How to Use Instagram for Business: Top 12 Reasons

Instagram has been an effective marketing tool for businesses that want to increase their product visibility and brand awareness since its inception. Instagram is an amazing social media marketing tool to showcase cool, innovative, interesting, and beautiful products and services. Instagram engagement is a great marketing tool for industries such as fashion and food, beauty, home decor, gardening, and travel.

We will discuss why Instagram accounts are so beneficial for businesses and give tips on how to optimize your Instagram presence.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a popular social media platform for photo- and video sharing. Worldwide, there are 2 billion monthly users according to Statista

• Make a photo or video posts
• For 24 hours, make Instagram Stories live on your profile
• Make Instagram Reels. These are short videos of 15-, 30-, or 60 seconds.
• Livestream video
• The app allows you to shop directly at e-commerce companies.

Meta, which also controls Facebook, is Instagram’s parent company. Instagram is geared toward a younger audience. Statista discovered that almost 60% of Instagram users are younger than 34 years old, while 18.1% are aged 35-44. Instagram is a powerful tool for businesses to engage with millennials and can be used to market to Gen Z.

How to Use Instagram for Business

These 12 reasons Instagram is an important business platform are explained. You can also see how your business can profit from social media sites.

1. Instagram is being used by more people.

Instagram has 2 billion monthly users. This is a hugely popular platform, especially among younger people. Statista data also shows that 63% of U.S. users use Instagram daily, while 97% use it monthly. A dedicated Instagram strategy can help businesses achieve success with unlimited eyeballs.

Also read: Steps To Add A Business Page On Facebook In 2023

2. Instagram can help businesses of any size thrive.

Instagram is a platform that allows businesses of all sizes to thrive, regardless of industry or size. Although success is not guaranteed, Instagram can be a great tool for marketing teams looking to put their company on the map.

Brand awareness can be increased by businesses connecting with your target audience by being an active presence and maintaining a routine of at least one post daily. These are household names like Coca-Cola or Adidas and a host of small businesses have successfully used Instagram to grow.

3. Businesses can make money from Instagram.

Businesses can make money using Instagram in a variety of ways.

• Direct sales via Instagram: Instagram is now able to allow on-platform eCommerce sales. Instagram’s Shop tab allows users to search for and buy directly from brands through their Instagram stories, posts, or profiles.
• Shoppable Posts: Instagram allows businesses to add tags to products to their photos. These tags include links to product descriptions, prices, and an option to “shop now” to take users to an online shop.
• Partnerships between brand ambassadors: Businesses are able to collaborate with brand ambassadors via sponsored posts or affiliate marketing. These partnerships can help you increase sales and generate more leads.

4. You can make your business more approachable with Instagram.

Instagram is a great way to show potential customers you are more than just a faceless company. Live events and Instagram Stories are great ways to show your brand’s personality.

• Instagram Stories: You can use Instagram Stories to get a behind-the-scenes look at your company’s people and their work. Examples include videos showing how products are made and stories showing office employees interacting. There are also a series of posts that show your company actively participating in the community.
• Insta live events: Insta live events are a great way to establish trust, credibility, and rapport with your followers. You can host live Q&A sessions that are similar to FacebookLive Q&As. Live events, similar to Instagram stories can give you an insider’s view of your company.

5. Influencers to build brand awareness for businesses.

Consider using influential people to build your brand. Influencers are social media users who have large followings and are high-powered, high-level social media users. These people may be celebrities, or niche users. They promote brands and products, often introducing new products to the mainstream.

Reliable influencers can increase your company’s sales through higher digital marketing ROI, and access to new demographics that you might not normally reach. You can get thousands or even millions of people to follow your brand by getting influencers to promote it.

6. Instagram hashtags can help increase visibility for a business.

You may feel intimidated by competition when you start a business. You can still stand out from the crowd by using hashtags.

Popular Instagram hashtags, such as #ShareaCoke by Coca-Cola, #TweetFromTheSeat by Charmin and #MyCalvins from Calvin Klein, have become icons in the industry.

Even if you are a small business, effective hashtag usage can make your business stand out from the rest.

7. Businesses can use Instagram to engage customers effectively

Engaging with your customers on social media should be a primary goal of any business’s social media marketing strategy. Instagram is a great engagement platform. You can engage your customers every day by asking them to share their opinions and feedback on Instagram.

