Instagram is a social media platform that businesses are quickly seeing the value in. Over 25 million businesses are using Instagram.

90% of Instagram users follow a business. Almost everyone who uses the platform follows at least one brand.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your marketing on Instagram.

Set up a business account

By all means, have a personal Instagram account, but set one up for your business where you post only business-related posts and follow brands that are relevant to your business.

With a business account, your contact information and a call-to-action button are on your profile.

Optimize your profile

You’ve can only use 150 characters to make a great first impression in your bio. You need to tell people about your brand and why they should follow your account.

Include your username. Add a clickable URL link to your website.

Choose a Category. It’s a business feature that tells people what you’re all about without using up space in your bio.

What are your goals?

Before you jump on to Instagram, spend some time determining what your goals for this social media platform are. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Get new leads? Make sales?

Define your audience

Who will you best reach on Instagram?

The most active age group on Instagram are the 18 to 29 year-olds. Users are more urban rather than suburban.

Create visually compelling content

Instagram is a visual social platform, so your posts have to look great. Your pictures need to be sharp, well-composed, well-lit, and in focus.

Your photos need to tell a story otherwise you won’t get any traction on this social channel. Give your followers a look behind the scenes are your business. Post videos. (Instagram content is a whole other blog!)

Write great captions. Even though Instagram is a visual social media platform, you can’t ignore your captions. Your brand voice is just as important here as your brand look.

Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters long but only the first two lines of text appear in the news feed without tapping ‘more.’ The best caption length for an organic post is 138 – 150 characters.

Use hashtags

Hashtags are the way you are discovered and increase your visibility. You can use up to 30 hashtags in a post, but you don’t want to do that. The ideal number of hashtags is 11.

To get the most benefit from hashtags, choose ones that are relevant and specific to your industry.

Analytics

With a business account, you have access to analytics. Learn from what you’re doing and do better by regularly reviewing your analytics.

Are you ready to use Instagram for your business?