Instagram is the second most accessed network behind Facebook. The popular visual-first social medium sees over one billion active monthly users and 500 million daily Instagram Stories.

Everyone and their dog (literally) is on the social media platform.

“Everyone” includes individuals, pets, and, you guessed it, businesses.

The increase in brands who've developed a presence on the platform has skyrocketed. Oberlo estimates that 71% of US businesses use Instagram. But is it worth their time, and should your business also be on the platform? The answer is yes, and here’s why:

• Instagram sees over one billion active monthly users and 500 million daily Instagram Stories.
• There are 140 million Instagram users in the U.S.
• Instagram is the second most accessed network behind Facebook. Users browse for an average of 53 minutes per day.
• About 71% of US businesses use Instagram.
• Nearly 45% of Instagram’s users are between the ages of 18 and 44.

It’s clear that Instagram isn’t just for personal use anymore. It’s now a global platform that allows brands to humanize their content, recruit new talent, showcase products, and inspire their audience.

Moreover, Instagram users aren’t just active — they’re engaged. About 59% of the platform’s active users visit the site daily, and spend at least 7 hours per week browsing content and interacting with friends and brands.

Instagram can also help you grow your brand awareness and introduce new products. Every month, 130 million Instagram users engage with shopping content. Instagram allows you to promote your brand and product in a friendly, authentic way without hard selling to your customers.

Even with all these Instagram statistics, you may still be unsure of how to get started. We know the platform can be a little intimidating at first, and that’s why we’ve created this guide.

Before we begin, it’s important to note that Instagram is intended for in-the-moment content. To stay relevant among your audience, you’ll need to invest the resources required to post regularly.

The best way to keep your followers engaged is to keep your Instagram profile up-to-date. Below, we’ll dive into how to build and maintain a successful Instagram profile.

If you don’t have it already, download the Instagram app from the App Store or Google Play Store. You can view content on Instagram’s website, but you can’t upload it via your desktop. You’ll need the app for that.

Step 1: Open the Instagram app and click Sign Up With iPhone or Email

When you open the Instagram app, you’ll have two choices for creating an Instagram account for your business — Log In With Facebook or Sign Up With Phone or Email. Be sure to sign up with a business email so your Instagram profile isn’t linked to your personal Facebook account. (Trust us, you don’t want to do that!)

Step 2: Enter your account details.

Under Full Name, enter your actual business name so your profile is recognizable to visitors. This name is what’s displayed on your profile; it isn’t your account username (or handle, for those Twitter folks).

Step 3: Pick a username.

The Username is a name unique to your profile and allows other accounts to engage with your brand. HubSpot’s username is @HubSpot.

Pick a username that is recognizable and easy to find. If your business name is taken, try to keep the first part of your business name in your username. Note: You can update your username later in your account settings, so don’t worry if you want to change it in the future.

Optimizing Your Instagram Account

After you’ve set up the basics of your Instagram account, it’s time to optimize it. Follow these steps to create a profile people will want to see on their news feed every day.

Step 4: Choose a profile picture. 

Your profile picture is your first impression on new visitors. For this reason, keep your image consistent with your branding and visual markers.

Consider using your logo or another familiar image. Instagram profile pictures are automatically cropped into a circle, so leave room around the corners of your image.

Step 5: Next up — your Instagram bio. 

Instagram bios have a 150-character maximum, so your goal here is a direct, concise summary of who you are and why people should follow you. Tell your audience about your business using a hint of personality. Instagram bios aren’t searchable, so don’t worry about keywords or hashtags (which we cover more below).

In your bio, you can encourage users to take a specific action, such as using a certain hashtag or visiting your website. Your bio is the only place where you can feature a clickable URL and drive traffic to an external site.

For this reason, it’s common for businesses to update their featured URL to align with their most recent post. If you decide to add a link, be sure to use a link shortener like HubSpot's Tracking URL builder or a tool like Bitly, Goo.gl, or Linktr.ee to keep your profile from looking cluttered. Tracked URLs also help you better understand the amount of traffic Instagram is driving to your website.

Pro tip: For future edits, click on the Edit Profile button on your profile to change your photo, name, username, bio, and URL.

Managing Your Instagram Settings

Lastly, let’s review your account settings. In this section, you’ll be able to update contact information, privacy settings, and more.

