The Top 6 Must-Use Instagram Features for Business Success

Instagram is a powerful social media platform for businesses. With millions of users, It's a great way to connect with potential customers and grow your business. However, to make the most of Instagram, you need to be aware of all its features.

“Social media will help you build up loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others about you.”
—Bonnie Sainsbury

Brief background on Instagram

Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by Meta (formally known as Facebook, Inc). It was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in October 2010 and launched in April 2012. Instagram allows users to share photos and videos, edit them with filters, and organize them into collections. As of October 2022, Instagram has over 2 billion users.

Important Features to Use

1. Stories

Stories are a great way to share daily content with your Instagram audience. There are better options for storing content that requires a longer lifespan, but they are a great way to build engagement and keep your business top of mind. Brand Stories tend to have an 86% completion rate, so if you want to catch your audience's attention, make sure you post to your Stories often. If your content happens to be too long for a Story, post a snippet of your content as a teaser to direct your audience to the full version. You can also repurpose your content from other platforms and add it to your Instagram Stories to increase your views for free.

To use the Stories feature:

1. Click on your profile image with the “+” icon at the top of your Instagram feed.
2. Either select a recent image or video, or click the camera icon to create a new Story.
3. Once finished, tap Send to and make sure Your Story is selected.
4. Tap on Share to post your Story.

Some ideas of what you can post on your Story:

- Highlights from events or conferences

- A day in the life of your business

- Employee takeovers

- Announcements  

- Q&As

- User-generated content

2. Video

Video is a great way to showcase your products or services in action. It is also an effective way to tell a story and connect with your audience more personally. When creating video content, make sure it is exciting and engaging. You want people to watch your videos, so avoid making them too long.

To use the video feature:

1. Tap on the “+” icon at the top of your Instagram feed.
2. Select a Video. You can either shoot a new video or select an existing one from your device. Once you're happy with your video, tap Next.
3. Edit your video by adding filters, trimming the length, or adding a cover.
4. When you're finished, tap Share.

Some ideas of what you can post on your video:

- How-to videos

- Product demonstrations

- Customer testimonials

- Behind the scenes footage

Tips for creating great videos:

No matter what type of video you’re creating, there are a few general tips to keep in mind:

1. Keep it interesting: Just because you can post a 10-minute video doesn’t mean you should. If your videos are longer than a minute or two, make sure they’re genuinely engaging and worth watching all the way through.
2. Edit, edit, edit: Not every take needs to be included in your final video. Editing is a crucial part of video-making and can help you create a more polished, professional-looking final product.
3. Pay attention to sound: Poor sound quality can make watching even the most interesting video tough. If you’re using your phone to record, hold it close to your subject and consider investing in a microphone for better audio quality.
4. Add captions: Adding captions to your videos is a great way to make them more accessible, and it can also help grab viewers’ attention if they’re scrolling through their feeds without sound.
5. Use hashtags: Hashtags are a great way to get your videos in front of new audiences and can help you reach people interested in similar content.

Maximum video lengths for each format:

• Reels: Up to 90 seconds long
• Instagram Stories: Up to 15 seconds long
• Live Streams: Up to 4 hours max
• Instagram Videos: Anywhere from 3 seconds to 10 minutes long (60 minutes for select accounts)

3. Shopping

If you have a business profile on Instagram, you can now tag products in your posts and Stories. This makes it easy for people to find out more about the products they see on your Instagram and even purchase them without leaving the app. This works best for businesses that sell physical products.

A little prep work is required for your business to take advantage of this feature. For a complete guide on how to get started, visit the official guide by Meta here.

Once setup is complete, using the feature is pretty simple.

To use the Shopping feature:

1. Tap on the “+” icon at the top of your Instagram feed.
2. Select a photo or video from your device, or capture a new one.
3. Tap Tag Products.
4. Select up to 5 products from your catalog to tag in your post.
5. Once you're happy with your post, tap Share.
6. If you want to tag products in your Stories, simply tap on the “Shopping” icon when creating a new Story. Then, follow the steps above.
   

4. Search and Explore

The Instagram Explore algorithm uses the same signals as the main feed to rank content. Information about the post, including captions, hashtags, location tags, likes, comments, etc., is taken into account. A user's activity on Instagram is also used to personalize the Explore page for each user based on what they engage with on Instagram.

Additionally, a user's history with the content creator is considered; content is more likely to appear in Explore if published by an account a user has interacted with. Finally, information about the content creator is used, such as the content they publish, how many followers they have, how much engagement their posts receive, etc.

What does this mean for your business? Creating content that matches your target audience’s needs and interests will make you more likely to establish a meaningful connection when they see your content. Staying relevant and valuable will do wonders for you and your social media strategy.

5. Ads

Instagram Ads are a great way to reach a larger audience and promote your content or products. They can be run on a cost-per-impression (CPM) or cost-per-click (CPC) basis, ranging from a few cents to a few dollars per click.

Instagram ads are managed through the Facebook Ads Manager, and you can target your ad based on location, demographics, interests, and more. You can also run your ad on a specific day or time or target users who have previously interacted with your Instagram account.

Instagram Ads really are a great way to reach new potential customers and followers.

How to get started with Instagram ads:

1. Navigate to the Facebook Ads Manager.
2. Design your ad by choosing an objective, naming your campaign, choosing a destination, your audience, and your budget.
3. Design the ad and submit it for approval so it can go live.
   

For additional information on how to get started with Instagram ads, visit the official Meta page.

6. Insights

The Instagram insights tab is a great way to track the performance of your posts and see how well they're doing. You can access it by navigating to the Insights tab on your business profile.

The insights tab shows you data about your followers, including their age, location, and gender. It also offers you information about your posts, such as how many people saw them, how many times they were shared, and how much engagement they received. This information can be beneficial in determining what content works best for your business.

To access the insights tab:

1. Navigate to the Insights tab on your business profile.
2. Scroll down to find detailed information about your followers, posts, and engagement.
3. Use this data to help you create more successful content for your business.
   

Key Takeaway

As you can see, Instagram is a powerful tool that can bring incredible benefits and growth to your business. It may seem daunting, but getting started will make all the difference.

With these tips, you should be well on using Instagram as a powerful marketing tool for your business. Just remember to keep your content relevant and engaging, and you'll be sure to see success.