How to open an online store on Instagram? How to open an online store on Instagram from scratch Conclusions on how to use Instagram for business.

* The calculations use average data for Russia

Anyone can start a business on Instagram. Minimal investment, quick training, remote work. The only problem is to choose the right business idea in which you can succeed. How to make money on Instagram in 2020? In this article we provide answers to this and other popular questions about making money on Instagram.

Today, Instagram (in English - Instagram) is the most popular social network. It received special development in 2015, and in a few years it turned into a powerful platform not only for communication, but also for earning money. In Russia, more than 25 million users use this social network. The main audience is people from 18 to 29 years old. According to statistics, about 60% of users check their feed at least once a day. That's why businesses that use Instagram's capabilities are so popular and profitable.

The advertising effectiveness of Instagram is increasing every year. Unfortunately, many beginning entrepreneurs cling only to the idea, but quickly lose motivation and never start making money. This happens for various reasons: they want quick returns and are not ready to wait, they lack experience, expectations are exceeded, mistakes are made at the start... To prevent this from happening, we suggest reading general tips for those who want to build a business on Instagram.

Learn the basics of SMM (online promotion) to independently promote your business on Instagram. There is special literature, courses, and online schools for this.

Don't cheat subscribers. Very often in recommendations for business on Instagram you can find advice to gain subscribers. But we want to warn you: this manipulation will not give you any benefit and will not allow you to earn money! Firstly, what is the use of an inactive audience if most Instagram businesses are tied to the actions of subscribers. Secondly, inflated subscriptions are visible to the naked eye. If they want to cooperate with you, then fake subscribers will scare away any reasonable person. Thirdly, getting subscribers is not a free pleasure. You will spend money on a disservice. It’s better to use these funds for proper promotion – advertising with bloggers, targeting (we’ll tell you more about it), etc. This will bring you much more benefit.

Attention! Now there will be shocking news - in order to make money on Instagram, you do not need to have crowds of subscribers. It is not the quantity, but the quality of the audience that is important. And in some areas of Internet business there is no need to talk about attracting subscribers at all.

1. If you want to develop your account as a business on Instagram, then you need to take care ofquality content: useful, interesting posts, good visual design, attractive concept. Creating an Instagram product that many users will like is not so easy. However, if you feel the strength to do this, then everything can work out. Please note that you can not only maintain a personal blog, but also be an administrator of thematic public pages - for example, publish funny videos, book reviews, show business news, news articles from your city, etc. Just don’t forget about copyright: when using someone else’s material, indicate its author.

   Be prepared for the fact that you won’t be able to make money from business on Instagram right away. In most cases, investments in Instagram pay off over time. You are unlikely to get immediate profits here. Although there are such business ideas in our selection. It is also worth considering that business on Instagram requires your constant participation. This social network is constantly developing, the competition is already quite large and continues to grow. Business on Instagram is not the easiest thing to do, but it can generate significant income if organized correctly.

Instagram today is an actively developing platform. To make money in this area, you need to constantly keep your finger on the pulse. How to make money on Instagram in 2020? Let's ask the trends.

Idea for Instagram 1. Instagrammable design

Every year on Instagram, the requirements for the external design of accounts are increasing. Such a service as business optimization for photography, “Instagram picture” is actively gaining momentum. Currently, audiences are increasingly attracted to instagrammable places - the interior design of public places is becoming more Instagrammable and photogenic. A completely new category of projects is emerging that are created specifically for Instagram. This is a great opportunity for designers to express themselves in a new direction.

Another option is to design the business account itself. This includes the visual concept, strategy, branding, creative content, color scheme and photo styling that reflects the essence of the brand. Instagram for business is a powerful advertising platform. Correct positioning of a business account allows you to advance in the market and attract an audience. Therefore, the service is becoming more and more in demand.

The direction is young, but quite promising. The idea is suitable for interior designers, photographers, stylists, PR and advertising workers. You can work on orders as a freelancer or open your own creative agency, bringing together employees with different specializations.

Idea for Instagram 2. AR masks

Masks blew up Instagram in 2019. The “Pioneers” made good on this: bloggers grew their audience, and mask creators made money: some only from design, others also from training. On the Internet you can find many courses and training videos offering to teach any user how to use a specialized program for creating AR masks.

In 2020, masks are still relevant, but the vector will change. An important function of masks is to promote a brand or product. Using a mask, you can announce the release of a new product, attract the attention of subscribers and launch a wave of user-generated content. It becomes possible to embed games, gamification and competitive mechanics into such masks.

Today, creating an AR mask requires not just the ability to use the Spark AR Studio program, but also the development of an advertising concept, creativity and promotion of the mask itself. And this is already a package of services for a full-fledged business. The price for developing an AR mask starts from 2 thousand rubles, and it is difficult to name the upper limit - it all depends on the complexity of the order. Obviously, creating turnkey AR projects will cost many times more.

Idea for Instagram 3. Photo shoots for Instagram

Requirements for content quality are growing. This forces bloggers to turn to specialists: photographers, copywriters, stylists, etc. A photo shoot for Instagram allows the customer to resolve a large number of issues. The service involves creating a concept and visual style, selecting images for shooting, professional photography and processing, photo support for the account, etc. The service is requested not only by business accounts, but also by bloggers who maintain personal accounts.

