather than directly promoting your product or service, you can use your captions to spark conversations with your audience, encourage engagement, or show off the human side of your business. Waterloo Sparkling Water  keeps its tone fun and human in the post below.

15. Analyze your metrics.

To understand how well your Instagram marketing strategy is performing, it’s essential to track and measure your metrics.

You can use Instagram’s native insights or one of the many free and paid Instagram analytics tools . Make sure you have a set of metrics you want to track and a process to evaluate their success.

The metrics you choose to measure should tie back to your goals. If the goal of your Instagram marketing strategy is to drive more people to your website, then you’ll want to track your Instagram link clicks to see how they correlate to your site traffic.

Instagram continues to be a powerful and effective way for small businesses to grow their brand. With a strong Instagram marketing strategy in place, small businesses can reach new customers, increase sales, and build loyal customer relationships through the app for years to come.

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Instagram Marketing: The Definitive Guide (2022 Update)

Chapter 1: instagram marketing: a preface.

When Instagram first popped onto the scene back in 2010, it was just like any other social platform: filled with selfies, pets, and pictures of food.

Fast-forward to 2022 and Instagram's transformation from a simple photo sharing app to a full-on marketing channel is nearly complete.

Just look at some of the platform's newest features! In the last year alone, Instagram has released dozens of new tool for businesses, including advanced analytics, shoppable Instagram posts, and new ways to drive traffic from Instagram Stories, and the new standalone video platform, IGTV.

Whether you work in ecommerce, education, or media and publishing, it pays to build a presence on Instagram. But if you really want to get ahead, you need to know the platform (and your audience) inside and out, including what kind of content resonates most, how to build an Instagram Stories strategy, and how to track your metrics and KPIs.

That's where this guide comes in. In the next 16 chapters, we'll walk you through:

• The fundamentals of a well-rounded Instagram marketing strategy
• Tips on how to create an effective Instagram profile
• Running your first Instagram influencer marketing campaign
• The ins and outs of your Instagram analytics
• Tips on how to use Instagram Stories for business
• And so much more!

But first, let's take a look at why Instagram marketing is so effective for ecommerce businesses in particular.

Chapter 2: Why Instagram Marketing is Key to Ecommerce Success

We all know how great Instagram is for sharing photos and videos with our friends and family, but it's also an incredible channel for ecommerce marketing. But why?

Well, an obvious reason is Instagram's format . Because of this visual nature, Instagram holds massive opportunities for ecommerce businesses looking to showcase their products. Whether through regular photos, videos, or Instagram Stories, millions of businesses have learned that building a visual presence on Instagram can hugely compliment their ecommerce marketing.

There's also the fact that Instagram users are more engaged than the average social media user. And while trends do seem to show that Instagram engagement is dropping (something we'll be discussing in the next chapter ), the platform is still producing higher engagement rates for businesses compared to both Twitter and Facebook.

But Instagram users are more than simply engaged — they're also commonly online shoppers . According to a recent study , 72% of Instagram users report making a purchase decision after seeing something on Instagram, with the most popular categories being clothing, makeup, shoes, and jewelry.

This shopping mindset makes Instagram users the perfect audience because they're high-intent and quick to convert.

Another reason Instagram is so great for ecommerce has to do with the platform itself. As we mentioned in the previous chapter , Instagram has recently introduced a ton of new business-facing tools — and there's definitely more to come! Whether through links in Instagram Stories or shoppable Instagram posts , soon enough many of our online shopping experiences will start (and end) on Instagram.

All of this said, it would be a mistake to think that just because you don't sell ecommerce products your business doesn't belong on Instagram! Beyond its unique ability to move products, Instagram is also an incredible place for businesses to build brand awareness and connect with new audiences (and potential customers).

Of course, if you want to build an Instagram marketing strategy that really resonates with your target audience, you first need to understand how the Instagram algorithm works — something we'll be discussing next .

Chapter 3: The Instagram Algorithm

Oh, the ever-mysterious Instagram algorithm. When Instagram first announced in 2016 that they were replacing the chronological feed with an algorithm, most people responded with a less-than-joyous reaction… And not much has changed since.

So why did Instagram make the switch from chronological to algorithm?

Well, it had to do with size. As Instagram grew in popularity, it became harder to keep up with all the photos and videos people share. In fact, according to Instagram , people missed an average of 70% of their feeds when it was chronological.

In light of this, Instagram created an algorithm that re-organized people's feeds so they would theoretically see more content that was relevant to them.

Unfortunately, it also had some undesirable effects.

Whereas a chronological feed requires little-to-no guesswork (all you really have to worry about is posting when your audience is most active), algorithm-based feeds can be influenced by a ton of different factors — like how much engagement a post gets or how long people spend viewing your posts.

And since Instagram is constantly updating the algorithm to improve user-experience and prioritize certain types of content, it can be difficult to know how to optimize your posts to get the most engagement and reach possible…

But it's not impossible!

Last year, Instagram actually went on record about how the Instagram algorithm works, including the factors that determine how your post will perform in the Instagram algorithm (and how many people will see it!). Here they are below, ranked in terms of importance:

#1: Interest

This is Instagram predicting how much you'll care about a post.

The more they think you'll "like" that post, the higher it appears in your feed. This is based on "past behavior on similar content and potentially machine vision analyzing the actual content of the post," according to Instagram.

Think about this one like the Instagram Explore page : once you like one video of slime, your entire explore page is full of slime videos. And if someone in your feed posts a video of slime, Instagram's going to guess that you'll like that too.

#2: Timeliness

How long ago was a photo or video posted? The new Instagram algorithm will prioritize recent posts, so you'll hopefully see fewer posts from over a week ago.

While the feed isn't going back to chronological by any means, Instagram is starting to care a lot more about when you post, instead of just the content or engagement on the post.

This was confirmed in late-2017 when Instagram pledged to prevent older posts from showing on people's feeds.

#3: Relationship

As a result, businesses will need to be more aware of when their audience is most active on Instagram, so they can optimize their posts to appear at that time.

How do you know the accounts that appear on your feed? If you often comment on someone's photos or you get tagged in photos with them, this signals to Instagram that they fall into your "friends and family" category. As a result, you'll likely see more content that they post (and vice-versa!).

This is great news for businesses because it gives them a way to stay top-of-mind. Just ask your followers to tag you in their posts and make sure you optimize your Instagram posts and stories to get as many comments as possible.

Other factors that influence the Instagram algorithm:

#4: Frequency

How often do you open the Instagram app? If you're a frequent scroller, your feed will look more "chronological" since Instagram tries to "show you the best posts since your last visit."

#5: Following

If you check the Instagram app less often, then your feed will be sorted more to what Instagram thinks you'll like, instead of chronologically.

How many people do you follow on Instagram? If you follow a lot of people, then Instagram has more options to choose from, so you probably won't see all of the posts from every account.

If you spend a lot of time on Instagram, you're going to see more posts as Instagram "digs deeper into its catalog."

If you only spend a few minutes on the app each day, then you're going to just get the highlights from the algorithm.

Further Reading:

• Instagram Algorithm Updates
• This is How the Instagram Algorithm Works in 2022
• 5 Things to Know About the Instagram Algorithm

Chapter 4: Identifying Your Goals and Objectives

Now that we've covered how the Instagram algorithm works, let's talk about how to set your Instagram marketing goals and objectives.

Of course, the first step to identifying your goals and objectives on Instagram is to understand exactly what "success" means for you.

Are you using Instagram to build brand awareness and reach more of your ideal customers? To showcase your products and services? To grow an engaged community? To increase brand loyalty?

Will you use Instagram as a tool for customer service ? Will you rely on it to educate your followers about your business or industry?

There are a lot of possibilities when it comes to using Instagram to meet your business goals and how you use it is ultimately up to you. Just keep in mind that the goals you set will heavily influence the metrics you use to tracks your success on Instagram (something we'll be discussing in a later chapter ).

For example, if you're using Instagram to build a large and engaged audience, you're more likely to focus on engagement metrics, such as likes, comments, and shares.

If you're having trouble deciding on goals for your account, it can help to consider the following questions:

• Why are you using Instagram?
• How can Instagram assist you in achieving your overall marketing goals?
• How much time or budget can you commit to Instagram?
• How does Instagram offer you something different to other platforms?

Finding Your Target Instagram Audience

Once you've determined why you're using Instagram, you need to think about who you're trying to target.

If you already have a good sense of who your ideal customer is, a good strategy is to take that customer profile (or "persona") and extrapolate to Instagram.

What kinds of content do they engage with? What hashtags do they use? What communities are they a part of? Answering these questions is a great way to sure that you're hitting your target audience on Instagram.

If you're still having trouble, another option is to research your competitors. Go to your competitors' profiles and click on their "Followers." You'll be able to see the whole list of users who follow them. (Note: we don't recommend simply going through this list and following each one. Instead, use this information to build a strategy to capture their attention organically).

You can also use this strategy to see what hashtags your competitors are using. Instagram hashtags are still one of the best ways of reaching audiences on Instagram, especially now that you can follow Instagram hashtags like you would other users.

When researching relevant hashtags, try to go as micro as possible. There's a good chance you'll find some ultra-niche hashtags that are teeming with activity from your target audience.

Run Your Own Instagram Audit

With your goals and audience in mind, the next step is to take a constructive look at your Instagram profile by performing an Instagram audit .

By doing this, you'll be taking a critical look at everything you've done on the platform so far, analyzing it, and then decide if it's still serving the needs of your business. (Even if you're just getting started with Instagram marketing, running an audit is a great opportunity to make sure you're on the right track.)

Each element of your Instagram profile should feel intentional, including your profile photo, bio, feed, captions, hashtags, and more.

Even the accounts you currently follow become part of your brand on Instagram. Do you find them inspiring? Do they align with your business? Or are they completely random and disconnected?

Remember to keep your goals in mind while you're auditing your account to ensure that every decision you make moves you closer to them!

Once you've completed your Instagram audit, you should have:

• Defined your Instagram businesses goals and objectives
• A clear understanding of your branding and voice
• Solidified your content aesthetic
• Assessed your current engagement strategy
• Refined your hashtag strategy
• How to Run Your Own Instagram Audit: 5 Steps to Building a Better Profile

Chapter 5: Setting Up Your Instagram Business Profile

It's a question that still pops up from time to time: "Should I switch to an Instagram business profile."

While the answer was less certain in 2017, Instagram recently gave businesses a few more big reasons to convert to a business profile, namely the ability to add links to Instagram Stories , shoppable Instagram posts , and auto-publishing to Instagram .

The fact is that today, as a business on Instagram with clear marketing goals, the benefits that come from switching to a business profile are indisputable.

Ready to make the switch? Here's how to do it:

#1: Create a Facebook Page for Your Business

Before you can set up a business profile on Instagram, you need to have an active Facebook Page. Luckily, setting up a Facebook Business Page can be done in a matter of minutes! If you already have a Facebook Page, you can skip to the next step.

Start by opening Facebook and clicking on "Create Page" from the dropdown menu.

Next, select your business category and give a name to your Page. Your Page name can be your business name or another name that people may search for to find your business.

Upload a profile photo and a cover photo that best represents your business. You can use your logo as your profile photo, or even an image of your store or products.

And that's it! Your business' Facebook Page is now live!

Keep in mind that it's a good idea to spruce up your Facebook Business Page before you connect it your Instagram business profile. At the very least, you should add a description and call-to-action that directs your Page visitors to do something, like visit your website or call your store.

#2: Connect Your Facebook Page to Instagram

In order to switch to a business profile, start by logging into your Instagram account and navigating to your profile.

Next, tap the "gear" icon in the top right corner of the screen to access your account settings.

From here, tap "Switch to Business Profile," and then "Continue" to connect to Facebook.

Make sure your profile is set to Public! If your profile is currently set to Private on Instagram, you won't be able to switch to a business profile.

Tap "Continue As" to connect the Facebook Page. If you don't see your business' Facebook Page as an option, make sure that you're listed as an admin in the settings menu.

Once the correct Facebook Page appears, select it and tap "Next."

#3: Set Up Your Business Profile on Instagram

Next, you'll be prompted to add your contact information, including a phone number, physical address, or email so that customers can get in touch.

Once everything looks good, tap "Done."

That's it! Now that you have a business profile on Instagram, you'll get access to a ton of new features , including the ability to view your Instagram Insights and promote your Instagram posts, all from within the app!

• How to Set Up a Business Profile on Instagram
• Should You Switch to an Instagram Business Profile?

Chapter 6: Optimize Your Instagram Profile

With your Instagram business profile set up, it's time to start thinking about what your Instagram profile looks like.

As we've said many times before, your Instagram profile is an important reflection of your brand — which is why businesses today spend more time than ever planning the overall look of their profiles .

When someone lands on your profile, you only have a few seconds to convert them into a follower, and this is often decided by a quick glance or scroll of your feed.

That's why it's so important to curate the look and feel of your Instagram profile! It's one of the best ways to get more followers.

The good news: by scheduling Instagram posts , you can actively plan and design the look of your Instagram feed before you post.

Here's what you should focus on to create a great first impression:

Build a Consistent Instagram Aesthetic

One of the hardest parts of making your Instagram feed look amazing is figuring out how to make all your individual photos look good beside each other.

Take a step back from posting one photo, and look at your Instagram feed as a whole: how do all of your photos fit together? Here are five tips:

#1: Pick a Color Scheme

It's important that you have a consistent color scheme for your Instagram feed. What this means is that all the colors in your feed seamlessly go together. This could be a warm and cozy feed, a dark and cool feed, or a bright and colourful feed.

Whatever direction you take, having a consistent color palette is a great way to incorporate your branding into your Instagram feed.

#2: Focus on Lighting

Lighting is a key element for curation and aesthetic. Think of an upscale magazine that you love to read. Regardless of the subject matter, what ties it together and makes a theme is the lighting and color choices. The consistency of those choices are the ingredients for your Instagram aesthetic.

#3: Space Out Your Content

This is probably the hardest part in achieving a gorgeous instagram aesthetic. You need to know where to put each of your photos and how to plan your feed so that it all blends together.

The goal is to create a depth of field, similar to how you would in photography. You basically want to space out busy photos with a mix of more clean or minimal photos to achieve a nice balance.

#4: Keep Things Consistent

To help keep your feed flowing naturally, you need to have a consistent approach to editing your photos. This doesn't mean you have to choose one filter and one filter only, but limiting yourself to a few will help you stick to your chosen aesthetic.

Do you prefer warmer tones? Cooler toned images? Whatever your editing style, make sure it's consistent so that your posts flow within your feed. Even just adding a touch of the same filter each time you post can make your brand and Instagram feed seem more cohesive.

#5: Curate with User-Generated Content (UGC)

While more businesses than ever are investing in original content, there's still so much to be gained from incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into your Instagram strategy.

Keep in mind that when choosing photos to repost to your account, it's important to stay aligned with your theme and aesthetic. You'll want to choose photos that are a natural fit and have a similar color scheme and editing style to your own feed. When someone is looking at your Instagram feed, it shouldn't be too obvious which posts are yours and which photos are UGC that you curated.

Tip: The most important rule for using UGC is to always ask for permission before reposting someone else's photo to Instagram. And when giving credit, you always want to reference the original photographer in the caption. Simply tagging them in the photo isn't enough.

Introduce Your Brand Through Instagram Stories Highlights

We're going to get into Instagram Stories in the next chapter , but we'd be amiss not to mention how great Instagram Stories Highlights are for introducing potential followers to what your business is all about.

You can think of Instagram Stories Highlights like a movie trailer for your Instagram feed. They're a creative way to express yourself, show off products, drive traffic, or market your business!

A good strategy is to group your Instagram Stories Highlights together into various categories, events, or topics so that your audience can quickly find content that's of specific interest to them.

Take @anthropologie for example. The fashion and lifestyle brand is constantly updating their Instagram Stories Highlights to draw attention to their latest offerings, such as seasonal collections and new arrivals, or to share sales and other promotions.

All in all, using Instagram Stories Highlights is a great way for you to attract new followers. With Highlights, you can quickly showcase what your business does, what you offer, and why someone should follow you.

Plus, by optimizing your Instagram Stories Highlights , you can even make sales directly from your profile from people who aren't even following you!

Build an Eye-Catching Instagram Bio:

Your Instagram bio is one of the most under-utilized Instagram features, but it's so important! It can be difficult to come up with the perfect description of what you do and why people should follow you.

Here are 6 tips for optimizing your Instagram bio:

#1: Your Name

The first step to creating good Instagram bios is making sure that your name is, in fact, your name! (By this, we mean the "name" field in your profile, not your Instagram username).

People searching for you on Instagram will likely use your name or your company's name, and consistency lets people know that the Instagram profile they're viewing actually belongs to you and not an impostor.

This might seem pretty obvious, but there's actually a bigger reason for it: your name and username are the only fields that Instagram considers in search queries.

So it's really important to make sure that the name you use in your Instagram bio is the one your followers and customers are searching for!

#2: Your Username & Hashtag Links

Thanks to an update in early-2018, you can now turn profile usernames and hashtags within your Instagram bio into clickable hyperlinks.

When you include a "#" or "@" in your bio, it will automatically become a clickable link that will lead visitors to a hashtag or another profile.

By adding hashtags into your Instagram bio, profile visitors are able to click directly through to view the respective content. Adding branded hashtags or hashtags related to your interests makes your bio much more functional, allowing you to highlight branded content and share more of your interests with profile visitors.

Note: Adding hashtags into your bio does not make your profile searchable within those hashtags, so it's probably best to stick to using your own branded hashtag in your bio. This way you won't waste valuable character space in your bio by listing hashtags that won't actually drive traffic back to you!

#3: Your Skills

A good Instagram bio accurately explains what your business is and what you do. So if you want to stand out for a particular skill, profession, hobby, or interest, you should include these details in your Instagram bio as well!

Think about what sets you apart from your competitors. Do you have a unique set of skills or experiences that might be of interest to your followers?

Not only will including these in your Instagram bio serve as an introduction to new viewers, but it can also determine whether they'll follow you.

#4: Keywords

Using keywords won't improve your searchability on Instagram (except, as we mentioned above, your "name" in your Instagram bio) but it will give your account more focus and help you connect with followers who want to engage with your content!

When deciding what keywords to include in your Instagram bio, try to think about both your own core values and the core values of your target audience.

If you use Instagram for business, spend some time creating a "profile" of your ideal follower. What are their pain points or interests? And what keywords will help you resonate with them most?

Using keywords that target your audience and niche will help users better understand who you are, what you have to offer, and whether or not your account is relevant to them!

#5: Your Website Link

Unlike other social networks, Instagram is strict on where clickable links can be placed. Currently, Instagram only gives users one clickable link on their profile, and it's the link in your bio.

A lot of businesses use the link to send followers to their homepage or blog, which is great! But for ecommerce businesses that want to send followers to specific product pages, campaigns, or webinars, the lack of hot links is a huge challenge.

To get around this restriction, some businesses will frequently update their website link to send followers to their latest products or promotions — and then refer to that link in their Instagram captions. The problem is that Instagram's photo feed is no longer chronological, so when a business' post says "link in bio," that link might not correspond to the actual link in their bio.

Since Instagram only gives you one clickable URL, Later created a shoppable Instagram feed called Link in Bio that makes it easy to drive targeted traffic to your online store.

With Link in Bio, you can now add links to any of the Instagram posts you've published through Later, which helps direct your Instagram audience to the right content or products on your site. You can also link to multiple websites and pages, all without changing the link in your bio.

When one of your followers clicks on the link in your bio, they'll be taken to a web and mobile-optimized landing page that resembles your Instagram feed and displays your Instagram posts as clickable images!

#6: Your Contact Information

As we mentioned in the previous chapter , when you switch to an Instagram business profile, you can add a "Contact" button near the top of your profile with the option to include directions, a phone number, and/or an email address.

This feature is highly beneficial for businesses. It gives your followers an opportunity to reach you outside of Instagram — or if your business has a physical location, it's a great way to boost your in-store sales!

Run an Audit on Your Instagram Account

Once you've covered the above steps, the next thing you should do is take a constructive look at your Instagram profile by performing an Instagram audit .

By doing this, you'll be taking a critical look at everything you've done on your profile so far, analyzing it, and then decide if it's still serving the needs of your business. (Even if you're just getting started with Instagram marketing, running an audit is a great opportunity to make sure you're on the right track).

• How to Write Good Instagram Bios to Make an Impression
• 20 Awesome Instagram Themes (and How to Get Them)
• How to Use Instagram Stories Highlights to Wow Your Customers

Chapter 7: Building an Instagram Content Strategy

While having a great-looking Instagram feed is critical today, it's important not to overlook your individual posts! Currently, Instagram allows four types of posts: photos, videos, shopping posts, and carousel posts. Here's a short segmentation of each:

Photo posts

Instagram photo posts continue to be the most popular form of content on Instagram, likely because they're easy to create and edit, and super versatile.

Currently, you can only share photos in landscape, portrait, or square formats. These different formats call for different aspect ratios and dimensions, for example, square photo posts should be 1:1 in aspect ratio (or as close as possible!) and 1080px by 1080px in size.

Here's a breakdown of the optimal size for each:

Video posts

Instagram video posts have evolved quite a bit since they were first introduced in 2013.

No longer limited to 15 seconds, businesses today can create long-form, high-production videos up to 1 minute long that generate a ton of engagement!

And the great thing is that you don't need a DSLR camera or expensive video production equipment to do it. You can build beautiful branded videos using just your phone's built-in camera and a few video editing apps!

While not quite as popular as photos, video posts on Instagram tend to receive a lot of engagement, so it makes sense to include them in your marketing mix.

On top of that, videos tend to be one of the best formats for driving sales, due to their ability to communicate complex stories. That's why so many businesses are investing in creating promotional video content.

In other good news, you can now use Later to schedule videos to Instagram that will automatically publish at their scheduled time! Just upload your video, select a date and time, and your video will automatically publish to Instagram at the scheduled time!

Instagram video scheduling is available now on all of Later's paid plans, starting at $9/ month. Upgrade now to get access!

Shopping posts

While there are lots of different ways for brands (especially ecommerce brands) to weave sales opportunities into their Instagram marketing strategy, having Instagram shopping posts in your feed is a feature you definitely want to take advantage of!

In a nutshell, Instagram shopping posts make it easier for people to shop the products they find on Instagram by "tagging" products in posts.

When your shoppable post appears in your followers' feeds, all they have to do is tap the shopping bag icon on an image to reveal more info about the product.

If a user taps on the info box, they'll be directed to a URL where they can shop and purchase the product!

For brands and businesses, using Instagram shopping posts is a great way to showcase your products and use your Instagram feed to drive more purchases.

Want to learn how to set up and optimize your Instagram shopping posts? Check out our ultimate guide to Instagram shopping .

Carousel posts

While carousel posts were only introduced in mid-2017, they've become a favorite for businesses that want to promote new product lines or share event photos and videos.

The reason is that, like Instagram videos, carousel posts are more versatile than single photos posts. Plus, you can incorporate both photos and videos into your carousel posts, so they're a great place to get creative.

Carousel posts can be shared in landscape, portrait, or square formats — but you have to stick to just one photo format. They can include between two and 10 photos or videos.

How to Drive Results with Instagram Carousel Posts

Since carousel posts were released last year, businesses of all sizes have picked up on the carousel trend and discovered new and creative ways to incorporate them into their Instagram marketing strategy.

Here are three great ways to use carousel posts for your business:

1. Launch a new product line

Whether you're launching a new denim line or a skin care business, the ability to share several product photos in a single post is perfect for driving interest and, ultimately, selling.

A great strategy for this is to incorporate both photos and videos into your carousel post. For example, you can lead off with a promotional video that shows your product in action, and then follow up with 2-3 photos of your product for more context.

2. Share photos and videos from your events

Regular Instagram users do this all time, but using Instagram carousel posts to show off photos from your events is also a great strategy for businesses!

Really, though. The ability to share multiple photos and videos that capture the energy and atmosphere of your events, without having to spam all of your followers with multiple posts, is a huge advantage.

For those who attended your event, it's a great way to tag them in a photo to say thanks and remind them of the fun they had — and for those who missed it, it's perfect for creating FOMO for your next event.

3. Showcase before-and-after sequences

This concept for Instagram carousel posts is a little more obvious, but there are just so many applications for before-and-after sequences! For example, you can share a before-and-after sequence of how your products work in real life.

To create before-and-after sequence using Instagram carousel, all you have to do is select your photos and videos in the correct order, write an engaging Instagram caption, and then post to Instagram. You can even share multiple before-and-after sequences in a single carousel post!

How to Use Instagram Videos for Business

There's really no limit to what you can do with Instagram video posts — that's why it's so common to find them on your feed!

That being said, it's a good idea to have a specific goal in mind, whether it's conveying your brand message, showcasing your products, or introducing your company culture. Here are a few examples of successful video posts:

Promote Your Products

Because videos have the ability to convey a ton of information in a short amount of time, they're a huge asset for businesses that sell products or services.

Just think about how much more of your products you'll be able to showcase in a 60-second video compared to just one image!

More to that point, according to Hubspot , 64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video of it first. So using Instagram video to show your products in action could be a huge way to increase the ROI of your Instagram marketing!

Build Brand Trust

Sharing Instagram videos that convey your brand message or introduce your company culture are a great way to build trust with your followers and customers.

A good example of this comes from @foodora_ca . The meal delivery service often shares loveable video content that's relevant to their target market and provides value to them.

Educate Your Audience

Have a topic you'd like to educate your audience about? Maybe it's a makeup tutorial or a delicious recipe? Whatever your focus, using Instagram video posts to share short, snackable content is a great strategy.

Check out how @buzzfeedtasty uses highly engaging videos to share fun recipes:

Or how @milkmakeup uses Instagram video posts to share makeup tutorials:

The point is that if you have a cool topic that you think you audience would enjoy learning about, using Instagram videos to do it is a great strategy.

Ready to start scheduling videos to Instagram? With Later, you can schedule Instagram video posts, optimize the success of your videos with analytics, and more!

Instagram video scheduling is available now on all of Later's paid plans , starting at $9/ month. Upgrade now to get access!

Tips for Making Great Instagram Video Posts

Now that we've covered how to share your videos on Instagram, let's take a minute to talk about how you can optimize your video posts to get more traction.

Pick an Eye-Catching Cover Photo

In a world where attention is getting more and more scarce, getting your followers to engage with your videos (especially longer ones) can be pretty difficult. But one way to improve your chances is to pick a stellar cover photo.

Just like you spend time finding photos that look great in your feed, you need to invest a good amount of time finding a great cover photo for your video. Otherwise, all that hard work you put into actually creating your video will go to waste!

When picking a cover photo, try to find one that captures the overall message of your video and has the best chance of stopping viewers from scrolling past your content.

Don't Rely on Sound

Instagram videos may auto-play in the feed, but they don't start playing sound automatically. In order to hear sound, viewers have to tap on the video.

Since you're trying to grab people's attention in the first couple seconds, it's important to keep in mind that your videos need to be clearly understood even without sound!

Because of this, your videos should be as beautiful as the photographs your followers are used to seeing on your feed. Even if your viewer doesn't get the overall effect, you want them to be able to see the storyline of the Instagram video — even if it's silent.

Focus on the First Few Seconds of Your Video

With so much else to see on Instagram, it's important to create video content that captures people's attention within the first 3-5 seconds.

By focusing on the first few seconds of your video and making them amazing, you're bound to get better completion and engagement rates on your video.

Find a Video Length that Works for Your Audience

Just because your Instagram videos can be 60 seconds in length doesn't mean they should be. Like all things social media, it's difficult to keep your audience engaged over a longer period.

Try experimenting with different video lengths to find one that works best for your audience. If you notice better metrics on your videos that are under 30 seconds, focus on creating shorter video content. If your longer videos outperform your shorter ones, stick to those.

Use a Third-Party App to Edit Your Instagram Video

There are tons of apps and software that you can use to not only improve the quality of your videos but also add branding to them, whether it's your logo, font, or some other design element.

