How & why you should create an Instagram Business account

3. Run Instagram ads and boost posts

Everyone wants organic growth, but marketers are aware of the power of paid advertising. With the right budget and strategy, your business profile could reach new engagement heights.

Here’s how you can make use of paid advertising on Instagram:

• Instagram ads
• Instagram boosted posts

A. Instagram ads

Instagram Ads are an effective way to reach a larger online audience. 

There are multiple types of ads, depending on the format:

• Photo and video ads appear in the feed and showcase products or services with engaging visuals.
• Carousel ads allow users to swipe through multiple images or videos in a single post.
• Stories ads take advantage of the full-screen vertical format, blending seamlessly with organic content.
• Reels ads appear between short-form videos, making them ideal for high-engagement marketing.
• Explore ads reach users browsing new content, expanding visibility beyond followers.
• Shopping ads let businesses tag products directly, leading users to purchase pages.
• Collection ads combine images and videos to create an interactive shopping experience.
• Lead ads collect customer information through simple forms, making it easier to generate leads directly from the platform.

This is an example of how a Story ad shows up: 

And what a Reels ad can look like:

Here’s how to create Instagram ads:

• Log in to your Meta Business Suite, specifically Ads Manager. 
• Select an ad objective, such as awareness or engagement
• Upload an image or video from your device or select a visual from your existing posts
• Set the budget for your ad
• Schedule your ad’s posting date and time frame. 

Now, your ad is ready to go live and bring in some much-needed engagement to your business profile. 

B. Instagram boosted posts

Instagram boosted posts allow Instagram Business Profiles to expand the current reach of their content with the least amount of effort. 

The targeting becomes much more precise once you decide to invest in boosted posts. That way, you can rest assured that your target audience is receiving your message.

The best thing about boosted posts is that they can provide business owners with detailed analytics to improve their current content and marketing strategies.

Here’s how to boost a post on Instagram: 

• Access your Instagram Business Profile
• Tap the post you’d like to boost
• Tap the ‘Boost Post’ button you can find below the image
• Select your goal
• Create an audience
• Choose the daily budget
• Choose the duration of your ad

Feel free to adjust your campaign when necessary, especially if the results are less than satisfactory.

4. Open an Instagram Shop

Instagram Shopping is an eCommerce marketplace powered by Instagram. 

It enables you to set up a storefront, showcase your product collections with the help of product detail pages, and allow users to checkout either directly from Instagram or through your website. Instagram even allows you to create shoppable posts that drive more sales on your Shop.

Here’s what an Instagram Shop looks like:

And how your shoppable posts will show up to your audience:

To enjoy its benefits, you’re going to need a business account.

You can streamline purchases with integrated payment options such as PayPal and StripeIn. However, the traditional Visa and Mastercard payment methods might resonate with most of your audience. 

With Instagram Shopping Insights, you can get a clearer glimpse into the consumer decision journey and figure out a way to make your products and services easy to sell.

Here’s how you can set up an Instagram Shop: 

• Connect your Instagram Business Profile to Meta Business Manager 
• Add your products and services
• Set up the correct pricing
• Select your shipping terms
• Customize the aesthetic of your storefront

🐝 Pro tip: Keep in mind that user-generated content (UGC) is a fantastic social media tool. To enhance your Instagram Shop, associate a post you’ve been tagged in by a customer with a product in your shop. This is guaranteed to boost your Instagram Business Profile sales since people love authenticity.

5. Unlock new features

Instagram Business accounts come with more features that make it easier for people to contact you and for you to reply to DMs, among other things, all useful for meeting your business goals.

Here are three features provided by Instagram exclusively for Business:

• Contact button
• Quick reply
• Add action buttons 

A. Contact button

Instagram’s contact button feature is an awesome way to connect with your followers. 

This button at the top of your business profile page will spark conversations on email or via a phone number.. Here is what adding an email contact button will look like:

Here’s how to add a Contact button to your profile:

• Tap “Edit Profile” 
• Select “Contact Options”
• Add your business’ email, phone number, and address. 
• Head over to “Profile Display” 
• Toggle the “Display contact info” button

B. Quick reply

Quick replies are an awesome way to save time, especially when your Instagram account keeps receiving the same questions from customers. 

