An Amateur's Guide to Instagram for Business

Instagram is one of the most popular platforms to build and expand your brand. In this day and age, you need an effective content marketing strategy to gain traction. Content marketing encompasses different forms of marketing across various platforms, with Instagram being one of them. In this article, we shall take a look at Instagram's pros and cons and the basics, whether you are using Instagram for business in 2015 or 2020. 

What are the merits of Instagram for Business?

Here are some of Instagram's noteworthy advantages for businesses and personal brands: 

Clients see first hand what you have to offer

Posting images and videos can do a lot more to communicate what you have to offer more than words can ever do. While blog posts are excellent to tackle broad topics, case studies, specific guides, tutorials, answering questions, etc., images and videos show your prospect precisely what to expect, leaving nothing to the imagination. 

Also, pictures and videos are excellent for short tutorials, product features, product reviews, unboxing, and breaking down complex statistics and analyses. In other words, prospects can expect a crystal clear idea of what you have to offer, based on which they can choose to go ahead. 

The rampant use of hashtags

Instagram allows you to follow hashtags as you would Instagram accounts, add them to your posts and stories, and create your own. You can look up hashtags relevant to your content, determine the number of followers they have and include them in your captions. This way, people who follow these hashtags (who are most likely your target audience) can find your profile. Make sure you include at least three hashtags relevant to your field or industry in every post. 

Creating your own hashtags is another thing you should do, especially if it is for something specific. You could create a hashtag exclusively for a product launch, contest, poll, promotion or sale, etc. Get your followers to use this hashtag on their reposts and stories. 

Immediate feedback

Since there are millions of people on Instagram, almost all the time, you can expect comments, likes, reposts, etc., within minutes of posting your content. In other words, you get instant feedback. Instant feedback is useful because you can tweak your posts, and strategy based on the feedback you get, thus saving you heaps of time and money. 

If you go live, you can expect at least a few of your followers to tune in immediately. Just like you visit the Facebook analytics website to learn how to use Facebook analytics, you should get a grip on Instagram insights to track your progress and see how well your posts are performing. 

Easy to build and expand brand awareness

Instagram allows you to post as much content as you want on your Instagram feed and stories. Also, it is integrated with the leading social media platforms, hence making it easy to cross-promote your brand without much effort. You need to link your Instagram account to your other social media accounts to make this happen. 

What are the demerits of Instagram?

Instagram has its pros and cons. Here are a few factors that make Instagram less than ideal: 

You can only post pictures and videos

You can post up to ten images and videos, and you can use IGTV for videos that exceed 60 seconds. However, you cannot write posts on your wall like you would on Facebook or LinkedIn. This is a demerit because you need to create context for your posts. Posting the crux of your message in the form of an image or video and supplementing it with an elaborate write-up is the ideal way to post content. While Instagram allows you to post captions, it limits your character count. 

Clickable links in your posts are not allowed

Not being allowed to include clickable links is a major problem. You can only add one clickable link, which is your website link you may add in the bio section. You cannot include links in your captions, which means that your followers will have to manually type the URL if they want to visit that link. 

Cutthroat, competitive environment

The fact that Instagram has millions of users is a plus point because you are highly likely to find your target audience. However, this also means that all your competitors are on Instagram. You will have to put out tons of content and hammer away at your niche while optimizing your Instagram marketing strategy every step of the way. 

How to get started on Instagram?

Now that you know what to expect from Instagram, here's how you get started: 

• Download Instagram from the app store and install it.  
• Then, open the app and click on 'Sign up.'
• Sign up using your email address or use your Facebook ID to do the same. 
• Create a unique username and password and submit the necessary details in your profile. Once you do this, tap 'done', and you should have your personal Instagram account ready. If you are taking your business to Instagram, you will need to create a business account. After creating your personal account, you need to convert it into a business account. Here's how: 
• Log in through your personal Instagram account. 
• Tap the profile icon to visit your profile.
• Hit the icon that appears to have three lines, located at the top right of the screen. Then go to 'Settings.'
• You should find the option to convert it into a Business account. 
• After doing this, include your contact details like your email address, phone number, or your physical address, and click on 'done.' 

Conclusion

There you have it - all the basics of Instagram that you need to be aware of if you are just starting. While Instagram certainly has its setbacks, its pros far outweigh them, which is why you should sign up and kickstart your marketing campaign to build your brand.