Yes you heard that right! Instagram are the new 'place to be seen' for businesses. Since Facebook took over Insta back in 2012 they have been working towards redefining the two platforms. Facebook is going back to a friends and family, social place and Insta has gradually become more business based. Insta has always been a great space to build brand awareness with its imaged based platform but now they are tailoring it towards businesses.
Insta's demographic is a lot younger than Facebook with it's main user base being aged 35 or under. Check the link for more info.
So here are a few top tips to get you started on your Instagram for business account:-
1. Do you even have a business account??
Check on your profile to see if you have a business or a personal profile - Why do this? With a business account you will have access to all the really useful analytics info about what content your customers engage with. See instructions here for switching
Now you need to sort out your profile. You will only get 150 characters in your bio space but there are a couple of ways to maximise that space by putting some info in the other fields found on your profile page.
2. Handle/Tag
If you already have other social media accounts set up, try to match the name so that it keeps it consistent across your brand. For example ours is @VirtualvicIT
3. Name
So this is where your business name goes - however you have 30 characters to use up here so use them! Your business name might not say exactly what you do, so add in a word or two that goes with your industry. Virtual Vic - Website Designer or Virtual Vic - VA etc - Its a great place to pop in an abbreviation as well so if your business is know by its initials Marks and Spencer - M&S
4. Website
Well this one is obvious - stick a link to your website in here! Saves using up space in your bio. You can also change this from time to time to point to a specific page on your website, promotion or blog post.
5. Category
Another obvious one - pick your business category. e.g. Health/Beauty - you won't need to repeat this in your bio, so another few characters saved.
6.Contact info
Keep this out of your bio - there is a space for phone, email and address under Public Business Information
7.Bio
Here's where you shine - pop in some of your keywords and keep it fun (remember the demographic), inc your own hashtag, emojis and feel free to space it out line by line as a list - spaces aren't counted! Include a CTA - Call To Action if you can.
Look out for our next posts about Insta coming soon...