Idea for Instagram 4. Video content

One of the most current main trends in recent years is video content. The audience in stories and IGTV is growing. Many Instagram users admit that they have stopped reading their feed and only look at stories.

So here’s an idea for making money: creating video content for bloggers. The services of an editor, cameraman, and screenwriter are in demand. This includes not only generating content for your account. For example, many bloggers sell their information products: webinars, courses, video tutorials, etc. Serious projects involve specialists who will help organize and conduct filming in a high-quality manner, write a script, and edit a video. So the opportunities for making money from video content are quite extensive.

Idea for Instagram 5. Comprehensive services

Today, this service includes not just picture design or editing simple video. This includes developing an advertising concept, writing abstracts, selecting bloggers for advertising, writing scripts for commercials, preparing an account for advertising, etc. Comprehensive services attract clients and help them stand out in the market.

Idea for Instagram 6. Gamification and riddles

Gamification is the use of game mechanics in social networks to reinforce brand loyalty. On Instagram, both ordinary bloggers and business accounts use this technique, thereby increasing user engagement. This is a way to adapt to the modern user. Elements of the game can be competitions and quizzes, predictions, puzzles, mini-surveys, tests in the spirit of “guess the place from the photo” and so on.

Thanks to the popularization of game content, the service for creating it has become relevant. There were even individual services gamification for Instagram. On freelancing sites you can find many advertisements offering to create gaming content for accounts. So if you are a creative and creative person, try to realize your talents in this area.

Now you know what to expect from Instagram in 2020 and what trends you can make money on. But let’s return to proven ideas that have been relevant for many years.

Idea for Instagram 7. Selling your goods or services

Instagram is a very effective trading platform. There is a very interested, active audience here. Promoting your product or services is a good way to make money. Even accounts with a small number of subscribers can earn decent money on Instagram.

What are they selling on Instagram?

• Goods: food, clothing and shoes, flowers, handmade products, accessories, decorative items and tableware, cosmetics, etc.;

• Services: designers, copywriters, webmasters, photographers, artists, psychologists, business coaches, lawyers, programmers, beauty salons, sports complexes, entertainment projects.

Today, almost any product or service can be sold using Instagram. The most important thing is to present it correctly. If you have any hobby, you can sell your work. If you have entrepreneurial skills, open an online store. If you are a specialized specialist, for example, a lawyer or a makeup artist, create an account where you will share your experience, give useful advice, and answer questions of interest to subscribers. People are drawn to free information if it is useful. By doing this, you attract new subscribers, inspire confidence in yourself - and in case of real need, your subscriber can turn to you for real help.

Each type of sales-oriented account has different requirements. For example, for an online store, visual content is important - the better the photos, the more attractive the product itself will be. For an account focused on providing any professional and consulting services (legal, medical, psychological), useful texts are much more important. But it’s good when a blog combines both components.

In order for your services or products to be in demand, you need to gather your target audience on your blog. Before promoting your account, developing its design and planning posts, you must clearly imagine the portrait of your subscriber: how old is he, what city does he live in, what does he do, what is his income level, what are his interests. When you have an accurate idea of ​​your subscribers, it will be easier for you to: promote your account, create an offer, determine the price, interact with your audience. This is very important parameters for targeting - an advertising mechanism that allows you to select from the entire existing audience only those who meet the specified criteria (target audience), and show advertising specifically to them. Currently, targeting is one of the effective ways promotion.

How else is it possible make money on Instagrampromoting your products and services

Provide them to bloggers on barter terms: you are a product/service, they are advertising your products.

Organize sweepstakes, competitions, promotions, discounts on Instagram.

Use the right hashtags and popular geolocations.

Properly design your profile header with a mention of keywords that will make it easy to find you. For example, if you sell homemade cakes and are located in Saratov, write “Cakes Saratov” in the title of your blog - this is approximately how potential users will look for such services.

Use targeting – a built-in function in Instagram business accounts or contact professionals. This is not an exhaustive list of promotion methods. More information about this topic can be found on the Internet - at open access there are a lot of useful materials.

Lifehacks for selling on Instagram:

Share the process of creating your product with your subscribers. But don’t overload with details – posts should be entertaining.

Always respond to comments.

Write the price for your product/service. Very often in online stores you can see the magic phrase “write in direct” - this is for those who suddenly want to know the price of a product. Lack of price can scare away the client. Firstly, not everyone wants to waste time on direct messages just to find out the cost. Secondly, this suggests that this seller’s prices are higher than those of competitors. And thirdly, there is a myth that sellers adjust prices by assessing the wealth of the person who asks the question in the direct message. Your task, as a seller, is to simplify the purchasing process as much as possible. Therefore, indicate the price right away.

Encourage your subscribers. Post their photos with reviews.

This is perhaps the easiest and most common way to make money on Instagram. The only important condition is that you must have enough subscribers to earn money from advertising posts. Typically, a ticket to this “source” starts with 10 thousand subscribers, however, even with a smaller audience you can make money from advertising - only the income will be more modest. The main thing is that your entire audience is real, and not artificially inflated through hype.