• 7 Creative Ways to Use Instagram Carousel Posts for Your Business
• Ultimate Guide to Instagram Video
• 14 Apps For Creating Georgeous Instagram Stories
• Ultimate Guide to Instagram Shopping
• Instagram Image Size & Dimensions

Chapter 8: Instagram Stories for Business

This is where things start to get creative.

Since they first arrived on the scene in 2017, Instagram Stories have become an essential part of your Instagram marketing strategy. In fact, according to The State of Instagram Marketing 2018 , 64% of businesses plan to create more Instagram Stories in 2018.

So what explains Instagram Stories' huge success? Well, it partly has to do with the growing popularity of ephemeral video. More and more businesses are seeing the value in creating short-lived video content, whether it's fun and lighthearted or more business-focused.

Here's how to use Instagram Stories for business:

How Often to Post on Instagram Stories

Unlike the case for regular Instagram posts, Instagram won't penalize you for posting too many Instagram Stories — and it all has to do with the ephemeral nature of Instagram Stories.

Because Instagram Stories only live for 24 hours (or forever if you share them as Instagram Stories Highlights), there isn't much pressure for Instagram to prioritize some posts over others on a users' feed. Of course, that doesn't mean that Instagram Stories aren't impacted by the Instagram algorithm… they definitely are!

It's just that the frequency that you post doesn't seem to have much of an impact on how many people will see your Instagram Stories.

That being said, if you post tons and tons of stories every day, there's a good chance that at least some of your followers will mute your account.

That's not to say that posting a ton of Instagram Stories is a bad thing. It really comes down to your content and what your followers expect from you!

Some accounts can get away with posting 10+ stories a day, while others are better off posting just a few times a week.

Take @wework for example. The international shared workspace company often posts 10+ stories each day. And it works for them! People love their rich content and it's become a part of their brand:

While posting multiple times a day works for some accounts, it might not work for you.

It can take a lot of time and management to create 10+ Instagram Stories, so if you think your time is best served elsewhere, it's probably best to stick to just a few stories per week!

Plus, if you consistently post a ton of stories , your followers are going to expect you to continue doing so.

At the end of the day, there's really no "optimal" frequency for stories, but it's good to have enough throughout the week that people look forward to seeing yours without getting tired of your content.

When to Post on Instagram Stories

When it comes to regular Instagram posts, it's very important to post when your followers are most active . But this isn't the case with Instagram Stories for business.

Because Instagram Stories live for a maximum of 24 hours (again, that's only if they aren't shared as highlights), when you post a story, your followers have a 24-hour window to see it at the top of their feeds.

So even if you post a story at a time when most of your followers are asleep, they'll still be able to find your story at the top of their feeds when they wake up.

In other words, don't stress out too much about posting your Instagram Stories at optimal times … Unless you're looking for immediate engagement, in which case posting when your followers are most active will definitely help.

What to Post on Instagram Stories

Like with regular posts, if you're using Instagram Stories for business, it's good to post a mix of informative, fun, and promotional content.

Instagram Stories is a pretty relaxed place in general, and the quality standards are a lot lower than they are for regular posts. So don't be afraid of showing off your goofier side!

The great thing about Instagram Stories is that because they've created so many cool tools, the world is really your oyster. You can get as creative as you like! And the same is true for promotional content on Instagram Stories. It's easy to share promotional content that's also fun and lighthearted.

In any case, it's super important to keep track of your Instagram Stories analytics to see what types of content your audience best responds to. As we mentioned earlier, when your stories get a lot of views and engagement, this signals to the algorithm that you're creating high-quality content, so your future Instagram Stories will appear higher up in your followers' stories queue.

So by creating great Instagram Stories content that your followers love, you have a better chance of getting your future stories seen by more people!

Instagram Stories Features That Are Perfect for Businesses

When it comes to using Instagram Stories for business and Instagram marketing, there are a few features you can make use of to get the most bang for your buck:

#1: Location and Hashtag Stickers

When Instagram first introduced stickers to Instagram Stories in 2017, they were much more fun than useful .

Since that time, Instagram has added a ton of new functionalities to stickers , including the ability to see location-based stories on the Explore page, and, most recently, the ability to search for stories by location and hashtag.

These feature have made a huge difference for businesses. Whereas at first you could only share Instagram Stories with your own followers, these new features make it possible for anyone to see your Instagram Stories!

For example, if you're posting a story from a restaurant in Atlanta, you can tag the location with a sticker, and your story might appear in that location's Instagram Stories.

The same is true for hashtag stickers. When a user tags a hashtag in their Instagram Stories, it will appear on the corresponding hashtag page.

#2: Clickable Links

Instagram recently rolled out the ability to add links to Instagram Stories and it's a pretty big deal. In fact, it's the first time ever that users can add a link to Instagram that isn't the link in their bio!

It goes without saying that the ability to send your followers to specific landing pages from your stories is extremely useful for Instagram marketing. Whether it's a product page or a new blog post, you can use this feature to drive Instagram traffic to all kinds of relevant landing pages!

Tip: The "See More" call-to-action that appears on stories with clickable links is quite small and can easily go unnoticed, so it's a good idea to call it out using text, arrows, or some other design feature.

#3: Tag Other Accounts

We all know how effective Instagram contests are for driving engagement and getting new followers, and with the ability to tag other accounts in Instagram Stories, there's yet another way to drive traffic to your contests.

Tagging other accounts in your stories is also useful if you're running a takeover or influencer campaign.

#4: Tag Businesses in Your Sponsored Instagram Stories

Speaking of influencers, Instagram's new paid partnership feature makes it super easy to tag businesses in your sponsored Instagram Stories!

Only a handful of celebrities, influencers, and businesses have been given access to the feature so far, but a larger-scale rollout is expected in the next few months.

You can learn more about the feature and disclosure in general here .

#5: Polls & Emoji Sliders

Have you ever wanted to survey your Instagram audience about their interests, likes, dislikes, and more? Well, now you can!

Instagram recently launched new interactive poll stickers on Instagram Stories which lets you ask questions and see results from your followers as they vote.

The great thing about poll stickers is that there are so many business uses!

Whether you want to collect feedback on your products, crowdsource ideas, or simply entertain your followers, poll stickers offer an entirely new way to engage with your Instagram audience!

Not sure how to use Instagram Stories polls for your business? Check out our post 6 Create Ways to Use Instagram Stories Polls for some inspiration!

#6: Question Stickers

Unlike poll stickers and emoji sliders , both of which allow users to "vote" on questions that you submit, when you add a question sticker to your Instagram story, others users submit questions for you to answer.

Whether you want to collect feedback on your products or crowdsource ideas, questions stickers offer an entirely new way to engage with your Instagram audience!

#7: Countdown Stickers

Now when you share a story about an upcoming something (like an in-store sale, product launch, or event), you can add a sticker that counts down to a date and time that you set.

Your followers can then subscribe to your countdown event, which will send them a reminder when the time is up and your countdown is complete!

Whether you're looking to promote a sale, event, or something else entirely, the ability to share a countdown on your stories that your followers can get reminders about is a great way to generate better results.

#8: GIF Stickers

In 2017, Instagram teamed up with GIPHY to build a library of high-quality GIFs on Instagram Stories. Now you can add fun, expressive GIF stickers to any photo or video in your story!

Adding GIFs on Instagram Stories is easy — when you tap to add a sticker to a photo or video in stories, you'll now see a new GIF option. Tap it and you'll find a library full of hundreds of thousands of moving stickers powered by GIPHY.

Using this feature in a consistent way can add a ton of personality to your Instagram Stories and help you build a loyal following. You can get a step-by-step Instagram tutorial about how to add GIFs to Instagram Stories here.

#9: Instagram Live Video Replays

Once your Instagram Live video ends, you can share a replay of it. But like other photos and videos you share to Instagram Stories, live video replays will disappear after 24 hours.

#10: Instagram Stories Highlights

As we discussed in the previous chapter , Instagram Stories Highlights are an extremely valuable addition to an Instagram business profile because they allow brands to easily curate and showcase the content they want users to see first.

Unlike regular Instagram Stories that vanish after 24 hours, Instagram Stories Highlights are curated clips that can be grouped by theme or topic and live permanently on your profile until you delete them. They appear directly under your bio and above your Instagram feed and will play as a stand-alone story when someone taps on them.

#11: Share IGTV Videos and Instagram Posts

Did you know you can share IGTV and Instagram posts in stories too?

Posts or IGTV videos shared to Instagram Stories will display the original poster's username, letting users tap it to check out the original post:

With more and more users shifting their attention to Instagram Stories, users have been using stories to cross-promote their posts and IGTV videos. Now, instead of including a screenshot of their feed to stories, users can easily share the post with the new re-share feature.

How to Use Instagram Stories for Business

Using Instagram Stories for business is now an essential part of any Instagram marketing strategy, and can help you drive engagement, interact with customers, and show your products in action.

That being said, it can be hard to find ideas for Instagram Stories and decide on what to post. Need some inspiration? Here are four ways that businesses are using Instagram Stories for business:

#1: Promote Your Products and/or Services

The natural "tapping" progression of Instagram Stories makes it a great place to build anticipation around new products and/or services.

All you have to do is fill up your story with photos of a single product at every angle, on different people, or in different environments, and then hit your followers with a promo code or call-to-action at the end.

If you have the ability to add links to your Instagram Stories, this is a great place to do it.

#2: Build a More Engaged Community

Like with regular posts, if you're using Instagram Stories for business, it's good to post a mix of fun, lighthearted content and promotional content.

Instagram Stories is a pretty relaxed place, so don't be afraid of posting something goofy: a short video of your office dog or a picture of your team out for post-work drinks!

#3: Run an Instagram Stories Takeover

An easy way to switch it up on your Instagram Stories is to do an Instagram Stories takeover or invite someone to guest host your story.

Having regular guest segments is an awesome way to bring both variety and consistency to using Instagram Stories for business. To try it out with your own business: you can choose someone from your company for a "day-in-the-life" story, or you can partner with other businesses in your industry to swap stories for the day. It will help vary your content and keep your customers coming back for more.

How to Plan and Schedule Your Instagram Stories for Business

Posting regularly on Instagram Stories is key to building an audience and increasing your views, and you can plan your stories just like you would plan other social posts in your content calendar.

Planning both your regular Instagram feed content along with your Instagram Stories will help you keep things cohesive and clear.

A great way to get started is to create a quick storyboard of your Instagram story to make sure it flows. By outlining a beginning, middle, and end to your story, you can make sure to cover all the important points, while still making sure everything flows naturally.

How to Schedule Instagram Stories with Later:

1. Start by dragging & dropping your stories on to the storyboard tool, and then re-arrange them to fit the order and look that you want.

You can also easily crop and resize images to fit Instagram Stories 9:16 ratio.

2. Next, you can add links or captions to your scheduled stories, which will be copied to your phone when it's time to post. This helps you drive more traffic and sales by taking the time to write compelling captions and CTAs from your desktop.

3. Next, schedule your Instagram Stories by selecting the time and date from the drop down menu beside the Save Story button.

4. When it's time to post, you'll receive a notification on your phone. And once you open the notification, your stories will be downloaded to your phone and caption or links copied to your clipboard, making it easy to post Instagram Stories in seconds.

Scheduling Instagram Stories is one of the best things you can do to grow your business on Instagram in 2022! Later is free to use , but you'll have to upgrade to a paid plan to schedule stories.

• The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Stories
• 5 Ways to Drive Traffic With Instagram Stories
• How to Design Instagram Stories: 7 Tips to Wow Your Audience!
• Free Instagram Stories Course: How to Use Instagram Stories for Business!

Chapter 9: How to Use Instagram Live for Business

2017 may have been dominated by Instagram Stories, but the future certainly looks bright for live video. If you haven't already, we recommend getting acquainted with the feature soon. According to a recent survey , while only 22% businesses went "live" on Instagram in 2017, 55% planned to use the feature in 2018.

The idea of going "live" on Instagram is, understandably, pretty daunting for most businesses. While Instagram Stories gives you the option of publishing pre-recorded video, there are no "retakes" on Instagram Live.

But the fact is that Instagram Live has huge value for businesses. When used correctly, the feature can be an incredible channel for driving new followers and engagement, as well as your larger business goals.

This is especially true thanks to two new business-focused features for Instagram Live:

Share Your Broadcast on Instagram Stories

As we mentioned in the previous chapter , thanks to a recent update, Instagram Live videos can now be shared post-broadcast on your Instagram Stories.

Once your Instagram Live video ends, you'll see a "Share" button at the bottom of the screen. It's as simple as that! Your live broadcast will then live on your Instagram Stories for 24 hours, unless you decide to add it to your highlights.

Add Guests to Your Instagram Live Broadcast

Instagram recently added another feature to Instagram Live that allows users to add guests to their live streams.

The feature works by letting people who are streaming a video add anyone who is watching the video at that moment, by clicking on the "Add" button in the corner of the screen. When a person gets added, he or she joins you in a separate window below yours on the screen.

Not only can co-hosting an Instagram Live boost the engagement on your broadcast (by reaching a larger pool of users), but it also opens the door to Instagram marketing campaigns where two businesses or influencers partner to promote a product.

How to Use Instagram Live for Business

If you're hoping to achieve some larger Instagram marketing goals, such as driving sales or increasing sign ups, it's really important to have a strategy in place.

Like Instagram Stories, Instagram Live is a relaxed place and you can get as creative as you like! But with all that room for creativity, it's a good idea to have a solid game plan.

1. Tease or launch new products and/or services

A recent trend on Instagram Live is for businesses to use the channel to tease or launch new products. And why not? It's the perfect place to create a ton of hype around your products. Whether you're unveiling a new product line or teasing a future launch, Instagram Live is a great place to drum up excitement around your business.

To make use of this strategy in your live broadcast, take your hottest product and deliberately release very few details about it. The mystery will drive your followers into a frenzy! After the teaser, ask viewers to sign up for more information on your website.

This approach gives your live video an element of exclusivity, which can encourage people to act immediately, increasing the number of leads you get.

2. Run Q&As, workshops, and tutorials to collect emails

There are a ton of different formats that you can follow during your live broadcast, including Q&As, workshops, and tutorials. Each of these formats are valuable and bound to get you a ton of viewers. But if you really want your business to benefit from Instagram Live, use it as a way to collect emails.

One of the best ways to do this is to ask your followers to submit questions beforehand. You can do this by sending your followers to a landing page with an email form (share the landing page URL in the lead-up to your broadcast), or by providing an email address where viewers can send their questions.

3. Promote your sales & campaigns

While Instagram Stories is considered "ephemeral," there's really nothing more ephemeral on Instagram than live video. Use this to your advantage by creating a sense of urgency to watch your broadcast!

One of the best ways to boost your viewership is is to promise limited-time-only promotions that you're only going to offer during the broadcast. If you have a giveaway, discount, promotion, or other campaign that you want to offer to a select few, announce it beforehand! And when you go "live," share the coupon or discount code with your viewers.

• Instagram Live: A Step-By-Step Guide for Businesses

Chapter 10: How to Use IGTV for Business

Despite being just a few months old, IGTV is already making waves in the social media world.

Launched as Instagram's first standalone video platform, IGTV gives businesses a new channel to grow their following, showcase their products, and show-off their creativity.

And the great thing about IGTV is that your videos don't have to be super polished! You can think of it like a step up from your Instagram Stories, but it doesn't have to be as perfect or curated like an Instagram post or video would be.

How to Get Started with IGTV Videos

Before you can upload a video to IGTV, you need to create an IGTV channel. The good news is that Instagram has made IGTV super simple and easy to use!

The first step is to sign into the IGTV app.

Next, tap on the gear icon in the top right corner and select Create Channel.

Once your channel is live, you can upload your first video to IGTV. Start by opening your channel by clicking on your avatar from the main page.

Next, tap the "+" icon to the right of your screen to add a new video to IGTV.

Now you can select a vertical or horizontal video from your camera roll.

In terms of specs, Instagram recommends that vertical IGTV videos should have a maximum aspect ratio of 9:16 and a minimum of 4:5, while horizontal videos should have a maximum aspect ratio of 16:9 and a minimum of 5:4.

Note: If your video doesn't show up it could be that it has the wrong aspect ratio!

Write your title and add a description. Just like on YouTube, you'll want to add in any relevant keywords to your description to make it easier for people to find your videos on IGTV.

You can also add in links! That's right, people will actually be able to click on links in your description and be taken outside of the Instagram or IGTV app.

Finally, add a cover photo! You can upload your own custom cover, or choose a thumbnail from your video. The cover photo is what will show up on your channel page and in the IGTV categories, so make it catchy!

For your cover photo, Instagram recommends an aspect ratio of 1:1.55 (or 420px by 654px).

And that's it! You can now upload your vertical Instagram video to IGTV!

You can also share your IGTV video to your Instagram Stories by tapping the airplane icon at the bottom of your video and then selecting "Add video to your story."

Viewers will now be able to watch a preview of your IGTV video as a story.

What to Share on IGTV

Like Instagram Stories, there's really no limit to what you can post on IGTV.

So far we've seen businesses use it to share how-to's and tutorials, to promote their products, to share company news and so much more.

The goal of IGTV is to be more like YouTube than Netflix. And that's why so many influencers and vloggers have already taken to the channel.

As a business, it's important to think about it from the perspective of what value your videos can provide. As in, how can you create value for your audience and how are you create value for your brand?

If you're already a pro with Instagram Stories, the transition to IGTV shouldn't be too difficult. You can even think of IGTV as an extension of your Instagram Stories. What voice, tone, and style of content do you share on your stories? Your IGTV video content should follow a similar arc.

Tips for Making Great IGTV Videos

Since IGTV videos can be *very* long form, it's important to give yourself plenty of time to prepare, shoot, and edit your videos before jumping right in. Here are some tips to get more from the channel:

Get Comfortable with Vertical Video

Editing vertical videos can be hard if you haven't done it before! And probably the hardest thing to get right when shooting vertical video for IGTV is the aspect ratio.

The reason it can be hard to get right is because unless your video is shot on a smartphone (which will usually record in 9:16 if shot vertically), you may need to edit or crop your video in post-production to get the right aspect ratio for IGTV. We'll discuss this a little more below.

The good news is that you don't need any expensive software to edit your vertical videos — and there are actually a few options for shooting vertically!

Plus, IGTV now supports horizontal videos, so you can always stick with that format if you prefer.

Want to learn how to do it? Check out our guide on how to shoot and edit vertical videos for IGTV !

Keep an Eye on Your IGTV Analytics

Since IGTV is such a new format on Instagram, it's hard to say exactly how different audiences will respond to your videos — especially if you're sharing really long content!

That's why it's so important to keep an eye on your IGTV analytics, which can be accessed directly from your video.

Beyond Views, Likes, and Comments, you can also see your audience retention rate, which is how many people watched your video all the way to the end.

You can even see a drop-off graph which shows you at what point people are swiping away from your video.

Metrics like these are invaluable when deciding what changes (if any) to make to your IGTV strategy. For example, if viewers are dropping off at the 20-minute mark, you can take that as a sign that creating videos that are longer than 20 minutes might not be the best strategy.

• Guide to IGTV
• How to Create and Edit Vertical Video for Instagram's IGTV
• IGTV for Business
• Guide to Instagram Video

Chapter 11: Running an Influencer Marketing Campaign

Instagram influencer marketing is quickly becoming one of the best ways for businesses to increase brand awareness, grow their followers, and drive sales — especially since the Instagram's algorithm is continuing to limit organic reach!

Haven't given Instagram influencer marketing a try yet? In this chapter, we cover everything from how to find the right influencers for your business, to properly disclosing sponsored posts and determining if your influencer marketing strategies are actually working for you:

Why Your Business Needs an Instagram Influencer Marketing Strategy

When it comes to influencer marketing, Instagram is one of the best platforms for brands to partner with influencers on to reach new audiences quickly. In fact, it's the best performing channel for social action, with an average 3.21% engagement rate (compared to 1.5% across all social networks).

A big reason why Instagram influencer marketing is so effective is because it removes the barriers of traditional advertising and introduces your brand to a new audience through a more trustworthy source, your influencer partner.

When an influencer recommends a product or service on their channels, it can come across as an authentic recommendation from a friend.

In fact, 67% of marketers are already using Instagram influencer marketing for promotion– and we expect to see that number continue to increase as organic reach declines.

How Much Does Instagram Influencer Marketing Actually Cost?

There's no question social media influencers have become indispensable for brand campaigns… especially on Instagram! But how do you come up with a fair price when there are so many factors to consider?

The reality is that influencer marketing rates still vary widely among influencers.

According to our 2018 State of Instagram Marketing report , some influencers reported charging as much as $5000 to $10,000 per sponsored post. However, it's much more common for prices to be in the $250 to $1000 range.

Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to how much instagram influencer marketing costs, and there are a variety of factors involved that go well beyond an Instagram influencer's number of followers.

The Rise of Micro-Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing may have grown in popularity thanks to Instagram, but you may not need thousands of dollars to cash in on this trend.

Thanks to a growing trend, more and more businesses are seeing the value in partnering with Instagram influencers who have a small (or "micro") but highly-engaged following. In fact, according to a report by Collectively , micro-influencers reported 15-75% growth in 2017.

So, what exactly is a micro-influencer? Generally speaking, a micro-influencer is someone who has significant, but not massive, social media following. This could range from anywhere between 1,000 and 100,000 followers.

While Instagram influencers have attained a sort of "celebrity status," micro-influencers are more like everyday consumers, so they tend to be very relatable and trustworthy.

A great example is @lauratully.co . Despite having just over 3000 followers, she's partnered with multiple businesses and created a bunch of sponsored Instagram posts. This is likely due to their industry niche and engaged following. As with all things Instagram marketing, businesses can gain a lot by targeting niche audiences.

So what explains the growing number of micro-influencers?

Well, one of the biggest benefits of working with micro-influencers is that they tend to retain higher levels of engagement than top-tier influencers. (According to recent studies , there seems to be a negative correlation between engagement rate and audience size).

So while accounts of all sizes are getting fewer likes, comments, and followers in general than they did in the past (thanks to the Instagram algorithm ), bigger accounts seem to be taking a bigger hit.

But there's also something to be said about how influencers with different follower sizes are perceived.

The reality is that influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers often lead lives that aren't exactly "normal." And if you compare them with someone who has 5000 to 15,000 highly-engaged Instagram followers, who likely isn't paying their rent from cashing in on Instagram sponsorships… Well, it's just way more relatable to the everyday consumer!

Indeed, when a micro-influencer features a product on their channels, it can come across more like a trusted recommendation from a friend, rather than a celebrity endorsement.

How to Find the Right Influencers for Your Business

Finding the right influencers for your Instagram marketing campaign can be a big challenge, but creating clear goals helps. For example, if your goal is to rack up a lot of engagement, it might make sense to partner with micro-influencers with smaller audiences but higher engagement rates. If you're trying to increase your brand awareness, metrics such as reach and traffic will be more useful.

Not sure where to start? Here are four things to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to partner with an Instagram influencer:

1. Check their Instagram Engagement

When an influencer has a high engagement rate, it means their followers are paying attention and taking action on their content. That's why most businesses and social media agencies use engagement to evaluate who is an ideal influencer.

Generally, you want to see an engagement rate of 2-3% on influencers' posts. A ratio of 4-6% is excellent, while posts in the high tens and twenties are considered "viral."

2. Check their Quality of Followers

It goes without saying that you should be aligning your business with influencers who have "pull" with your target audience. For example, if you're a fitness brand, it makes sense to partner with influencers who share a similar audience to your ideal customers, such as yoga instructors or powerlifters.

Aligning your business with an influencer who has "pull" with your target customers is one of the best ways to get in front of the right eyes, increase your brand awareness, and showcase your products in a creative way.

3. Check their Number of Followers

As we discussed above, the number of followers an influencer has isn't quite as important as it used to be — especially now that the Instagram algorithm seems to be impacting the engagement of larger accounts.

As we've learned over the past year, engagement rate tends to decrease as follower count grows. Influencers with fewer followers often retain higher engagement rates on their posts, while influencers with large audiences tend to see decreased engagement rates and less direct communication with their followers.

All of that being said, it's definitely not a bad idea to partner with influencers with big followings! Just make sure they're a good fit for your business.

4. Budget Requirements

Something else to keep in mind when deciding which influencers to partner with is how much they charge.

According to our survey , it's actually very common for businesses to "gift" free products to influencers rather than paying them a flat rate. In fact, 77% of businesses report giving free products and/or services in exchange for sponsored posts.

This isn't always the case, however. Some influencers only accept flat rates, while others charge based on the number of sales or leads they create for the business.

• The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Influencer Marketing
• Free Instagram Influencer Marketing Strategy Guide
• Is Micro-Influencer Marketing Right for Your Business?
• This is How Much Instagram Influencers Really Cost

Chapter 12: How to Get More Instagram Followers

With organic reach on a steep decline, it's harder than ever to get more followers on Instagram… but not impossible!

Growing your Instagram follower count involves a few things. First of all, you need to create high-quality content that resonates with audience. You also need to optimize your content so that it reaches as many users as possible. And finally, you need to optimize your Instagram profile to encourage new visitors to tap the "Follow" button.

In this chapter, we're going to focus on the second step: strategies for optimizing your content to reach a larger audience.

#1: Find the Right Hashtags for Your Business

When used correctly, Instagram hashtags can help you grow your reach, get more engagement, and attract more followers.

But in order to be successful with hashtags, you need to be strategic about what hashtags you use and when you use them.

While the most popular hashtags on Instagram have been used millions of times, that doesn't mean you're going to get a ton of likes and comments simply by adding #love, #happy, or #dog to your posts.

Instead of using the most popular Instagram hashtags, it's better to use the top Instagram hashtags that have an engaging community behind them and are relevant to your audience or industry.

So, how are you supposed to find these cool, creative, and community-oriented hashtags?

Well, the best way is to look and see what Instagram hashtags your audience, competitors, and industry leaders are already using. The narrower the scope of the hashtag, the more engaged the users tend to be. And you'd be shocked by how niche hashtags can get!

For example, a Toronto-based coffee shop would want to use hashtags like #specialtycoffee (describes their business), #coffeeshopvibes (describes the purpose of your account), and #TOcoffee or #coffeelovers (describes your target market). Then, you can add location specific hashtags, like #spadina, #chinatownTO, or even #toronto.

You can also use Instagram hashtags that have a strong community around them, so instead of using #coffee you could use #dailycortado, which has less posts but a more engaged audience.

If you need some help finding niche and industry-specific hashtags then you may want to check out Later's Hashtag Suggestions feature.

Hashtag Suggestions works by automatically finding relevant hashtags for your posts based on other hashtags that you use.

For example, let's say you're posting a photo of a beautiful bedroom to promote your business that sells linens. All you have to do is know one relevant hashtag (like #livesimply), put it into Hashtag Suggestions, hit "Suggest," and the feature will immediately generate 30 other hashtags, sorted by relevance.

You can then pick and choose which of these hashtags to add you to your post. All you have to do is click "Insert Hashtags" and they'll be added to the end of your caption.

Tip: If you have an Instagram business account, you can check your Instagram Insights to see how many views are coming from hashtags. If you find the number is low, try adding some different tags to see if you can increase it.

We'll talk a bit more about tracking your Instagram analytics in the next chapter.

#2: Hack Your Instagram Stories for More Exposure

2018 was a huge year for Instagram Stories . And as organic reach continues to drop for regular Instagram posts, we expect stories to become even more key for business to engage with their followers and stay top of mind.

But did you know that Instagram Stories can also help you get Instagram followers?

Instagram Stories appear on the Instagram Explore page, which means that people who don't even follow you can still find and watch your stories.

And if they like what they see, they might even give you a follow! This is another great reason to try to have an active Instagram story up at all times.

But besides appearing in the Explore page, your stories can also appear in the Search pages for different locations and hashtags.

As we wrote in an earlier chapter, most Instagram geo-locations and hashtags have their own stories attached to them. While this is an under-utilized Instagram feature, we expect it to become more popular in the coming year as Instagram users get more comfortable with watching and creating stories.

How to Add Hashtags to Instagram Stories:

It's pretty easy to add a hashtag to Instagram Stories. You can either just type in the hashtag, or you can use the hashtag sticker to add the hashtag of your choice.

