Do you want to build a successful business on Instagram?

Instagram is one of the biggest ever-growing social media platforms. It has over a hundred million active daily users. Instagram today is no longer just an app for sharing photos, as it once was. The platform itself has developed a lot since it started in 2010. Including a business profile option, shop features, and much more! 

Anyone on Instagram can start a business. It is an excellent opportunity to grow and gain sales and new customers.

This blog will show you how you can build a successful business on Instagram. Filled with many tips and things to be aware of. 

Why would you miss this opportunity to set up a business? It can be a great way to increase business, sales, and customers.

What can Instagram Offer Businesses?

Instagram can bring more recognition to your work, whether you are an Influencer, photographer, or even a product reviewer. 

When you create an Instagram account, you will need to change it to a business account. This option is under the ‘edit profile’ on your profile. 

With a business account, you will see the ‘insights’ of your posts, profile, and more. Once you reach 100 followers on your Instagram account, you are able to access your insights. This shows you a breakdown of your account, followers and your content.

A personal account does not allow you to see these stats or insights.

You can set up a shop and link your posts or videos to the product you are selling. Users can thus search for items and sellers. Selling items on Instagram will direct the user to your site. From there, users can buy and browse your store for other products you sell. 

Use the ‘promotion’ (advertising) feature on Instagram, to set a range of audiences that can get reached by your post. This has various options for the budgets and the duration of the advertisements.

Check out our blog Instagram Promotion – Is It Worth It For Entrepreneurs?. For more information, tips and tricks about promoting on Instagram.

There are also ways to contact a business on Instagram. If they have added their phone number, email, or even address. If they have an ‘Action Button’, users can; book, order, or reserve.

These are third-party platforms, so you first make an account and link them to your action button. 

Different Types of Instagram Content

From the beginning, Instagram was a photo-sharing site. But now it has much more range: Videos, Reels, Stories, and Live.

Some of these words may seem a little strange to those unfamiliar with Instagram. So let’s go through these.

• Reels – A 15-second recording. With multi-video clips, you can add audio, effects, and other creative things. If your account settings are public, they will appear on the Explore tab on Instagram. 
• Stories – You can share either photos or videos that will disappear after 24 hours. 
• Live – this is where you are filming in real-time on your Instagram account. People can leave comments and react. 

Uploading or creating content, and having a routine, is beneficial to a business. Without it, a business cannot operate properly. 
Creating not only posts, but reels and sharing stories. This will become a habit for you and your business to be successful on Instagram.

How can Your Instagram Business Become Successful?

There is no shortcut.  A lot of time, effort, and regular uploads all play a part in success. There are some things to take note of if you want your business to become successful on Instagram.

• What is your content?:  Know what you want to do on Instagram. Whether that is creating art or if you are selling products. Knowing what you want to pursue in the first place is a good start. 
• Why and what do you want to achieve?: Do you want to build a community on Instagram? Or raise the chances of your brand being well-known? 

Your Profile and Posting On Instagram

• Better your profile: Make it eye-catching. Add a short description of you, your company, etc. Edit your category (Under edit profile). This will make it clearer about what you are doing and who you are. 
• A logo or visible photo: It is important for any business on social media to have a logo. Or even a photo (if you own a restaurant). This will make it clearer to the users of Instagram 
• Post regularly: Posting regularly and keeping to a schedule will help so much in the long run. Instagram runs an algorithm. This machine is always learning how someone uses Instagram. Including what they like on Instagram, and what they comment on. When a user comes across your Instagram profile and has liked and commented on a few of your posts. They will likely see more of your posts on their Instagram feed. Or posts similar to yours. 
• The use of hashtags: It is best to have at least 10 hashtags on a post. The more hashtags, the better the Instagram target audience you will receive. Hashtags are also searchable. You can also use hashtags for locations, but always make sure that they are relevant to your post. If you have trouble thinking up hashtags for your posts. There are sites that help generate them, such as The Hashtag generator tool. 
• Link your website: Make sure to link your business to your Instagram profile. So when other users click on your profile, they can also have the opportunity to visit your website. You can add the website link under ‘profile edit – website’. The link will then turn into a hyperlink.

Using Instagram To Your Advantage

• Connect with your users: This is very important! Users want to feel seen and heard. When you don’t reply to their comments (Both positive and negative ones!) it may seem like you don’t care about your audience, your consumers. But don’t always reply to positive comments! This way you can build upon your consumer base, as well as feedback. 
• Collaborate: Collaborating with others helps to increase users coming across your profile. Both your name and the collaborator will appear on the post. The post will also be uploaded to both of your accounts. As a result, the views, likes, and comments will be shared.

Other Things You Should Know

Being successful doesn’t happen overnight. Don’t let it get you down. Building a business, even without social media, takes time. So keep your expectations low in the beginning, but of course, keep your goals. 

Celebrate your milestones and your successes! Create a post about it, and include a free giveaway. Always celebrate both the little and the big successes. 

Be alert for fake followers, or bot accounts. This is with any social media platform. Whether you use Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. You are bound to come across those fake or bot accounts. They may not follow you, but rather comment on your post with random spam, or may even tag you in posts. This can hurt your account. You can report, block and delete the comments and the tags (@). 

There are sites that you can use to check how well your Instagram page is going. The website Social Blade is a great one. You must sign up to see your results, though, but it is free to use. You can see a graph of your follower gains and a stats summary. 

Some websites will ask for a company email. Others may need over 1,000 followers before they can go through your analytics. 

Conclusion

All that has been mentioned contribute to a form of success. Sometimes a recent post does better than your last. Other times it doesn’t perform so well. This happens not only on social media, but for a lot of things. 

The beginning of any business is always a struggle. Stay motivated and eager about your business, and you will eventually see success. 

We hope that building a successful business on Instagram is a little easier and clearer.