Earning algorithm:

• You create an advertising post (it can be a photo or video);
• You insert a branded hashtag, mention or link to promote the brand;
• You share it with your audience;
• You get money.

The earning scheme is quite simple, but there are a number of important questions that need to be answered.

Where to look for clients

You will be lucky if clients come to you on their own. This is not uncommon. People view your account, rate it, make sure that the target audience matches, and write to you. If you want such a story to happen more often, then mention such a service in your account. Or create a separate account to recruit for advertising. Just don’t go overboard with the number of advertising posts. In pursuit of money, you can forget about the quality of content. You can lose a large number of your own subscribers if you overload your profile with advertising posts. Therefore, think carefully about this moment when making money on Instagram.

Today there are many platforms that help bloggers and advertisers find each other. Adstamer, Epicstar, Sociate - all these are services for social promotion. Here you can find tasks about placing advertising in your account and calculate how much you will get for it. On average, for placing 1 advertising post you can get from 500 rubles to infinity (it all depends on how busy your account is).

Epicstars. Terms of cooperation: the number of subscribers on the channel must be at least 1000 and it must not contain content that violates the rules of the social network. Commission 20%

Plibber. The conditions of this exchange are as follows: your account must have at least 30 posts and at least 150 subscribers. The minimum withdrawal amount is 100 rubles. System commission – 15%

SpellFeed. It is a directory of advertisers and advertising profiles. The service does not charge a commission; you can use the catalog for free and without registration.

Adstamer. Commission 10%. The minimum number of subscribers is 1000 people. There are no restrictions on withdrawals.

Label. You must have at least 10,000 subscribers and at least 20 posts in your feed. Commission 5%. Withdrawal from 250 rubles

How to set a price for an advertising post

To be honest, the cost of advertising is determined by the account owner himself: depending on how he personally evaluates his services. But in general, the price is determined based on the number of subscribers. Usually the formula looks like this: 10 subscribers = 1 rub. for advertising. That is, if you have 3 thousand subscribers, then an advertising post will cost 300 rubles, and if you have 30 thousand, then it will cost 3000 rubles.

But the founder of Due.com, John Rampton, calculates the price using a different formula: 0.25-0.5 dollars per “like” and 1 dollar per comment. You need to multiply this by the average number of likes and comments - and you get the price of an advertising post. Please note that in the first case, the price depends on the recruited audience, and in the other, on the activity that this audience shows.

How much can an Instagram business earn from advertising?

The amount of your income will depend on many factors, so we will not promise any specific amounts. However, we note that a blog with an audience of 30 thousand people can earn 20-25 thousand rubles per month.

Idea for Instagram 9. Selling photos

“One family always took a camera on vacation, took a lot of photographs on the trip with the theme “family on vacation,” and then sold them on stocks like Shuttersrock. They say they made a decent amount of money from this and earned a good percentage of the cost of the vacation.”

Here's a typical real story about how you can make money from photographs. Today there are many services that bring together a mass content producer and a buyer. You simply register on the service through your Instagram account, mark which photos you want to sell - and make a profit.

Today this method of making money on Instagram is one of the most popular. How it works?

1. You are looking for a client through an exchange or on your own.
2. Negotiate the price of advertising.
3. You take a high-quality photo at the client’s request and give him the footage.
4. You get money.

Let's take a closer look at the process of selling Instagram photos.

1. Foap service calls itself “the next wave of stock photography.” How it works: You register on the site, create a profile and portfolio of your best images that you would like to sell. For every photo sold you earn $5. The advantage is that you can sell the same image an unlimited number of times.

2. 500px is a photography community with 80 million photos. Is a great platform to display and license your photos.

A few nuances that will allow you to earn more on this site:

use 4-5 keywords for each photo. This will help your work find a buyer;

look for and photograph what no one photographs;

3. Twenty20– a trading platform for selling your photos from Instagram. Register online or download their iPhone app. Any photo you post is for sale. But you retain the rights to the photo, so you can sell it multiple times.

4. Snapwire– the service recommends that you upload as many high-quality photos as possible. You should use keywords with your photos so that they can be easily found. If you consistently upload your photos, you will earn points. This way, you increase your opportunity to earn more money. Be sure to check out the “last purchased” section. This will allow you to understand what is in demand now.

And finally a few useful tips for those who decide to make money by selling photographs. First, take natural, not staged, photos. Brands are hunting for live footage. A Canadian pharmaceutical company once paid $6,000 for 52 photographs of friends playing. Secondly, don't use a square format. Although initially Instagram came out with square, Polaroid-type frames, the 4:5 portrait format looks more professional.

Idea for Instagram 10. Account promotion (marketing consultant)

Account promotion is another super-popular business on Instagram that brings in good money. Now many companies that maintain their profiles on this social network need promotion specialists. What is the job?

registration of a company profile;

creating content and a content plan that will gather an audience and bring clients;

SEO optimization;

partnership with other bloggers;

increased activity (likes, comments, replies).