When people search for the hashtag on Instagram, if it's popular enough they will be able to view an active, real time Instagram story on the hashtag too.

How to Add Locations to Instagram Stories:

To add a location to your Instagram story, just click on the location sticker and add the location of your story.

Instagram Stories for locations work for both cities and individual businesses, landmarks, etc. For example, if you tagged your story from the Golden Gate Bridge, your story could end up in the story for both "Golden Gate Bridge" and the general "San Francisco" story.

When your story is added to the Search page for a location, you'll usually receive a notification from Instagram. And when a photo or video from your story is visible on a hashtag or location page, you'll see the name of that page when you look at who's seen your story .

#3: Boost Your Instagram Posts to Reach New Audiences

Instagram advertising may not be as popular as Facebook advertising, but with organic reach declining on Instagram, it's not a bad idea to start investing in boosting Instagram posts if you want to get more Instagram followers this year.

Running your own Instagram ad campaign isn't that difficult, but it can be intimidating to many small business owners and influencers who haven't done it before.

Thankfully, boosting Instagram posts to get Instagram followers is really, really easy!

You don't need to create complicated Instagram ads in Facebook business manager, all you have to do is just create an Instagram post like your normally do and then hit the "promote" button once it's posted.

Instagram already pulls in a "similar audience" that you can share the post to, or you can easily create your own audience in the app by choosing an interest, age range, and the genders you want to promote to.

For example, if you're posting a photo about a taco shop in Los Angeles that's frequented by millennials, you can boost your post to people who are interested in tacos, live in LA, and are between the age of 20 to 35.

Make sure that you set the goal to "profile visits," and ensure that you have an eye-catching image and an engaging caption.

Your Instagram post then appears in the feed like normal, the only difference being the "sponsored" notation at the top and the call-to-action button.

Start with a small daily budget, and run your ad for 1-2 days to start. Instagram ads are a science, so be ready to tweak your boosted posts and audiences until you get the results you want!

• 5 New Ways to Get More Instagram Followers in 2022
• Free Instagram Followers
• 21 Instagram Tools to Help You Get More Followers
• 5 New Instagram Features That Will Help Grow Your Instagram Account

Chapter 13: How to Track Your Instagram Analytics

Now that we've covered different strategies for getting more followers on Instagram, let's take a look at how to track your performance.

Instagram analytics are key to understanding your demographic, optimizing your content, and evaluating your overall Instagram marketing performance — but all of the different metrics and terms can be overwhelming.

In this chapter, we'll we walk you through the ins and outs of your Instagram analytics, what each metric means, and how you can use this knowledge to improve your Instagram marketing:

Why Instagram Analytics Matter

Diving into your Instagram analytics is more than just finding out which photo, video, or story performed best. By defining and tracking key metrics over time, you'll be able to develop a robust content strategy for your Instagram account that's guaranteed to get you better results.

It's also important to look both at how individual posts and different content types perform against each other.

For example, if you're using Instagram to promote your online store, you'll want to keep track of how your different product photos perform. Do photos with a light or dark background perform better? Does your audience prefer cityscape photos or photos taken in nature?

By using engagement data such as likes, comments, or clicks, you'll be able to tell which type of product shots perform best so you know what you should be posting more of.

From here, you can then compare all product shots against, say, lifestyle content to determine which your audience prefers. If you find that your audience is more interested in product content, you may decide to invest more heavily in product photoshoots and scale back on the lifestyle photoshoots.

Whatever category your Instagram account falls into, diving into your Instagram analytics will allow you to better understand your audience's wants, improve your content, and ultimately drive better results with your Instagram marketing!

How to Use Instagram Insights to Track Your Audience

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of content performance, it's important to understand your audience demographics — where your audience lives, how old they are, and when they're most activeon Instagram.

Luckily, Instagram's native analytics feature Insights makes discovering this information very simple, and you can access it right from your app when you switch to an Instagram business account!

Gender and Age Range

Instagram offers basic demographic information about your audience, including their gender and age range (as well as a breakdown of age range by gender).

It's a good idea to use this information in your content planning. For example, if your audience skews younger, you may want to post more frequently to align with how often they're on their mobile device.

Top Locations

Like the gender and age range breakdown, knowing your audience's top locations can help you improve your posting schedule.

While a large portion of your audience might be located in English-speaking countries, if you also have a sizeable audience in non-English locations, you might consider adjusting your content strategy to be less copy heavy for broader understanding.

By viewing your top cities, you're also able to learn what time zones most of your users are in, which can help you find your best time to post on Instagram .

Hours vs. Days

Beyond audience demographics, Instagram also offers information around the average times and days that your followers are active on Instagram.

This data is especially handy when determining what time of day to post and which days see the highest engagement. Just keep in mind that these times don't represent when your followers is most likely to engage with your account — it's simply when they're most active on Instagram.

How to Track Your Impressions, Reach, Engagement, and More

Now let's look at Instagram's content metrics and what each of them means. Within Instagram Insights, under the "Content" heading, you'll be able to find tons of information about your content performance.

You can sort this data by content type (photos, videos, carousel posts, and shopping posts), as well as by days, months, and years.

Impressions

Impressions are the total number of times your post has been seen. This number includes users scrolling by in their feed, clicking through your business' profile to view a photo, or viewing content directly through an Instagram Direct Message.

Like impressions, reach also relates to the total number of views on your content, but this time it's the number of unique views (unique users that viewed your content).

Engagements

This is the total number of times that your post was liked, saved, or commented on. Just note that Instagram won't count multiple comments from the same user, which could happen in the case of giveaways where users tend to post multiple times to better their chances.

Engagement Rate

While Instagram Insights doesn't include data about your engagement rate, it's still a very important metric for Instagram marketing.

Engagement rate is the percentage of followers or viewers that engage with your posts. Generally, if you want to calculate your average engagement rate for Instagram, you would divide the number of likes and comments by your follower count, which will give you a percentage.

On a per post basis, you can take the total number of comments and likes you received, say 1200, and divide it by your followers, like 15,000, and then multiply that by 100 to get your percentage. In this case, the engagement rate on that post would be 8%.

Profile Visits & Followers

Instagram Insights will also tell you how many times your profile was viewed and the number of accounts that started following you.

Unfortunately, Instagram doesn't include data about your follower growth, which is the number of followers you have gained or lost over a certain period of time. That being said, it isn't too difficult to calculate this number manually. You can also use a third-party Instagram marketing app to do it for you.

Speaking of third-party tools, if you're in search of a powerful and comprehensive Instagram analytics tool, you may want to check out Later's new Instagram Analytics .

When you track your account's analytics with Later, you can easily review your insights and apply your learnings to your strategy when you're scheduling Instagram posts and planning your feed.

For example, if you notice that you get more comments on Instagram posts that feature people in them, you can take that insight and immediately apply it your content strategy by scheduling more people-focused posts.

Tracking your Instagram engagement rate is one of the best ways to identify which types of content resonate the most with your audience. And once you pinpoint what works best for your audience, you can easily integrate more of that content into your strategy.

Later's Instagram Analytics also tracks up to 3 months' worth of Instagram Stories metrics , so you can easily find insights related to your stories and optimize them to get more views, reach, replies, and more!

For example, you can find out what times of day your Instagram Stories get the most views and then schedule your future stories at those times. Or you can review your analytics to find the optimal number of stories you should be posting each day or week.

The Difference Between Photos, Videos & Carousel Posts

As we mentioned above, you can sort your content metrics by the types of content your post, whether its photos, videos, carousel posts, or shopping posts. But is there really a difference?

While photos, videos, and carousel posts all appear in-feed, the way users interact with each type of content is vastly different and can affect performance.

Think of it like this: as you scroll through your feed, you can pretty quickly determine if you want to like a photo. But with video, you have to take a moment for the content to load and to watch at least some portion of it to see if it interests you. The same is true for carousel posts.

If you're looking for a more accurate way to track the performance of your Instagram videos, you can use views. Views tend to be calculated differently from platform to platform, but on Instagram, a view is counted after 3 seconds and is the same whether the video is 30 seconds long, a Boomerang GIF, or a Hyperlapse video.

So if you can't count on likes to help note video performance, what can you look to? Enter views. Now, views are calculated.

Unique Metrics for Instagram Stories

For the most part, the metrics for photos, videos, and Instagram Stories are calculated the same way, but there are some differences.

Compared to videos and photos, Instagram Stories require more active engagement by users. A user must tap into your business' story at the top of the feed to engage with the content and from here they can watch it in full, tap through, or swipe out of stories completely.

Here's a breakdown of your Instagram Stories metrics:

Taps Forward

Taps Forward is the number of times a viewer tapped the right side of the screen to jump to the next story in the queue. Since a lot of people "speed tap" their way through watching Instagram Stories, Taps Backward, Next Story, and Exits are all better indications of how your Stories are performing.

Taps Backward

Taps Backward is the number of times a viewer tapped the left side of the screen to rewatch the previous story.

When a viewer taps backwards, it can mean they think content is worth re-watching or that it caught their attention while they were speed tapping through their Stories. If a post has a lot of taps backward, make note of the type of content and keep testing it in your future Stories!

Next Story & Exits

Exits are the number of times someone has swiped out of your story, while Next Story indicates the number of taps to the next account's story.

While these two metrics are similar, exits have a less negative connotation. For example, if someone exits your story, it could just mean that the viewer was running out of time to watch stories. Also, if you include a clickable link in your story , they may have swiped up to learn more.

Next Story is more of an indicator that the viewer was over watching your story and wanted to skip to the next one. This data can help you determine how long your optimal Instagram Stories posts should be, whether it's 3 slides or 13 slides.

Last year, Instagram rolled out the ability to add links to Instagram Stories and it's a pretty big deal. In fact, it's the first time ever that users can add links to Instagram that aren't the link in their bio! (The feature is only available Instagram business profiles with 10,000+ followers, or verified profiles).

Similar to engagements for photos and videos, replies are the number of times someone has directly responded to a portion of your story. But unlike comments on a photo or video, these responses end up in your inbox and don't appear publicly.

Selecting the Right KPIs for Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

Now that you're familiar with all the different Instagram marketing metrics (and other free Instagram analytics tools), it's time to go a step further and determine your key performance indicators (KPIs).

A KPI is your selected metric that specifically measures the success of your content or campaign. Like we discussed in Chapter 4 , the KPIs you define for your account ultimately depend on your business goals and what you want to achieve with your Instagram marketing.

If your business thrives on community, you may want to look to engagements as your KPI for photos and videos. However, if you boost an individual post, you may want to switch that KPI and focus on reach to see what kind of impact your content has made on the Instagram community as a whole.

If you decide to run a contest or giveaway and require users to comment to enter, looking at comments as your KPI may be a great choice in determining how your contest performs. You could then use this metric as a way to compare the success of your contests moving forward, by seeing which contest got the most comments.

Whatever your KPIs, ideally you should focus on certain ones for evergreen content and select different ones on a campaign-by-campaign basis. It all comes down to your overall Instagram marketing goals!

• The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Analytics
• Instagram Stories Analytics
• New Instagram Analytics
• Instagram Analytics Tools to Help You Grow
• Instagram Metrics to Track in 2022

Chapter 14: Proven Instagram Marketing Campaigns You Can Steal

#1: create an instagram hashtag strategy.

Like we mentioned in an earlier chapter , Instagram hashtags became a controversial subject in 2017 thanks to the "Instagram shadowban" which essentially hid users posts from showing up on the hashtags they use.

Despite this, hashtags are still an effective way of getting more eyes on your content, and creating a solid Instagram hashtag strategy should also be a top priority for any business that wants to get more engagement on Instagram.

It's important to think of hashtags like categories. Where do you want your Instagram post to show up? If you're an ecommerce business that sells sunglasses, it makes sense to use relevant hashtags that expose you to Instagram users who might be interested in buying your products.

On top of that, the Instagram's algorithm favors the use of specific and relevant hashtags — especially with the new ability to follow hashtags on Instagram. So instead of tagging posts with general hashtags like #love or #happy, choose hashtags that describe your business, the purpose of your account, your target market, and your location.

#2: Run an Instagram Contest or Giveaway

Running an Instagram contest or giveaway is a fun and easy way to promote your business and gain exposure on Instagram.

If you're looking for an effective Instagram contest idea, try partnering with another business or influencer. It's a great way to promote your Instagram contest to both of your audiences, and also share each other's followers.

Start by looking for a cool business to partner with, and then organize a 3-5 day giveaway where Instagram users are rewarded with prizes for following both accounts, and tagging their friends in the comments.

Here's a quick breakdown of our proven Instagram contest formula:

• Partner with a brand or influencer with a similar target market and audience
• Choose a prize that gets your community excited
• If you're partnering with an influencer, have them host the contest on their account (if you're partnering with a brand, you can determine the best account to host the contest)
• Create clear rules: to enter, follow @youraccount and @yourpartner and tag X # of friends in a comment
• Run your contest for a short period of time: no more than 5 days, ideally 2-3 days

Once the Instagram contest is over and you've selected a winner or winners, you should see a massive boost in your Instagram followers — but that doesn't mean your work is done! You need to pay attention to your new followers and make them feel like they're a part of your community. Otherwise, you risk losing them.

#3: Use Instagram Live to Tease New Products and/or Services

A lot of businesses are understandably hesitant to use Instagram Live. The idea of going "live" on Instagram is pretty daunting for most. While Instagram Stories gives you the option of publishing pre-recorded video, there are no "retakes" on Instagram Live.

That's why we're seeing a recent trend of businesses using the channel to tease or launch new products.

To make use of this strategy in your live broadcast, take your hottest product and deliberately release very few details about it. You can do this over the course of a few days or even a few weeks. Either way, the mystery will drive your followers into a frenzy!

After the teaser, ask viewers to sign up for more information on your website. This approach gives your live video an element of exclusivity, which can encourage people to act immediately, increasing the number of leads you get.

You can also share your Instagram Live broadcast on your Instagram Stories afterwards to increase your reach! Just tap the "Share" button that appears once your broadcast is over. Your live broadcast will then live on your Instagram Stories for 24 hours, unless you decide to add it to your highlights.

• How to Get 500+ Instagram Followers with a Single Post
• Should You Run an Instagram Loop Giveaway?
• The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Hashtags in 2017
• New Rules for Instagram Hashtags: How to Find the Right Hashtags for Your Business in 2018

Chapter 15: Tips for Effective Instagram Marketing

We're nearly done! So far, you've learned how to optimize your Instagram profile, use Instagram Stories for business, grow your Instagram followers, and much, much more.

To cap things off, we're going to discuss 3 actionable tips to help you better manage your Instagram marketing:

#1: Post When Your Audience is Most Active

To find the best time to post on Instagram to get the most engagement in 2022, we analyzed 35 million Instagram posts , posted in multiple time zones around the world from accounts ranging from 100 to 1 million+ followers.

Here are the top 3 global best times to post on Instagram for each day of the week, represented in Eastern Standard Time:

That being said, here at Later, we have found that if you want to get more engagement, it's best to find out what your personalized best times to post are based on your unique audience.

Timeliness has always been an important factor in the Instagram algorithm, but with the new algorithm updates, when you post to Instagram is more important than ever!

Since 2018, Instagram has been continually updated their algorithm to make it more chronological and "ensure the posts you see are timely."

As a result, if you want to beat the Instagram algorithm in 2022, you need to schedule your Instagram posts for when the majority of your followers are online.

Think of it this way: Since Instagram is now prioritizing "new" content on people's feeds, your best shot at getting your content in front of your followers is by posting when most of them are actively scrolling the app.

That's why it's so important to find your own personalized best time to post on Instagram: you can hack the algorithm to increase your reach and get more likes and followers.

#2: Respond to Your Instagram Followers

Did you know that 80 percent of customer inquiries on social media go unanswered?

That's a pretty startling figure considering that 88 percent of consumers are less likely to purchase from a company that doesn't respond to questions on social media, and 30 percent will go to a competitor if they don't receive a response.

The fact is that responding to customer inquiries on social isn't just about good manners — it's about growing your business as well.

Of course, we understand how difficult it can be to keep track of all your Instagram comments. It's easy to miss comments in the Instagram app, especially if someone is commenting on an older post.

A great way around this is by using Later's Conversations feature . With Conversations, you can view all of your most recent Instagram comments in a feed on your desktop computer. You can also reply from your computer instead of your phone, and view your conversation history with a commenter.

It's the perfect tool to provide customer service and improve response times with Instagram comments.

In the case of a customer complaint, social teams can view the full conversation history with a customer, provide an in-depth response from their desktop computer, and respond promptly to Instagram comments.

Remember that while responding to a follower or customer on Instagram might seem like a small thing to you, it can mean a lot to them. And there's really no better way to build a connection with your audience than by actively engaging with them.

#3: Schedule Your Instagram Posts

Every business owner knows that time is money. And if you're looking to make better use of that ever-so-precious commodity, it makes sense to enlist the help of a free Instagram scheduler .

Just think about it. Would you rather take 30 minutes out your day every day to rummage through your photos, find one that fits with your Instagram aesthetic, and come up with a witty caption? Or take 1-2 hours on one day to schedule your Instagram posts for the whole week?

Here are 3 more reasons to schedule your Instagram posts:

#1: Upload Instagram Posts from Your PC or Desktop

If you're using a camera to take your photos for Instagram, you're most likely editing your photos on your computer too.

Using an Instagram scheduler that lets you upload Instagram posts from your desktop will save you a ton of time, not to mention the frustration of trying to get your photos from your computer to your phone.

And think about what you can do with all of that saved time! Whether it's growing your reach with an effective Instagram hashtag strategy , hosting an Instagram contest or giveaway , or fine-tuning your Instagram Stories strategy , by saving time with an Instagram scheduler you can focus more on achieving your larger business goals!

#2: Create Better Instagram Captions

Coming up with good Instagram captions is a challenge for everyone, but it's even harder if you have to write the caption on the fly, every single day.

It's also often more time-consuming to come up with new content ideas, hashtags, and captions on the spot, instead of sitting down to write them all when you're in a creative or "writing" mood.

By writing your Instagram captions ahead of time, you can save yourself the daily stress and dedicate your time and energy to other important tasks, like engaging with your audience and building deeper connections with your followers.

Using an Instagram scheduler can also help with your Instagram hashtag strategy.

With Later's Saved Captions feature, you can create templates of your most commonly used hashtags. And when it's time to schedule, you can simply select one of your Saved Captions to add it to your post.

Not only does this cut the time you spend writing your hashtags and captions, but it can help increase the reach of your posts as well. Plus, since the Instagram algorithm favors posts with specific, relevant hashtags, a great strategy is to create multiple Saved Captions with different hashtag blocks and to switch them up based on what you're posting.

#3: Plan a Beautiful Instagram Feed

Scheduling your Instagram posts ahead of time can also give you a better 'big picture' perspective of your Instagram feed and social media strategy as a whole.

By planning your Instagram posts ahead of time, you can choose the order of your photos and rearrange them to design the perfect Instagram feed.

Plus, it's much easier to create a more balanced feed overall. For example, you'll be able to see if you're posting too many product and promotional photos and not enough lifestyle shots, or if you need space out your darker photos with some brighter ones.

This overview can help you get a consistent brand experience on your Instagram feed, which is key to getting more Instagram followers .

Later's visual Instagram planner makes it super easy to design the perfect Instagram aesthetic. You can easily drag and drop your photos onto the visual planner, rearrange them to see how they'll look in your Instagram feed, and then save to schedule them.

• 6 Tips for Using Instagram for Social Media Customer Service
• The Best Time to Post on Instagram in 2022

Chapter 16: Instagram Marketing Final Thoughts

As Instagram continues to grow and evolve as a marketing platform, it's more important than ever for businesses to build effective Instagram marketing strategies. And that means having a thorough understanding of the Instagram marketing landscape and measurable insights into what works and what doesn't.

At the end of the day, businesses of all types have so much to gain from building a presence on Instagram, whether it's growing an engaged community, reaching new customers, or even ecommerce selling. It just takes a little effort!

If you're really thinking about taking your Instagram marketing seriously, it's a good idea to enlist the help of Later , a free Instagram marketing platform.

Not only can you plan your feed and manage all your photos and videos with Later, but you'll also be able to track your analytics and automatically schedule your Instagram posts — all from a single dashboard!

Plan, schedule, and automatically publish your social media posts with Later.

Send us an email

Instagram Marketing

Instagram marketing: 6 ways to update your strategy

Reading time  12 minutes

Published on  January 17, 2023

Table of Contents

Instagram is currently one of the most-used social media platforms with over 2 billion monthly active users . It's hard to believe that an app initially created for random snapshots and selfies has become so popular with consumers and businesses alike.

The reality is that Instagram is an absolute goldmine for businesses of all shapes and sizes. However, it's no longer about silly photos with filters and borders. Instead, you need to have a perfectly curated and visually appealing feed to stand out. Many brands struggle to grow or adopt Instagram as part of their social strategy and we totally understand why.

You can’t afford to “wing it” on Instagram. You need a clear-cut, actionable Instagram strategy if you want to grow a presence and attract customers.

We’ve broken it down into an Instagram marketing strategy guide—and created a video—to help you get started on the platform or refresh your strategy with best practices for growth:

What is Instagram marketing?

Instagram marketing is a social media marketing strategy that refers to the use of Instagram and its features to build a community and promote your business. Brands enlisting Instagram marketing will need to create content for the platform, build out a cohesive plan for said content, engage with their target audience and more to see success.

Why use Instagram for marketing?

Social media marketing is a wildly popular strategy as there are nearly 5 billion social media users worldwide. Instagram is one of the most popular social networks, having been the most-downloaded app at the end of 2021. Not only that but 59% of Instagram's 2 billion users log into the app daily.

With a pretty solid distribution of ages and genders on the app, you're likely to find at least one segment of your target audience on the app.

Instagram is a visual platform with a heavy focus on photo and video. This means that product-based businesses can easily showcase their product in action as a way of selling. But don't discount the benefits of Instagram for B2B brands as well—videos and graphics are great educational tools for teaching and selling to your audience.

The platform also boasts a number of features that allow you to promote your business in different ways, creating an engaging marketing strategy overall. Some features include:

• Carousel posts

Instagram Stories

• Story highlights
• Instagram Reels
• Instagram shopping
• Paid partnerships for influencer campaigns

Instagram creates a revenue stream for ecommerce brands, helps build a community of loyal customers and can be a great way to increase brand awareness.

How to create an Instagram business account

Ready to get started with your own Instagram business profile ? It's easy to create one and start sharing content immediately. Let's walk you through the process.

• Download the Instagram app onto your smartphone. While there is a desktop version, the app is mobile-first and most tasks are easiest to complete on the mobile app.
• Input your business email address and choose a password. Follow the instructions until you're taken to your new profile.
• Begin your visual branding. Upload a profile photo and input all necessary profile information—your business name, a bio, a profile link , a CTA button, etc.
• Tap the hamburger menu at the top right corner of your profile to access Instagram settings. Go to the  Account menu in order to change your profile to a business profile to get access to tools specific to Instagram for business.

From here, you can easily get started posting photos, videos, stories, reels and so much more.

6 Ways to create an Instagram marketing strategy

Now that we’ve outlined why you should be marketing on Instagram and how to create a business profile, let’s get to work in creating an Instagram strategy.

1. Define your Instagram marketing goals

This might seem like a no-brainer, but you need to be able to answer exactly why you want to have an Instagram presence in the first place. What's in it for your business? Do you want to generate leads? Build a community? Increase brand awareness?

Setting  social media goals is an essential step in any strategy. These goals determine everything from your content strategy to how much time you need to spend on the platform to accomplish them.

There's no “right” or single goal you have to commit to, either. It's going to fully depend on your overall business goals and what you're hoping to achieve. And your ROI from Instagram really boils down to these goals.

For example, West Elm is a shining example of a retail brand whose Instagram strategy is laser-focused on social selling . Their entire feed centers around showing off their products and encouraging followers to check them out as well.

Meanwhile,  beauty brands often focus on highlighting products while also building a community by constantly going back-and-forth with followers.

Local, brick-and-mortar businesses want to keep customers in the loop on their latest promotions while simultaneously building relationships. Notice how Cedar Palace Chicago takes the time to respond to their customer comments in addition to showing off their mouth-watering Mediterranean food options.

And many B2B brands use the platform as a means of education. Creating branded graphics can go a long way in providing visually appealing information for your audience, like we see here from Leadpages .

The beauty of Instagram is the sheer amount of creative freedom available to you. Either way, deciding on the Instagram tactics you’ll use starts with your goals.

Dig through Instagram yourself to help inspire your business’ strategy.

Follow some of your favorite brands. Follow some competitors, too. Experiencing the platform as a user is the best way to understand how businesses and consumers interact with each other.

If you're still in need of some inspiration, here are some common goals that businesses use for their Instagram marketing strategy:

• Increase brand awareness via followers and reach
• Generate engagement via comments and shares
• Improve website traffic via link-in-bio and stories clicks
• Ramp up sales via clicks or social sales

2. Optimize your Instagram profile

Here’s some good news: in terms of setting up your profile, Instagram is relatively straightforward. However, there are a few small details to watch out for as you put together your profile.

Before you worry about creating content for Instagram, make sure you’ve ticked the following boxes. This rings true for new profiles and brands looking to fine-tune their Instagram marketing.

Convert to a business profile

We covered this earlier, but it's a big one.

Because Instagram business profiles give you access to features like analytics, paid partnerships, CTA buttons and more, you need to make sure that you’ve switched your account. Doing so also allows you to highlight additional information such as your industry, location, phone number and email address as part of your Instagram bio.

Additionally, Instagram business profiles have access to analytics to help you see how followers are interacting with your account. Of course, we recommend that you go beyond base-level metrics with the help of  Sprout Social  (but more on that later).

Decide on your brand creatives

Although they’re easy to overlook, your brand creatives are integral to your Instagram marketing strategy.

Specifically, your hashtags and bio.

The process of  creating a hashtag doesn’t have to be daunting. For example, most hashtags are either a brand name or slight variations of a brand name.

#Topshop #MyAnthropologie #TargetFinds

The purpose of having a hashtag is to encourage followers to tag your brand and enable you to do the same. Hashtags serve as a call-to-action to encourage customer photos and stories. You can also include your branded hashtags within your bio to encourage even more usage.

In turn, you and your followers can see who else used your tag and shared their snaps.

Craft a compelling Instagram bio

Despite being only 150 characters, your Instagram bio is invaluable real estate.

This is your brand’s first impression with customers and potential followers. It represents an opportunity to highlight what your brand is all about and encourage followers to take action.

And it’s the only place where you can funnel Instagram traffic to your promotions or website.

As part of your Instagram strategy, make sure that your bio includes the following.

• A clear, concise description of what your business does
• Hashtag(s) related to your business
• Some sort of call-to-action
• A trackable link in bio to monitor the behavior of your Instagram traffic

For example, Whole Foods’ Instagram manages to achieve all of the above.

Upload your profile picture

Your Instagram profile picture is confined to only 110×110 pixels.

Therefore, sleek, minimalist and high-res is the way to go. And in order to increase brand recognition and make sure your Instagram looks legitimate, it's best to keep this to your logo—or as much of it as you can reasonably fit in.

For example, Casper includes only the first letter of their stylized brand font for a bold profile pic.

Meanwhile, BarkBox manages to include its entire name with clean, legible text.

3. Pinpoint your target audience

Before you start creating and publishing content, you need to know who your target audience is. Which of your customer segments have a presence on Instagram? Make sure you understand Instagram's overall demographics and have a customer profile or persona filled out so that you can align the two.

This way, you can make sure that your content strategy is only geared toward people who are actually interested in your product or service, rather than marketing out into the void hoping that something resonates to anyone.

4. Create your Instagram content strategy

Now let’s get into the meat of your Instagram strategy: creating content.

Here we’ve highlighted some specific Instagram marketing tips that showcase the types of content that crush it based on best practices. Although these aren’t the  only  types of content you can publish, consider these post types to be cornerstones of your Instagram marketing.

Eye-popping imagery

Stylish snapshots.

