How to Create an Instagram Business Account in 8 Steps

5. Now let’s convert your new account into a business account. Tap the 3 bars and then tap “Settings,” then tap “Account.”

6. Scroll down and tap “Switch to business account” to convert your profile to a business account.

7. Fill out the following needed information to convert your account.

8. Optional: Connect your Facebook Page If you have one.

Instagram Business account features

You might have noticed a few changes to your profile after switching to a business account.

So let’s go over some key features.

The first thing you may have noticed is that your business category is listed on your page, under your name in grey lettering.

It may say...

• App Page
• Camera/Photo
• Clothing Store
• Band
• E-commerce Website

...or any other of the numerous categories.

Categories show your audience what your page is all about.

Remember: You have the option of displaying or not displaying your category.

More:

Your profile now has additional buttons at your disposal.

Under “Edit Profile,” you should see “Promotions,” “Insights,” and “Email” or “Phone Number” buttons.

Promotions allow you to choose a post to promote to a broader audience, which leads to more engagement.

Insights is a snazzy way of viewing your profile analytics. As stated before, Insights give you an aerial view of how your page is performing.

Your Email or Phone button is how your audience will contact you when they have an inquiry.

Play around with these features and take advantage of them to optimize your page for growth.

Speaking of growing your page...

How to promote your Instagram Business page effectively

This section covers 7 smart (& efficient) ways to promote your business page!

These methods can help you gain more engagement and land more customers.

1. Post consistently by scheduling your posts

Being consistent with your posts allows your audience more chances to engage.

Everyone loves when they see their favorite brands, influencers, and business people posting consistently.

Using a post scheduling tool like Post Planner will help you consistently increase your engagement and follower growth.

Take Joshua Becker, for example.

He increased his follower growth by 4X in just 3 weeks by using Post Planner.

Check the results out for yourself:

2. Post “follower-centric” content

There’s value in creating content that your followers enjoy.

Your profile should be visually appealing, meaning it follows a consistent color scheme, filter, and overall aesthetic.

This is a big part of branding — having your audience associate a particular meaning, visual, or message to your page.

Apple does a fantastic job of this on their Instagram.

Their current bio:

“Everyone has a story to tell”

Then they post about people from all walks of life, which tells their audience Apple is inclusive and open to the world.

This inclusiveness allows their audience to feel “seen” and ‘heard,” which is what we all want at the end of the day.

Another critical thing to note about your content:

Remember to mix-up your posts!

Have some that are maybe funny, informative, visually artistic while still keeping brand page consistency.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Instagram profile is an example of a good range of content, and you can tell what he’s all about!

3. Use industry hashtags

Get used to the good-ole “#” on all your posts.

Hashtags categorize photos and videos for a specific audience. They’re essential because they allow people interested in the hashtag to see your post.

Instagram posts that use hashtags gain a 12.6% increase in engagement compared to those without.

There are 2 main types of hashtag users.

The first are people who casually scroll through but aren’t “following” the hashtag.

The second are users who follow hashtags.

When these users see your post, it may pique their interest, prompting them to like or leave a comment.

Find the most used hashtags in your niche, and use them on your posts like a tasty ingredient.

But remember to not over-do it. Research has found that the optimal number of hashtags per-post is 11.

4. Tag locations and brands

Like hashtags, location tagging allows your posts to be seen by people looking for posts in that location.

For example:

Let’s say you’re an influencer visiting Mexico City, Mexico.

If you take a photo of a brand collaboration and tag the location, people looking at pictures of that location will see your post.

This will increase your reach, leading to new potential followers.

If you’re a business, feel free to tag other more prominent brands (without spamming) when you post.

Doing so will make your business’s post come up when people are searching around the brand you tag.

5. Engage with other people’s content

It’s called “social media” because the purpose of it is to be social!

So be sure to engage with other people’s posts.

Drop a like or 3 — leave a comment on something that caught your eye. Often, others will do the same for your posts.

You don’t have to join an engagement group or spam everywhere, but being social goes a long way in growing your page.

6. Take advantage of influencer marketing

If you want to grow your page or sell a product, find influencers in your niche and start collaborating.

These can be style, fitness, motivational, or business influencers (just to name a few).

One way influencers can help you grow your Instagram Business page is by giving your page promotion (also known as a “Shoutout”).

Believe it or not, even meme pages can help promote your content to get more followers due to their large size (1M+ in many cases).

But make sure the influencer’s content falls in line with yours to keep congruency.

Many companies in the E-commerce space leverage influencer marketing to get their products out there on the market.

No, really:

89% of marketers say influencer marketing is as good — or better than other common marketing channels.

7. Boost posts & run ads

Although this is the only non-organic method, it probably gets you results the fastest.

Use the “Boost Post” button on your post to promote it to a broader audience.

You can also tap “promotions” under “edit profile” to choose which post you want to promote.

Running IG ads using Facebook’s powerful advertising platform can work wonders in helping you grow.

With a decent budget, you can find yourself reaching far more people with a nicely-done ad.

The difference between Facebook ads and “boost post” on IG is that ads allow for more detailed targeting and additional conversion options.

Video ads are proven to perform 3x better than photo ads.

So if you have videos on your feed, look to push those out first!

Use Post Planner to schedule content for more engagement

Creating a sound Instagram business page allows your brand to leverage powerful tools for growth.

But that’s only the start…

For maximum growth, you need great content that you can post consistently!

Post Planner gives you the ability to schedule your Instagram posts and find the best content in your industry.

Want to upgrade your content planning to 4X your social following? Sign up for your FREE Post Planner account today!