There is nothing complicated in this work. If you wish, you can master all the skills in a month or two. Special courses will help speed up the learning process. Their cost is 6-14 thousand rubles.

How much can you earn? Here are approximate market prices for some Instagram marketer services:

• Account from scratch (creation, promotion) – 10,000 rubles;
• Monthly maintenance of Instagram – from 3,500 rubles;
• Designer account design – from 1500 rubles;
• Targeted advertising (setup and maintenance) – from 7,000 rubles.

To create a price list and decide what services you can offer the client.

How to look for clients? Monitor advertisements on Instagram and vacancies on specialized sites. Today there are many job offers.

How to build a sustainable consulting business on Instagram

If you are looking forward to long-term earnings, use the following tips:

Define your target audience precisely. To attract clients, you need to build smart relationships with bloggers in your niche.

Create a portfolio with good reviews. Get started with free help.

Track time spent on various tasks using different applications and set up processes when you work with new clients.

Give people free information and your subscribers will turn into your customers.

Ready ideas for your business

The idea is similar to the previous one, but involves work on creating content. If a promotion specialist works with marketing tools, then the account administrator is responsible for the entire account.

Administrator tasks on Instagram:

regularly creating posts;

photo/video editing;

statistics analysis;

communication with subscribers;

generating new ideas;

creating a content plan;

The main task of the administrator is to maintain the quality of content. You can find a similar job on freelance exchanges. You can also personally write your proposal to the blogger by email. The average cost of maintaining an account on Instagram is 5-20 thousand rubles. If you manage to find several companies that will be your regular customers, then you can earn up to 60 thousand rubles.

Idea for Instagram 12. Sell your experience

Let's assume you already have an active audience. And if not, go back to the beginning of the article and read about promotion and tips for maintaining an account. Now let's talk about how to create that very product.

How to come up with an original product

One way is to research books in your niche that are sold on Amazon or Udemy (focus on bestsellers). Another way is to research the audience that has formed in your account. You can ask them what they are willing to buy. Find out the problems of your audience during communication.

How much does it cost

The cost of courses can vary from 1 to 10 thousand rubles. It all depends on your audience, course content, interaction format, etc. By selling your experience on Instagram, you can earn 20-100 thousand rubles. per month. It all depends on how high-quality the product you offer, whether you match the needs of the audience and how you advertise it.

Instagram business mistakes you can avoid

There are 3 main reasons why you will not be able to start selling courses:

you're not sure you're good enough;

you launch a product on Instagram, but then find that no one wants to buy it.

How to deal with this? Carefully study the market and consumer needs. Take a course like this to take a look at the entire “kitchen” from the inside. Ask yourself the question “What unique information do I have?” - the answer to this question will become the basis for the idea. Before you start selling courses, it is recommended to test them first - sell a stripped-down version to someone for a minimal price, get feedback and draw conclusions.

Idea for Instagram 13. Printing photos

All people are already accustomed to storing their photographs on electronic media. However, it’s hard to give up the romance of printed photos. Therefore, services for printing photos from Instagram are doing great on the market: they are in demand and receive a stable income. Printing photos from Instagram is, on the one hand, an innovative business idea, and on the other hand, it takes us back to the past, to the time when photo printing was relevant and in demand. A person can print photos from Instagram individually in special machines. Such devices are found in every shopping center.

Another format of this business is the creation of photo books and albums from photographs posted on Instagram. The user receives a finished photo book - in a hard cover, with collages of photographs that are selected in advance, in an individual design. The production of hardcover photo albums with individual designs allows you to make good money. To provide such a service, you will need to create your own website. A photo book designer will be available there, allowing the customer to independently choose the design, number of pages, and placement of photographs. Thanks to this service, you can literally print out your Instagram - with likes, dates, captions. Website development will cost you approximately 30 thousand rubles. The same amount will be spent on active promotion on the Internet. Also, don’t forget to create your own account on Instagram, with which you will advertise your services and look for interested buyers.

The second important point in such a business is the search for a printing house where photo books will be printed. To do this, check out the printing houses in your city and compile technical information. task, find out prices. You don't just need to choose the cheapest printing services. Pay attention to the quality of printing, paper, colors... The success of your business depends on the quality of execution. Before concluding a contract with a printing house, run a test print to ensure quality.

The cost of a finished photo book is about 1,300 rubles. In the first month, you can receive 15-30 orders and count on revenue of about 40 thousand rubles. The average cost of a photo book for 5 spreads is 230 rubles. This means that the net profit from one sale will be 1070 rubles. Then, with 30 orders per month, the net profit will be about 30 thousand rubles.

Idea for Instagram 14. Affiliate programs

One of the simplest and profitable ways Making money on Instagram is selling other people's goods or services through affiliate programs. How it works?

Algorithm for working on site:

• registration;
• choosing a partner product or service;
• in some cases you will have to obtain approval for your Instagram account as an advertising platform;
• receiving an affiliate link;
• placing an advertising post with an affiliate link in your account;
• If a user follows your affiliate link and purchases a product or service, you will receive a reward.