That’s exactly what put Instagram on the map.

Photos featuring some sort of striking creative trademark, whether it be a stunning setting or bright color scheme, are the types of posts that reel in the likes and comments.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmnRY80AUTA/

Thankfully, most modern smartphones have features baked into them to take compelling photos of just about anything, without relying on professional photographers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmHFZkJs-SG/

Also, there are plenty of   Instagram apps that include filters and style options to step up your photos.

People-centric photos

Social media is social.

That means centering your content strategy around people. Specifically, highlighting the humans who support your business.

For example, user-generated content and customer photos are staples of Instagram. Sharing such snapshots allows you to show off your satisfied customers and put your products in a real-world setting.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmSAfy0O-l4/

Don’t forget about showing your team some love, too. Going behind-the-scenes and celebrating your colleagues is a simple yet effective way to humanize your brand.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWWVPhdssZP/

Video content is among the most popular and shared around social media, Instagram included.

If you’re not a professional videographer, don’t panic. Many brands share bite-sized promos in lieu of big productions.

And yes, you can create video that sells with little more than a smartphone.

Looping videos and timelapse videos are insanely popular and can be put together in a matter of seconds thanks to third-party apps.

Memes and image macros

Not everything on Instagram needs to be staged or come from a camera reels.

Memes are perfect for humor or inspiration.

In fact, memes and image macros are a way to break up the monotony of your feed and engage your followers on a personal level. Even screenshots of Tweets have made their way onto Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CmKMrQRLAWg/

Jokes? Tips? Inspirational quotes? If you’re strapped for ideas, such posts can do the trick. Use tools like Canva and Visme to create these engaging posts.

Instagram Stories are also an incredibly popular content type and have a great reach rate .

Why? For starters, Stories enable you to “skip the line” in your followers’ feeds by putting your account at the front of their Story queue. Furthermore, time-sensitive content taps into your customers’ sense of FOMO (fear of missing out).

Furthermore, 50% of Instagram users have visited a website to buy a product or sign up for a service after seeing it in Stories.

Great for deals, company updates or just plain playful content, Stories are something you should strive to create on a daily basis.

5. Publish content consistently

You have your content ready to publish. Simply posting at random isn’t going to do you any good.

As part of your marketing strategy for Instagram, take note of the following before you put out your next post.

Craft compelling captions

Each post you publish should have a unique caption . Even the seemingly smallest details of those captions can impact your engagement rate and whether or not your post is discoverable.

With 2,000+ characters to work with, you certainly have creative freedom. However, you’ll notice that many businesses take a “less is more” approach to their Instagram captions.

No matter what you’re saying or selling, make sure that you include a combination of the following in your captions.

• A call-to-action (a question, “check out our bio,” etc)
• A touch of personality (use emojis, take up a conversational tone)
• Hashtags (including your branded hashtags)

Pay attention to timing and frequency

When and how often you publish your content matters when it comes to engagement.

Most brands publish daily or on a near-daily basis. But don’t want to sacrifice quality for quantity.

Also, the timing of your posts impacts how likely your followers are to see them. For reference, here are the best times to post on Instagram based on Sprout research.

Having to worry about posting in real-time can be a pain. That’s why we again recommend using an Instagram marketing tool such as Sprout to do the heavy lifting. For example, features such as  ViralPost  can clue you in on when your specific account scores the most engagement. Then, you can automatically schedule your content in advance to hit those times.

Cross-post from other social networks

For many brands, it makes sense to cross-post your Instagram content across networks such as Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest. Doing so saves you some serious time and keeps you from bouncing from network to network. With Sprout, you can cross-post  and  edit your individual posts to ensure they’re optimized specifically for Instagram.

6. Grow your Instagram followers

No matter what Instagram strategies you’re experimenting with, so much of your engagement depends on how you  promote your Instagram so you can grow your Instagram follower count .

Followers and customers don’t show up by accident. As a result, you need to put your Instagram front and center across your other marketing channels.

For example, make a point to prominently feature your Instagram on-site. Whether it’s social buttons or a feed of your followers’ photos, customers should know that you’re active on Instagram.

And of course, growing your Instagram followers also means showing up day after day.

Respond to followers. Engage with other accounts. Committing to Instagram means being an active participant on the platform. Even if you automate common responses to queries or comments (and done tactfully), it shows followers your active.

Oh, and don’t forget to monitor your analytics! In-depth insights like the ones provided via Sprout can be huge motivations and eye-openers to brands growing on Instagram. Rather than second-guess what to post next, your analytics more than likely have the answer.

Instagram analytics and tools

The last part of any strategy involves monitoring your performance and keeping an eye on analytics. While Instagram comes with its own built-in analytics, investing in a more comprehensive analytics tool can help—especially so you can get a bird's eye view of all your social media analytics at once.

Here are a few analytics tools you might consider:

Sprout Social

Obviously, we have to tout our own analytics dashboard. Connect your Instagram business profile to access data like impressions, followers, audience demographics, growth and more.

Sprout can also be used to schedule Instagram content ahead of time, communicate with customers via social media messaging and so much more.

Iconosquare

Iconosquare is another analytics option that's tailored more to agencies that manage multiple brand profiles at once. This way, social media managers are able to easily switch from client to client. Iconosquare also offers a free account audit for business profiles to make sure you're adhering to Instagram best practices.

TapInfluence

TapInfluence is a tool that helps brands identify influencers to work with. Their platform analyzes a database of over 50,000 influencers to pinpoint the ones that would be best for your specific offerings. It also includes data on their pricing to help your business quickly and easily find influencers.

Curalate is a tool that analyzes and shares potential user-generated content with brands so they can easily bulk up their content calendar . They use their affiliated tool Like2Buy to curate posts added via that link and put them in front of the brands tagged so they can easily repost the images onto their own profiles.

Bitly is a link-shortening tool that also tracks clicks and can be a great option for your Instagram bio link . This way you can keep track of how many clicks you're getting just from your Instagram bio as a way of tracking website traffic ROI.

Get started with Instagram marketing today

The best practices and tips highlighted above are fair game for brands of all shapes and sizes.

From optimizing your profile to engaging your followers and beyond, knowing what clicks with customers is a matter of consistency and experimentation.

With the help of tools such as Sprout, you can easily manage the many moving pieces of your  brand’s Instagram strategy .

Additional resources for Instagram Marketing

• Social Media Trends

9 Instagram trends to watch in 2024

• Social Media Analytics

20 Best Instagram tools to level up your presence

• Social Listening

Instagram automation: Strategy and tools to do it right

• Branding & Creative

How to use Instagram for business: a complete guide

9 Instagram growth tools to grow your presence in 2024

• Social Media Engagement

How to get more followers on Instagram: 15 tips to grow your real audience

• Social Media Content

47 Instagram hacks every marketer needs to know

Instagram for Brands: How To Build A Creative, Engaging, High-Impact Strategy

Instagram insights demystified: How to access and analyze your metrics

The complete guide to finding your Instagram target audience

The Instagram algorithm: How it works and strategies for 2024

Instagram Stories: The complete guide for your brand

How to craft an impactful Instagram bio for business (+ examples)

400+ Instagram captions to get you through every season of business

The complete list of Instagram features for marketing experts

How to use Instagram for B2B marketing

What IGTV’s rebranding means for you & how to make the most of your Instagram video strategy

10 Instagram best practices to build your audience

13 ways to use Instagram for small business

Organic Instagram growth strategies to build your brand

24 Instagram apps for producing must-see content

How to strengthen your Instagram branding

How to promote your Instagram: 13 ways that actually work

How to be successful on Instagram in 5 steps

The top 12 Instagram tips your brand needs to act on

• Social Media Advertising

Instagram campaigns failing? Learn from these highly-successful brands

Build and grow stronger relationships on social

Sprout Social helps you understand and reach your audience, engage your community and measure performance with the only all-in-one social media management platform built for connection.

Instagram 101: How to Get Your Small Business Started on the Platform

• Author: Gaurav Sharma
• Date: January 5, 2022

Why Use Instagram for Your Small Business?

Get the basics of your instagram strategy right, define your goals.

• To nurture an online community
• To build brand awareness for a new product
• To generate leads and sales

Set Up Your Account

Optimize Your Bio

Establish Your Identity and Look

Create Content Pillars

7 tips for building an instagram strategy for your small business, 1. share high-quality content.

2. Experiment with Instagram’s Various Features

• Unboxing videos
• Show your workspace
• Tips on how to use your product
• Answer FAQs
• A day in the life videos

• Create cover images for Instagram Highlights for consistency.
• Reserve a spot for commonly asked questions.
• Let your audience in on something unique—for instance, behind-the-scenes content.

3. Leverage the Right Hashtags

4. Collaborate with Influencers

5. Actively Engage on the Platform

6. Encourage User-Generated Content

• Here are some ideas:
• Start a hashtag campaign
• Offer rewards to contributors
• Tap into influencer marketing
• Run contests and quizzes (use Instagram quiz sticker to create the quiz; use Interact Quiz Maker to make it extra appealing and enticing)
• Requesting testimonials from long-time customers

7. Monitor Results

Ready to create a successful instagram strategy for your small business.

• 5 ways to improve your instagram marketing
• 14 Tips That Will Help You Master Instagram Live
• Instagram Reels 101: Everything Your Brand Needs to Know to Get Started

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Social Media Marketing

The Ultimate Guide to Instagram Marketing for Small Businesses

April 21, 2023

Welcome to the ultimate guide to Instagram marketing for small businesses! With lots of active users, Instagram is a powerful tool that can help you grow your brand and reach new customers.

If you’re a small business owner looking to make a splash on social media, you’re in the right place. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through every aspect of small business Instagram marketing , and teach you how to use this popular platform to your advantage.

Why Instagram is essential for small business marketing

As a small business owner, you might be wondering why you should focus on Instagram over other social media platforms.

Well, Instagram is the perfect platform for showcasing your products and services through captivating visuals. Plus, it has a highly engaged audience that’s always on the lookout for fresh content.

To top it off, social media marketing for small businesses is cost-effective, making it an ideal choice for business owners with limited marketing budgets.

Setting up your Instagram business account

Before diving into the world of Instagram marketing, you’ll need to set up your business account. Follow these simple steps:

• Download the Instagram app: Start by downloading the Instagram app on your smartphone. You can find it in the App Store (for iOS) or the Google Play Store (for Android).
• Sign up: Open the app and sign up using your business email address.
• Create a username: Choose a username that’s relevant to your business and easy for customers to remember.
• Switch to a business account: Go to your profile, tap the three lines in the top right corner, then tap “Settings.” From there, choose “Account,” followed by “Switch to Professional Account.” Select “Business” as your account type.
• Complete your profile: Add your business’s logo as your profile picture and write a compelling bio that summarizes what you offer. Be sure to include a link to your website or a relevant landing page.

Crafting an Instagram marketing strategy for small businesses

A well-thought-out marketing strategy is crucial for success on Instagram. Follow these steps to create an effective Instagram marketing plan for your small business:

Step #1. Define your goals

Start by setting clear, realistic goals for your small business Instagram marketing efforts. These could include increasing brand awareness, driving website traffic or generating sales.

Step #2. Identify your target audience

Next, determine who your ideal customers are, and tailor your content to appeal to them. Consider factors like age, location, interests, and income level.

Step #3. Create a content plan

Plan out the types of content you’ll share, such as product photos, behind-the-scenes glimpses or customer testimonials. Aim for a mix of promotional and non-promotional content to keep your audience engaged.

Step #4. Develop a posting schedule

Consistency is key on Instagram. Determine how often you’ll post and stick to that schedule. For most small businesses, posting three to five times per week is a good starting point.

Step #5. Track your progress

Finally, use Instagram’s built-in analytics tools to monitor your performance and adjust your strategy as needed.

Content creation: The heart of small business Instagram marketing

Creating engaging content is at the core of social media marketing for small businesses . Here are some tips to help you produce eye-catching Instagram content:

• Use high-quality images: Invest in a good camera or smartphone to take clear, well-lit photos. Alternatively, consider hiring a professional photographer or using stock images.
• Tell a story: Share the story behind your brand, products or services to create a personal connection with your audience.
• Showcase your products in action: Post photos and videos of your products being used, demonstrating their benefits and functionality. This helps potential customers visualize themselves using your products.
• Leverage user-generated content: Encourage your customers to share their own photos and experiences with your products. Repost their content on your feed to show appreciation and build trust with your audience.
• Use Instagram Stories: Keep your followers engaged by sharing temporary content on Instagram Stories. Use this feature to share behind-the-scenes moments, special offers or quick updates. (More on Instagram Stories later)
• Incorporate video content: From short video clips to Instagram Reels and IGTV, make use of Instagram’s various video formats to showcase your products and services in a dynamic way.
• Experiment with different content formats: Mix up your feed with a variety of content types, such as carousels, single-image posts and text-based graphics. This keeps your audience interested and encourages them to engage with your content.

Hashtags, engagement and growing your following

To make the most of your small business Instagram marketing efforts, you’ll need to actively engage with your audience and grow your following. Here’s how:

• Use relevant hashtags: Research popular hashtags related to your niche and incorporate them into your posts. This will help increase your content’s visibility and attract new followers.
• Engage with your audience: Respond to comments and messages promptly, and engage with other users’ content by liking and commenting on their posts. This shows your followers that you value their input and helps build relationships.
• Collaborate with influencers: Partner with influencers in your niche to expose your brand to a larger audience. This can take the form of sponsored posts, giveaways or collaborations on content.
• Promote your Instagram account: Share your Instagram handle on your other marketing channels, such as your website, email newsletters and other social media profiles. This helps drive traffic to your Instagram account and encourages cross-platform engagement.
• Run ads: If your budget allows, experiment with Instagram ads to reach a wider audience and boost your account’s growth.

Making the most of Instagram Stories for small business marketing

Instagram Stories is a powerful feature that allows you to share short-lived content with your followers. This content disappears after 24 hours, making it an excellent tool for sharing timely updates, exclusive offers or a behind-the-scenes look at your business.

Here’s how you can use Instagram Stories to boost your small business Instagram marketing efforts:

• Share daily updates: Use Instagram Stories to keep your followers in the loop with daily updates about your business. This could include new product arrivals, special offers, or event announcements.
• Showcase your personality: Instagram Stories is an ideal platform for showcasing the human side of your business. Share candid moments, introduce your team members or share your thoughts on industry news.
• Create interactive content: Instagram Stories offers a variety of interactive features, such as polls, questions and quizzes. Use these tools to engage your audience and gather valuable insights about their preferences and opinions.
• Promote your products and services: Use Instagram Stories to highlight your products and services in action. Share before-and-after photos, quick tutorials or customer testimonials to demonstrate the value of your offerings.
• Offer exclusive deals: Encourage your followers to keep an eye on your Stories by sharing exclusive discounts or promotions. This can help drive sales and create a sense of urgency around your products.
• Leverage Instagram Story Highlights: While Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours, you can save your favorite Stories to your profile as Highlights. Use this feature to create themed collections of your best content, making it easily accessible to new followers.
• Utilize Instagram Story ads: If your budget allows, consider running Instagram Story ads to reach a wider audience and boost your account’s growth. These ads appear between users’ Stories and can be an effective way to promote your products or services.

By incorporating Instagram Stories into your small business Instagram marketing strategy, you can create a more dynamic and engaging experience for your followers. This, in turn, can help you build stronger connections with your audience and drive more traffic and sales for your business.

Analyzing your results and adjusting your strategy

To ensure the success of your small business Instagram marketing efforts, it’s essential to analyze your results and make adjustments as needed. Here’s what to consider:

Monitor your key performance indicators (KPIs)

Track metrics such as likes, comments, shares, and follows to gauge your content’s performance. Use Instagram’s built-in analytics tools to access this data.

Review your content

Periodically assess your content to determine what’s working and what’s not. Identify the types of posts that generate the most engagement and focus on creating more of that content.

Adjust your strategy

Based on your analysis, make changes to your Instagram marketing strategy. This could include updating your content plan, posting schedule or engagement tactics.

Test new ideas

Keep an eye on Instagram trends and features, and don’t be afraid to experiment with new content formats or strategies.

By following these steps and staying committed to your small business Instagram marketing strategy, you’ll be well on your way to building a strong, engaged audience and boosting your brand’s visibility.

With a little creativity and consistency, you can harness the power of Instagram to grow your small business and achieve your marketing goals.

Learn how Marketing 360® can help you make the most of Instagram marketing for your small business, and s ee our plans and pricing.

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How to Use Instagram for Business and Drive Results in 2024

Everything you need to know about using Instagram for business — from setting up your account to creating a winning strategy.

Table of Contents

Is your business still “like”-ing the idea of using Instagram, rather than confidently sliding into the DMs of the platform’s full potential? It’s high time to stop scrolling and start strategizing.

If you’re wondering how to use Instagram for business in 2024 , we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we’ll share the top strategies to help your brand thrive on the ever-evolving platform.

Bonus: Claim your free pack of 15 creative Instagram post templates made by Hootsuite’s professional graphic designers. Easily customize them in Canva, and start getting more engagement today.

How to set up Instagram for business in 4 steps

Using Instagram for business is a bit different than using a personal account. But don’t worry, it’s not rocket science! Follow these 4 simple steps to get your brand up and running on Instagram.

1. Switch to an Instagram business account

Before you start using Instagram for business, you need to create an Instagram account for business. It’s free and anyone can do it.

Here’s how to switch your existing Instagram account to a business account:

• From your profile, tap the hamburger (three lines) menu icon in the upper-right corner.
• Tap Settings and privacy . Then, scroll down until you see the Account type and tools menu.
• Next, click Switch to a professional account to change the account you’re logged into into an Instagram business account.
• Tap Continue (you may need to tap it multiple times as Instagram previews the available features of a professional account).
• Select a Category and use the slider to choose whether to show it on your profile, then tap Done .
• Choose Business (unless it makes sense for you to choose Creator ), and tap Next .
• Use the slider to opt in or out of promotional emails from Instagram for professional accounts, then tap Next .
• Add or edit relevant contact details, then use the slider to choose whether to show your contact information on your profile, then tap Next (or tap Don’t use my contact info to skip this step).
• If you plan to connect your Instagram business account with a Facebook business page, follow the prompts to connect your account to your Facebook Page. This is technically optional, but it’s necessary in order to use Instagram shopping features or run ads on Instagram .
• Next, you’ll be prompted to add additional features to your account, like telling Instagram your goals, adding details to your portfolio, and growing your audience. If you want to save this for later, tap the X in the top left corner to close this window and return to your profile.

If you’re interested in making an Instagram account for business simply sign up for a new Instagram account , and convert it to an Instagram business account.

You can have up to five Instagram accounts , so go ahead and keep your personal Instagram account personal if that’s what you prefer. Learn more about the difference between Instagram business and creator accounts .

2. Add business information to your bio

In 150 characters or less, your Instagram bio should describe your brand and showcase your brand voice . We’ve got a full guide to creating an effective Instagram bio for business (complete with templates), but here’s a quick video to walk you through the basics:

Also be sure to make the most of the other components of your Instagram business profile:

• Profile pic: Most brands use their logo. Your profile photo displays as 110 x 110 pixels (cropped to a circle), but it’s stored at 320 x 320, so that’s the size you should upload.
• Link in bio: Link to your website, your latest blog post, a current campaign or a Link Tree .
• Contact information: If you didn’t add contact info during your account creation, you can do so at any time by tapping Edit profile . Instagram will then add a Contact button to your profile.
• Action buttons: If relevant, you can add a button that allows customers to book or reserve appointments or to order food. To use this feature, you need an account with one of Instagram’s partners . Tap Edit profile , then scroll down to Action Buttons.
• Story highlights and covers: Instagram Story highlights are another way to maximize your profile real estate by providing more information about your brand, products, or services. Organize Stories into saved collections, then add some polish with Highlight covers.

Create. Schedule. Publish. Engage. Measure. Win.

3. Connect your product catalog

To tag products in Instagram content, or to run certain kinds of Instagram ads, you need to create a product catalog. You can do this in Meta’s Commerce Manager.

• Head to Commerce Manager and click Start Now , then select Create a catalog and click Get started again.
• Select Ecommerce , then click Next.
• If you have a shop on an ecommerce platform like Shopify or BigCommerce, click Connect to an ecommerce platform and follow the prompts to create your catalog. Otherwise, click Upload product info , name your catalog and click Next.
• Click View catalog to open your catalog, then Add items to start adding products.

We’ve got a whole post on using Commerce Manager if you’d like more details on how this tool works.

4. Turn on Instagram shopping

Once your catalog is full of products, it’s time to turn on Instagram’s shopping features.

• Go to the Get started page.
• Select Get started .’
• Click Create a shop , then Get started , then Next.
• Review the pre-selected sales channels and add or subtract accounts as needed.
• Choose the account/sales channel you want to connect your shop to. If you’re already selling on Shopify or another partner platform, change your Checkout method to reflect this . When everything is set up, click Next.
• Next, choose the countries you want to ship your products to. Note that Instagram Shopping is not available everywhere. You can choose from available countries in the drop-down menu.
• Add in your business email . This is where you’ll get any communication about your Instagram Shop.
• Select your business portfolio or create a new one. Click Next .
• Select the catalog you want to use for your shop and click Next . To select a catalog, it must meet catalog eligibility requirements for shops. You can’t switch this catalog later. Note: If you don’t have a catalog already, you won’t see this step.
• Look over your shop details, review and agree to the Seller Agreement and click Finish setup to complete creating your shop.

We’ve got a full blog post explaining everything you need to know about Instagram Shopping if you want to focus on this particular aspect of using Instagram for business.

How to use Instagram for business: 8 strategies

Standing out as a business on Instagram can be, well, tough. Use these Instagram for business tips to make it easier.

1. Research your audience

A good social media strategy starts with a sound understanding of your audience.

Instagram’s audience demographics give you an overall picture of who uses the platform. For example, 18-34-year-olds represent the largest ad audience on the site.

However, that doesn’t mean your specific audience on Instagram will be made up of 18-to-34-year-olds. For example, looking at the audience insights for my own Instagram account, I can see that my audience skews older than the Instagram average:

You can find demographic information on your existing audience using Instagram Insights , Meta Business Suite , or Hootsuite Analytics . But, if you’re just getting started using Instagram for business, you might not have a large enough following to gain meaningful insights here yet.

In that case, take a look at the demographics of your audience on other social channels and of your existing customer base. While this won’t translate exactly to Instagram, it should give you a sense of who’s interested in your business and what you have to say.

Understanding your audience puts you in a better position to create targeted content and business captions for Instagram that resonate. Since audience research is an important foundation for your content strategy, we’ve got a whole post dedicated to helping you find your target market .

2. Figure out your content mix

Now that you know who your audience is, you need to determine what to share with them. Rather than posting random content whenever the mood strikes, you need to develop a content strategy that speaks to your audience and keeps them engaged, all while contributing to real business goals .

While you should certainly post some promotional content to get people excited about your products and drive sales, you also need to provide content that builds community and sparks engagement.

That might mean including user-generated content or other curated resources , sharing insider expertise about your industry, or joining in on a trending meme. (But tread carefully here—only join in on trends that are appropriate for your brand voice.)

i am wearing a disguise pic.twitter.com/HlWFQb8P22 — no name (@nonamebrands) October 31, 2022

Look for opportunities to develop themes or regular installments that you can build into a series. “Content buckets” allow you to check certain boxes without having to overthink creation. The more planning you do upfront, the better you’ll be able to produce regular content and respond to last-minute or unplanned events.

3. Schedule your content in advance

From Reels to Stories to posts, there are many options when it comes to Instagram content.

The best way to create a unified strategy is to schedule your content across all Instagram surfaces (and other social platforms) using a content calendar . Or, take it up a level and schedule all your content to publish automatically at the right time using a tool like the Hootsuite Publisher . Yes, you can even schedule Stories and Reels in advance.

The added advantage here is that you can create your content in dedicated blocks of time and schedule it to post at the best time for your audience . Even if that time is outside business hours, on the weekend, or in the middle of the night.

4. Tag products

When you share content about your products on Instagram, tagging makes it much easier for people to learn more or buy. You can tag up to 20 products in a photo feed post.

Source: Tory Burch

To tag products, create your Instagram post or Reel as usual. Then, on the final screen before posting, tap Tag products . You can tag products from your own shop or someone else’s, which creates great opportunities for collaboration and cross-promotion.

In Stories, you can tag products using the Product link sticker.

Source: Pat McGrath

5. Track your results (and learn from wins and losses)

With an Instagram for business account, you have access to the platform’s built-in analytics tools to help you understand how well different types of content perform.

There are several other analytics tools available, including Hootsuite’s , that can track longer time frames, automate reporting and make it easier to compare Instagram metrics across other social media platforms.

No matter which social media marketing tools you use, the important thing is to check in regularly to learn what kind of content resonates best with your target audience. You’ll start to see patterns about what generates the most engagement, as well as what kinds of social media content increase views beyond your existing follower base. ( Hint: Try Instagram Reels .)

Use these lessons to hone your content strategy over time.

6. Treat Instagram as a customer service channel

Success on Instagram requires you to engage with your followers rather than just blast content out and hope someone likes it. One important component of this two-way communication is monitoring your DMs for questions, comments, and customer service requests.

Instagram business accounts have access to a couple of DM features that make managing customer service easier on the platform. First, your inbox is divided into Primary and General tabs to make it easier to keep track of your messages. And second, you can create saved replies to commonly asked questions that you can access via keyboard shortcuts.

Hootsuite Inbox makes it even easier to manage your DMs by allowing you to assign messages to the appropriate team members . Or, create templated replies to common questions to save your team time and effort.

Manage all your messages stress-free with easy routing, saved replies, and friendly chatbots. Try Hootsuite’s Inbox today.

7. Automate content creation

The average Instagram business account posts 1.55 times per day on the main feed.

That’s a lot of content!

Luckily, manual content creation is now a thing of the past. These days, it’s easy to speed up content creation processes like copywriting and graphic design with the help of generative AI tools .

OwlyWriter AI is Hootsuite’s latest generative AI tool, free to all Hootsuite users. Use OwlyWriter to generate quick social media captions , and get inspiration for your posts across platforms.

You can also leverage outside tools like ChatGPT, Dall-E, Midjourney, and more. But, because OwlyWriter is oh-so convenient in your Hootsuite dashboard, we recommend starting there. Check out our blog on the best AI content creation tools here .

Always remember, content generated by AI should always be seen as a starting point, not a finished product . Be sure to check over any AI generated content for accuracy, brand voice, style, and tone before posting.

OwlyWriter AI instantly generates captions and content ideas for every social media network. It’s seriously easy.

8. Elevate your grid aesthetics

Looking to make your Instagram grid stand out from the crowd? With Hootsuite’s Instagram Grid integration , you can make a totally aesthetic Instagram grid in just a few clicks.

Here’s how it works:

• Seamless planning: Planning your grid layout has never been easier. With Instagram Grid, you can visualize how your posts will look together , ensuring a cohesive and visually appealing grid.
• Drag-and-drop simplicity: Want to rearrange your grid? No problem. With easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality , you can experiment with different layouts until you find the perfect arrangement.
• Scheduled posts: Say goodbye to last-minute scrambling. With Hootsuite, you can schedule your grid posts in advance , ensuring that your grid remains active and engaging even when you’re busy.
• Curate like a pro: Discover and curate high-quality content right from the Hootsuite dashboard. Whether it’s user-generated content, AI hashtag suggestions , or trending topics, we’ve got the tools you need to keep your grid fresh and relevant.
• Track your success: With Hootsuite’s analytics dashboard, you can track engagement metrics and understand what resonates with your audience. Use these insights to refine your grid strategy and drive even more engagement.

FAQs about using Instagram for business

Is instagram for business free.

It’s free to set up an Instagram business account, promote your business, and even set up an Instagram shop.

The only fees for Instagram business accounts are ad costs if you choose to run Instagram ads , and selling fees if you use Commerce Manager to allow your customers to check out and complete their purchase within the Meta platform.

There is also no fee to use Instagram Shopping to tag products and direct users to your website to buy them.

What is the difference between personal and business Instagram?