Step 6: Adjust your settings.

Click on the three stacked lines in the upper right-hand corner of your profile, then click on Settings at the bottom of the window. (Under your username, you’ll see a few links that we’ll cover below.)

Within your settings, you’ll be able to do things like change your password, see posts you’ve liked, enable notifications, and much more. Here are a few things you should check out right away.

Manage your story settings — where you can manage who can see and reply to your Instagram Stories (which we discuss below). We recommend allowing all your followers to see and reply to your Stories to increase brand engagement. From your settings, click Privacy > Story to access your Story Controls. (You can also access this by clicking the gear icon in the top left corner when posting a story.)

Switch to a professional account — This allows you to identify your profile as a business profile. Instagram’s Business Tools feature makes it easy for users to contact you, provides you with in-depth insights, and allows you to promote your content. Your business must have a Facebook business page to switch to an Instagram business profile. From your settings, click Account > Switch to Professional Account to access these features.

Switch to a business or creator account — Choose this setting, log in to Facebook, and allow Instagram to manage your Pages. Select a Facebook Page to connect to your Instagram profile. (You must be a Facebook page admin to connect the two platforms.)

Instagram will automatically import relevant information from your Facebook page for you to edit. You now have an Instagram business profile. Don’t forget to use the features that come with this type of account like profile insights.

Private Account — Here you can change your profile from public to private. Instagram will automatically set your profile to public — we don’t recommend changing it! As a business, you’ll want users to see your posts and follow your business without any obstacles. From your settings, click Privacy > Account Privacy, and make sure that's turned off.

Comments — This setting allows you to hide comments with certain keywords or phrases. To do this, you must enter the specific words and phrases into your Instagram settings and turn on the feature. Receiving comments is exciting and encouraging, but certain comments may go against brand values or offend your audience. From your settings, click Privacy > Comments to update these.

Adding Additional Instagram Accounts — Add up to five accounts and switch between them without logging in and out. This feature also allows you to have multiple people logged into an account at one time. To add an account, click Add Account at the bottom of your settings. Enter the username and password of the account you’d like to add. To switch between accounts, go to your profile and tap your username at the top of the screen. Choose the account you’d like to switch to.

Now that you’ve created and optimized your Instagram account, it’s time to start posting awesome content. Instagram allows you to post several types of content, including photos, videos, and Stories.

Let’s talk about the different Instagram post types and some best practices for encouraging engagement.

Images

The most common post on Instagram is an image post. When posting images, share a variety of photos. Variety will show your brand is diverse and engage your followers in different ways.

It’s also important to remember that Instagram users are looking for genuine posts from brands — not blatant advertisements. Try to capture your company culture with lifestyle shots and behind-the-scenes looks. Avoid posting too many photos of your product.

Example: Nike’s Instagram includes product photos, but the majority show real athletes, concerts, and other types of content that promote the Nike brand personality as a whole.

As you start to explore the platform, you’ll see there are countless kinds of images you can post to your account. Get creative! Take note of any concepts or styles you think would work well for your brand.

To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of some successful Instagram image types.

Behind-the-Scenes Posts

These posts offer a glimpse into the part of your business that people don’t normally see. It’s important that they don’t look staged — authenticity is key!

Example: Aeronaut Brewing Company provided an inside look at its company culture by showcasing its employees at work..

Reposts From Employees

Great content can be right in front of you … on your employees’ Instagrams. (Just be sure to tag or credit the original poster.) Reposting photos from your employees is an easy way to curate authentic content and humanize your business. Not only will your audience engage with your brand, but they’ll also start to “bond” with your employees.

Example: Fenway Park often reposts images shared by the grounds crew as they prepare the stadium.

Educational Posts

Educational posts offer snackable tips on how to do or make something. The photos or videos usually present the instructions in a way that is quick and easy to follow.

Example: The popular Tasty recipe video series from Buzzfeed is educational yet very entertaining and easy to replicate.

Influencer Posts

Influencer posts use the fame of a celebrity or well-known public figure to promote your brand. These posts often include a visual of the influencer using or interacting with your product. One of the main benefits of influencer posts is gaining the attention of another audience.