Today there are many affiliate programs. You can easily find lists of the best partners on the Internet. These sites provide lists of partners: Rekl.pro; Tlight; Adcombo; CPA. On average, the commission for selling one product through a CPA network is 200-600 rubles. You can earn about 20 thousand rubles from affiliate programs. monthly. By the way, you yourself can earn money through an affiliate program on your own purchases. How? Find a product, register in an affiliate program, take the link and buy using it. This scheme works in online stores and products participating in CPA networks.

Finally, a few tips on running a business on Instagram using affiliate programs:

1. Promote only one product. You'll ask people to follow a link in your bio, where you can only provide one link.

Do not use a product image. People care about the result. Show them the product you are promoting in action and how it can positively impact their lives.

Use only relevant hashtags.

Choose products for affiliate sales that are already selling well and receiving rave reviews from customers.

Idea for Instagram 15. Completing tasks

This method can hardly be called earning money - rather, a part-time job. It does not bring much profit, but it takes a little time and generates income.

How to make money on Instagram from likes

Register for a special service

Get a task, for example, to like certain pages. With the help of special services, you can earn money on Instagram by three simple actions: likes, comments, subscriptions. For these actions, people are willing to pay from 1 to 5 rubles.

Complete the task and receive a reward.

Here are a few such sites:

vktarget.ru– here you can get 1 ruble just for liking a photo or subscribing. The minimum withdrawal amount is only 25 rubles.

Qcomment.ru– on average, one action here costs 3-5 rubles. If you work hard, you can earn 500 rubles a day.

Forumok.com– payment for actions – from 50 kopecks to 5 rubles (for more serious tasks, like leaving a comment).

Cashbox– for 1 like you can get from 0.65 rubles.

The amount of money earned directly depends on the generosity of the customer. Average prices are:

per like: 0.6-2 rubles;

for subscription and repost: 1-5 rubles;

per comment: 3-15 rubles.

Using this method, you can earn 100-500 rubles a day on Instagram. And for a month the amount will be 2-10 thousand rubles. But it is worth considering that there are not very many tasks posted. Therefore, it is advisable to register on several such resources at once in order to increase your daily earnings.

Business on Instagram. Let's summarize.

Instagram today is not just a social network for communication, but a real trading platform where you can start a real business and make good money. In fact, there are many more than eight ideas for making money on Instagram. You can provide photo processing services, be a Giveaway organizer, analyze profiles, produce author’s presets for photo processing, provide designer services for creating an account, write custom texts, etc. Therefore, the main thing is to find a business idea that will be easy and interesting for you to work with. In this case, business on Instagram will bring pleasure.

Unfortunately, you can make money on Instagram, but not right away. In most cases, investments in Instagram pay off over time. You definitely won’t get immediate profit.

2019 people are studying this business today.

In 30 days, this business was viewed 746,121 times.

Instagram has 22 million Russians. On average, a user logs into the social network 16 times a day. More than 60% percent of Instagrammers check updates daily. Application on mobile devices allows you to be within walking distance of your account. The level of banner blindness is lower than in other networks. Ideal conditions for promotion if you know how to open a business on Instagram. Do you know about the possibilities of social networks? Where to start a business, how quickly the budget will pay off and what to expect in the future. We suggest you look into our article.

Instagram opportunities for business

Knowledge about the capabilities of Instagram will help you achieve your goals. What problems can be solved:

• increase in conversion;
• increasing brand awareness;
• maintaining reputation and promoting the company atmosphere;
• warming up interest in proposals;
• increasing engagement: likes, reposts, comments.
• a story about the product and its benefits;
• information about company news and much more.

Instagram clearly separates personal accounts from business profiles. In the latter option, you can view free statistics and run ads using your Facebook account for flexible settings. For beginners, simple promotion of posts will do for the first time. Of the minuses: there are few goals and functions for selecting audiences.

Instagram for business: where to start

1. Choose a niche based on your interests. Analyze what you are great at and can talk about it. Don't rely on other people's preferences - in most cases you will abandon the business you started.
2. Once your list of interests is in front of you, it's time to check how successful competitors are doing in those areas. What are they doing to attract an audience? What business strategies do they use? Choose the most realistic method for yourself and start planning.
3. The business should not only be loved, but also bring money. How do you understand that the chosen niche will not just steal your invested budget? Type its name into the search bar and see how many advertisements you get in response. If there is a lot, goods and services are in demand.
4. Analyze who you are going to sell to: gender, age, interests. Right choice target audience will save budget and increase the chances of successful business promotion.
5. Focus on direction. Choose not too broad, otherwise there will be problems with attracting advertisers. It’s also not a good idea to make it too narrow - you may not have enough ideas for ongoing content. In the future, you can expand and add new product lines, but it’s better to start with one thing.
6. Create a schedule according to which you will upload content uninterruptedly. Remember that the lifetime of a post is 4 hours and making more than one entry during this period does not make sense. We wrote about how to choose hours and days for publication in the article “”.

With experience, skills are strengthened and mistakes that arise at first will not be an obstacle.

About the target audience and where to look for it

Determine who your clients are: how old they are, what their income is, what they are interested in. In the future, you will invest in targeted advertising to attract buyers.

