If your business already has an Instagram business profile, you may (or may not) know the basics already. You have a profile; you can post stories or reels on top of regular posts, and those posts will show up in your followers' feeds. You may post every so often with an image related to your business. You may like to post pictures of your dog every once in a blue moon. (Well, we can’t really dock you for that. Who doesn’t love dogs?) 

If you’re not making the most of your Instagram account, your business may miss out on a wide demographic of potential customers.

Garnering interest in your brand through Instagram isn’t rocket science, nor does it take a STEM degree to utilize this platform to its full potential. In fact, if you understand the basics, you can get a good grasp on building your following in just about no time. And what does a big following mean for business profiles on Instagram? More engagement. More traffic to your site. More sales. More revenue.

So, what are we talking about when we say there are things to know about Instagram for business? Keep reading to learn five important things about one of the biggest social media platforms in the world!

1. Easy access to engagement metrics

With a free business account, you automatically have access to engagement and demographic metrics on your overall reach. This means you can learn about who is engaging with your posts, stories, and reels with information such as:

• Top city and country locations
• Age range
• Gender
• What days of the week and what time of day your followers are most active

You can also view statistics on account engagement, such as:

• Number of users who have interacted with your account
• Number of profile visits you’ve received
• The number of new accounts reached
• Total number of views for all of your posts
• Breakdown of promotional performance

Why is this important? It tells you what’s working and what’s not working to earn the most engagement from users and expand your reach. It’s all about refining your strategy. Understanding these metrics, you can learn what time of day is best to post, what content gets the most response, and where your biggest following is.

The bottom line: Understand your audience to boost engagement and reach.

    2. There’s more to Instagram than just static posts.

Instagram has grown over the years to adapt to social media consumers' changing needs and wants. It’s no secret that videos outperform static images, and in the last few years, the social media platform has recognized this trend. With the addition of Stories, Reels, and IGTV, you can now post short and long-form videos. Static posts can be made more engaging with the recently added option to tack on music or sound.

   3. Instagram Stories garner a lot more engagement.

Instagram Stories is a feature made up of posts (shown at the top of user feeds) that are only displayed for 24 hours. After that, they disappear. It’s a separate entity from the typical feed you scroll through, and users can add goodies like timestamps, text, stickers, and more to their Stories. Users who view yours can directly respond by messaging you (“DMing”), giving it a like, or even sharing it with their followers.

Why do Stories get more views? They’re usually quick to view, and if you’ve seen any other brand’s Instagram Stories, you already know they can consist of fun, valuable content. Let’s face it — the attention spans of most users tend to dwindle while scrolling through social media, so content needs to hook them from the first few seconds, or they’ll scroll right past it.

   4. Have a hashtag strategy.

Hashtags help your posts get seen. Like Google, Instagram has an algorithm. You’ll want to search for hashtags that relate to your brand, but you also don’t want too many of them. A good strategy is to use some popular Instagram hashtags with a few more niche hashtags. By utilizing popular tags, you’ll reach more users. By using niche tags, you’ll keep the post true to your brand without overdoing it. Try not to use the same hashtags repeatedly; you don’t want to stuff them. Stick to between five and ten for optimal performance.

   5. Make the most of links.

In the past, Instagram only allowed business profiles to include a single link in their profile. Even now, links aren’t clickable in post captions — they just appear as a string of static text. Sure, users could copy and paste the link into their browser, but who wants to go through all that? Nowadays, however, you can tag products with the product link sticker. This could include the products you’re selling on Instagram or another brand’s products that you’re promoting to boost your networking game. A tip: Don’t limit yourself to tagging products in only your feed posts. Tag products in multiple types of posts for more engagement and to enhance the user experience. (And let’s be honest — it makes it much easier for consumers to purchase your product, which can drive sales.)

So, what are your thoughts on having a business profile on Instagram? While it’s true that there’s a small time investment (and a bit of a learning curve), we definitely think you’re missing out if you aren’t on Instagram.

But we have good news for you if you’re struggling with your Instagram strategy or don’t know what to do (or how to get started)! Ghost Brands is here to help. We have a team of experts who can assist you in taking your social media game from total novice to master of marketing. Contact us today to learn exactly what we can do for your business!