Instagram allows users to comment, like, and share their favorite posts. Your company will be more visible the more you like and comment on your Instagram posts. High-quality photos, local hashtags, and partnerships with other brands can help you get more likes.

8. Businesses can use the power of Instagram to leverage mobile’s potential.

Instagram is a mobile app, unlike Facebook and Twitter which were originally browser-based websites. According to data, 88% of mobile users use apps. This makes Instagram an ideal destination for mobile users.

Make sure your Instagram posts are mobile-friendly and accessible. Instagram’s minimalist style is a refreshing contrast to Facebook’s cluttered view. Prioritizing your Instagram posts will allow you to increase your reach and engagement.

9. Businesses can use Instagram to keep eye on their competitors.

You can monitor your competitors using Instagram and see their interactions with followers. Pay attention to what they post, how often they post it, and how they interact with their followers. This information can be used to help you define your strategy. You can learn from their failures and draw inspiration from their successes.

10. Businesses have many creative options with Instagram.

The photo-sharing app’s creativity is a great advantage. Your marketing team can be creative on Instagram. You can find new ways to attract attention, gain followers, and increase customers.

Mix to show the public your brand’s personality and make it easy for them to shop with you. Get involved with social media contests, shout-outs, and Interactive videos.

Also read: 7 Great Ways To Attract New Customers To Your Small Business

11. Instagram ads can help businesses reach new customers.

Instagram ads allow you to reach new customers by creating customizable and trackable ads. You can target specific audiences, link to your website and gather valuable user data for your social media marketing campaigns.

12. Instagram Insights can be used by businesses to improve their social media marketing strategies.

Instagram Insights is a great tool to help you determine who your followers are and what your content is doing. This data can be used to improve and inform your other social media marketing campaigns.

Insights will give you key metrics on social media and information about your followers’ age, locations, time spent on the application, and other important data. You can also view how each post performed and which time is best to post.

Also read: The Top 5 Instagram Growth Tools Use in 2023

Instagram does and doesn’t

These are some tips to improve your Instagram presence

• Keep posting consistently. To get the best results, you should post regularly to your Instagram account. Experts suggest posting at least one to three times per week.
• Make your Instagram bio more powerful. Promote specific products, blog posts, or landing pages.
  Connect with other accounts by liking their posts, commenting on them, and following #hashtags.
• Get feedback. Interact with your followers and ask them questions about their customers. These data can be used to gain valuable insights into the market.
• You should create a style for your Instagram grid. It is important to maintain consistency with your brand. This can be achieved by using certain colors, filters, and angles.
• Be thoughtful when using hashtags. Use hashtags in order to make it easier to find your content. An Instagram post can contain up to 30 hashtags. Too many hashtags can make your posts seem “sales” or off-putting.
• Tell a story. Users on Instagram want to feel connected to the accounts that they follow. You can share behind-the-scenes photos or videos and allow users to see the history of your company.

These are the most common Instagram Mistakes:

• Inundating your followers. It is a good rule of thumb to post more than three times per week. This will cause followers to become annoyed. This number can vary depending on the industry and product.
• Being inauthentic. Never use auto-commenters or post generic-sounding comments. Instagram values authenticity and will punish you if you are too robotic.
• Posting clickbait: While you should create engaging and interesting content, it is important not to add sensational or irrelevant content in order to get reposts.
• Too sales-oriented. It is wrong to post sales-oriented content all the time. People don’t like to be constantly sold to. Follow the 5/3:2 rule for social media. For every 10 posts, curate 5 posts from other content and create 3 posts that are relevant to your audience. Use 2 posts to share fun content that humanizes your company.
• Not using captions. Although Instagram is primarily visual, it can still be useful to caption your posts. Captions can be used to add context or interest to an image or video or to make a joke comment.
• Ignoring negative feedback. Instagram is an interactive platform. Those who leave negative comments can expect to be reacted to. Make sure to pay attention to both positive and negative feedback and respond thoughtfully.
• Buying Instagram followers. While a large number of followers may seem appealing at first, fake followers will only harm your Instagram marketing efforts. These followers will not engage with your account or show genuine interest in your company.

Last Line

Instagram is attracting more people than ever before. You’ll miss out on millions of potential customers if Instagram doesn’t become a part of your social media network.

Although sponsorship and advertising opportunities are available, an Instagram account for businesses is completely free. Businesses can build a large following without spending any money. You may be doing your company a disservice if you don’t yet embrace Instagram.