You may have wondered: what is a professional Instagram account?
More and more innovative and up-to-date companies are already making use of it, exploiting its full potential. You’ve surely heard about the strategic advantages it offers, for those who know how to seize them.
So why not take advantage of them yourself? Why not join the millions of business profiles visited every day?
The best way to start is certainly to understand what such an account is. Well, at this point: why not find out?
An Instagram business profile was created to meet the needs more properly related to the business world, and it does so by enhancing:
- COMMUNICATION acquires a megaphone that acts as an amplifier: contact becomes more immediate and distances are shortened. Interactions between your company and followers have a way of multiplying, increasing participation and stimulating relational contact that can become loyalty.
In fact, ongoing engagement is the first ingredient in generating familiarity, which will then build trust, and then loyalty.
It’s a bit like offline relationships, no?
Moreover, the company has more opportunities to better communicate who it is, what its values and mission are, what products or services it offers and what features they have. In short, a nice help in your professional presentation!
- Business DEVELOPMENT also gains new ways of growth: knowing your target audience better is a huge strategic resource! If you know who they are, how they behave and what they value, then you know what they are looking for, therefore: you also know what to offer and how to do it.
This information helps you to promote more targeted and centered content, to make an offer precisely tailored to your target audience. It’s a bit like with clothes: the better it fits on you, and the better it fits your tastes and needs, the more likely you are to choose it!
- And then there is MONITORING. A corporate account allows you to monitor the progress of various posts over time, understand what content takes root the most, what likes and dislikes, at what times and for how many users. Not bad, right?
So that’s what a professional Instagram account is: a way to enhance all these opportunities. Yes, but how does this work in practice?
Corporate Instagram: how it works
Now that we understand what it is, it’s time to get to the heart of the matter: let’s find out how corporate Instagram works in practice and what options allow you to do what!
Its functioning does not differ much from that of a private account, however it offers important additional tools: it is precisely these features that help you achieve your goals!
First of all, under the name of the business account you can make some sort of label appear: this is the reference category that identifies the type of business. Additional specifications can be included in the BIO. This will help make it clearer who you are and what people will find in your profile.
Next to the classic “Follow” button, something else also appears: “Contact.” In fact, the company can enter your email address, phone and address.
This is a real Call to Action, not to be underestimated! In fact, this option is an invitation to contact you: followers are drawn to the possibility of asking for information, and so they are more likely to do so.
A very important feature for companies is offered by Insights, which provide strategic information about follower trends and the performance of your content. This is very valuable statistical data and is divided into sections.
The “Recent Featured Content” one informs you of your account performance over a certain time interval. The “Overview” section offers metrics about the followers you have reached or those you have interacted with: you will get their demographics such as country and city of origin, age, and gender; it also offers information about total followers, those you have gained or lost, when they are most active, where they are from, and how old they are.
As for the content you have shared: posts, reels, stories, and videos can be filtered by coverage, interactions, and time interval. Related Insights show you more specific information for each piece of content: you can track how many people have viewed it and from where; you can also understand what types of interactions and actions people take when they come in contact with your content.
Basically, here is the way to get to know your audience in all its facets: who they are, where they come from, what age they are, when they are most active on Instagram, what they view, and how they interact with you.
Not a bad aid to well-defined targeting, right?
How a business account works is also geared toward helping you gain visibility.
First, you will have your product showcase: show what you offer, communicate your Unique Selling Proposition!
Then there’s Instagram Ads: set up, manage and track your campaigns; sponsor your posts in the form of a carousel, slide show, static image or video; insert a Call to Action to increase followers or conversions!
To finish with understanding how corporate Instagram works, find out how to best manage your communication. This is facilitated by “Quick Replies”; are you getting too many messages? No problem, this option allows you to create custom ones to answer users’ FAQs!
How to create a professional account
Well, let’s see then how to get started, that is, how to create a professional account.
- Download the app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Unlike other socials, this is necessary to post content
- Create your personal profile (if you don’t already have one). Choose username and password; you can synchronize your Facebook profile and search for contacts, or you can skip the option and just go for it
- Complete your profile Choose a photo and possibly enter your website
- Switch to your business profile. Once you have created your personal profile, in the settings search for “Accounts” and click on “Switch to a professional account.” Instagram will ask you to choose between two options: “Creator,” suitable for public figures, influencers, content creators and artists; or “Company,” ideal for businesses, brands, retailers and organizations. In your case, click on the latter option
- Choose your category. You must select the one most representative of what you do (e.g., health/beauty, arts, and so on).
Already done! There you have discovered how to create a professional account in just a few steps!
How to use it for your business
At this point you have a lot of useful information for your professional profile, but: how to use it for your own business? How to improve Instagram management for businesses? As we said: it’s one thing to know what this tool offers, it’s another to know how to make the most of it!
So let’s take a look at some best practices that will help you use its full potential, becoming a real pro!
- DEFINE YOUR GOALS. This is always the first step. Figure out what you want to achieve: maybe increase traffic, or increase sales. A good strategy cannot disregard its goals: it is oriented precisely according to them. Remember that they must be Smart: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and defined over time.
OFFER THE BEST CONTENT TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. After all, you have access to all relevant data about them: leverage statistics to choose the right publication times; target content that stimulates engagement and interest among your audience.
CREATE CONTENT CONSISTENTLY. Forget about leaving your Instagram profile at the mercy of timelines that are too slow. Users need to be stimulated, engaged, revived in interest: post content frequently, constantly interact with your followers, respond to comments and establish a dialogue!
PUBLISH QUALITY CONTENT. Content should be quality, with adequate brightness and good resolution regardless of the device of use.
OPTIMIZE YOUR COMPANY INSTAGRAM PROFILE. You have the ability to include all kinds of contact information: e-mail, phone website, address; well, do it! That way you increase the chances of being tracked. Choose a profile image that fully reflects your company: for example, include your logo and make yourself instantly recognizable! To this end, you can also create custom hashtags to include in your bio and leverage in posts!
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CAPTIONING. Of course, the power of Instagram is primarily visual, but a short storytelling via captions can frame and contextualize it, thus completing the communication. Don’t go on too long, it serves no purpose except to bore, but do briefly tell something, engage and take advantage of emoji.
PUBLISH STORIES. They are now a winning format, able to engage and entertain in a brief but effective way! Be creative so as not to go unnoticed, use eye-catching effects, take advantage of stickers and gifs, choose bright and intense colors.
CONSIDER ENGAGING INFLUENCERS. Instagram Ads is not your only advertising tool. Influencers now function as hubs in a network: they can be a very important resource for you to gain visibility! Of course, the choice is not random: choose an influencer who is somewhat attuned to your business.
Well, at this point all that remains is to take advantage of these tips and get to work!
