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How to best utilize Instagram for your business

Instagram has over 800 million monthly active users, much less competition but a lot more engaged audience than other social media giants like Twitter or Facebook. This presents businesses with the chance to market their products or services to a more interested and targeted audience without spending a crazy amount of money on paid advertising. As of Januar 2019, Instagram’s API has changed to allow IG users to publish videos or photos to an Instagram Business Profile using third-party platforms like Sendible, making it much easier for companies to take advantage of what Instagram has to offer.

Here are some are ways to utilize Instagram for your business.

Show what you do, creatively

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Focus more on the solution that you provide, not just the products you sell. On Instagram, it is vital to add value to your customers and look pretty while doing it. Never underestimate the fact that your most important skill and asses on this social media network are your visual content.

If your business offers services make sure you focus on showing the process behind providing the service. It is important to share your mission with the world, show your company’s culture or simply share some how-tos and some tips. It is possible to upload short videos (Boomerangs), photos and videos up to one minute long.

Instagram Stories

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You can use this feature to post slideshow-like pictures or videos that can be live only for 24-hours (however, you can save them to your phone to be re-used later, if you want). This feature is a direct competitor to the similar feature of Snapchat and is now being heavily updated by Instagram. There are some advantages to using Instagram Stories for businesses:

  • Can be used to share behind-the-scenes content that does not have to be so high in quality like your regular posts
  • Stories are displayed ad the top of your followers’ timelines which makes it much easier to see and click
  • You can experiment with different types of content such as short videos, photos, ‘boomerangs’ and live videos
  • Tagging other accounts, e.g. @microsoft in Stories is great for collaborators and influencer marketing
  • Fund additions like text, stickers and face filters will help you make your stories more interesting to your followers

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Create the perfect profile

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As a company, you probably do a lot more than you can fit in the 150 character limit bio. Focus on putting what’s the most important in your brand or what’s your next big thing – be it a promotion, event or product launch.

Since the only clickable link you can post on Instagram is in your Bio section, make sure you update it frequently. Most brands make the mistake of using it only to link to the homepage of their website since it could do a lot more.

Instagram last year launched its Instagram Business profiles and paid advertising. The Business profile option will allow you to add your phone number to your Bio and will give you access to extensive analytics data that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to see.


Peter is a freelance writer with more than eight years of experience covering topics in politics. He was one of the guys that were here when the foreignpolicyi.org started.