The difference between personal and business Instagram accounts is pretty straightforward. Personal accounts are great for sharing your daily life and connecting with friends and family. But, if you’re running a business or want to promote or sell a product, a business account on Instagram offers tools like analytics, shopping, and advertising to help you reach your goals.

What is the best time to post on Instagram for business?

The best time to post on Instagram for your business depends on who you’re trying to reach and what you’re sharing. Mornings generally bring the most engagement for brand accounts, though certain industries, like real estate, retail, or entertainment accounts, may see more success posting in the evening.

Check out our comprehensive guide on the best times to post on every social network to learn more.

How does Instagram work for business?

By switching your personal profile to a business account, you unlock a treasure trove of tools to boost your business. Get free access to features like Instagram Insights, which lets you peek into who’s engaging with your business on Instagram, or Commerce Manager, which lets you tag and sell products directly on Instagram. It’s like having your own personal business assistant right at your fingertips!

What are the disadvantages of using Instagram for business?

While business Instagram accounts are a great way to sell products and be seen, there are a few drawbacks to consider.

First, increased competition among businesses on the platform can make it tough to secure organic reach. Second, managing a business account requires consistent effort, and eventually you may want to consider hiring a social media manager . Third, unlike personal accounts, where updates are more flexible, business profiles carry the weight of reputation and customer perception. Be sure to read up on managing social media crises before you get started.

Save time managing Instagram for business using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard, you can schedule and publish posts, carousels, Stories, Reels, and ads directly to Instagram — and engage your audience, measure performance, and handle all your other social media profiles. Try it free today.

Easily create, analyze, and schedule Instagram posts, Stories, Reels, and Threads with Hootsuite. Save time and get results.

Become a better social marketer.

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Hannah Macready is a freelance writer with 12 years of experience in social media and digital marketing. Her work has appeared in publications such as Fast Company and The Globe & Mail, and has been used in global social media campaigns for brands like Grosvenor Americas and Intuit Mailchimp. In her spare time, Hannah likes exploring the outdoors with her two dogs, Soup and Salad.

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Instagram Marketing: The Ultimate Small Business Guide for 2024

Videos and photos have changed the way businesses market. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and other popular social networks have created new opportunities for businesses to reach their target audience.

Although many businesses have experimented with Twitter and Facebook, fewer have developed a strong presence on Instagram and TikTok.

We recently published the ultimate small business guide to marketing on TikTok . Read that guide if your business can produce videos and targets a younger audience.

But if you want a mix of videos, photos, and stories, Instagram may be the better choice for your business . In fact, 71% of US businesses use Instagram.

Over the past fifteen years, our team has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and small businesses build their visual brands on Instagram. We’ve frequently discussed Instagram strategies at webinars and conference talks and regularly help early-stage companies develop visual strategies for social networks like Instagram. This guide shares the actionable insights, tips, best practices, and expertise we’ve developed after helping over one hundred thousand brands.

Here’s everything you need to know to execute your brand strategy and market on Instagram.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is one of the largest social networks worldwide, with over 1 billion active monthly users .

It’s a place where people can be creative and connect. People share videos, photos, and stories on Instagram. And, because of its extensive reach, it offers opportunities for businesses to market their products and services in a friendly, authentic way without engaging in hard selling tactics.

Instagram can help your business grow brand awareness and introduce new products and services. According to Instagram, 130 million accounts engage with shopping content every month.

How does Instagram work?

Instagram is known for in-app photo editing tools, hashtags, and Stories – short videos you can post on your profile that last 24 hours.

Instagram continues to innovate and has added Instagram Reels (short-form videos similar to videos on TikTok) and Instagram MarketPlace (where businesses market). If you want your business to succeed on this platform, you must take advantage of these features.

Why Market on Instagram?

Instagram offers visually rich marketing opportunities and lets you share stories and videos. If your products or services show nicely through photos or videos, Instagram is the best platform to showcase those products or services.

Types of Instagram accounts

Instagram has three types of accounts. We’ve listed the pros and cons of each account type to help you pick one that works best for your business.

Personal Account. This is a basic account and is not appropriate for businesses or creators.

• It contains all basic features such as Instagram Stories, posting on Feed, Reels, and IGTV
• It can be public or private
• Can be verified
• Can link to a website page or bio
• No advanced features, such as insights or analytics
• No contact information
• Can’t monetize

Creator Account. This is a professional account fit for content creators and public figures looking to promote original content or work with other brands.

• Contains all features of a personal account
• You can add links to Instagram Stories if the account is verified or you have 10,000+ followers
• Access to Creator Studio on a desktop computer
• Access to branded content tools
• Creator-specific insights and analytics
• Direct message filters and quick replies to connect with fans/brands better
• Ability to manage and create promotions
• Ability to choose creator category
• You can set up a profile to look like a personal account or a professional account with contact details
• Allows only one Facebook Page link
• It can’t be private

Business Account. This professional account is tailor-made for businesses and has more advanced features than a creator account. This is the account you should pick for your business.

• Business and contact details
• Ability to run ads
• Ability to choose a business category
• Direct message filters and quick replies to connect with customers better
• Ability to manage branded content and promotions
• Access to advanced business features such as insights and analytics
• Access to Instagram Shopping (allows you to tag products in your posts)
• Access to video chats in direct messages

You can easily switch among account types by clicking “Edit Profile” on your profile and tapping the “Switch to Professional Account” option.

Now that you know which type of account is appropriate for your business, let’s get started.

How to start an Instagram for business:

• Download Instagram on your phone
• Create an account using a business email address
• Set up a business profile and username
• Connect to your Facebook friends and contacts
• Choose an appropriate profile photo
• Complete your business profile
• Explore “Try Instagram for Business Tools”
• Link to your business Facebook page
• Start posting

1. Download Instagram on your phone

You can only post on Instagram through your smartphone. So, go ahead and download the application. It’s available in iOS and Android formats from each platform’s app store.

2. Create an account using a business email address

Instagram allows you to use your Facebook account to register. But we don’t suggest doing so.

Set up an email address specifically for your business as it’s more appropriate and saves you the hassle of sorting through updates and emails on your personal email account.

Using your work email address, your contacts can still find you using Instagram’s “Find Friends” feature.

3. Setup a business profile and username

The next step is to create an appropriate username and password for your account.

Ensure that the username of your business account is the company’s name (or something reasonably close). After all, you want people to quickly identify and find your business on Instagram, and your company’s brand identity must remain consistent across social channels.

Instagram automatically generates a username for you, depending on the name you input on your profile. You can easily change that username and pick something custom.

4. Connect to your Facebook friends and contacts

When you finish setting up your business profile, Instagram lets you connect to your Facebook friends and contacts.

This option allows you to reach people immediately. You can also opt to do this after you’ve created your profile.

It’s best to have a completed profile before connecting with people.

5. Choose an appropriate profile photo

Your profile photo is the face of your Instagram account. A business account must choose the correct profile photo.

Your profile picture should be a company logo or something closely related to your brand. If you’re the face of the brand, use a professional-quality headshot.

You can do this by clicking “Add a photo” on your profile. You will then be given options on where to import your photos.

If you need to edit your profile photo (or other images), use an online photo editor to create the perfect image.

6. Complete your business profile

Make sure people can easily contact your business.

Fill out your bio with a short business description and provide the correct contact information.

Your business profile is the only place to put your website’s link; it is the first thing people see.

Giving people easy access to your contact information will make transactions more accessible and help boost customer satisfaction.

7. Explore “Try Instagram for Business Tools “

Your business profile has a “Try Instagram for Business Tools” option. Play around and familiarize yourself with these features, as they are necessary to run a successful Instagram business account.

Here’s a short demonstration from Instagram on how to get started with these tools.

8. Link your business’s Facebook page

Many small businesses have a Facebook page. If your business doesn’t have one, we recommend creating one, as Instagram will require you to connect your business Facebook page to have full access to Instagram for business tools.

9. Start posting

Now that you’re all set up, you can start creating content.

Your first few photos and stories will set the theme of your account. Post photos and stories that are share-worthy and fit your brand.

It’s best to post one or two photos or stories before you start following and engaging with Instagram users . People are less likely to follow an account with no content. That’s why it’s important to post regularly. You can use various tools like Buffer , Hootsuite , or a Hootsuite alternative to schedule Instagram posts and keep your audience engaged.

Businesses usually start with a photo of their brand logo with a caption introducing their company. This creates a foundation and helps people remember your company.

Instagram marketing strategy tips

You can’t just post photos of your products or services on Instagram and expect to succeed. Nobody wants to hear sales pitches all day, every day. You need engaging content that doesn’t sell anything and occasional marketing content.

Here are eight Instagram marketing tips that will help your brand succeed:

Use the correct hashtags. Although Instagram didn’t invent hashtags , they have turned hashtags into a powerful messaging tool. Hashtags on Instagram offer one of the fastest ways to get your content seen by people. Hashtags also help you leverage the  Instagram Explore Page algorithm to reach your target audience efficiently. Use a hashtag generator to get the best hashtags for your post and ensure the maximum target audience.

Work with influencers. Influencer marketing is significant. Companies leverage influencers to reach bigger audiences for their products and services. People trust influencers because they are relatable. You can leverage these existing relationships to build trust for your brand.

Upload high-quality photos. People love pictures on Instagram. So, uploading high-quality images is a must for people to trust your brand. Among other things, use an image brightener tool to make your photos look more professional. People are less likely to follow and trust a company that uses low-quality pictures because your lack of attention to the quality of your photos can reflect on the quality of your products or services.

Sell on Instagram stories. People like casual content and generally don’t love over-produced content. Instagram Stories offers an opportunity for your business to share everyday content. Stories tend to be viewed more than regular posts on Instagram. This happens because stories are typically less intimidating and more intimate. You can take advantage of this and use stories to share interesting content and occasionally talk about your products or services.

Have a good landing page. Your landing page must be attractive, easy to navigate, and represent your brand consistently. Your profile is the first thing people see and the only place you can link your business website . Make this count by having an excellent Instagram-specific landing page.

Use sponsored ads. You can also grow your Instagram audience and create sponsored ads . Regular posts and Instagram stories will rarely reach your entire audience on Instagram. That’s because Instagram’s algorithm limits that reach. Sponsored ads can help get your content to a bigger audience.

Post product teasers. People are generally curious. You can feed this curiosity by creating teaser posts or stories about an upcoming new product or service. This strategy can help increase engagement and followers on your Instagram page.

Utilize Instagram for business tools. Instagram for business tools can help you market your products or services successfully. Create an Instagram marketing strategy and assess analytics and insights to see whether that strategy is working.

Instagram brand marketing examples

Instagram is at the forefront of social media marketing. Its vast reach and opportunities continue to attract businesses looking to reach a bigger audience on the platform.

Here are examples of successful brands on Instagram to help inspire your marketing strategy on Instagram:

Vans’ Instagram marketing is top-notch due to its high-quality, eye-catching product posts. The brand is known for its amusing product promotions that leave people thinking.

Vans has evolved from a popular skateboarding shoe brand to a casual fashion icon that younger generations sport for style. Vans show that you don’t have to stick to one type of branding forever. Your band should adapt and adjust to the times to thrive and maintain its success.

Wendy’s is more than just a fast-food chain on Instagram. The company takes food visuals to the next level.

Wendy’s successful Instagram marketing is centered around high-quality and interesting content editing . The company has made its Instagram account into a food art gallery.

So, don’t be shy about elevating and creatively promoting your products or services on Instagram. You should invest time in making your content pop to help attract customers.

Chipotle takes on social media smartly. The company is well-known for its innovative use of memes on social media.

Chipotle’s Instagram focuses less on direct product promotions and more on entertaining its followers and the occasional marketing – the perfect formula for success.

The company shows that humor gets you exposure, relatability, and the audience your business needs. So, don’t be afraid to experiment with humor in your brand marketing strategy .

Instagram is not a simple platform to navigate, especially for newbie small business owners. But with the right marketing strategy, patience, and drive to succeed, it can be a powerful platform to help you build a bigger audience and grow your business.

Don’t be surprised if it takes you time to build your audience. Don’t expect many people to engage with your first few Instagram posts. You must experiment to find the right voice, content, and strategy. Every successful Instagram brand has gone through this process. But if you succeed on Instagram, it’s a worthy investment to help you grow your business.

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50 Instagram Marketing Tips for Small Businesses in 2021

Instagram is a new marketing frontier for small businesses that has the potential to bring in many new customers in 2021 and beyond. As of July 2019, it was ranked #6 among the world’s most popular social networks, with over 1 billion users worldwide. Users love it for its strong visual focus and upbeat vibe.

The key to successfully utilizing Instagram marketing in 2021, as with other social networks, is building an engaged following and positioning yourself as part of the online community which could very quickly become your future customer base. If you are a small business owner finding yourself wondering how to do Instagram marketing, you’re in the right spot! We’ve rounded up 50 of our top Instagram tips for small business owners.

Here are 50 tips to successfully market your small business on Instagram in 2020: 

1. Use a business account

When joining Instagram, you can select whether your account will be a personal account or a business account. The latter is ideal for business because it allows you to view analytics, connect your account with your Facebook page, run paid advertisements, and it makes it easier for followers to contact you. Starting off with a separate business account is crucial towards establishing your brand presence and will allow you to strategize and implement many of our Instagram marketing tips for all small businesses.

Check out this blog for everything you need to know about switching to an Instagram Business Account.

2. Fill in your bio

Instagram gives you 150 characters to tell potential followers everything they need to know about you. Use this space wisely. You can include hashtags in the bio, which can help more people find your profile. Make sure to include a link to your website.

3. Update your bio

As a small business on Instagram, it’s easy to fill in your bio and forget about it. If you haven’t updated your bio for awhile, it’s always good practice to review your Instagram bio and see if there’s any important updates that need to be made.

4. Establish your identity and look

Because Instagram is such a visual platform, the “look” of your profile matters. You want your followers to immediately associate your content with your brand. Using certain color palettes and fonts can help with this, as well as a certain style of image that’s consistent with your message.

5. See what your competitors are doing

Not sure where to start? See what other small and medium businesses like yours are up to on Instagram and draw on their ideas for inspiration. Take note of the kind of content they post, the hashtags they use, their visual language, and so on. You can also check to see how well they’re doing: how many followers do they have? How much  engagement do they get on their posts? This will tell you how well their Instagram marketing strategy is working and give you ideas for things to do and not to do when planning out your own Instagram marketing strategy.

6. Create content pillars

Now that you’ve done your Instagram marketing research, there is one more step before you can begin planning your content. A key Instagram tip for your small business, is to create content pillars. Create a few themes for the types of content you plan to post about as part of your 2020 Instagram marketing strategy as a guide when scheduling your content. 

7. Plan your content

Once you’ve created your content pillars, it’s time to decide what content you want to post and to be strategic about it: plan what you’re going to post at least on a weekly basis, if not for several weeks at a time. 

8. Use hashtags strategically

Hashtags are one of Instagram’s most important features for businesses. They make it possible for people who don’t follow you to discover your content. Research has shown that using 7 or 30 hashtags per post performs best, but that it varies depending on how many followers you have. Instagram recently added a feature allowing you to see how many people found your post through the hashtags. This can help you measure how effective your hashtags are at generating engagement. Don’t underestimate #hashtag strategy as a really powerful Instagram marketing tip for small businesses! Check out this blog for 7 quick tips to building an Instagram hashtag strategy.

9. Put hashtags in the comments section

Now that you know one of our top Instagram tips for a small business is to use hashtags strategically, there is one more tip you should test out. In order to keep your Instagram captions clean and easy to read, we recommend placing all of your hashtags as the first comment immediately after posting.

Here’s a post from @ boosted_social that has the relevant hashtags placed in the first comment:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Boosted (@boosted_social)

10. Test out new hashtags frequently

Last but not least, we can’t talk about the importance of including hashtags without sharing how important it is to test out new hashtags frequently. Create several lists of hashtags you like to use and periodically test out using different hashtags. Be sure to keep note of which posts and hashtags perform best to get the most out of this Instagram tip!

11. Use line breaks in long Instagram captions

If you have a long Instagram caption you need to use line breaks to make it easier for your customers to read the caption. If your small business has been using Instagram for a long time already, you might already know that inserting spaces in the Instagram app can actually be really difficult. The easiest way to create line breaks in your Instagram captions is by using symbols between the lines.

12. Embrace Instagram Stories

The Stories feature on Instagram has been making a huge splash and can definitely help a small business Instagram page. Stories appear at the top of followers’ feeds, which makes them stand out — and they’re a lot more dynamic than regular feed posts, with tons of cool features. You can post multiple Stories a day without cluttering up your followers’ feeds. Stories should be an integral part of your Instagram marketing strategy.

Check out this post for more insights on Instagram Stories.

13. Use video

Instagram isn’t just for stills! Videos are more engaging and fun, and you have multiple ways to post them on Instagram. Clips of up to 1 minute can be shared on the feed, 15-second clips can be strung together on Stories, and there’s even IGTV, the new feature that allows you to post videos of up to 10 minutes in length. Check out this blog for tips on how to create video content for Instagram, even if you’re just getting started.

You can also try out Boosted to create videos for Instagram – fast! Here’s a Father’s Day template from the app that you could customize for your brand:

14. Don’t be shy about direct messages

Direct messaging is more intimate than public discussion and may be considered more invasive. However, there are cases where it’s appropriate and can help your small business market on Instagram by building better relationships with your customers. For example, if someone writes a post or comment praising your business, sending a DM to thank them is a nice personal gesture. On the flip side, if someone says something negative or posts a negative review, moving the conversation to DM helps keep it out of the public eye and shows the customer that you’re taking their concerns seriously. Learn more about how to use Instagram direct messages here .

15. Actively engage with other users’ content

If you really want a strong presence on Instagram in 2021, you need to do more than simply post your own content. Interacting with other people’s posts and comments shows you are sincerely interested in your and not just trying to get their business.

16. Respond to comments

One of the most important tips for a small business learning how to do Instagram marketing is to always respond to comments. Don’t make the mistake of simply posting and forgetting about your post. Be sure to always respond to comments on your posts – your customers will appreciate the response and it shows that you care.

17. Engage actively

An Instagram business tip that is important for companies and influencers of all sizes is to actively engage with other Instagram accounts. Follow interesting accounts, like and comment on other people’s posts. The more they see you in their notifications, the more often they will think of you. And the more your customers are thinking of you, the more your small business will grow on and off of Instagram.

18. Encourage engagement with questions

The next level of engagement is posting content that encourages your followers to engage. For example, ask your followers to answer a question about themselves, or to tag another user who they think needs to see your message.

19. Use Stories to post interactive content

On Stories, you can do even more with this: use the emoji slider, quizzes, questions, and chats to get your followers actively interacting with your content. It’s always been important to create engaging content but with the rise of popularity of Stories, it is more important than ever to use stories to post interactive content as part of your 2021 Instagram marketing strategy.

Check out this blog to discover 3 things that might be negatively impacting your Story engagement – as well as how to fix each one.

20. Add calls to action wherever you can

This next tip isn’t only a great Instagram marketing tip for a small business, it’s also an important sales tip. It’s key to make it as easy as possible for your followers to move to the next stage of the sales funnel. Be straightforward and tell them what you’d like them to do next, such as clicking the link in your bio to learn more.

21. Post at peak times

Posting your content at times of highest traffic means you’re likely to get more engagement and interest. How do you know when is the best time to post? It varies, according to the nuances of your specific audience, and the best way to know the ideal time to post is to experiment and see what works best. Sprout Social conducted an experiment like this and found that the best times to post on Instagram were on Wednesdays at 11 a.m. and Friday between 10–11 a.m.

22. Collaborate with influencers and small businesses

When you collaborate with other businesses and influencers on social media, everybody wins. Having another Instagrammer review your product, run a competition with you, take over your account, or work with you to create joint content exposes you to a wider audience and can be lots of fun to launch!

23. Use paid ads

Even with all the above efforts, it can be a challenge for small businesses to reach new audiences organically on Instagram. A little paid advertising can go a long way. Instagram ads allow you to target very specific audiences, increasing your exposure to the people most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. This generates excellent conversion rates and often proves a good investment.

24. Craft unique content for Instagram

It makes life a lot easier to reuse the same content across all social networks, but this will get boring for people who follow you on multiple platforms. Furthermore, if they engage with that content on Twitter or Facebook, they probably won’t engage with the same thing on Instagram. You can still reuse content, but change it up a little: add a unique caption or alter the image a bit. And every so often, try to post something that’s exclusive to Instagram.

Instagram Story templates are a great way to create content that’s unique for IG – here’s everything you need to know about them.

25. Repost content with proper credit

While it’s great to create unique, high-quality content yourself for Instagram, as a small business you might not always have time to create content just for Instagram. A great Instagram marketing tip for small businesses especially is to repost content you like from other accounts, with proper credit of course. This not only helps solve the dilemma of what to post but this always helps you get on the original creator’s radar and they will appreciate the shout-out. Who knows, they might even repost your Instagram post and give your small business a shout-out too!

26. Offer exclusive discounts to Instagram followers

Nothing will make potential clients want to follow your Instagram account more than exclusive offers and discounts. Not only are unique offers likely to bring in new followers, they will also entice loyal followers from other platforms to follow you on Instagram, too — and that’s good news for your profile, because loyal followers who are already familiar with your brand are more likely to engage with your content.

27. Focus some of your content on your location

Especially if your business depends on a local market, put yourself on the map! Post photos of your daily life, your engagement with the local community, and recognizable local landmarks — and be sure to include some local hashtags. This will strengthen your brand image as a contributor to your immediate area. Check out this blog for Instagram marketing tips on how to reach local customers on Instagram as a small business.

28. Geotag your posts

Another powerful way to increase your Instagram small business’s connection with the local area is to tag your location in your feed posts and Stories. Geotagging will ensure that your content shows up in the results when people are searching for content from your area. To geotag a feed post, add your location on the caption editor page; to geotag a Story, use the location sticker.

29. Find potential customers by their location

Not only should you be geo-tagging your own content, but you should be finding potential customers through geo-tagged locations. Look up posts tagged in your city, tags for local businesses nearby or similar to yours and engage with those posts. Interact with content by location to strategically build Instagram follow base and find people who are most likely to become a future customer.

30. Up your photography game

The higher-quality your images are, the more professional your Instagram profile will look… and you don’t need to be a professional photographer to produce captivating images. Most smartphones have excellent cameras — and with just a little basic photography know-how, you can make your photos look amazing. Do a little research or consider taking a class to learn about the basics: lighting, composition, and so on. It’ll make a big difference. Another thing that will take your images up a level is learning to use a photo editor. You can use the native filters and editing capabilities on Instagram, or you can try your hand with something a little more sophisticated, like Photofox. Check out this Instagram Story Dimensions & Resolution Guide to ensure that all of the photos you add to your Stories are a perfect fit for your Instagram business page.

31. Craft compelling copy

Engaging copy in your photo captions and bio is no less important than high-quality images. If nothing else, double (and triple!) check your text before posting to ensure that you don’t have any embarrassing typos or grammar mistakes.

32. Use Highlights

The Highlights feature allows you to select collections of Stories to display right on your profile page. They’re a great way to showcase what your business is all about, and to get more mileage on the excellent content you produce for your Stories.

33. Announce new posts in your Stories

While we are talking about ways to use Stories to market your small business on Instagram, don’t forget to alway announce a new post on your Instagram feed in your Stories. Some of your customers might watch all of your Stories but may not see all of your Instagram posts in their feed. By sharing a new post on your Instagram Story, it’s an easy Instagram marketing tip for a small business to increase engagement on a post. Learn how to share a post from feed to your Instagram Story here .

34. Give shout-outs

While we are on the topic of shout-outs, one of our favorite and unique Instagram marketing tips for a small business to test out in 2021 is giving shout-outs to fellow small businesses. When you give a shout-out on Instagram it’s key to properly tag the accounts. Learn how to tag a small business on Instagram here .

35. Post about current events

Maybe one of the top Instagram marketing tips for 2021 is to post about current events. Traditionally, brands might have decided to not ‘get political’ but now it’s key to take a stance and post about current events as part of your 2021 Instagram marketing strategy – whether you are a big brand or a small business.

36. Keep an eye out for trends

This is another point where staying engaged with your followers and watching competitors and influencers comes in handy: there are trends in social media, and staying on top of them will keep your brand hot and relevant. Whether it’s a certain meme, a hashtag campaign, or specific types of content, adding your brand’s voice to the conversation can do a lot for your small business.

37. Organize a giveaway

Yes, giveaways are still a great Instagram marketing tip in 2021! Giveaways are a tried-and-true method of growing your following and increasing engagement. You can offer a free product, service, or coupon to be selected at random from users who follow your instructions. Asking them to tag a friend to enter the contest will help increase your exposure.

38. Monitor your following and keep tabs on your small business analytics

For small businesses just learning how to do Instagram marketing, you might not know where to start when looking at your small business’ Instagram analytics. To start, Instagram provides insights on your stats in the Insights page for Instagram business profiles — and you can learn a lot from watching them methodically. It will help you see what strategies are most effective: what kind of content creates the most engagement, optimal timing for posting new content, and lots more.

39. Follow new accounts

We already touched on following new Instagram accounts and engaging with them but this Instagram marketing tip deserves a bit more detailed explanation of why your small business should incorporate this Instagram growth tip as part of your marketing strategy going forward. Following new accounts helps you connect with more potential customers and puts you on the radar – often times people will follow you back right away and if not, they might follow you back after you like and comment on their content regularly.

40. Periodically unfollow accounts

And while we are talking about why you should follow new accounts, it’s also important for your small business to unfollow Instagram accounts periodically. This doesn’t need to be part of your small business marketing strategy everyday but this is something that you should do on a monthly basis. Go through your followers and unfollow any accounts that you do not engage with on a regular basis. In 2021, Instagram released a new feature called ‘ least interacted with ’ which makes this Instagram marketing tip extremely easy to do!

41. Use Instagram ‘save’ feature to save content you love

Did you know you can save content on Instagram similar to Pinterest? Use the Instagram ‘save’ feature to save content that you love, either as inspiration or content that you would like to repost eventually. Learn everything you need to know about Instagram Saves here .

42. Ask people to save your content for algorithm boost

One interesting 2021 Instagram marketing tip is to encourage your followers to save your content. It’s been said that content that has been saved is viewed as more valuable to the Instagram algorithm. So one way to give your small business a marketing boost on Instagram in 2021 is to ask your followers to save your content. Even better if you turn this into a giveaway!

43. Feature your Instagram account on your website

Is your small business already doing this super easy Instagram marketing tip? If not, be sure to make it easy for your customers to find your Instagram account on your website. This is a super simple Instagram marketing tip for small businesses to grow their Instagram followers.

44. Post important updates often

One reason people choose to follow a small business on Instagram is to get regular updates about your business. For example, have you changed your store hours? Are you hosting a sale? These are all things your customers need to know and it’s important to post about these updates when you are posting about your small business on Instagram.

45. Give sneak peeks

One of the easiest Instagram tips for a small business to market their products is to give their Instagram followers a sneak peek. Whether it’s an exclusive sneak peek of a new product or a tour of your work space, your followers will enjoy seeing a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your company and they will have another reason to keep following you.

46. Post consistently

For anyone just learning how to do Instagram marketing, our number one Instagram marketing tip in 2021 is to post consistently. Posting regularly and consistently helps keep your followers engaged and ensures your content will continue to show up in your customer’s Instagram feeds.

47. Dedicate a set time for social media every day

A great way to ensure your small business is able to keep up with your 2021 Instagram marketing plan is to set aside a dedicated time each day to work on social media. Whether you use this time to post on Instagram, respond to comments or create content for your small business to post on Instagram, it will be easier to post consistently if it’s part of your daily schedule.

48. Interact with stories

It’s very easy to respond with quick emojis to others Instagram stories. Easy way to interact frequently and stay top of mind with your customers. This lets them know you are watching their stories and you care about what they post.

49. Build relationships with influencers

As a small business you might not have the budget to pay for influencers as part of your 2021 Instagram marketing but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t build relationships with them. Find local influencers and engage with their content frequently. After you’ve built a relationship with them through their comment section, DMs and stories you could ask them if it would be okay to send them a free sample.

