Today, Instagram is among the most popular and used social media platforms worldwide. The platform's visual nature and features make it a great tool for businesses to connect with potential customers.
How to create an Instagram business account is easy! This article will walk you through how to set up an Instagram account for business. You'll also learn strategies to make the most of this powerful social platform.
What Is an Instagram Business Account?
Instagram is a popular and user-intuitive social platform, with millions of users daily. An Instagram business account is best for branding and is also a great marketing tool.
It has special features that are more inclined towards business than a personal account. These features include contact buttons (phone and email), boosting posts, product tagging, Instagram shopping features, and reports. In addition, a business account can reach more people than a normal Instagram account.
Why Do You Need to Create an Instagram Business Account?
An Instagram business account has tools that make it much easier to market your brand. Here are the top 5 reasons you should create an Instagram account for your business.
1. Access to Analytics Tools
Instagram is among the last most used social platforms to add analytics tools. Therefore, its analytics tools aren't robust. For example, you can only track or export data for up to one week.
However, as much as these analytics tools (Insights) aren't robust, they'll help you know how your Instagram post is doing. You can get analytics information about your posts by going to your profile and Insights. The Insights section has information about your followers, impressions, and reach within the past week.
2. Advertising
An Instagram business page allows you to advertise your product and services. Unlike the personal Instagram account, it has a boost post feature which you pay for to push your post to a broader audience. It’s best to boost your posts if you want more engagement quickly.
In addition, Facebook and Instagram are under a similar company (Meta), which allows you to advertise your Instagram products and services using the Facebook Ad Platform.
Note that you can add the call to action button to your ads. You can also set your budget, choose a specific audience, and choose the ad's period.
3. Leads Can Easily Contact You
Before the introduction of Instagram business accounts, a lead couldn't engage with the business inside Instagram. They could only click on the website link posted on Instagram and then engage with the business from its website.
Today, the Instagram business account has a contact button that allows you to add contact information. An Instagram user will click on the button and decide whether they want to message, email, or find your location.
4. It Helps Your Brand Build More Trust
A well-built Instagram business account with professional images and great content will help you establish a higher level of trust. A business profile makes your audience view you as a legitimate brand than when using a personal profile.
In addition, as your business account grows, you'll get more engagement which offers more social proof.
5. Increased Organic Reach
An Instagram business page is ideal for reaching a new audience organically. Organic reach is the number of people you reach without spending money on social media advertising. But you can still run ads to reach a broader audience. Always include relevant hashtags and posts on your Instagram page to reach more people.
How to Create an Instagram Business Account
An Instagram business account will help your brand create meaningful connections with customers. Through your post, customers can research your products and decide whether or not they'll make a purchase.
This section offers a guide on how to set up an Instagram business account.
1. Download the App
This is the first step on how to create an Instagram account for your business. You should download the Instagram app or access Instagram through a browser. However, if you're using a mobile phone, it's best to use the app.
2. Sign Up
To create an Instagram business account, you must fill out a sign-up form with your email address, username, company name, and password. Alternatively, you can sign-up using your Facebook business account.
Note that it's best to use your company name as the username. You’ll also need a password when creating an Instagram account for your business. Therefore, ensure the password follows all the recommended guidelines to enhance your account's security.
3. Switch from Personal to Business Account
After you successfully create an Instagram business account, you'll need to switch it to a business account. It is easy; go to your profile's top right corner and tap on three lines. A drop-down menu will appear; click "Settings" and then "Accounts" from the settings page. Finally, click "Switch to Professional Account."
4. Complete Your Account Customization
This is a crucial part of account creation. Here, you choose a profile picture; it should be a variation of your logo. This will help your audience easily recognize your brand.
The next step of account customization is writing a bio and filling in the company information. This can be your contact information, store operation hours, website address link, etc. Ensure the information you add to the bio is correct and displayed.
5. Post Relevant Content
The last step on how to create an Instagram account is posting content. Like website blog content, anything you post on your business account should be informative and high-quality.
You need to post content before promoting your business's Instagram account. You can start with a hello post welcoming people to your page. With time, add content that explains your business and more. Overall, there won't be a noticeable difference if you create an Instagram business account but can't post high-quality and valuable content.
Why You Should Have an Instagram Business Strategy
Today, businesses need to create an Instagram business account to increase their chances of success. But it doesn't end there; you need a great strategy to manage it as a business owner.
A great Instagram strategy will help you know what success looks like and offer a guide on achieving it. Since you'll be investing your energy, time, and resources into building a successful Instagram presence, it's best to ensure you're offering value.
Regarding Instagram's business strategy, you need to know your customers and goals and have a clear posting schedule. Let's dive into more details.
1. Define Your Audience
You might know who your customers are, but it's still important to consider the type of content you show them. It should be engaging and also able to add value to your audience.
To better understand your audience or prospects, you must learn about their needs, values, demographics, shopping behaviors, content preferences, and more. Your Strikingly website has tools to help you learn most of the mentioned. You should also look at how your competitors reach and handle the same audience.
2. Identify Your Goals
When you create an Instagram business account, you must have defined goals to help it grow. Identifying and setting clear goals for the Instagram account for your business will save you a lot of trouble. You'll be able to stay on track and know how you're progressing.
Your goals should be specific, achievable, measurable, timely, and relevant to your audience. Depending on your business needs, your goals can include the following:
- Engaging followers
- Creating brand awareness
- Increasing conversion rate, etc.
3. Have a Posting Schedule
Lastly, you need to have a posting schedule and commit to it. You should have a specific time for creating and posting content; this will help customers know when to hear from you.
How to Promote Your Instagram Business Account Using a Strikingly Website
Image taken from Strikingly Product
It is easy to create an Instagram business account, which is why your business must have one. After you create an Instagram business account, you must market it to people to make it discoverable and increase sales. A Strikingly website can make the Instagram account for your business more discoverable. Here's how:
1. Add Instagram To Your Strikingly Website
After you've set up Instagram business account, you can link it to your website. This makes it easy for people visiting your website to find and follow you on Instagram. The best part is that connecting your Instagram account to a Strikingly website is relatively easy using the Social Feed Section.
The "Social Feed Section" will display your latest posts from Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter on your webpage. This helps to ensure your Strikingly website stays updated with the latest content without much work.
Here is how you can add your social media accounts to your Strikingly website.
1. Open your site editor and click “Add New Section.”
Image taken from Strikingly Product
2. Go to “Advanced” and pick the “Social Feed” section.
Image taken from Strikingly Product
3. Click “Edit” on the “Social Feed” section.
Image taken from Strikingly Product
4. Choose the social platform you want to connect to, i.e., Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter page.
2. Embed Your Instagram feed
You can use a widget to embed your Instagram feed on your Strikingly website. This allows people to see your recent Instagram posts without leaving your website. The process is free and easy.
3. Create a landing page
You can create a dedicated landing page on your website that promotes your social platforms, including Instagram. This can include information about your social media platforms, why people should follow you, and links to your accounts.
4. Include Instagram Links in Your Email Signature
You can add your Instagram link to your email signature. Therefore, you'll promote your account when you email your audience.
Conclusion
You are missing out if you are a business owner and are not on Instagram. With more than one billion users, Instagram is a powerful tool to help you reach new and existing customers.
Creating an Instagram account for your business allows you to take advantage of features like insights and promoted posts. It is very easy to create an Instagram business account. Following the steps outlined in this article, you can create an Instagram business account and have it running in no time.
However, there's more than just knowing how to create an Instagram business account. You should have a solid strategy to help ensure your account's success. Additionally, make sure you post high-quality content.