Example: Goal Zero shows renowned rock climber and photographer Alex Honnold using one of its solar power charging stations. Not only is Goal Zero reaching its own audience, but it's also reaching Alex’s 500,000-plus Instagram follower base.

Motivational Posts

A motivational post combines a simple visual with an overlaid quote or uplifting text. These posts encourage your audience and amplify your brand values. While effective, try to post these sparingly to avoid looking cheesy. Apps like Quipio and Typic can help you add text to photos in a way that’s consistent with your brand guidelines.

Example: Foundr often shares motivational posts to encourage its follower base of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and marketers. The posts also align with their mission as a business media company.

User-Generated Content

Similar to employee reposts, user-generated content (UGC) is curated content from your fans and followers. Your tagged posts and posts with your brand hashtag are a great source for UGC.

Sharing your fans’ and followers’ photos not only make the original poster feel good, but it also shows that you truly care about your customers. Just be sure to credit the original post with a tag or in the caption. To repost user-generated content, screenshot and crop the original post or use a reposting app like Repost for Instagram.

Example: WeWork conducts an annual #DogsOfWeWork campaign and compiles the best submissions together into a yearly calendar. Although WeWork doesn’t repost every tagged image, their campaign helps create invaluable reach and engagement.

Newsjacking (Trending Holiday Posts)

It seems like there’s a “holiday” for everything these days. Events like National Sibling Day and National Ice Cream Day generate a ton of engagement on social media. Join in the fun by participating in a local, national, or world trend. A newsjacking post is a great way to post humorous content that relates to light-hearted events.

Example: Corridor Brewing celebrated the Cubs' Opening Day. Through this post, the American restaurant chain tapped into a popular American pastime.

IGTV

Instagram TV, or IGTV, is Instagram’s newest video offering. Available to watch through the Instagram app or the standalone IGTV app, users can view long-form, vertical video from Instagram creators. Think: Cooking videos, interviews with celebrities, product reviews, and tutorials ... this is the content you’ll typically find on IGTV.

What's the difference between Instagram Live and IGTV? IGTV is uploaded footage, which gives users the opportunity to edit and fine-tune their video. Instagram Live is filmed and uploaded live.

To begin posting, download the IGTV app, create a channel, and upload a video between 15 seconds and 10 minutes in length. Verified accounts can run videos up to an hour long. At this time, IGTV videos can only be viewed on mobile devices using the Instagram or IGTV app — the platform does not support desktop viewing.

One picture may be worth a thousand words, but there’s something to be said about the context words bring.

Writing remarkable captions can be tough, and that’s why we’ve come up with some tips to relieve some of that pressure.

1. Don’t rush the process.

Write several drafts and ask your friends or co-workers for their opinion. Yes, your content should be timely, but it should also be engaging. Instagram recently changed its algorithm to organize each user’s feed to show what they’ll likely find engaging. The visibility of each post will depend on the number of likes and comments it receives. Take the time to create content that will delight and engage your customers.

2. Consider the caption length.

Your captions can be up to 2,200 characters. (For comparison, Twitter allows 140.) Regardless of length, users can only see the first 3 to 4 lines of each caption. They have to click More… to see the rest. Because of this, place the most important content at the beginning of the caption so it’s always visible.

That being said, don’t shy away from long captions. In fact, Instagram can be a great storytelling medium. For example, Humans of New York writes longer captions with quotes from the people they photograph.

3. Engage, engage, and engage some more.

Always include a call-to-action in your caption. Encourage your audience to like, comment on, and share your photo.

You can also use your caption to direct people to your bio link, where they can check out a new product or blog post. Just remember to change the link so it corresponds with your most recent post. Tip: Use shortened tracking links in your URL so you can see how much traffic came from your Instagram account or a specific post.

Include a geotag. Adding a geotag gives users another way to find your content, which can lead to higher engagement.

4. Find your Instagram voice.

Every social platform has a distinct voice. What works Twitter may not work on Instagram. On Instagram, posts with a lighthearted, authentic tone tend to perform the best. Experiment with emojis and other fun tools to give your brand a distinct feel. Don’t expect to get it right the first time — it can take a while to develop your brand’s voice.

If you’re ever in doubt about what to write, keep it short. There’s little correlation between caption length and engagement, but short captions allow your visuals do the talking.