50. Have fun!

And last but not least, don’t forget to have fun with it! Yes, there can be a lot of work involved when utilizing Instagram to market your small business but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to have fun while doing it! If you aren’t having fun posting about your small business on Instagram anymore, maybe you can try to change up your schedule to still post consistently but less often. Or maybe it’s time to hire someone to help out with some of the social media marketing tasks so you can only focus on the Instagram marketing strategies that you do enjoy.

Check out some advanced Instagram marketing strategies & tips for small businesses:

• 9 Common Instagram Caption Mistakes That Tank Engagement : If you’re a small biz struggling to meet your engagement goals on IG, captions just might be the culprit. Learn about 9 caption mistakes that may be preventing your posts from reaching their full engagement potential.
• Why You Should Leave Your Instagram Comment Pods ASAP : If you’re a small biz using an IG Comment Pod in order to increase engagement – learn why this strategy is likely doing you more harm than good.
• 3 Easy Ways to Create Video Content for Instagram — Even If You Know Nothing About Video: Discover  3 super simple ways to get started making video content for IG – regardless of your experience level.
• 4 Ways to Get More Engagement on Your Instagram Stories — Today : Small business owners can learn some ways to increase true, organic engagement with their IG pages via Stories.
• 3 Ways to Measure Your Brand’s ROI on Instagram : Small businesses have to stretch a dollar in order to succeed on social media – this guide will show SMB owners who to measure their Instagram ROI to ensure they are getting full value.
• 7 Quick Tips to Build an Instagram Hashtag Strategy : Instagram hashtags are arguably more important to biz owners than casual users. Learn some IG hashtag tips to help build your IG business page.
• 4 Instagram Story Features You Aren’t Using — But Should Be : Thought you knew everything about IG Stories? Here are 4 features which can definitely help.
• 3 Things Killing Your Instagram Story Engagement and How to Fix Them : Is your IG Story performance currently subpar? If you have higher expectations for your IG Stories, read this guide to see 3 likely issues, and how you can fix them.
• How to Reach Customers on Instagram When You’re a Local Business : Local business owners definitely can utilize Instagram to garner new business, read how in our new customer local business IG guide.

Back to the basics: Quick Instagram intro guides & tips for small business owners

• When is the Best Time to Post Videos on Instagram? Did you know there are certain, ideal times on when you should upload your IG videos? Check out the best times/day to post IG videos!
• Video Format for Instagram: Your Questions Answered: IG videos have their own sizes and dimensions – make sure your business video fits IG specifications.
• Instagram Video Length: How Long Can My Instagram Video Be? There is a magic number for how long your IG video should be; every small business owner wants to know the ideal Instagram video length – check it out here.
• How to View Instagram Stories Without Anyone Knowing : You may want to view an IG Story without anyone knowing. Whether its a competing local business or you just want to remain anonymous, we will show you how.
• Can Users See When You Screenshot Instagram Stories? Many users will screenshot Stories, but who finds out about this? We break down the rules in our guide.
• How to Add Music to Instagram Stories: IG Stories can benefit tremendously from music, especially if it’s a small business promo video .
• How to Add Links to Instagram Stories: Does your business have a website or products to sell? Adding links to Instagram Stories is an underrated IG marketing tip for small business owners.
• How to Delete an Instagram Story : If you uploaded an IG Story by accident, of it is no longer relevant to your business page, make sure you know how to delete it fast.
• How to Tag Someone on Your Instagram Story: Tagging popular users and dedicated fan is an underrated marketing strategy for small business IG pages – learn how to do it here.
• New: Add Multiple Photos to Your Stories with Instagram’s New Layout Feature : Adding more than one photo to your IG Story is now easy to do and a great way to catch the eye of potential new customers for your local business
• Instagram Story Questions: Asking a question on your IG Story is a great way to engage with users and help familiarize them with your business. This post shows you how to ask question on a Story, how to answer them, and more.
• Instagram Story Dimensions & Resolution Guide: Everything from IG Story aspect ratio, dimensions, resolution, and format, as well as adjusting dimensions and converting files – this technical guide for your IG Story formatting will help ensure that your IG business page shines through on a professional level!
• Instagram Story Games: A Guide: Whether you use Create Mode or game-like Stories, you can now begin to replicate what would be categorized as IG Story games, which could be a big hit with generating more engagement from your brand audience!
• Instagram Story GIFs: A Guide : Adding GIFs to your Instagram Stories is a great way to make your IG business page more fun and engaging – learn how to add GIFs with our simple guide.
• How to Get Verified on Instagram: A Step by Step Guide: Learn how to get that coveted blue check next to your IG account name – and why it’s so important.
• Instagram Polls : The Complete Guide: Learn how to utilize polls to engage your Instagram audience and drive more business via user engagement.
• Instagram Business Categories Guide : Make sure you understand all of the Instagram business categories and the implications of each.

More Social Media Tips

Can users see when you screenshot instagram stories in 2021 and 2022, how to view instagram stories without anyone knowing, 11 instagram content ideas for july 4th, subscribe to our social media tips and get a free instagram checklist for your business., sign up for free to create your first video.

Instagram for Small Business Marketing: 10 Ways to Grow Your Following

• July 22, 2022

Content Writer

If you want to grow your exposure, increase your engagement rate , and ultimately sell more, Instagram is the place to be. Starting small can be challenging and even frustrating when so many influencers and brands have already made a name for themselves on Instagram. 

Instagram for small businesses is a must in today’s world, where most of our interactions happen online and 83% of its users state that the platform helps them research new products.  However, with the right strategy and a consistent posting schedule, you too can turn your local business into a social media success story. 

Stick around to discover the 10 ways to grow your following on Instagram!

Streamline your marketing with an efficient social media strategy template.

Short Summary:

Over 1.21 billion active users make it a valuable platform for small businesses looking to expand their audience and sales.

Consistent, high-quality posts combined with understanding the community’s preferences can elevate a brand’s Instagram business profile.

Leveraging geotags, Instagram Reels, Instagram Story Highlights, and collaborations with influencers can significantly boost follower count and engagement.

Instagram serves as a versatile marketing tool, with opportunities for both organic growth and paid advertisements.

SocialBee facilitates automatic content scheduling across various social platforms, streamlining content management and offering access to your Instagram insights.

Table of Contents

Why should you use instagram as a small business, 1. make sure your content strategy is perfect, 2. start a weekly challenge, 3. geotag your instagram posts, 4. collaborate with other small business instagram accounts.

• 5. Host a Giveaway 

6. Don’t Shy Away from Instagram Reels

7. share multiple instagram stories a day, 8. go live and answer customer questions, 9. keep the interaction flowing, 10. collaborate with influencers, frequently asked questions (faq), take your instagram strategy to the next level.

Instagram is a great place to promote products and services for any business that wants to boost sales and conversions. With over 1.21 billion active users on the platform as of today, Instagram has become a pillar for any small business looking to reach a wider audience. 

Essentially, here are the main benefits of having a small business Instagram account:

• You can expose your business to a larger audience
• You can boost your sales and conversions
• You can build a loyal community of customers

When you display your offerings to your Instagram community, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll automatically see your sales level skyrocket. Building an audience takes time and commitment. You’ll have to start with high-quality content, then increase audience engagement, and only after you’ve managed to drive traffic to your local business like  accounting for small business  you can expect higher conversion rates and sales.

How to Improve Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

Managing an Instagram account for your small business can be challenging, especially since you’re running its day-to-day operations and have other professional and personal responsibilities on top. 

We get it! Your Instagram marketing strategy becomes the last thing on your mind at times.

Still, if you bring your A-game posting schedule for your high-quality content, everything becomes automated in the long run. 

You’ll have to take into account other small business owners and competitors, the preferences of your online community, and some Instagram marketing tips to maximize engagement. 

Other than that, managing your Instagram business profiles is not difficult. 

Here are the 10 ways to grow your following on Instagram:

• Make sure your content strategy is perfect
• Start a weekly challenge
• Geotag your Instagram posts
• Collaborate with other small business Instagram accounts
• Host a giveaway 
• Don’t shy away from Instagram reels
• Share multiple Instagram stories a day
• Go live and answer customer questions
• Keep the interaction flowing
• Collaborate with influencers

Now, let’s explore each strategy in detail and reveal the behind-the-scenes of running a successful Instagram account. Don’t sneak peek or jump to the last point – there’s plenty of useful information in here that could serve your goals in the long run and teach you the main aspects of Instagram marketing! 

Don’t feel pressured, but  your content strategy has to be perfect on Instagram. With so many accounts and Instagram business profiles in place, you’ll need an air-tight strategy to direct your marketing efforts properly and engage with your Instagram audience.  

Here are the main components of a solid Instagram marketing strategy:

• Find your target audience.
• Create a brand voice that resonates with your Instagram community.
• Post consistently to build a valuable Instagram feed.
• Maximize engagement by interacting with your followers and other creators.
• Include relevant hashtags and keywords in your Instagram captions.
• Diversify your content (Instagram Reels, Instagram carousels, IG TV, photos, Instagram highlights, etc.).
• Write a compelling Instagram bio and choose a high-quality profile picture.

With SocialBee, you can create and schedule the right content for multiple social platforms from one intuitive dashboard with plenty of integrated features. Using this app can help you successfully market your business accounts on multiple social platforms at once. Say hello to cross-promotion and various active communication channels!

Create, schedule, share and monitor your Instagram content performance from SocialBee.

Start your 14-day free trial today!

In case you are wondering what else can you do with SocialBee, here are all the features we are offering:

• We support these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Business Profile, TikTok, YouTube, and Bluesky.
• Design your Instagram posts within SocialBee using our Canva, Unsplash, and GIPHY integrations.
• Use our AI Post Generator to create captions and images for your posts.
• Organize your content into categories for a consistent and well-balanced mix.
• Easily connect to any blog’s RSS Feed to automatically pull in content.
• Tailor the posts specifically for each social media platform.
• Generate hashtags automatically from your images or captions.
• Easily recycle long-lasting posts and set expiration for timely content.
• Establish a calendar-based posting routine for all your social profiles.
• View an overview of the next 100 social media posts you have lined up.
• Benefit from the feature of having several workspaces and team collaboration tools.
• Schedule Instagram posts in a matter of clicks.
• Monitor the performance of your links with integrations from over 5 URL shorteners.
• Review and analyze the growth of your profiles and the effectiveness of individual posts by analyzing your Instagram statistics.
• Directly engage with comments or mentions from your followers on SocialBee.

SocialBee: Your AI-powered Instagram management tool

Weekly challenges on Instagram are so much fun! To keep your content engaging for your prospective customers, you’ll have to get creative. If you are wondering how to grow your business on Instagram, weekly challenges can indeed be a shortcut to achieving your goal.

Let’s say you’re a yoga studio that wants to connect with other users and maximize engagement. 

Your weekly challenge posts can look something like this:

• A weekly series of Motivation Mondays where you start the morning with a stretch
• A weekly challenge that encourages your followers to exercise more
• Weekly sessions where you explain certain exercises

Whatever you choose to turn into a weekly challenge, make sure that it fits your target audience, it peaks at your prospective customers and revolves around your main content pillars.

You can nurture your community by featuring users who participate in your challenge. This way, you’ll also introduce user-generated content into your Instagram feed. 

Geotagging and sharing location, in general, can benefit your Instagram performance greatly. People often search for a location on Instagram or click on a geolocation tag on their followers’ feed to see where they can find it on the map. 

When they do so, an entire page of people who shared content from those places pops up. If your post ranks well, chances are visitors will stumble upon it and discover your profile in the process. 

Therefore, posts tagged with a location mark usually perform better. In fact, geotagged Instagram posts can have up to 79% more engagement than those without a location tag. Keep that in mind the next time you post something on your Instagram account. 

Sharing is caring – literally. When it comes to your Instagram strategy, engaging with your peers and other small businesses can take your marketing efforts to a whole new level. 

Cross-promotional posts between small businesses can help you and your collaborator’s account stand out and grow Instagram performance in the process. 

Collaborating with other Instagram business accounts offers numerous advantages, especially for those using Instagram for business growth.

Here are the key benefits of collaborating on Instagram for your business:

• Expanding your reach : By teaming up, you can tap into a broader audience, exposing your brand to more potential Instagram followers.
• Discovering potential clients : Such collaborations can lead you to new customers who may be interested in your Instagram offers or Instagram shop products.
• Gaining industry insights : Sharing insights and knowledge becomes effortless, enriching both accounts with the latest in social media marketing trends.
• Boosted cross-promotion : You can leverage each other’s platform to amplify your offerings, maximizing the reach of any promotions or campaigns.
• Idea exchange : Sharing and borrowing innovative ideas can lead to fresh, engaging content that resonates with your audience.
• Networking and team growth : By working together, both accounts can flourish in the Instagram for business ecosystem, strengthening ties within the community.

To connect with like-minded small business owners eager to collaborate, explore relevant industry hashtags, seek out profiles that align with your niche, or make a shout-out inviting industry experts to engage. Utilizing the vast tools and features Instagram offers, from its shop features to Instagram free promotional tools, can truly elevate your social media marketing game

5. Host a Giveaway

Giveaways are a great way to stand out on Instagram, as everyone is excited to hear about free offerings and new companies reaching out to other users.

A successful giveaway has the following characteristics:

• It offers a sought-after product or service relevant to the company’s profile
• It’s bound by a time frame
• It clearly states the rules of the game (mentions, comments, sharing to one’s story, etc.)
• It actually gives away the prize, preferably publicly on their story and asks the winning contestant to vouch for the legitimacy of the Instagram account

Instagram Reels, Instagram’s answer to TikTok, allows users to post short-form videos as a fresh way to engage with the platform’s vast audience. These captivating clips can range from informative to entertaining, making them versatile tools for any content creator, especially those maintaining their own Instagram account for business purposes.

If you want to learn how to use Instagram for business endeavors, here’s how to include Reels in your strategy:

• Product showcases : Highlight your products in action, giving potential customers an in-depth look.
• Tutorials : Illustrate to viewers how they can maximize the benefits of your products, enhancing user experience.
• Engagement with content pillars : Craft relatable videos that align with your brand’s core messaging or themes, reinforcing your Instagram strategy.
• Entertainment : Light-hearted, amusing videos can resonate deeply with an audience, helping to retain current followers and attract new ones.

By consistently creating content through Reels, businesses can harness Instagram analytics to gauge the effectiveness of their posts, refine their strategies, and understand their audience better. As more Instagram followers interact with your Reels, especially if paired with a unique branded hashtag, it boosts the visibility of your professional account. This can be a game-changer for Instagram businesses, as increased engagement often translates to Instagram success.

Remember, as with any tool on Instagram for business, consistency, authenticity, and understanding your audience are keys to attracting new followers and establishing a lasting digital footprint.

If you want to use Instagram for your small business, you’ll have to find all the ways to use the platform for your benefit and get creative with its features to get the most of it. Consider  transcribing audio files  and adding subtitles to your reels to enhance their quality and make them more engaging and accessible to a wider audience.

Utilizing Instagram stories is more than just broadcasting content; it’s about providing a curated stream of updates that keeps Instagram users captivated and informed about your journey. These stories, when utilized strategically, can significantly enhance your brand’s connection with its followers.

Here are a few ways to make the most out of your Instagram stories:

Behind-the-scenes content : Share multiple photos or short videos that give viewers a sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes action of your business.

Daily check-ins : Engage by asking your followers about their experiences or thoughts throughout the day, making them feel included in your brand’s narrative.

Leverage Instagram features : For those with professional accounts, tap into advanced story features. Use polls, questions, or quizzes to foster direct engagement and gather audience insights. People love to tap sometimes from their personal Instagram account!

Content calendar : Even with stories, which are ephemeral by nature, having a content calendar can help you plan strategically. Decide what content goes live when, ensuring variety and consistency.

Remember, the key is to remain present in the minds of your followers. If certain stories truly resonate, pin them using the Instagram highlights feature. This ensures that pivotal content finds a permanent home on your profile, easily accessible for revisits by followers and newcomers alike.

Don’t be shy and go live on your Instagram page at times. Instagram live can help you connect with your audience and establish a friendlier tone with them once they can put a face on the brand. 

Live videos allow your audience to ask questions, clear their concerns, interact with you and see your reactions in real-time, all of which help build your brand’s voice. 

Here are some topic ideas for your next Instagram live video:

• A live Q&A session
• An explanatory session about your business, how you started it, or what it takes to run it
• A behind-the-scenes of your business
• A simple update & check-up on your followers

A successful Instagram strategy is all about keeping yourself on the map, visible, and in the eyes of your audience. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure that you interact with other small business owners and other Instagram accounts at all times.

You can do so by replying to comments, encouraging your audience to express their opinion in the comment section, leaving a significant remark on other profile’s posts, and overall being present online.

When someone comments on your post, make sure to reply to them professionally. Always be careful with your words on social media, as they are a staple of your Instagram account and business overall. 

If you want to be a professional in the online environment, ConciergeBee can help you grow organically by interacting with other profiles for you. It’s as simple as 1-2-3! All you have to do is choose your plan and watch your page grow month by month.

Grow your Instagram following organically with ConciergeBee’s IG Community Service.

Get started today!

Influencers are a huge part of the Instagram culture and they have become a landmark for the Instagram community in time. They dictate what’s new and hot on the markets, help small businesses grow online, inspire others to live up to their dreams, and set the pace for upcoming trends.

Collaborating with influencers is one of the most clever strategies you can opt for in your Instagram strategy, as they already have your prospective customers in the same place. 

Essentially, influencer marketing is all about reaching out to famous online users in your area of interest to ask them to feature your offerings on their page.

This way, you’ll instantly reach a wider audience and connect with more users at once, without having to own a notorious page beforehand. The aim of the deal you’re closing with your choice of influencers will be worth it in time, as it’ll help you grow as well and ultimately increase revenue. 

Instagram for small businesses is a great choice for any brand that wants to grow its online reach and increase conversions. 

Instagram can help you connect to a wider audience and find new ways to promote your offerings, all while growing with a community of people interested in your products or services. 

Instagram is an intuitive platform that can help you set up an account easily. All you have to do is go to the main website, press the “sign up” button, and follow the steps to create an account. 

If you’re a brand who wants to set up an Instagram business account, simply go to setting and switch your profile to a professional account. Don’t forget to choose your industry when you set it up. 

Instagram is essentially a platform free of charge for its users, as you can post any type of content and have all your followers engage with you for free. 

However, if you want to grow at a faster pace, save time in the process, and reach a wider audience, paid Instagram ads are a great way to do so. The ad feature is built-in app and it takes little time to set up a campaign. 

You can promote your Instagram profile for free by collaborating with other businesses for cross-promotion posts, or by promoting it yourself on other social platforms like Facebook (now Meta), Youtube, Snapchat, or any other social media app.

You can also promote your profile on your website, by choosing to  embed an Instagram feed  on your website. It will help you to boost the reach of your profile to a larger audience.

Ads costs can vary, depending on your budget and campaign goals. Here are the average prices for different ads models on the Instagram app:

• The average price for CPC (Cost-per-Click) is between $0.40-$0.70. However, if you add a clickable URL, the price can go up to $0.95
• The average price for CPE (Cost-per-Engagement) is between $0.01-$0.05
• The average price for CPM (Cost-per-Thousand-Impressions) is between $2.50-$3.50

Building a successful Instagram marketing strategy is a challenging process, considering the aspects you have to keep in mind when running marketing campaigns. Regardless of your goals, knowing your target audience and your marketing objectives are the key to an Instagram strategy that works.  

If you want to add value to the platform, build successful networks, and create a successful Instagram account for your small business without having to create and implement your strategy from A-Z, we’ve got you covered!

Start your free 14-day trial today with SocialBee  to create, schedule, and share content on all your platforms from one intuitive dashboard!

Article written by

Content writer at SocialBee

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10 Effective Instagram Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, Instagram emerges as an influential platform, particularly advantageous for small businesses seeking to establish meaningful connections with their target audience and enhance overall brand visibility. In this post are listed 10 effective Instagram marketing strategies for small businesses.

Table of Contents

Boasting a colossal user base exceeding a billion active users on a monthly basis, Instagram proves to be a fertile ground for small business marketing , irrespective of their size, can not only survive but thrive. Don’t miss reading 10 Astounding benefits of Twitter marketing for small businesses in 2024.

The sheer magnitude of Instagram’s user community signifies a vast pool of potential consumers that businesses can tap into. The platform’s billion-strong monthly active users create an unparalleled opportunity for small businesses to reach a diverse and expansive audience. This broad reach lays the foundation for increased brand exposure and the potential for substantial growth.

The interactive and visually-centric nature of Instagram serves as a catalyst for engaging content, enabling businesses to convey their brand story and values in a compelling manner. Through visually appealing posts, captivating stories, and interactive features such as polls and questions, small businesses can forge a more intimate connection with their audience, fostering brand loyalty and trust.

Understanding How Instagram Marketing Works

Moreover, the platform’s diverse range of features, including Instagram Stories, IGTV, and Reels, empowers businesses to experiment with different content formats, keeping their marketing strategies fresh and adaptable. This versatility allows small businesses to tailor their approach to suit the preferences and behaviors of their target audience, ensuring relevance and resonance.

In essence, Instagram’s prominence in the digital marketing realm stems from its unparalleled reach, engagement potential, and diverse array of features. For small businesses navigating the competitive landscape, leveraging Instagram as a marketing tool presents a strategic avenue to not only connect with their audience but also to elevate their brand presence in an ever-expanding online marketplace.

Steps to Effective Instagram Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses:

To help small businesses harness the full potential of Instagram, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide on the best Instagram marketing strategies.

1. Create a Stellar Instagram Business Profile

Your Instagram profile is the first point of contact for potential customers. Optimize it by using a clear and recognizable profile picture, a compelling bio that succinctly describes your business, and a link to your website. Make sure your profile aligns with your brand identity.

2. Develop a Consistent Content Strategy

Consistency is a vital key on every social media platform including Instagram. Plan your content in advance, considering the type of content that resonates with your audience. This may include a mix of high-quality images, engaging captions, and, increasingly, video content such as Reels and IGTV. Use a content calendar to maintain a regular posting schedule.

3. Leverage Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories provide a unique opportunity for businesses to share temporary content that disappears after 24 hours. Use this feature to showcase behind-the-scenes glimpses, promotions, polls, and interactive content to keep your audience engaged.

4. Engage with Your Audience

Building a community around your brand is crucial for success. Respond promptly to comments, direct messages, and engage with your followers’ content. This not only fosters a sense of community but also increases the visibility of your posts on others’ feeds.

5. Utilize Hashtags Strategically

Hashtags can significantly amplify the reach of your content. Research and use relevant, trending hashtags in your niche. Create a branded hashtag for your business to encourage user-generated content and increase brand awareness.

6. Run Instagram Ads

Instagram’s advertising platform provides a powerful tool for small businesses to target specific demographics. Invest in well-crafted, visually appealing ads that align with your brand. Use Instagram’s ad targeting features to reach your ideal audience.

7. Collaborate with Influencers

Influencer marketing is a potent strategy for small businesses. Identify influencers in your industry or niche whose followers align with your target audience. Collaborate with them for sponsored posts or partnerships to broaden your reach.

8. Host Contests and Giveaways

Engage your audience and generate excitement by hosting contests and giveaways. Encourage participants to share, like, and tag friends, increasing your post visibility and attracting new followers.

9. Monitor Analytics and Adjust Strategies

Regularly analyze your Instagram Insights to understand what works and what doesn’t. Track metrics such as engagement, reach, and follower growth. Adjust your strategies based on these insights to optimize your Instagram marketing efforts.

10. Integrate E-commerce Features

For businesses selling products, utilize Instagram’s shopping features. Tag products in your posts and stories, allowing users to seamlessly browse and purchase items directly through the platform.

Also read: 17 Tips For Reaching Your Audience With TikTok Advertisement in Nigeria

Conclusively, Instagram offers an array of opportunities for small businesses to thrive in the digital landscape. By implementing these proven Instagram marketing strategies, businesses can not only enhance their online presence but also foster meaningful connections with their target audience. Stay consistent, adapt to trends, and watch your small business flourish on Instagram.

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About Efogator

Emebu N. Oghale, the visionary force behind EfoGator, is a luminary in the realms of SEO, technology, and content writing. With an unwavering passion for staying at the forefront of digital advancements, Emebu has been an influential figure in the blogging sphere since 2014.

The Complete Guide to Instagram For Small Business 2024

During the pandemic, you might have tried to digitize your small business for Instagram or another platform to make up for lost in-person sales. When the world opened up again, you probably expected revenues to return to pre-COVID levels. But, if you’re like 88% of small businesses , you’re probably wondering why your sales are still down. Here are two reasons why things haven’t picked back up: 

First, while restrictions have opened up, people are shopping , working out, and doing other activities online more than they were pre-COVID. That means you need to develop more online customers to compensate for lost in-person sales. 

Second, while you may have tried to learn Instagram for small businesses, you have yet to see the results you hoped for. Let’s face it: you’re not a digital marketing pro-- and that’s okay! Digital marketing is not an easy skill to master. People like us have devoted many years to developing digital marketing skills (for websites, SEO , Instagram-- you name it!) through academia and doing the work in real life. 

While you could continue trying to learn Instagram marketing for your small business on your own, doing so will take a lot of time, and you might not get it right.

Want to know a secret? There’s an easier, quicker, and more effective route available. 

Partner with Slam Media Lab and use some of our resources (more to come in this article). We use content marketing (Instagram, TikTok, SEO) to help mission-driven small businesses like yours develop their online presence, grow their audience, and impact their local communities.

At Slam, we know how hard it is to grow small businesses online without experience. We've helped many small businesses grow their followings from 0. That’s why we’re here to help, providing small business Instagram marketing tips, strategies, and tools to set you up for success. 

If your target customer is Gen Z and below, you might want to try TikTok for small business instead-- or in addition to-- Instagram. ‍

Here’s what this article covers:

• Is Instagram the Right Choice for my Small Business?
• Benefits of Instagram for Small Business Growth
• Setting up your Small Business Instagram for Success
• Small Business Instagram Marketing Strategies and Ideas For Growth
• Instagram Content Tips For Small Businesses 
• Best Instagram Marketing Tools
• Get Help With Small Business Instagram Marketing

Sign up to our newsletter to get access to free resources, tips, and our course for small businesses to rock Instagram.

Is Instagram For Small Business the Right Choice for Me?

To decide how much of your social media efforts to devote to Instagram, you should compare Instagram’s user base with your target customer. If they don’t align, you might want to dedicate more time to other digital marketing efforts, like TikTok, SEO, or LinkedIn. 

Still, you should definitely set up an Instagram account for your small business. Not only do 80% of Instagram users follow at least one brand, but half of them have used it to find new small brands like yours. And, with the average business Instagram account seeing a 1.69% increase in followers every month, it isn’t an easy opportunity to disregard.

Demographics: Are Your Customers There?

Instagram gives you access to over 2 billion highly engaged consumers, with Gen Z and Millennial consumers of all genders making up the vast majority. But, it’s not a great place for reaching older users, who spend much less time on the app and tend to prefer Facebook . 

In addition, Instagram users are slightly more likely to come from higher-earning households ( 60% of user households make more than $100,000 per year), making it a perfect choice for higher-end goods and services. And Instagrammers tend to be highly educated, with only a third of users reporting high school as their highest level of education. 

Content Type

Photos and videos perform best on Instagram, though you can incorporate text into your pictures and captions. 

If you’re not planning on spending time taking high-quality photos and curating creative clips, Instagram might not be the best choice for your content. But, if you put in the work, it will pay off in the form of followers and in revenue. 

Also, if you tap into the hottest, most current video trends and sprinkle in a bit of spice from your brand, you could develop followers organically.

91% of people use Instagram to follow an interest. And some are more popular than others.  

If your small business perfectly aligns with one of these interests, that’s great! But if not-- don’t stress. With so many Instagram users, there’s a niche audience for any small business. 

