Social media is now the third largest advertising investment channel in the world. Currently, Instagram alone has over 2 billion monthly active users and more than 200 million business accounts (omnicore agency, 2024). This platform has become indispensable for businesses, allowing them to reach new customers, promote their products and services, and build a community with their audience. If you have, or intend to create, a business account on Instagram, here are 5 essential tips to make the most of the available tools and maximise the presence of your Instagram business account:
1. Have a content strategy
Organising a content strategy is crucial to growing your account. The content you publish on Instagram should be relevant, engaging, and visually appealing. Here are some tips for creating quality content:
– Follow the AIDA model
This model consists of 5 sequential stages of the consumer's purchase decision-making process: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. When making a post on Instagram, you should first capture the audience's attention through eye-catching images or captivating headlines. Then create interest through the copy, for example by providing relevant information or highlighting benefits, with the aim of sparking desire in the consumer and creating an emotional connection that leads them to the intended action for that publication.
AIDA Model
– Model your content
You should not focus solely on your Instagram feed. The platform offers other channels such as stories or reels where you can connect with your audience in an authentic and immediate way. Explore these channels and adapt your content to their features. For example, you can create:
- Informative content and deliver value to your audience through images with text;
- Content in captioned video, since most people watch video content without sound (for Android we recommend the AutoCap app, and for iOS, Clips or Clipomatic);
- Storytelling to create engagement with your audience.
– Schedule your content
It is essential to develop an editorial calendar with dates and events relevant to your business, including topics and their respective content formats to be published. This way, you can organise yourself and maintain consistency in your account's posts to keep your audience's interest and engagement. For this, we recommend Google Calendar.
– Create relevant content
Constantly coming up with ideas for content is not always easy, and sometimes a creative block can occur. With that in mind, here are some tools where you can get ideas for new content:
- AnswerThePublic shows results based on real Google searches;
- KWFinder analyses keyword search volume;
- BuzzSumo indicates which content is trendy on social media.
2. Interact with your audience
The biggest mistake many business accounts on Instagram make is simply posting content and not interacting with their audience. This interaction, known as engagement, is essential for building a community on Instagram and developing a close relationship with your followers. Don't ignore comments, reply to them! This will only show that your followers' opinions are valued and that you are attentive to what they have to say. Another simple way to interact with your audience is to ask questions, whether in stories or in the captions of your posts, to encourage your followers to actively participate in the conversation.
3. Use Instagram Business Account features
Instagram offers several specific tools for business accounts. Through Instagram Insights, you can access metrics that allow you to evaluate the performance of your posts, i.e., understand reach, impressions, interactions (likes, comments, saves), and understand your target audience, as well as the best times to post according to your audience.
Furthermore, you should also take advantage of Instagram Shopping, if you intend to sell products, so that your consumers can make purchases directly on the platform.
4. Create ads
If you already have a business account and are not yet advertising, don't waste any more time! Instagram ads are both an effective and powerful way to reach and convert customers, helping brands drive the success of their business. Here are some tips on what to include in your ad to boost its reach and performance:
- The title should be clear and eye-catching;
- Choose a captivating image, as the image is what catches the user's attention, making it the most important element of the ad;
- Use emojis in the copy of your posts. It has been proven that using emojis can generate up to 30% more clicks on the ad!
- Use hashtags strategically. Keep in mind that hashtags are not the solution for a successful post on Instagram, but they do increase its reach and visibility. Start by researching hashtags on Instagram and check the volume of posts for those you want to use. Then alternate between more specific hashtags (fewer than 500k posts) and more general ones (more than 500k posts). The ideal is to choose between 12 and 20.
5. Adjust your strategy regularly
Finally, it is essential to monitor and analyse your business account regularly. This way, you can evaluate the performance of your posts and ads on Instagram, making adjustments to your strategy as needed. We recommend that you boost your posts if they justify it. To do this, you should analyse the metrics after the post has been published, i.e., analyse reach, impressions, interactions, profile visits generated, new followers, and the post's interaction rate. This rate is the sum of likes, comments, shares, and saves, divided by your number of followers, multiplied by 100.
Only after this analysis can you decide whether to promote the post. If you want to advertise, you should do so for a minimum period of 7 days.
In short, a successful Instagram Business account requires a combination of strategic planning, creativity, quality content, consistency, and regular data analysis. By implementing these 5 tips, you will be on the right track to developing an impactful presence on your Instagram business account and building a community around your business.