Hashtags have taken over the internet. Hashtags refer to keywords or keyword phrases that are spelled without spaces and prefaced with a pound (#) sign. They are generally used to reference events, conferences, pop culture, entertainment, or reoccurring themes and are a great way to make your content more visible.

Originally popularized by Twitter, hashtags are now on multiple social networks.

Using Hashtags on Instagram

Instagram feeds are always changing, which makes sense considering that 95 million photos are shared everyday. With that much content, it can be difficult for your account to get noticed. That’s where hashtags come in handy.

On Instagram, hashtags aggregate posts from a wide variety of users into a single feed … although only public accounts can be shown when searching hashtags.

Instagram makes it simple and easy for users to find tagged content. When you search a word or phrase, the search results page shows you four parts:

• Top, which displays the top Instagram accounts, hashtags, and locations that include your keyword (typically accounts that are popular or that you're following)
• Accounts, which shows you the top Instagram accounts that include your keyword
• Tags, which suggests popular hashtags that include your keyword and how many other Instagram posts have been shared with that hashtag
• Places, which displays nearby locations that include your keyword

For example, if you’re planning on tagging your post with #coffee, you may want to tag related hashtags like #coffeebar, #coffeeholic, or #coffeehouse to broaden your post reach.

Using hashtags is easy! Simply create hashtags using characters, numbers, or emojis; you can add up to thirty to the caption. Just remember — your account must be public for your posts to appear on hashtag feeds.

Choosing an Instagram Hashtag

How do you choose which hashtags are best for each post? Our best answer is by brainstorming related keywords and researching relevant trends, which is actually easiest within Instagram itself.

Start in the Explore tab (the magnifying glass icon on the bottom menu). There, you’ll find popular posts and see what hashtags were used.

If you already have a hashtag in mind, you can also use this page to find popular, related hashtags. Just type the hashtag in the search bar, and filter your results by Tags to see how many posts have used that hashtag as well as other related hashtags.

Try to blend general, trending hashtags and specific hashtags to increase your post reach and relevance. Also, consider creating your own branded hashtag.

Many businesses use their own hashtags to roll out a new product, manage an Instagram campaign, promote an event, and collect user-generated content. If you’d like to do this for your business, make sure yours isn’t being used for another purpose … and then encourage your audience to use it!

Formatting an Instagram Hashtag

Now, let’s discuss how to incorporate hashtags in your content.

First and foremost, don’t be spammy. Hashtags should be natural in your caption. Aim to use one to four hashtags to avoid overwhelming your audience and making your captions hard to read.

If your hashtags don’t naturally blend into your caption, tack them onto the end or even in the first comment. They’ll work the same no matter where they’re placed.

Let’s explore a few little-known Instagram hacks to make the most of the platform. We recommend downloading the latest version of the app to follow along.

1. Post to Instagram at the best times.

Instagram users are active at all times of the day. However, there are a handful of optimal times to post on Instagram. For peak engagement, the best times to post on Instagram across industries are 1 p.m, and 5 p.m. This is for the time zone of your target audience. Many users tend to engage with more content during off-work hours on weekdays.

2. Link Instagram to your Facebook page.

One thing that makes Instagram unique is that you can share your content seamlessly across other social networks.

We don’t recommend automatically linking to your other social platforms like Twitter and Facebook; what works on Instagram won’t always yield the same results on other channels, especially as you get up and running. For this reason, tailor your content to each platform.

However, linking your Instagram to your other social accounts like Facebook does increase the number of eyes on your posts. Remember, your Facebook Page will already be linked to your Instagram if you set up an Instagram business profile.

If you do decide to do this, go to your Instagram settings and click Linked Accounts under Privacy and Security. Log into Facebook and pick the Facebook Business Page to which you’d like to link. Next, under the Share Settings menu, the Facebook logo should be blue to indicate that sharing is on.

3. See posts you’ve liked.

You can see all the posts you’ve Liked in your Instagram settings menu. (Remember, tap the three lines in the top right corner of your profile and click Settings at the bottom.) From there, click Account Posts You've Liked.

4. Reorder Instagram filters.

To maximize productivity, Instagram lets you reorder filters to position the ones you use most often at the beginning. To reorder or hide filters, open the Instagram editor. Scroll to the far right and click the Manage gear icon. Hold down the three gray lines to reorder the filters, or uncheck to hide it.