Find out what people think good goods and who is an authority in your field. What do subscribers not like, what do they avoid or make fun of? A preliminary analysis will be needed to post promotional posts with bloggers or in cool communities. The pleasure is quite expensive, but it brings maximum effect: advertising looks like native and enjoys high trust from the audience.

Types of businesses promoted on Instagram

Instagram is based on the perception of visual content, on people’s feelings. Therefore, sales with lengthy preliminary preparation do not progress well.

What topics are popular:

• cloth;
• gadgets;
• accessories for women;
• sport;
• trips.

The average amount of goods in a receipt is 5,000 rubles. The best product to sell is visually catchy, bright and beautiful.

How Instagram works for business

Sales begin after about three months of active profile management: daily posts, competitions, communication with subscribers, advertising.

If your product is original and unique, and the blogger was able to convey to the audience the benefits of the product, then success is guaranteed. Instagram will work like word of mouth - one shared a photo, the other wanted it too.

In other cases, when the product does not have originality, there are two options: abandon Instagram and concentrate on regular advertising, or tell subscribers personal history. Why is this so? The social network is built on visual content. Conveying emotions and feelings with images is the main task, and the text complements it by telling and explaining. Subscribers are interested in how you live, goals, dreams - everything you reveal in your story. Bring your product to life, create stories, participate in them and share them with the world, and they will reach out to you.

Ask readers what story they have on the topic. With comments, the post has a larger audience reach. The feed is not based on chronological order, but on the level of engagement of other users. Instagram algorithms select the most interesting posts for the user and show them first.

Use comments not only to increase engagement, but also to communicate. People understand that you are just a touch away and will definitely respond, even if the remark or emoji does not imply feedback. Followers begin to trust, which is important in business development. It’s not enough to gain subscribers who will remain silent. We need an integrated approach to interact with the audience and content.

How much do you need to invest?

Business development on Instagram requires advertising. Moreover, not only will you earn money from it by providing rent to another ad. At first, you will have to look for platforms to promote your posts.

It is best to buy advertising from pages with thousands of subscribers. This means that you must also have several thousand living followers. There are special tools for identifying and filtering out bots. Recruiting 10,000 subscribers will cost on average 20-40 thousand rubles. However, the numbers are average because various factors are taken into account: the quality of the platforms on which you post and the content of the post itself.

31 Instagram business ideas

Ideas will help you start a business through Instagram. You can take them from your head, from successful blogs, from everything that surrounds you and inspires you. Here are some ideas that have shown results.

1. Set frequency and publish posts with questions for subscribers. Be interested in their opinion, answer in the comments, in Direct. This way you not only increase brand awareness and reputation, but also inspire activity. And one of the followers may give you an idea for a new post.
2. Search the Internet to see what questions people are asking most often in your field. This will guide you on what content you plan to write, what to educate people about, and how to get to the point.
3. Take a photo of the product in the hands of a celebrity. Inspiration and respect from subscribers are guaranteed: the star will not give bad advice.
4. Tell us about the team and outstanding employees. Small stories lift the mood and motivation of colleagues, and followers see the activity of the company. Shed light on how certain colleagues came to you, what they have achieved in life and what they are striving for.
5. Create a storefront from your account. Photos are a quick way to find out the product and price. And the text will help fill in the remaining information about delivery, timing, etc.
6. Give a master class. Subscribers love to learn something new, and when they offer to do it themselves, it’s even better. Let it be a useful life hack or a decorative item. The main thing is on the theme of the brand.
7. Publish relevant content. Follow world news and research in your field. Be sure to choose ones that interest you, this could become a new topic for discussion.
8. Check competitors in your area. What topics do they write about? Tell us about the same thing, but in more detail so that the reader receives as much information as possible. Do not copy their material under any circumstances. Be unique.
9. Don't know where to find competitors and partners for cooperation? Use a clever trick: ask your subscribers what they are reading. If you don’t want to take risks, track using hashtags and reviews.
10. Make your content varied. For example, on the weekend, use funny pictures for entertainment, and on Tuesday-Wednesday talk about serious numbers. Periodically send posts with quotes from famous people.
11. Follow what subscribers say under the publication. Look for interesting comments and tag them. Find the best one, put its topic in a separate post, be it a serious expert opinion or entertaining material. You will encourage attentive readers and develop a new thread for discussion.
12. What makes people surprised and want to pick it up faster? Free product/service. You can designate certain hours or days when subscribers will receive the right or for some condition: the first five, the author of the best comment, or randomly.
13. Tell us about the brand's activities. What do you do behind closed office doors? What meetings and conferences do you attend? What cool people do you meet? Or maybe you have changes in the process of manufacturing a product? Share with readers, they will support.
14. Study your analytics. Share your ups and downs.
15. Play the game. Not necessarily for prizes, you can offer to write an opinion about a quote or continue an unfinished sentence. Fantasy is in your hands. Small distractions are useful in the evenings or weekends when everyone is home from work and ready to play or joke.
16. Communication also takes place in Direct. With the permission of your interlocutor, take a screenshot of the dialogue and comment on it in a separate post. Perhaps these are frequently asked questions, a wish for the future, feedback on the work done, or just a phrase that reflects the style of the company.
17. Sell ​​not just with text, but with poetry or even haiku. Mark all the characteristics and indicate prices in an unusual format. Use various literary devices: comparisons, exaggerations. Give your product or service a creative description: readers remember vivid images.
18. Create a section of the best or most popular publications for the week. You give your posts a second life and give your readers exposure to content they may have missed.
19. Post positive photos that evoke pleasant feelings in readers. You can deviate from the theme, but it is important to maintain the style so that the page is designed in a consistent style.
20. Come up with a branded hashtag. Check that it is easy and beautiful to hear and write. Correct typos or errors and publish it under each post. Soon you will be able to track people's feedback not only by comments, but also by their posts containing the content of your hashtag.
21. Thank the audience. Find a reason: for support, for increased activity, for growth, for inspiration. The main thing is to be sincere.
22. Share links to resources on your topic: articles, audio and video. Users love any additions to the text. Help them find useful sources and they will remember you.
23. Use live broadcasts to hold meetings with experts. Ask for their opinion and answer questions from the audience.
24. Show not only the process of how you create a product, but also the stages of manufacturing or providing a service. Photos can be combined into one post using a carousel or you can publish several posts.
25. Don’t forget about Stories: in addition to advertising, you can talk about discounts, new arrivals, competitions and announcements of upcoming posts.
26. Come up with a flash mob for your subscribers and a separate tag for it. Don't forget to participate yourself by showing some great photos.
27. What heights does your brand strive for? Set a goal and talk about your successes or failures towards it.
28. Create sections where subscribers can leave reviews. Encourage them and publish the best ones. From the negative ones, find qualities that need to be worked on, from the positive ones - strategies for successfully moving forward.
29. Add photos of followers with your product. You can find them using hashtags or organize a competition. Ask permission first.
30. Share how your company relaxes: in addition to possible meetings and conferences, send photos from a corporate event or a joint trip.
31. Another way to start a discussion: post a photo and ask for a title for it.