Here are the top consumer interests on Instagram:

• Food and beverage
• Health and fitness
• Business tips
• Photography

Remember that your small business doesn’t need to seamlessly fit one of these categories to use them for content. A SaaS company with a mission to keep plastics out of our oceans could post high-quality pictures of beaches and garner followers who support its mission and enjoy stunning photography.

Instagram recently reported that 40% of young people use Instagram to join health-based communities, and at-home workouts are more popular among Instagram users than nonusers. If you’re a personal trainer, a therapist, a coach, a dietician, a fitness brand, or a mental health brand, then Instagram could be a great place to find followers. 

Social justice advocates are the most active Instagram users, with 52% following social justice accounts. And their involvement is expected to gain steam this year. 

The number of people donating to social causes will increase by 5% this year, and advocates plan to follow more social justice accounts. So, if social justice is at the heart of your small business’s mission,  and isn’t merely a marketing ploy or a way to fill your ‘about us’ page--, placing your mission as the focal point of your Instagram content could help you garner more followers. 

(By the way, if you’re a small business nonprofit, you should also check out our nonprofit Instagram guide for extra, nonprofit specific tips). 

Lastly, 44% use Instagram to shop every week , with the top categories being shoes, clothing, makeup, and jewelry. But people use Instagram’s shop to purchase pretty much anything that seems cool or intriguing, so don’t be daunted if your product doesn’t fit into these categories. Instagram is perfect for e-commerce.Customers don’t even need to leave the app to buy your product. How cool is that?!

5 Benefits of Instagram for Small Business Growth

If you’re small business owner looking to grow your business through social, Instagram is still the place to be. Here are five benefits of using Instagram for your small business:

Build brand awareness quickly

• Narrow target market while expanding reach
• Develop and interact with your community by making your business relatable 
• Sell directly through Instagram
• Funnel traffic to your website

Instagram users love finding new brands, with 44% of people associating Instagram with discovering small businesses. Mix some stellar content that follows Insta trends with the platform’s highly discoverable features, such as hashtags and Reels, and you’re extending brand reach. There are also a few easy tricks for generating organic growth, which we discuss below. 

Narrow Target Market While Expanding Reach

Instagram gives you the power to expand your customer base beyond your local community. Once you truly understand who your ideal customer is and what interests them, you’ll be able to target them nationally through organic content (Reels and hashtags). And, if you have some money to spend and want to grow as quickly as possible, you can use Instagram ads to target people based on their interests and demographics.

Develop and Interact With Your Community by Making your Business Relatable

Instagram provides a ton of opportunities to develop and engage with your community. For example, you can chat directly with customers through direct messages and the comments section on your posts, go Live to show them what you’re really like, and engage them with stimulating polls, Q&As, and quizzes on your stories. 

They’ll love you all the more if you reveal your authentic self in your content.

Sell Directly Through Instagram It’s never been easier to get eyeballs on your product. In fact, 72% of users have made at least one purchase through Instagram. Using Instagram’s Shop feature , you can add your product catalog to Instagram, and users can make purchases without even leaving the app. And users can find your product even if they don’t follow your account. It will appear on a page as they scroll through your product’s overarching category on Instagram’s shop tab. 

Funnel Traffic to Your Website

Instagram can get more potential customers directly to your website. Not only have 50% of users followed a link from a brand’s Instagram story to its website, but they’ve also followed through to purchase a product or service. In addition, you can add a link to your website in your bio, link posts to blog content, and use stories to promote deals and offerings.   

How To Set Up Your Small Business Instagram Account For Success

Before we get into Instagram marketing strategies for small business growth, it's important that you set up your small business Instagram account correctly. This is because your account is the starting point on which your Instagram presence is built.

Step 1: Choose An Authentic Username For Your Account

Step 2: decide on your brand's instagram personality, step 3: promote your small business instagram account to current customers, step 4: follow instagram influencers who align with your small business brand, step 5: establish content pillars to organize small business instagram content.

Pick a username as close to your small business's name as possible. Doing so will ensure that customers can easily find you on the platform. 

But one of the over 2 billion existing Instagram accounts may have already used your business's name. Fear not! There are a few simple tricks to getting around this, like using underscores ("_") or periods (".") between or after words in your business's name, or finding a fun way to alter your account name while still expressing your brand.

Your brand's personality will guide how you interact with your followers. Want to appear carefree and spirited? Try the excitement personality. Kind and thoughtful? Go with the sincerity personality. Tough, outdoorsy, and athletic? Then ruggedness is the personality for your brand. Successful and accomplished? The competence personality is right for you. Elegant and prestigious? Use the sophisticated personality.

But, at the end of the day, you must design your brand personality to appeal to your target customer. Consumers are more likely to buy products from brands whose personalities align with their own.

Regardless of how you present yourself, you must keep your persona consistent. Only post things that align with your brand identity (e.g. If you're a fashion brand, you probably shouldn't post about rising poverty levels… unless part of your mission has to do with fighting poverty). 

Have you ever followed an account with zero followers? Probably not. That's why you should develop a small following before you launch your Instagram marketing efforts.

If it's not a new business, the odds are you already have customers who would follow your account. And, if you want to ensure they follow through with the follow, you can offer discounts or free items in exchange. 

Email and text are two great ways to promote the offer. But, if you don't store customer data (and, pro-tip: you should start an email list) and own a brick-and-mortar store, you could create a poster displaying the offer, along with a QR code that links to your account. 

If you want to maximize the impact of the offer, you could make your customers post a story tagging your account to participate in the promotion. 

If they're a returning customer, they like your brand and wouldn't think twice about sharing it with their following.

This next step can set you up for success. By following Instagram influencers who align with your brand and the interests of your target customer, you'll stay informed on the latest consumer trends in your industry. 

You should follow some larger influencers, but focus more on micro-influencers (5-50K followers). The latter tend to forge highly engaged communities who hang onto every word they type and speak. Plus, they're usually more receptive and less focused on profiting. 

To draw in followers from their accounts, you should post meaningful, insightful, and authentic comments on influencer posts. Try to focus on encouraging a discussion. You should also reach out to the influencers through direct messaging and try to develop relationships. Tell them what you love about their brand and account, and explain why you think they'd love your brand's products or services. 

Maybe you'll get the highly sought but rarely seen free shout out! 

If not, you could try sending them free products in exchange for a review or a repost. Or, you could buy a shout out, which we'll discuss later.

‍ Lastly, before considering different Instagram marketing strategies for your small business, you should establish your content pillars. Content pillars are the foundation of your small business Instagram marketing strategy, and should be somewhat consistent across all marketing channels. These are a few main categories, themes, or topics that guide the content you post. When thinking about them, try to focus on appealing to the preferences of your target audience. 

If you already operate a blog or use other social media channels, you might have already selected content pillars. If not, take time to plan them out.

Analyze your target customer to figure out what kind of content they value the most. If you already have a few super loyal customers, reach out to them and ask questions about what types of content they love most. But if you're just starting, you can begin with these five general content pillars :

• Educational content: establish expertise in your niche with facts and knowledge-based posts.
• Motivational content: relatable and inspiring memes and quotes (sometimes humorous).
• Engaging content: ask questions and use polls to interact with your audience. 
• Conversion (or sales) content: post product or service offerings with a benefits-oriented CTA.
• Humanizing content: behind-the-scenes posts that focus on the people behind the brand.

Be sure to focus most on what your followers want to see, rather than just focusing on what you would want to see. 

After establishing solid content pillars, it's time to consider your small business Instagram marketing strategy.

Small Business Instagram Marketing Strategies And Tactics For Growth

Your goals and budget for Instagram will determine the strategies you use.

Though you don’t need any money to implement marketing strategies and start growing your following on Instagram, paid marketing strategies lead to faster growth with less effort.

In terms of goals, you should consider your resources/budget and what you want to achieve by using Instagram. Do you want to generate awareness? Convert viewers to customers? Develop a small but highly engaged community? 

Your Instagram goal will guide the rest of your online marketing efforts, like how you position your brand and which marketing strategies you decide to use. Considering your budget alongside your goal will also help to narrow down marketing strategies.

Strategy 1: Use Reels For Organic Small Business Growth 

‍ Instagram Reels are 10-to-90-second video posts you can use to garner engagement from audiences beyond your followers. Not only are Reels posted to your followers' feeds, they're also added to Instagram's Explore page and the Reels tab,which is just an explore page that only shows Reels rather than a combination of post types. 

In a sense, the Reels tab is Instagram's version of TikTok. It enables the easy creation and sharing of bite-sized videos sent to users' Explore and Reels tabs when the content aligns with their interests and the types of accounts they interact with.

As such, a creative and engaging Reel geared towards your target customer could help you go viral, which is the best scenario for awareness and follower creation… all without you spending a dime!

Reels are essential for small businesses hoping to grow on Instagram because:

• The Instagram Reels algorithm seems to favor accounts with smaller amounts of followers.
• 91% of users watch Instagram videos (Reels and standard Instagram videos) every week.
• Reels garner 67% more engagement than standard Instagram videos and are the platform's most popular video form.
• Successful Reels are featured on Instagram's Explore Page, where half of all users find new accounts.
• Reels are free!

Need a little Reel guidance? Here are a few content ideas:

• Browse trending content TODAY, and create your version expressing your brand and its mission.
• Start your trend by creating a humorous Reel that is brand-specific but highly relatable and replicable.
• Create a "how-to" video on one of your most innovative products with a trending song in the background.
• Create a compilation of videos that visualize your mission's impact (e.g. compilation of videos from a food drive or beach clean).
• Show "behind the scenes" content from events, photo shoots, conferences, etc.
• Piece together follower-created clips of them using your product or service.

Want to know a quick trick for maximizing the impact of your digital creation? Repost the same video on TikTok. But make sure you record the videos outside the apps to prevent a watermark (Instagram flags the TikTok watermark in Reels). 

Strategy 2: Use Stories And Instagram Insights To Learn Your Target Customers Favorite Content

Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to guess which types of content your target customer wants to see? Wouldn't it be nice if they could just tell you what they want to see? 

Guess what? They can! That's one of the secret values of Instagram's story feature. 

Instagram stories allow users to post short pictures and videos in slideshow format that disappear after 24 hours. And you can use stories to make polls and conduct online Q&As to get inside the minds of your customers. Use the question sticker on your story to ask your followers what types of content they most enjoyed seeing on your profile. 

When most of your followers have had a chance to respond, aggregate their responses into buckets. Then, use the poll sticker to encourage your followers to vote on content types. Here are two examples of questions you could ask along with the multiple-choice opptions provided: 

Which forms of content do you like best?

• Livestreams

Which style of content do you like most?

• Humor and memes
• Company updates
• Mission-based posts
• Educational content
• I love it all!

Using the data gleaned through the exercise in tandem with Instagram Insights or another analytics tool (which we'll discuss soon) will allow you to cater your content to your target customer's preferences. 

Plus, people like to feel heard; acknowledging their suggestions and showing them that you're listening will lead to higher levels of community engagement.

Strategy 3: Use Stories To Foster Small Business Community Engagement

‍ One good tactic is to use stories to encourage user-generated content. If done right, this tactic encourages customers to engage with your brand, while also acting as a promotional tool. Here's how to do it right:

Create an Instagram story asking your followers to post pictures or videos on their stories that illustrate how they interact with your product, service, or brand. Make sure you ask them to tag your account in the post, as doing so will enable their followers to find your profile and allow you to repost the content on your small businesses' story. 

If your followers don't seem to follow through, try offering them a discount as a reward.

Then the domino effect kicks in. 

When followers notice you reposted someone's story, many will follow suit and tag you in their own stories, especially if it's tied to a discount. And, since 58% of Instagrammers grow more interested in brands after seeing them in stories, you might gain new followers from the networks of your community members. 

What's more? You can save that user-generated content to your profile's highlights section and re-purpose it later in your Instagram marketing efforts. Content that displays real-life customers excited to use your product or service acts as a badge of credibility for potential customers visiting your Instagram page. 

Another tactic is to ask provocative questions in your stories to generate community discussion. These questions could relate to your mission or trending topics surrounding your brand's and customers' interests. 

You'll post your community's responses to your story and add a brief reply from your company to keep the conversation going. When they see how many like-minded people interact with your account, your followers will develop a sense of community that drives engagement. You might even engage with your followers in one-on-one discussions via direct messages. 

Once you've fostered them into loyal community members, your followers will act as advocates for your brand who spread the word to more people.

Strategy 4: Use Instagram Live To Humanize Your Small Business

Live-streams can create windows from your followers' phones directly into your business's day-to-day activities. Revealing the authentic faces and personalities behind your small business will make your business more relatable and stimulate community interaction.

Instagram Live is the key to engaging your followers, enabling you to interact with your audience in real-time. You can reply to their comments as soon as your followers post them, which creates an air of authenticity since your followers know that you didn't have time to prepare responses carefully. You can also directly address users by username as they enter your live-stream, further establishing a sense of community. 

There are many tactics you can use to maximize the impact of your Livestream. Here are a few ideas:

• Go live with an influencer to expand your reach.
• Host live tutorials or classes to engage followers.
• Stream with a loyal customer to establish credibility.

If you want to increase your audience, you might want to try teaming up with an influencer and going Live together. But, you need to choose an influencer who aligns with your brand and the interests of your followers. You can interview the influencer, allow viewers to ask questions, or just chat like good old pals.

Another idea is to host a Live tutorial or class, which is perfect for small businesses selling consumer products and services like workout classes. 

Strategy 5: Use Giveaways, Discounts, And Contests To Grow Your Small Business Instagram Following

One of the most tried and proven organic routes to growing your small business on Instagram is to offer promotions like giveaways, discounts, and contests in exchange for reposts, follows, or shares. 58% of social media users who follow brands are there primarily for deals and promotions, so periodic promotions are critical to your small business's growth and success on Instagram.  

The key is ensuring you receive something in exchange for the deals or giveaways. There are a lot of ways you can do this, but here are a few ideas:

• Ask followers to share your post that includes details on the promotion in exchange for the discount or giveaway. Include steps needed for participation, like 1) follow [Instagram handle], 2) Repost this story. This method will encourage your community's followers to follow you and participate in the promotion.
• Ask followers to post content of them using your product or service, or a brief review, and tag you in the post in exchange for a discount or giveaway or to enter a raffle. Though this method might limit participants to your current customers, it helps communicate the uses of your product or service to non-followers, establishing credibility. Plus, you can reuse user-generated content in other marketing efforts.
• Another version of the above is to invite followers to tag you in a photo or video to enter a contest. Award the most creative (or top 3 most creative) posts with free products. This tactic limits the number of products you have to give away.
• Make a post that invites followers to participate in a raffle for a free product or session by 1) following our [Instagram handle] and 2) tagging three friends who would love our product

Though giveaways are the most attractive promotional method for consumers, you should focus on competitions and discounts if you can't risk giving away a lot of products.

Strategy 6: Partner With Instagram Influencers To Gain Credibility And Grow Your Small Business Instagram Quickly

Influencer marketing can have a massive impact on the perception and growth of your brand. Influencers are online celebrities who have grown to notoriety through their content and the communities they develop.

80% of young people believe influencers affect culture more than traditional celebrities, like actors, athletes, and musicians. 

What's more? 60% say that influencer partnerships lead to better performance than branded posts in the form of engagement and conversions.

Though influencer partnerships can help you quickly generate growth and revenue, they require money and careful planning. While influencers with large followings (over 100,000 followers) can increase your reach the most, they're also the most expensive, costing between $1,000 and $10,000 per most. Plus, the interests of their followers are often too broad.

Since you're a small business with a limited budget, you probably want to keep costs low. That's why you should instead partner with micro-influencers, those who have 5,000 to 50,000 followers and cost between $100 (influencers closer to 1,000 followers) and $500 (influencers closer to 50,000 followers). 

Also, half of young people believe that smaller influencers with loyal followers are vital for creating trends and spreading information. These influencers will cost much less and often possess far more engaged follower communities who almost always trust what they say and do. Also, they are more niche-oriented than larger accounts. So, if your target market is narrow, selecting an influencer (or influencers) who aligns with your brand will lead to a greater return on investment (ROI). 

And, though not the preferred compensation, some smaller micro-influencers are open to being paid in product samples. And they'll be more open to it if they already like your product or service. This is where developing relationships and participating in their community before making a sales pitch comes into play. They'll likely develop a true affinity for your product if you send them free things without asking for something in exchange. 

However, though 34.5% of influencers have accepted samples as payment, it's unclear whether influencers take samples on top of monetary payment, for a discount in cost, or instead of monetary compensation.

Depending on your budget, you could compare the cost of buying promotions from many smaller micro-influencers (1,500-10,000 followers) against choosing one or two larger micro-influencers (10,000-100,000 followers). Of course, the decision also depends on which influencers most align with your small business's target market, as they generate the greatest return on investment.

There are a variety of methods you can use in partnering with influencers:

• Purchase one-off posts
• Temporary partnerships
• Brand ambassadorships

One-off posts are the cheapest option and can help drive awareness. They're also great for experimenting with different influencers to see which ones create the most significant ROI. However, this method can make the influencer partnership seem unnatural and more like a paid ad than an influencer endorsement. 

Temporary partnerships are great for Instagram marketing campaigns. Though the total price will be higher than one-off posts, the influencer will probably give you a discount on each post when you buy posts in bulk. This method will make the partnership seem more like the influencer is endorsing the product or service because of its quality and uses.

Using influencers as brand ambassadors is the most expensive option, and might be more fitting for larger companies or those with extra funds in their marketing budget. However, if done right, it can lead to the most natural endorsement possible and convert a more significant portion of the influencer's following into your customers. Plus, developing a long-term relationship with the influencer will give you more control over how the influencer discusses and markets your business.

Strategy 7: Use Instagram Ads To Extend Reach, Generate Awareness, Increase Following, And Drive Conversions

Like influencer partnerships, you can use Instagram Ads to reach a highly targeted audience. And, like influencer marketing, Instagram Ads will cost you money. 

But… What's cheaper?

Well, it depends. Combining both strategies would produce the best results, but could cost a lot more money if you execute them properly. So, when you're just starting on a tight budget, choose to focus on one.

While influencer marketing is best for engaging an audience and developing an authentic relationship, Instagram ads allow you to track data and performance on a deeper level.

Many factors go into pricing Instagram ads, and it's a complex system since it's partly based on your click-through rate (CTR). CTR is the percentage of people who take action when viewing your ad. 

Including CTR, the cost of Instagram ads depends on the following factors:

• The type of Instagram ad you use (e.g. photo, story, video, Instagram shopping, etc.).
• The size of your target market (broader target markets = higher price per click).
• Your advertising goal (engagement vs. conversions).
• Instagram's assessment of the value of your ad.

Instagram uses a bidding system for its ads, which is how it determines the value of your ad. Since other companies are targeting audiences that overlap with your target audience, Instagram determines which ads it will show to each user based on:

• The amount of money you are bidding.
• The likelihood that the ad converts the target audience.
• The quality and relevance of the advertisement to the target audience.

Keep in mind that you can adjust your ads bid at any given time.

Considering all this, we'd recommend that small businesses start with a budget of $500 per month, as that is enough for you to see the effectiveness of your ad and iterate on content and ad types as you determine what's most effective. 

Once you've landed on the most effective ad type and content, you should raise your budget to $750, as that's the price point where most of our small business partners begin to see ROI. Instagram Ads allow you to set a per-day budget. If your ad is doing well, you won't end up paying far more than you can afford.

5 Content Tips for Small Businesses on Instagram

We always tell our partners to keep their customers and Instagram’s algorithm in the front of their minds when creating content for Instagram. Doing so gives your content the best chance to organically reach new people within your target market. It also helps drive engagement from your current follower base.

Follow Best Instagram Practices For Your Small Business Account

Following the best practices for Instagram marketing means ensuring your content is built for the platform’s algorithms. 

And, no, the plural ‘algorithms’ was not a mistake; Instagram uses a different algorithm for each feature (feed posts, stories, reels, etc.). 

Instagram’s algorithms determine three things that affect who gets to see your content:

• Which non-followers will be able to find your post organically?
• The number of non-followers will be able to find your post organically.
• How far your current followers will have to scroll to see your content on their feeds.

Instagram’s algorithm aims to keep users engaged in the app for as long as possible. It does this by personalizing content based on each user’s past engagement with different content categories.

This is where post frequency, post timing, posts, and niche categories of posts enter the field. Though Instagram uses different algorithms for different features, a few aspects remain consistent regardless of which type of post you create. 

The bottom line is that Instagram prioritizes content that its algorithm thinks will cause users to take action in the form of likes, comments, saves, time spent on the post, and taps to your profile. That also means that Instagram prioritizes your posts to users who have already shown high engagement levels with your prior posts. 

Here are the main factors the algorithm considers when prioritizing content: 

• Does the user favor photos or videos?
• Does the user prefer interacting with more recent posts?
• How many likes does the post have?
• Does the post align with the user’s interests?
• Has the user interacted with this account before?
• Is the user predicted to like, comment, or save the post?

And here are some general best practices to follow when making posts suited for Instagram’s algorithm:

• Only post high-quality photos and videos (not blurry or out of focus).
• Never publish content that someone has already posted (unless it’s a story repost).
• Avoid posting content, including watermarks from other apps AT ALL COSTS.
• Read Instagram’s community guidelines and never break them. 
• Don’t post content that could be reported (check the reasons that posts can be reported ).
• Try to include a CTA that encourages users to view your profile.
• Post regularly and consistently.

Small business hashtags help you reach new audiences. Here are a few #tips to consider:

• Include hashtags that align with your target audience and the post at hand.
• Use 3-5 hashtags in each caption.
• Steal the hashtags your followers use in their posts. 

Visually Communicate Brand Mission In Your Small Business Instagram Marketing Efforts 

If you have a mission guiding your small business, communicate the impact of that mission visually. Leverage your mission to forge buy-in from your followers.

Here are a few ideas of how you can communicate your mission on Instagram:

• Put a concise version of your mission statement in your bio.
• Use a story highlight titled “our mission” with a few photos detailing your mission and some videos of you acting on your mission. This content will always appear at the top of your account page.
• Post infographics detailing the impact you’ve made (e.g. amount of trash removed from beaches, amount of meals donated to homeless shelters, amount of money donated to [xyz charity).
• Post videos of you and your employees making a difference (e.g., picking up trash from a beach or before and after pictures of the beach).
• Post a picture of one of the lives your mission has impacted with a caption describing who they are and how you helped them (e.g. someone suffering from a rare disease which lacks the resources needed to treat it).

Maintain Consistent Brand Voice And Message At All Times

Consistency is key. Always ensure you don’t contradict your brand’s message, and never break your brand’s voice. Once customers feel you’re off-brand, they will find it inauthentic, eroding their trust.

Use Geo-tagging If You’re targeting a Specific Region or City

You should geotag your posts if you’re a local small business or travel to conferences or events relevant to your niche. Geo-tagging adds the location of where you recorded your video or took your photo. You can geotag a city or town, or geotag your exact location at a store, restaurant, or street. 

Users can click on that location and view all the posts geotagged at that location. Plus, your followers might want to meet you in person if you’re visiting their area. Developing a real-life relationship with a few followers is a sure way to create loyal followers.

Focus On Producing Quality Content That Interests Your Small Business Instagram Target Audience

This is the most important thing to remember. Always consider your audience when creating content. Make sure it appeals to what interests them, not what interests you.

And, if you’re ever in doubt as to whether a post will drive engagement, take a day or two to think about it. Then, hopefully, you’ll be able to improve the post to the point where you’re comfortable sending it out to the masses. But if not… don’t post it. 

If you’re wondering how you can take a few days to think about the post, when we’ve already said that you should post frequently and consistently, here is the answer: editorial social media calendars . 

Though you should devote a portion of your posts to in-the-moment ideas, you should utilize content calendars (we made a free one at Slam – sign up here to get it soon) for most of your core content. Not only will doing so allow you to spend more time planning and perfecting each post, but it will also force you to adhere to a regular posting schedule. And, if you’re worried about forgetting to post, the software can automate your posts! More on this is below. 

Small Business Instagram Marketing Tools For Simplicity and Success

As you may have noticed, consistency and quality are the keys to success on Instagram. 

You have to post a lot of content regularly, and it isn’t easy to spontaneously create content that will engage your target audience. Sometimes, it might feel like Instagram is taking over your life. You don’t want to spend your vacation time brainstorming and posting. 

That’s where Instagram marketing tools come into play, such as: 

• Content calendars
• Post automation software
• Analytics software

The best part? The best softwares can integrate with others, so they all work together! 

Use A Content Calendar To Plan And Perfect Your Small Business Instagram Posts 

Creating editorial calendars on your own can take a lot of time. Working on digital ideas with a team can make collaborating on ideas and iterations challenging, primarily if you use multiple channels. That’s why we use Airtable when creating social media content calendars for our small business partners. 

More upsides? 

• It’s super easy to use and has a friendly interface. 
• Your team can brainstorm, add content, and write copy collaboratively.
• Nothing is added to the calendar until the boss signs off on them.
• You can visualize how pieces of content connect.
• It integrates with Zapier (read below).

Automate Your Small Business Instagram Posts To Simplify Your Life

No need to set reminders to publish posts. Automation software will save you the time and stress that goes into regular posts at consistent times. We choose Zapier , every time. 

It perfectly integrates with Airtable , so you don’t need to do all the grunt work of copying and pasting every post from your content calendar. 

Here are some of Zapier’s many applications:

• Automate your posts to be published at specific times.
• Automate your story, so you repost every time a user tags you.
• Automatically share your posts to your other social media accounts. 

Analyze The Numbers To Improve Your Small Business Strategy on Instagram

Social media analytics tools can give you actionable insights to inform your strategy. They allow you to:

• See which post times generate the most engagement.
• Find out which followers engage with your content the most and what they have in common.
• Know which Instagram features your audience interacts with the most.
• See which types of content (video vs. photo; humor vs. sincerity) are most effective.

At Slam, we tell our friends and partners to use Iconosquare or Sproutsocial . Check them out to figure out which one works best for your company.

Get Help Growing Your Small Business With Instagram Marketing 

Still don’t think you’re prepared to grow on Instagram? Don’t panic! It can take some trial and error to get right… sometimes a lot of trial and error. Lucky for you, there’s an easier and faster way to grow your following.

We got you! We’re offering free resources and a course to run your small nonprofit business like a pro. Sign up to our newsletter to get access to:

• Free small business Airtable content calendar
• Deck templates to do your voice and brand discovery, and find your content pillars
• Be the first to find out about our course

Liked this? Check out these articles!

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• Why Should You Start a Small Business TikTok?
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• Most Used Small Business SEO Guide [Resources, Tips, Examples]
• Get More Customers Through Small Business Local SEO
• Small Business SEO Tools
• SEO Benefits for Small Businesses
• SEO Small Business Tips

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Your Small Business Instagram Marketing Strategy

Social media is here to stay. Embrace it - and make it work for you - in your small business Instagram marketing strategy.

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, especially among younger generations. The beauty of Instagram is that it’s highly visual – the focus is on images and videos rather than text posts. Facebook still dominates the game, but Instagram still holds a strong place on the global list for highest engagement.

With that many eyes on the platform, you can’t afford to ignore it. So how can you use it? We’ve got some tips for using a small business Instagram marketing strategy to take your enterprise to the next level .

1. Set Your Account Up For Success

When you’re setting up your business Instagram account, you’ll want to do it so it has the maximum marketing impact. You’ll also want to make sure prospective customers have a way to find you online with ease.

Connect your Instagram account to your other social media accounts. Adding your business’s Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Flickr sites to your Instagram profile can help your customers keep up with you through other social media forums. Make sure your privacy settings allow everyone to see and comment on your posts – your account isn’t going to help your business if no one can access it!

Just like your other marketing efforts, your Instagram strategy needs to be consistent with your brand. That means using the same logo, style, and tone you use everywhere else. And if your brand does something unique, make sure you share it! Maybe your brand uses only recycled materials or local produce – that’s an important part of your image and you’ll want to weave it into every aspect of your Instagram presence.

2. Share High-Quality Content

Instagram is a visual medium. People come to Instagram to see beautiful images and videos. Make the effort to make your content on Instagram stand out.

