Business on Instagram: Does it Work?

Instagram is a widely used social media network. It’s popular among users from all walks of life. Today, Instagram has over 200 million users visiting a business profile per day. Over 25 million companies globally are using Instagram. In total, Instagram has more than 700 million active monthly users.

These users present a great opportunity for businesses to market their services and products to a more targeted audience. It’s therefore, not surprising to find many businesses creating accounts and trying to get more followers on Instagram. But, does creating a business account on Instagram help in increasing the selling rates via business promotion? Sure, however, businesses must follow contemporary trends in social networks in order to receive interest from Instagram users. For example, post a story with a shrug Emoji and a questionnaire.

Why a Business Account can Increase Sales Rate 

Creating an Instagram business account works in boosting sales but it depends on the overall quality of the account and the accompanying content. Essentially, having an Instagram page can help or harm your business. But, when used properly, Instagram can help a business increase sales.

The Power of Numbers 

When it comes to social media marketing, the number of followers, subscribers, and likes matter. As of June 2018, Instagram had hit 1billion active monthly users and 400 million daily active Instagram Story users. And, these numbers are growing every day. The social media platform has more than 1 million active monthly advertisers. More than 40 billion photos have been shared on Instagram.

Instagram users share around 95 million videos and photos every day. These are attractive numbers to any marketer. They are just mouth-watering. Where there are numbers there is a possibility of making sales. And just like with other platforms, what matters is how a marketer or product owner present their sales message to the audience. So, if the sales message is packaged and presented properly, it can help increase the sales of a business.

Boosting Brand Visibility 

More people are using mobile devices to access the internet than those using desktop computers. With more people using Smartphones to access the internet, it means they can access and share videos and photos. Instagram was initially meant to be a photo-sharing platform. So, if businesses can use their accounts to post relevant and quality content, they can increase boost their visibilities. Posting quality content via a business account can lead to more mentions of a brand. And, this can increase the interest people will have in a brand, which is a first step in the process of generating leads.

Improved Engagements 

Increased engagement is among the secrets to internet marketing success. And, Instagram is the best social media for engagements. Instagram provides an engagement rate of around 4.2 per follower. This is about 58 times the engagement delivered by Facebook.

As such, Instagram is the best place to start building a brand and boosting conversion. As long as business posts quality content, more users will like and share it. They will also leave comments. Such activities will boost engagement between the business and prospects.

Multi-Channel Marketing 

A major reason why Instagram works when it comes to promoting a business on social media is the fact that it allows brands to use videos, photos, and texts. And, once a business or brand has come up with videos or images for use on Instagram, it can use them on its website and other social media networks. If a business comes up with well-designed posts, it can reach a more targeted, wider audience. Thus, people that are not following a business on Instagram can still discover the brand and share its images.

Tips for Increasing Selling Rates with Instagram Business Account 

Many brands are competing with yours to increase their selling rates with Instagram. To beat your competitors, try the following tips.

Create a Good Business Profile 

If your business offers more solutions or does many things, it’s easy to be caught up trying to fit all the information in a profile. Nevertheless, it’s crucial to focus on the most important unique selling points of your business. You can also disclose the next big thing for your business. This can be a product launch, promotion, or event. Also, include a clickable link in the bio and make sure it’s working.

Use Instagram Features and Hashtags 

Try things like Instagram Stories to ensure your business stories are displayed at the top of the timelines of your followers prominently. And to increase the reach of your business posts, use hashtags. You can use general hashtags or campaign-specific hashtags. The most important thing is to ensure that every hashtag that you use is relevant.

Know Your Audience

Just like with any other marketing platform, it’s important to know the target audience when it comes to doing business on Instagram. For instance, a business should start by finding out what followers like. It’s easy to know this by finding out what they share. A business can also read comments of the audience to learn the best ways to improve its services and products.

Show Creativity 

When it comes to promoting a business on Instagram, focus on how you want to solve the problems the audiences are facing, not the product you are selling. The goal should be to show the audience how your product can add value to them. And, make sure that you look good when doing it.

Never forget that Instagram was meant to be a photo-sharing platform. Therefore, visual content is the most important asset when it comes to promoting a business, product, or service on Instagram.

If you run a service-oriented business, focus on showing prospects or customers the process of offering the service. For instance, you can share the mission of your mission and its culture. You can also share how-to guides or tips. If possible, upload short videos or photos. The best videos for Instagram are up to 1 minute long.

The Bottom Line 

Whether creating an Instagram account for business increases the selling rates for businesses depends on the account quality and the accompanying content. Overall, a business Instagram account works. Nevertheless, more effort should be put into the quality of the account and content.