5. Hide posts you’ve been tagged in.

If someone tags you in a post, it’ll show up when you click the person icon in the menu under your Instagram bio. Your followers can see this, too.

You can hide a tagged post in two ways. One way is through each individual picture. Open a photo you want to hide and click the three dots in the top right corner. Click Photo Options, and from there you can select Remove Me From Post (remove the tag and hide altogether) or Hide from My Profile (leave tag but hide on profile).

If you don’t want to have to continually check and remove tagged posts, you can manually choose just to include the ones you do like. To do this, go to Settings Privacy Tags and turn off the Add Automatically option. Moving forward, you’ll be notified when someone tags you in a photo. When that happens, tap on the photo you were tagged in and choose Show on Profile.

From this screen, you can manually hide multiple photos and videos from your profile, too.

6. Save photos and build collections.

There’s lots of incredible content on Instagram. Maybe you’ve seen content by competitors that you want to emulate, or maybe you’ve found some user-generated content you’d like to repost. How can you save this content to access later? Well, Instagram makes it easy — through Saved content.

On your Instagram feed, you can like, comment, and message posts. You can also save them, using the ribbon icon in the right corner. When you tap it, you’ll see Save to Collection pop up along the bottom of the post. If the image or video you’ve saved falls into a collection, such as UGC content or inspiration, you can create a collection for that content.

Access your Saved content through your profile. Tap the three horizontal lines in the top right-hand corner and click Saved in the list. Under All, you’ll see all your saved content in chronological order. Under Collections, you’ll find that content organized into Collections.

7. Leverage user-generated content.

Keeping up with your Instagram can be a lot of work, especially if you're managing multiple social networks at a time. As I mentioned at the beginning of this guide, in order for you to find success on Instagram you must be prepared to post content and engage regularly. If this sounds intimidating, don't fret; I've found the perfect solution for both — user-generated content.

User-generated content (UGC) is content featuring your brand or product that your customers, users, and followers post on their networks. UGC is a fantastic example of word-of-mouth marketing and helps drive brand awareness and conversions. Better yet? You can use that content for your own networks.

There are a few different ways to use UGC. Some brands share a branded hashtag and ask their customers to use it when posting about their products. The company then follows that hashtag to discover new content and asks the person permission to share their image. Other brands run specific UGC campaigns and contests to gather a lot of UGC at once and "flood" follower timelines with brand-specific content.

UGC campaigns don't have to happen on social media, either. My favorite example of UGC by the pet product brand, Chewy. We all know how much pets love boxes, and so do the folks at Chewy. They encourage customers to post pictures of their pets in Chewy boxes (seriously — it says it right there on the box!), and Chewy shares them on its social media. Not only does this provide the Chewy social media team with endless new content, but it shows potential customers real photos of real customers and their cute pets.

Source

8. Feature guest takeovers.

Your social media manager or management team deserves a break now and then! Consider featuring guest "managers" or employee takeovers on your Instagram. This strategy allows you to mix up your content and provide your followers with a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like to work for your company. (Or, if you feature customers, what it's like to buy from your company.)

The HubSpotLife Instagram does this with HubSpot employees around the world. Each employee takes over for a day and showcases their workspace, hobbies, and other parts of their life.

Source

9. Make your Instagram an interactive space.

While likes and comments are important parts of Instagram engagement, there are other ways to turn your Instagram feed into a space to interact with your followers. Consider these tips:

• Conduct a weekly or monthly "ask me anything" (AMA) with employees or executives where followers can leave questions in the comments.
• Post a daily countdown to a product release or event (like INBOUND).
• Run a contest that asks followers to comment and/or share your posts in their Instagram Stories as entry methods.
• Post information about your products and ask for feedback and reviews in the comments.

These are all strategies for making your Instagram a more interactive, conversational space.

Instagram doesn't have a built-in, in-depth analytics platform like Facebook … yet.

When you switch to a Business Account, you do gain access to some limited analytics, such as follower growth, impressions, reach, and engagement. Access these by clicking on the View Insights option below your uploaded images and videos.

You can also track Instagram impressions, spend, and engagement on ad campaigns through Facebook’s Ad Manager. While helpful, these metrics are limited to individual posts and campaigns.

