Do you use a business Instagram account?

When you are using Instagram, you can either have a personal profile or change that profile to a business account.

Why would you want a business Instagram account?

    • Access to analytics
    • Create promotional ads to reach potential customers
    • Add more contact features to your profile ie. Call, Email and Directions

Want to change your Instagram profile to a business account? Here is a quick and easy tutorial.

When using Instagram for business, there are ways to optimize your Instagram profile and take advantage of all the features Instagram has to offer.

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Of course, having great quality photos to post, and a professional profile photo is important but there are other important areas that need your attention.

Use the highlights section

This is one of my favourite features on Instagram right now (other than their Stories filter that makes your skin look great. Love that.)

The highlights section allows you to choose areas of your business that you want to highlight on your bio.

Ideas for highlights on your Instagram profile:

  • introduction to you and your business
  • your team
  • a new product or service
  • your latest blog post or video

Here are some accounts that I love who are using highlights.

@theinstagramexpert

Sue B. Zimmerman uses highlights to share her business focus and instead of using a highlights title, she names each highlight with an emoji which is fun.

Within each highlight, she shares several clips to create a story based on that theme.

She also created custom graphics to use as the highlights icon which looks amazing.

@pegfitzpatrick

Peg Fitzpatrick completely keeps her highlights section on brand by using her signature pink brand colour and creating custom icons for each highlight.

I also like how she uses her first highlight to show what she’s up to at the moment and where she’s traveling to.

 

When you’re adding to your highlights section, think of the key areas you want to showcase for your business and how to keep those highlights in line with your brand.

How to add a highlights section to your Instagram profile:

Step 1: Click on the New circle with the + sign in the middle, which is located underneath your profile.

Step 2: Choose any of your previous Stories to post as a highlight.

Step 3: Click Next and add a title. You can either type a title or use emoji’s.

Instagram Stories expand your reach

Instagram Stories are a fantastic way to share behind-the-scenes video clips, or simply create mini-stories by using text, photos or even GIF’s.

Whenever you create an Instagram Story:

  • Add a hashtag relevant to the Story
  • Add your location which will expand the reach of your Story
  • Add some interest by using filters, GIF’s or stickers

Brian Fanzo shares really great Instagram Stories and mixes up his business posts with family clips and other fun stories. He shares real aspects of his life and he even replies when you comment on his story (so important).

I love the ‘swipe up’ feature and hope this is changed so that everyone can use it, not just accounts with 10K + followers.

To create an actual story, try creating 3-4 clips at a time to create a mini-story or whatever topic you’re talking about. Try including at least 1 clip with you in it so people can start getting to know you and the person behind your business.

Read more Instagram Story tips here >> Quick Instagram Boost Using Instagram Stories 

Use hashtags

Hashtags are important on Instagram, not only on your posts but for Stories too.

You can use 30 hashtags on your posts and what’s cool is that people can now follow hashtags, so depending on the hashtags you’re using, people can discover you simply by adding a hashtag that resonates with them.

Need more hashtag help? Listen to how to find hashtags to use on Instagram.

Adjust your bio

People visiting your profile make a quick decision as to whether they want to follow you or not. Update your bio to reflect changes or updates in your business.

Your profile only has one link so change it up with changing promotions, or use a service like Linktree.

Amy Porterfield uses Linktree to share more than one link to several new podcast episodes (and if Amy Porterfield does it, I listen!)

I like using Linktree because then you can share several different links and useful information.

Once you click on the link in Amy’s bio, it brings you to this screen where she shares a few different link options.

For even more tips to optimize your social media profiles, check out my online course Social Media Optimizer and learn how to optimize your Instagram profile, Facebook page, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest account.

What feature do you love most on Instagram? Let me know in the comments!