Follow the comments and encourage audience engagement: they can tell you a lot about you and give you new ideas.
Be sure to keep a notebook and write down your business ideas, so you won’t forget later and implement them on Instagram.

Instagram tools for business

Doing business on Instagram means having tools that facilitate processes and improve the quality of content. We have selected the main programs and services that help attract customers and earn their trust.
Tools you already have:

1. Let's start with a free built-in service familiar to every Instagrammer - Instagram Direct. Why is it important? This is analogous to personal messages on any other social network. People communicate with companies with one touch. In addition to working with comments, it is important to respond to messages in Direct: perhaps you are one step away from getting a new regular client. Sharing information increases conversions and trust. Encourage your audience to communicate. Be interested in offers. Business profiles have a handy feature where you can mark messages as important and customize answers to frequently asked questions. Save time, money and attract customers.
2. Use free statistics for business profiles. It's useful when you want to know which posts are most engaging with your audience: where you have the most likes and comments. Based on the information received, you will learn successful criteria for publications and adjust your content plan. Get to know your target audience through statistics and formulate precise targeting settings for advertising.
3. The feed is another tool for attracting the attention of subscribers. Moreover, we can talk about targeted advertising, which is shown to potential clients, and also about posts, created by the company. In any of these cases, focus on the creativity and interests of the clients. Find the “pain” - what interests people - and provide a solution in the form of your product.
4. Instagram Stories are popular among users: more than 300 million use them daily. They will be useful for informing about discounts, promotions, competitions and just company news. Stories are stored for only 24 hours and then deleted. A good way to talk about limited offers.

How to grow your business on Instagram through other tools:

1. Aviary. At the initial stage, you cannot do without a photo editor. Learn to create high-quality photographs, follow trends in processing. Aviary has numerous stickers and decals. It is available on Windows, iOS, Android.
2. PicFlow is an application for easily creating slideshows. On Instagram, in addition to static photos, videos that show images at a certain time interval are popular. All you need to do in the program: select pictures, their duration and audio file: music or voiced text. The paid version allows access to transitions between images and can remove watermarks.
3. Crowdfire. The tool will show all analytics on subscribers: who unsubscribed and subscribed. You can create black and white lists, analyze followers based on company interests, and find potential clients. Has 1 free plan and 4 starting at $10.
4. Adobe Spark. Powerful tool, which supports various templates for filling Instagram content. It adds brand attributes, creating personality in each design. Available in mobile and web versions. Finished posts are added to the social network and, if necessary, downloaded to a computer.
5. Hootsuite. Works with several social networks and can publish posts simultaneously in different ones. Prepare publications in advance, analyze audience engagement and monitor brand mentions. A demo version is available for the first 30 days, and then there are tariffs to choose from.
6. Canva. The developers took care of creating templates for Instagram Stories. Design, customize, and don't be afraid to push the limits. The designer works with fonts, graphics, photographs, combining them into one masterpiece. Can align images, crop, adjust text. Work with transparency, brightness, saturation and contrast of your photos.
7. Storiesads. You can guess from the name that the service is designed for Stories. A video editor with built-in templates creates individual videos, depending on the task. There is a free trial period.