Luckily, Instagram has a user-friendly format so you can create archive quality images with the touch of a finger. Instagram provides an array of filters to shade your photos, change the contrast settings, and add other visual effects. Play around with the platform and you’ll find that there are literally hundreds of ways to customize your images. It may take a little trial and error to find what fits with your brand and works for your followers, so don’t be afraid to experiment!

Here are some things to remember as you work to create eye-catching content:

• Vibrant colors stand out
• High-resolution photos convey quality
• Unusual, arresting, and intriguing images will capture the eye better than common ones
• Short videos are a great way to show your product in action

Consider sharing content that isn’t just about your brand. That will help draw a greater viewership and make your account feel less commercial, which is a big draw for the millennials. Just remember that all of your content should be consistent with your brand – your children’s toy store shouldn’t be posting adult content.

3. Use Those Tags And Hashtags

Instagram puts the “social” in social media by allowing you to tag others in your photos. By tagging a follower or another business, you make a connection with that person and share your content with them and their followers.

Additionally, hashtags allow you to add your own content notes to your photos. Use hashtags to convey what your photo or video is about. If you run a spa and salon, you would consider using #spa, #dayofbeauty, #nailservices, or #manipedi. If a user clicks on a given hashtag, they’ll be able to see all of the posts with that hashtag. In other words, hashtags are a way to make sure your brand is part of the conversation for topics that relate to you.

A note on hashtag use – make sure they actually relate to the photo so they make sense. Some businesses post random hashtags with no connection to the visual image, which can be confusing for the audience and make the post seem spammy and inauthentic.

4. Build Your Reach

Your small business Instagram marketing strategy is all about increasing your reach, brand awareness, and brand goodwill. Whatever content you’re posting, these should be your goal and the metric you pay the most attention to. If your images and videos aren’t getting “liked” or shared, it’s time to retool your strategy.

Another key element of creating reach is engagement – you need to actively manage your account and engage with other users. Start conversations! Respond to people that comment on your posts! Show that you’re an active part of the Instagram community – that makes your brand feel more authentic and more relevant, especially for younger demographics.

You can post all you want on Instagram for free, but you also have the option to pay in order to promote your content. Depending on your budget and your target customer, this may be worth the cost. However, it’s not a requirement for building a following.

5. Share The Right Information

Your small business Instagram marketing effort is supposed to bring in customers – which means you need to let them know how to find you. Your account should include full information on how to contact you. Most importantly, include a link to your website. The Instagram audience is a much more likely to click than call. You can also include a quick professional bio so customers who stumble onto your Instagram page know exactly what your business is about and what it can offer them. Again, this is a great place to share what makes your brand special.

If you’re not sure what to write in your Instagram bio, here’s a great resource on how to write a bio that will appeal to your prospective customers.

6. Show, Don’t Tell

Since Instagram is a visual forum, use it to show your customers what your business offers. If you’re running a brewery, rather than just posting a photo of a foamy lager, show patrons that are enjoying the brew. If you’re selling hand knitted cashmere scarfs, post a video of a behind-the-scenes look showing how your scarfs are made. Make it personal and interesting – we’ve all seen enough photos of beers and scarves.

By sharing what your company does and why it’s special, you’ll show the value of your products and services to your followers. Instant branding!

7. Follow Influencers

One of the best ways to use Instagram for small business marketing is to find industry influencers. These are individuals with large followings that have the power to direct their followers toward certain brands. They’re common in the health, food, and fashion industries but you’ll find influencers for every niche. Follow them and engage with them – a brand mention from an influencer can give you a huge boost. You can also create sponsored posts with influencers. They can be pricey, but they give you a lot of reach.

A Small Business Instagram Marketing Strategy Isn’t Instant, But It’s Worth It

Instagram can be a terrific, free resource for small businesses eager to expand their social media marketing efforts. Like all marketing efforts, it’s going to take some work and time to figure out what’s best for your brand. Use our tips to start your own small business Instagram account and start racking up the followers!

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Small Business Trends

60 key social media marketing statistics.

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Social media has evolved beyond a space for personal connections to become a critical component of marketing strategies. Its interactive and engaging environments enable businesses to connect with their audience in ways previously unimaginable, opening up new avenues for engagement, brand development, and direct marketing. This article explores 60 essential statistics on social media marketing, shedding light on its significance, effectiveness, and evolving trends.

Social Media Usage Statistics

The ubiquity of social media is undeniable, with over 4.5 billion users worldwide, representing a vast pool of potential engagements for marketers. The average daily usage of 2.5 hours highlights the integral role of social media in people’s lives, providing marketers ample opportunity to capture attention. The predominance of mobile access underscores the necessity for mobile-optimized content to ensure effective reach and engagement.

• The global reach and daily engagement of social media are staggering, with over 4.8 billion users worldwide as of 2023, indicating a significant portion of the global population is actively engaging with these platforms
• On average, individuals spend approximately 2.5 hours on social media platforms daily.
• Over 91% of all social media users access their preferred platforms via mobile devices, emphasizing the importance of mobile-optimized marketing content.
• Facebook remains the most used social media platform, with over 2.8 billion monthly active users.
• Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users, showcasing its popularity, particularly among younger demographics.
• YouTube’s viewership has skyrocketed, with over 2 billion logged-in monthly users.

The Demographics of Social Media Users

The demographic distribution on social media platforms offers key insights into target audience identification and strategy development. The significant engagement of the 18-29 age group across platforms emphasizes the need for brands to tailor their messaging and content to resonate with younger audiences. The slight female majority in user demographics may influence content strategy, particularly in industries where gender-specific marketing can be beneficial.

• In The US, 71% of 18-29-year-olds use Instagram, indicating its appeal among younger users.
• Facebook’s largest age group is 25-34, making up 32.4% of its user base.
• LinkedIn’s user base predominantly comprises professionals aged 25-34 , highlighting its professional orientation.
• Snapchat and TikTok are particularly popular among teens, with 69% of U.S. teens using Snapchat and 67% using TikTok.

User Behavior on Social Media Platforms

Understanding user behavior, including peak engagement times and content preferences, is vital for optimizing post schedules and formats. The increased engagement for visual content, such as images and videos, necessitates a visually-driven content strategy. The specific behaviors observed on each platform—from Twitter’s preference for video content to Instagram’s high interaction rates with carousel posts—guide marketers in crafting platform-specific strategies to maximize engagement.

• Users spend an average of 30 minutes per day on Instagram.
• TikTok has seen an explosive growth in average engagement, with users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app.
• 80% of Twitter users are ‘affluent millennials’, showcasing its unique demographic appeal.

Diving Deep into the Social Media Platform: Key Social Media Marketing Facts

Each social media platform offers unique opportunities and challenges for marketers:

Facebook Marketing Statistics

• Facebook ads reach 2.14 billion people, offering unparalleled market access.
• 78% of American consumers have discovered retail products to buy via Facebook.
• Images account for 75-90% of Facebook advertising effectiveness/performance.

Instagram Marketing Statistics

• Instagram boasts an average engagement rate of 1.22%, the highest among all platforms for brands.
• 500 million users interact with Instagram Stories daily, making it a powerful tool for marketers.
• Over 60% of users report discovering new products through the platform, with influencers playing a key role in this discovery process. Additionally, micro-influencers on Instagram boast engagement rates of up to 7%, significantly higher than those of macro-influencers, indicating a deeper level of trust and interaction with their audience.

Twitter Marketing Statistics

• Twitter has over 330 million monthly active users, with 42% of them using the platform daily.
• 77% of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand when their tweet has been replied to.

LinkedIn Marketing Statistics

• LinkedIn has over 774 million members, with 4 out of 5 members driving business decisions.
• There’s a 50% year-over-year increase in content shared on LinkedIn.

Harnessing the Power of Social Media: Social Media Marketing Stats

The statistics illuminate several key areas critical for crafting effective social media marketing strategies:

• 54% of users research products on social media. Consequently, brands that invest in social media product showcases and reviews can significantly boost their visibility and sales.
• 65% of consumers visit a brand’s website after seeing a product on social media, emphasizing the importance of a strong social media presence in driving web traffic.
• A social media campaign focusing on emotional engagement tends to perform better, with a 27% increase in engagement rates.

The Effectiveness of a Social Media Marketing Strategy

• 97% of marketers use social media to reach their audiences.
• 73% of marketers believe their efforts through social media marketing have been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business.
• Social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing.
• Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads.

Emerging Trends in Social Media Advertising

• The influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $13.8 billion in revenue.
• Content that disappears after a short period, like stories, will continue to increase in popularity.
• 89% of marketers say ROI from influencer marketing is comparable to or better than other marketing channels.
• Social media stories are becoming increasingly popular, with over 500 million daily users across multiple platforms.

Building a Strong So Mcial Media Presence: Why it Matters

• 57% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media.

The Rise of Influencer Marketing: Statistics and Insights

• 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations for their purchase decisions.
• The influencer marketing industry is set to grow to approximately $13.8 billion in 2021.
• 67% of brands use Instagram for influencer marketing.

Crafting Successful Campaigns: Social Media Marketing Strategies

• Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than those without.
• Posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement .
• Social media posts that include video content see a 49% higher interaction rate compared to those without. Leveraging video content can significantly increase user engagement, shares, and overall visibility of your campaigns.
• Posts published on Thursdays and Fridays , specifically between 1 PM and 3 PM, experience the highest engagement rates. Timing your posts strategically can lead to greater exposure and interaction, maximizing the reach of your campaigns.
• Campaigns that incorporate user-generated content (UGC) see a 28% higher engagement rate than those that do not. Encouraging your audience to share their own experiences or content related to your brand not only fosters a sense of community but also enhances credibility and trust with potential customers.

Practical Approaches: Social Media Marketing Tactics

In navigating the challenges of content overload and ad-blocking technologies, marketers must refine their content strategies to prioritize quality, relevance, and engagement. The use of hashtags and interactive content, such as question posts, emerges as effective tactics for boosting visibility and fostering engagement. These strategies not only enhance content discoverability but also encourage user interaction, driving deeper engagement and community building.

• Posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement.
• Social media posts with questions generate 23% more engagement.
• Including a call to action in your social media posts can increase engagement by 25%.
• Visual content, such as images or videos, garners 36% more engagement on social media platforms compared to text-only posts.
• Posting during peak hours, such as between 10 AM and 3 PM , can boost engagement rates by 17%, as more users are active during these times.
• Utilizing user-generated content in your social media strategy can increase engagement by 28%, as it fosters authenticity and trust among your audience.

The Power of Visuals: Video Marketing on Social Media

• Videos on social media generate 1200% more shares than text and image content combined.
• 85% of marketers use short-form videos as part of their marketing strategy, with 30% considering it the most effective content format.
• Live streaming has become a key player in social media strategies, with users watching live video 3 times longer than pre-recorded content.

Looking Ahead: Future Trends and Predictions

As social media continues to evolve, marketers must stay ahead of emerging trends and technological advancements. The growing interest in AR and VR, the increasing importance of social listening for insights and trend spotting, and the rising influence of micro-influencers and niche communities predict a future where personalization, innovation, and community engagement become the hallmarks of successful social media marketing.

• With platforms like Instagram and Facebook integrating shopping features, social commerce sales are projected to reach new heights, making social media a significant sales channel.
• Advances in AI and machine learning will enable more personalized content, improving engagement rates and marketing effectiveness.
• The use of artificial intelligence for personalized marketing experiences is expected to rise significantly.
• Consumer privacy and data protection will take center stage, impacting targeting capabilities in social media advertising.
• Sustainability and ethical practices will influence consumer behavior on social media, prompting brands to adopt more responsible marketing practices.
• The integration of social media in everyday devices and appliances, known as the Internet of Things (IoT), will offer new avenues for marketers to reach consumers.

Strategic Applications of Social Media Marketing Statistics

Embracing video and visual content.

The statistics highlight the undeniable impact of video and visual content on engagement and conversion rates. Marketers should prioritize creating high-quality, engaging video content tailored to each platform’s audience. For instance, short-form videos may perform exceptionally well on TikTok and Instagram Stories, while longer, more informative videos might be better suited for YouTube or Facebook.

Leveraging Platform-Specific Strategies

Each social media platform caters to a unique demographic and user behavior, making it crucial for marketers to tailor their strategies accordingly. LinkedIn’s professional audience may require more formal and informative content, while Instagram’s user base might engage more with visually appealing and creative posts. Understanding these nuances allows for more targeted and effective marketing campaigns.

Enhancing Customer Service through Social Media

With a significant portion of consumers expecting quick responses to inquiries on social media, businesses must ensure they have the resources and strategies in place to manage customer service effectively on these platforms. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also builds trust and loyalty, which are crucial for long-term brand success.

Investing in Influencer Marketing

The high ROI and trust associated with influencer marketing underscore its value as a marketing strategy. Businesses should consider partnering with influencers whose audiences align with their target market, focusing on authenticity and natural fit over mere follower count to maximize impact.

Prioritizing Privacy and Trust

As privacy concerns continue to grow among social media users, brands must be transparent about their data handling practices and strive to build trust through ethical marketing practices. This involves respecting user privacy, engaging in responsible advertising, and creating content that adds value without exploiting user data.

Integrating Social Media with Other Marketing Channels

The synergy between social media and other digital marketing channels, such as email marketing, can significantly enhance overall marketing effectiveness. By integrating these channels, marketers can create a cohesive and unified brand experience that guides customers through the buying journey more smoothly.

Focusing on Engagement and Community Building

Beyond merely posting content, engaging with followers through comments, messages, and interactive content can foster a sense of community and loyalty. Brands that succeed in building active and engaged online communities often see higher retention rates, increased advocacy, and better conversion rates.

Staying Ahead of Trends and Adapting to Changes

The digital landscape is continuously evolving, with new trends emerging rapidly. Marketers must stay informed about the latest developments in social media marketing, from algorithm changes to new content formats, and be ready to adapt their strategies accordingly. This agility can provide a competitive edge and ensure ongoing relevance in a crowded digital space.

FAQs: Social Media Marketing Statistics

How important is a social media strategy for a small business.

A social media strategy is crucial for small businesses as it helps increase brand awareness, engage with the target audience, drive website traffic, and ultimately, boost sales. It provides a cost-effective way to compete in the digital landscape.

Why are social media marketing statistics important?

Social media marketing statistics help businesses understand the effectiveness of their campaigns, make data-driven decisions, and measure ROI. They also provide insights into audience behavior, which is valuable for optimizing marketing strategies.

What trends are we seeing in social media advertising statistics?

Current trends in social media advertising statistics include the rise of video content, increased focus on influencer marketing, and the growing importance of mobile optimization for ad campaigns.

How do statistics vary between different social media platforms?

Statistics vary between platforms due to differences in user demographics, engagement behaviors, and ad formats. For example, Instagram may have higher engagement rates among younger audiences, while LinkedIn may be more effective for B2B marketing.

What is the success rate of social media marketing?

The success rate of social media marketing varies widely depending on factors like industry, strategy, and the quality of content. On average, businesses report a 95% increase in brand awareness and 73% increase in website traffic through effective social media marketing.

What percentage of marketers use social media marketing?

As of the latest data, approximately 88% of marketers use social media marketing as a part of their overall marketing strategy due to its effectiveness in reaching and engaging with audiences.

What should social media marketers be doing?

Social media marketers should focus on creating compelling content, setting clear objectives, analyzing data regularly, staying updated on platform algorithm changes, and engaging with their audience in real time to build meaningful relationships.

What are some surprising social media statistics?

Surprising social media statistics include the fact that Instagram has over 1 billion monthly active users, tweets with images receive 150% more retweets, and 54% of social browsers use social media to research products.

What is the 80/20 social media marketing rule?

The 80/20 rule in social media marketing suggests that 80% of your content should provide value, entertain, or educate your audience, while the remaining 20% can be promotional in nature. This approach maintains a healthy balance between engaging content and direct marketing messages.

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• Content Marketing

35 Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know

Stay informed with the latest content marketing statistics. Discover how optimized content can elevate your digital marketing efforts.

Content continues to sit atop the list of priorities in most marketing strategies, and there is plenty of evidence to support the reasoning.

Simply put, content marketing is crucial to any digital marketing strategy, whether running a small local business or a large multinational corporation.

After all, content in its many and evolving forms is indisputably the very lifeblood upon which the web and social media are based.

Modern SEO has effectively become optimized content marketing for all intents and purposes.

This is when Google demands and rewards businesses that create content demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) for their customers – content that answers all of the questions consumers may have about their services, products, or business in general.

Content marketing involves creating and sharing helpful, relevant, entertaining, and consistent content in various text, image, video, and audio-based formats to the plethora of traditional and online channels available to modern marketers.

The primary focus should be on attracting and retaining a clearly defined audience, with the ultimate goal of driving profitable customer action.

Different types of content can and should be created for each stage of a customer’s journey .

Some content, like blogs or how-to videos, are informative or educational. Meanwhile, other content, like promotional campaign landing pages , gets to the point of enticing prospective customers to buy.

But with so much content being produced and shared every day, it’s important to stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in content marketing to keep pace and understand what strategies may be most effective.

Never has this been more true than in 2024, when we’re in the midst of a content revolution led by generative AI , which some feel represents both an opportunity and a threat to marketers.

To help you keep up, here are 35 content marketing statistics I think you should know:

Content Marketing Usage

How many businesses are leveraging content marketing, and how are they planning to find success?

• According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI), 73% of B2B marketers, and 70% of B2C marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy.
• 97% of marketers surveyed by Semrush achieved success with their content marketing in 2023.
• A B2B Content Marketing Study conducted by CMI found that 40% of B2B marketers have a documented content marketing strategy; 33% have a strategy, but it’s not documented, and 27% have no strategy.
• Half of the surveyed marketers by CMI said they outsource at least one content marketing activity.

Content Marketing Strategy

What strategies are content marketers using or finding to be most effective?

• 83% of marketers believe it’s more effective to create higher quality content less often. (Source: Hubspot)
• In a 2022 Statista Research Study of marketers worldwide, 62% of respondents emphasized the importance of being “always on” for their customers, while 23% viewed content-led communications as the most effective method for personalized targeting efforts.
• With the increased focus on AI-generated search engine results, 31% of B2B marketers say they are sharpening their focus on user intent/answering questions, 27% are creating more thought leadership content, and 22% are creating more conversational content. (Source: CMI)

Types Of Content

Content marketing was synonymous with posting blogs, but the web and content have evolved into audio, video, interactive, and meta formats.

Here are a few stats on how the various types of content are trending and performing.

• Short-form video content, like TikTok and Instagram Reel, is the No. 1 content marketing format, offering the highest return on investment (ROI).
• 43% of marketers reported that original graphics (like infographics and illustrations) were the most effective type of visual content. (Source: Venngage)
• 72% of B2C marketers expected their organization to invest in video marketing in 2022. (Source: Content Marketing Institute – CMI)
• The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report by Semrush reveals that articles containing at least one video tend to attract 70% more organic traffic than those without.
• Interactive content generates 52.6% more engagement compared to static content. On average, buyers spend 8.5 minutes viewing static content items and 13 minutes on interactive content items. (Source: Mediafly)

Content Creation

Creating helpful, unique, engaging content can be one of a marketer’s greatest challenges. However, innovative marketers are looking at generative AI as a tool to help ideate, create, edit, and analyze content quicker and more cost-effectively.

Here are some stats around content creation and just how quickly AI is changing the game.

• Generative AI reached over 100 million users just two months after ChatGPT’s launch. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
• A recent Ahrefs poll found that almost 80% of respondents had already adopted AI tools in their content marketing strategies.
• Marketers who are using AI said it helps most with brainstorming new topics ( 51%) , researching headlines and keywords (45%), and writing drafts (45%). (Source: CMI)
• Further, marketers polled by Hubspot said they save 2.5 hours per day using AI for content.

Content Distribution

It is not simply enough to create and publish content.

For a content strategy to be successful, it must include distributing content via the channels frequented by a business’s target audience.

• Facebook is still the dominant social channel for content distribution, but video-centric channels like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are growing the fastest .  (Source: Hubspot)
• B2B marketers reported to CMI that LinkedIn was the most common and top-performing organic social media distribution channel at 84% by a healthy margin. All other channels came in under 30%.
• 80% of B2B marketers who use paid distribution use paid social media advertising. (Source: CMI)

Content Consumption

Once content reaches an audience, it’s important to understand how an audience consumes the content or takes action as a result.

• A 2023 Content Preferences Study by Demand Gen reveals that 62% of B2B buyers prefer practical content like case studies to inform their purchasing decisions, citing “a need for valid sources.”
• The same study also found that buyers tend to rely heavily on content when researching potential business solutions, with 46% reporting that they increased the amount of content they consumed during this time.
• In a recent post, blogger Ryan Robinson reports the average reader spends 37 seconds reading a blog.
• DemandGen’s survey participants also said they rely most on demos ( 62% ) and user reviews (55%) to gain valuable insights into how a solution will meet their needs.

Content Marketing Performance

One of the primary reasons content marketing has taken off is its ability to be measured, optimized, and tied to a return on investment.

• B2C marketers reported to CMI that the top three goals content marketing helps them to achieve are creating brand awareness, building trust, and educating their target audience.
• 87% of B2B marketers surveyed use content marketing successfully to generate leads.
• 56% of marketers who leverage blogging say it’s an effective tactic, and 10% say it generates the greatest return on investment (ROI).
• 94% of marketers said personalization boosts sales.

Content Marketing Budgets

Budget changes and the willingness to invest in specific marketing strategies are good indicators of how popular and effective these strategies are at a macro level.

The following stats certainly seem to indicate marketers have bought into the value of content.

• 61% of B2C marketers said their 2022 content marketing budget would exceed their 2021 budget.
• 22% of B2B marketers said they spent 50% or more of their total marketing budget on content marketing. Furthermore, 43% saw their content marketing budgets grow from 2020 to 2021, and 66% expected them to grow again in 2022.

Content Challenges

All forms of marketing come with challenges related to time, resources, expertise, and competition.

Recognizing and addressing these challenges head-on with well-thought-out strategies is the best way to overcome them and realize success.

• Top 3 content challenges included “attracting quality leads with content” ( 45% ), “creating more content faster” (38%), and “generating content ideas” (35%). (Source: Semrush’s The State of Content Marketing: 2023 Global Report)
• 44% of marketers polled for CMI’s 2022 B2B report highlighted the challenge of creating the right content for multi-level roles as their top concern. This replaced internal communication as the top challenge from the previous year.
• Changes to SEO/search algorithms ( 64% ), changes to social media algorithms (53%), and data management/analytics (48%) are also among the top concerns for B2C marketers.
• 47% of people are seeking downtime from internet-enabled devices due to digital fatigue.
• While generative AI has noted benefits, it also presents challenges for some marketers who fear it may replace them. In Hubspot’s study, 23% said they felt we should avoid using generative AI.
• Another challenge with AI is how quickly it has come onto the scene without giving organizations time to provide training or to create policies and procedures for its appropriate and legal use. According to CMI, when asked if their organizations have guidelines for using generative AI tools, 31% of marketers said yes, 61% said no, and 8% were unsure.

Time To Get Started

As you can clearly see and perhaps have already realized, content marketing can be a highly effective and cost-efficient way to generate leads, build brand awareness, and drive sales. Content, in its many formats, powers virtually all online interactions.

Generative AI is effectively helping to solve some of the time and resource challenges by acting as a turbo-powered marketing assistant, while also raising a few procedural concerns.

However, the demand for content remains strong.

Those willing to put in the work of building a documented content strategy and executing it – by producing, optimizing, distributing, and monitoring high-value, relevant, customer-centric content, with the help of AI or not – can reap significant business rewards.

More resources:

• 6 Ways To Humanize Your Content In The AI Era
• Interactive Content: 10 Types To Engage Your Audience
• B2B Lead Generation: Create Content That Converts

Featured Image: Deemak Daksina/Shutterstock 

Jeff has been helping organizations manage, measure and optimize their Web presences for over 20 years. He has deep knowledge ...

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Search engine marketing is evolving. Here’s what you need to know to enhance your business’s presence online.

Since many people learn about companies online, a search engine marketing (SEM) campaign can open the door to new customers. But an effective campaign requires a nuanced approach to balancing paid and organic search, as well as a thoughtful understanding of what potential customers are searching for on the internet.

Paying for placement so a search engine’s ad platform  will place your business higher than that of a competitor often involves putting money behind popular keywords and phrases. When internet users search for those terms, your website is more likely to show at the top of the page.

But given increasingly sophisticated algorithms and the ever-evolving nature of online search, opportunities for using paid keywords have expanded, says Stacy Poliseo, SVP, digital marketing at Regions Bank. “When we talk about keywords, the best practices are different from what they were in the past,” she says. Here are three strategies for developing a more sophisticated—and effective—SEM campaign.

Understand what motivates search

Many search terms are transactional. They describe what action a user wants to take. For example, a transactional search term for a bank might be “open a checking account.” But if your strategy doesn’t include broad search terms to engage people at various stages of the sales funnel who are trying to educate themselves about their options, you could be missing out on potential new customers.

“Searches tend to be motivated by three factors,” says Poliseo.

• Some people are seeking to further educate themselves or answer a question by looking for information about a product, service or topic.
• Some are looking for navigational information— either the location of a product or how to find a particular website or webpage.
• Some are looking to make a transaction, such as buying a product or service.

“People might solely think about sales or getting more account sign-ups. But if they only focus on those already showing transactional intent, that could be short-sighted,” Poliseo says. Using the same example of a bank, a broader approach to keywords might include terms like “how to open an account for my business,” which captures users who might be looking for information or trying to educate themselves.

Focus on longer keywords

A decade ago, asking Siri or Alexa to find the best sprinkle cupcakes in Miami Beach wasn’t even an option. Today, search phrases are trending longer as more people speak into a voice-activated search function instead of typing their request into a search box. Think about moving away from common keywords (best cupcakes) and toward long-tail keywords, which are specific longer phrases (best sprinkle cupcakes near Wynwood open on Sunday). Long-tail keywords tend to get less search traffic because they apply to fewer people. But they typically have a higher conversion rate because they target users who are more likely to be ready to buy or commit.

Consider keyword competition—and cost

There are a variety of tools, both free and paid, available for assessing keywords and optimizing spend. Google offers a suite of free resources, including Google Ads Keyword Planner, which helps you search for keyword ideas, view statistics and set competitive bids. SEO marketing tools like Semrush, Moz and Ahrefs can also help businesses strategize the best keywords for their business goals.

A keyword bid is the amount you are willing to pay whenever an internet user clicks on your ad. The more popular the keyword, the higher the bids. For example, a highly searched term in the banking industry like “credit card” will have a pricy cost-per-click, says Poliseo. As a result, it is important to monitor campaigns to balance the cost of a popular keyword versus its performance.

Though you might feel pressure to invest in a popular keyword, it could be cost prohibitive, and it might make more sense to invest in a keyword that’s less widely used but more specialized to your particular business.

Understanding what your customers want and how they use the internet to find it is key to coming up with a paid search strategy that works. The goal is not to hit every keyword, Poliseo says. But when a keyword you do have attracts a potential customer, you need to ensure you are providing relevant information to support the potential customer’s search intent, “by being clear and concise, and having a strong call-to-action.”

Three things to do

• Learn the best strategies for engaging potential customers  on social media.
• Conduct a marketing analysis  to gain a better understanding of what potential customers are looking for online.
• Discover more ways to connect  with your target audience online.

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#604 Facebook Ad Strategies for Small Business Retailers Boutique Chat

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Curious about Facebook ads and eager to harness their potential for your business? Look no further! In this episode, we're diving into the dynamic world of Facebook advertising with our expert, Jeff Fenn, Director of Marketing. Whether you're new to Facebook ads or hoping to level up, Jeff unpacks the ins and outs of Facebook ads, from debunking common misconceptions to tackling budget concerns.  Resources:   Facebook Ads Masterclass  Boutique Hub Black  ----  Ashley Alderson: Instagram  The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube  Boutique Summit 2024  Small Business Marketing Handbook  Hubventory | Wholesale  

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