Here’s how you can enable the Quick Reply feature: 

• Select the three horizontal lines at the top of your Instagram account profile
• Tap “Settings”
• Select “Business”
• Tap “Saved Replies”
• Tap the plus (+) symbol 
• Type in the Shortcut and Message and tap the checkmark to save

C. Add action buttons

Another feature that drives traffic effectively to important links is the Action Button option. You can use it to get people to order food, book an appointment, reserve a table, or fill in a lead form, all with one click.

Instagram offers a list of partners through which these actions can be done, like BentoBox for food ordering or Bistrochat for reservations. For leads forms, you can choose between a standard or a custom made one where you add your own questions.

Here’s how you can enable the Action Button feature:

• Tap “Edit Profile”
• Select “Action Buttons”
• Choose the type of action button you want to add.
• Choose the Instagram partner through which the action will be done or the type of lead form.
• Register on the partner’s page or finalize the lead form and save to your profile.

How to create an Instagram professional account

1. To set up an Instagram Business account, you’ll have to first either log in to an existing Instagram account or create one.
2. Once that is done, tap Edit Profile.
3. At the bottom of the screen, underneath your information, tap Switch to professional account to change the account type.
4. Once you click on it, you’ll have to select the category of your business. You can also choose whether this category is visible or not to your followers.
5. Next, choose between Business or Creator account. In our case, we want a Business account.
6. It’s important that you update your contact information so people can easily get in touch with your business and find it if you have a physical address.
7. Finally, Instagram will give you a checklist of all the steps you can take to use your new Business profile to the max. You can choose to go through these steps now or at a later time.
8. Once all of this is done, your account will officially be set to Business and you can start using its many features. You can switch back to a personal profile anytime.

How to optimize an Instagram professional account

Once you switch to a professional account, it’s time for you to optimize your profile. 

Here are the top three ways to optimize your Instagram account:

1. Use a branded profile picture and username
2. Improve your Bio
3. Prioritize your Instagram grid aesthetic

1. Use a branded profile picture and username

When getting started, your profile picture and username will be the first details Instagram users see when visiting your professional account. Both of them are essential for creating an instantly recognizable identity for your business profile. 

Your logo can differentiate you from other brands and help customers find you. 

Here’s how @remarkable incorporated their branding in their Instagram profile:

Make sure to use the same username and profile picture across all your social media platforms. This will give you a consistent social media presence and increase brand loyalty.

2. Improve your bio

As a business, your bio is a decisive detail that can drive conversions like no other. Make sure to introduce yourself and your services to prospective customers.

A well-crafted bio should cleverly summarize the story behind your brand in no more than 150 characters. Use emojis and symbols to emphasize the points you’re trying to make.

Here’s how @crumbl did it:

Here’s what you can add to your Instagram bio:

• Your business’ location and contact information
• A brief description of the products or services you’re selling
• Keywords relevant to your industry or niche
• An invitation to join a mailing list, newsletter, or sale
• A link to either your website or landing page

3. Prioritize your Instagram grid aesthetic

Create a unique aesthetic for your Instagram grid. This will increase your reach and incentivize people to tap the “Follow” button. 

The trick is to use consistent colors, patterns, imagery, and fonts.

With careful post scheduling, you can create a visually appealing and on-brand grid.

Here are some tips for the perfect Instagram grid:

• Leverage the Rule of Thirds composition method to create the perfect grid. This involves dividing an image into nine equal parts using two horizontal and two vertical lines. The key elements of the composition should be placed along these lines or at their intersections.
• Use colors that match your brand identity and work well together. Keep them consistent so the grid looks good and all the posts are part of a “family.”
• Use visual transitions to separate your seasonal aesthetics. For example, you can create series of three posts. This way, each row of posts will be dedicated to a seasonal campaign.

Frequently asked questions