You can access more in-depth Instagram metrics using third-party apps. Iconosquare and Sprout Social allow you to track additional metrics such as followers and engagement over time, optimal post time based on previous posts, and performance compared to selected competitors. Although both platforms require you to pay to use them, you can start with a free trial to see if their analytics offerings are right for you.

The individual metrics you track on Instagram will vary depending on your goals, but you should always keep an eye on engagement (likes and comments) and your number of followers over time. If you’re posting valuable content, your account will steadily gain followers and engagement.

Whether or not you have the budget for more in-depth analytics tools, track these basic metrics to make sure your account is growing and performing well.

For a full list of free Instagram analytics tools, check out our blog post here.

Let’s discuss Instagram advertising. Instagram advertising offers a unique opportunity for brands to engage with their audience. Since Instagram ads appear in feeds like any other post, they aren’t as obvious or disruptive as typical ads. They provide a natural way to encourage users to learn more about your business or product.

How Create an Instagram Ad

If you’ve ever set up a Facebook ad, you know the drill — setting up Instagram ads is done through Facebook’s ad platform.

To create your ad, select a current Instagram post you’d like to boost or create a new one in Facebook Ad Manager. If you haven’t run ads through Facebook before, you’ll first need to set up an account. You’ll also need to claim your Instagram Business account to link it to your Facebook page.

To claim your Instagram account, go to your Business Manager and, on the left side of the page, hover over the menu to click Instagram Accounts. Then click on Claim Instagram Account. Add your account information and click Next.

Pick an objective and name your campaign. While Facebook offers many different choices, only a few include Instagram advertising as an option. To ensure you’re on the right track, pick from any of the following options:

• Brand Awareness
• Reach
• Traffic
• App Installs
• Engagement
• Video Views
• Conversions

Once you’ve selected your objective, you’ll be prompted to name your ad set.

If you select the Traffic option, you’ll be prompted to select a destination for your traffic. Facebook lets you pick between a website and an application.

Next, target your ad with demographic and psychographic factors, such as age, gender, location, language, work, financial status, behaviors, and connections. You can also load previously-used custom audiences.

Select Edit Placements under the placements options and select Instagram under the available platforms. Don’t forget this step! Otherwise, your ad will only show up on Facebook. If you only want to run your ad on Instagram, make sure that no other placements are selected.

After you select Instagram as your placement, you’ll be asked to set the budget and schedule for your ad. Set a daily spend budget or a lifetime budget for the ad and indicate start and end dates for your campaign.

If you don’t set dates or a lifetime budget, your ad will run indefinitely on the daily budget you allocate. You can find more budget and scheduling options under the Advanced Options menu, which allows you to schedule your ad to run during certain hours of the day or set your ad to generate results as quickly as possible using the “Accelerated” delivery type. This option is useful for ads focused around timely events.

Next, set up your ad content. You can boost an existing post or upload new content to run as your ad. Instagram allows you to create Single Image or Video Ads, Carousel Ads, and Story Ads.

To maximize ad delivery, Facebook recommends using images that are 1,200 x 628 for news feed ads and 1,080 x 1920 for story ads. Facebook also recommends limiting your text on the image or video thumbnail.

Once your ad creative is uploaded, place your order and start running your first Instagram ad campaign!

How much should you spend on Instagram ads?

How much you invest in Instagram advertising campaigns should be tied to your campaign goal.

If you’re trying to gather more leads, consider the cost-per-lead and how that compares to other channels and your customer lifetime value (CLV). (For example, if your CLV is $3000, then it might be worth spending $500 on a campaign. These are just arbitrary numbers, but you get the gist.)

This is different for every business and industry. It also applies to other goals like increased website clicks and sales.

No matter your goal, it’s important to monitor and optimize your Instagram ads to make the most of your budget.

With one billion monthly active users, there’s no denying Instagram’s power and reach. What was once a simple photo-sharing app has transformed into an immersive social experience that allows users to explore a company’s visual identity.

Instagram users value high-quality content. Create visuals that provide your audience with interesting information or showcase your brand in a new, unique way. Optimize your content by writing entertaining captions that engage.

Creating and maintaining a platform that captures your brand’s visual identity may seem intimidating, but Instagram makes it fun and easy. Follow our guide and get inspired to make the most out of your Instagram marketing strategy.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.