This is not the entire list. In the first stages, focus on content quality to shape your publishing style and schedule. Select relevant hashtags, change them periodically and monitor the effectiveness of posts using analytics systems.

Let's sum it up

We have covered several points on how to use Instagram for business. The social network has helped many companies get the word out about themselves, so start doing it yourself. Determine what kind of business you want and can promote. Think about presenting content to your audience and set up targeted advertising. Calculate your forces and budget. The first time will be difficult and almost no one will know about you, and only after a few months the first clients will come. The main thing is to keep moving forward.

The functionality of Instagram allows you to create a large audience in a short period of time. Its representatives constantly review publications and photographs. They are solvent and ready to make emotional purchases. The social network is an indispensable trading platform for entrepreneurs whose activities are focused on selling real goods, the sale of which requires dialogue with customers.

Business on Instagram

Advantages of an Instagram store

Placing cards with product characteristics and descriptions on trading platform Instagram is profitable and effective, due to the convenient console of the social network and low costs for promoting your account.

Using it for business purposes, it is not difficult to instill trust in a potential consumer of the promoted products, since all customers of the store have the opportunity to freely comment on their impressions of the cooperation. Before transferring money for a purchase, buyers have the opportunity to read previously left reviews of users who have already used the service.

To open a clothing store on Instagram, you do not need to invest in creating, setting up and designing an online store website. Product cards can be uploaded to the social network server without the need for additional software.

A huge number of people use the social network for entertainment and shopping. With the correct presentation of advertising information, all of them can become potential buyers. After posting a publication informing about promotions or the appearance of a new product in the store, all subscribers are notified about the event.

It is worth noting that they do not always log into the store account to view the seller’s offers. Users may not even remember its existence, but the advertising post will not go unnoticed and will certainly receive a response in the form of purchases from its readers. The more subscribers a seller’s account has, the easier and faster it is for him to spread the word.

To launch the service, you need to create a profile on Instagram and decide on a niche of activity. In order for trade to run smoothly, you need to find a reliable supplier who always has the right product in stock at an affordable price. Before opening a business, you need to assess its prospects, which is possible by comparing the size of the investment for the startup and the potential profitability.

Choosing a direction of trade

The direction of trade should be related to the personal interest of the entrepreneur and his ability to obtain the item for sale at a favorable price. You can check its relevance by assessing the activities of competitors. By entering the niche name in search engines, you can analyze the level of competition that will have to be overcome. The more advertising there is on request, the greater the coverage of the niche, and the more funds will need to be invested in promoting the project. It is worth noting that niches for which there are no advertising campaigns may not be in demand.

Account creation

You can create a profile on Instagram on your computer or through the mobile application. A business account is opened using functionality Facebook or by adjusting the settings of a regular profile. Registration via computer is carried out according to a standard scheme, for which you will need email. The procedure is carried out from a personal Facebook account or from home page social network.

To create a profile via phone, you must first download the application. Registration can be carried out by phone number or address Email. Actions can also be taken from Facebook.

Instagram: the basics of business promotion

Instagram has recently conquered the market mobile applications in the CIS. Not many people have yet been able to truly appreciate the capabilities of this social network, but those who use and regularly publish photos on Instagram can say how interesting and easy to use it is.
In previous articles we have already talked about promoting your business on VKontakte and Facebook, and today it’s the turn of Instagram. But those of you who have already used these applications may wonder: “How can you promote your business if only photos are published?” Believe me, Instagram is a very powerful and promising service that can not only shape your image of a successful and attractive person, but also significantly help in promoting goods and services.

According to statistics collected in November 2013, more than 75% of the world's largest and most famous brands actively present their products on Instagram. They also communicate with clients, attract new subscribers, and develop their social image. Instagram is a fairly new, interesting, promising, tempting application that is attracting more and more users every day. The trend is great, and you simply must think about how to develop and promote your business on Instagram.

10 rules for promoting a business on Instagram

Rule No. 1. Basic. Use the company name as the name
Perhaps the most obvious and understandable rule. If you are going to make collections of photos on behalf of the company, then your Instagram account must be appropriate. Everything seems logical, but not everyone understands it. Very often, people start posting “work” photos from their personal account, and this is not taken very seriously.
If your company is called a very well-known and common word that is already used on Instagram, then choose some interesting and related name that will most accurately reflect the essence of your company. For example, you are selling vegetarian food, but the nickname “VeganFood” is already taken. What to do? It’s clear that you need to look more broadly and look for an associative series. For example, name your account “FreshFood” or “VeganLife”. It all depends on your desire, and on the understanding that whatever you call the ship, that’s how it will sail.

Rule #2. Strategic. Use hashtags in your posts
Hashtags are nothing new to social media. True, until recently they were actively used only on Twitter, but they were successfully implemented on both Facebook and Vkontakte. Instagram is also not deprived of a similar function, and you should actively use it.
For those who don’t know what a hashtag is, I’ll explain. This concept usually means a certain function with which the user can filter all posts with such a hashtag. If you see a clickable link in the #hashtag format, then that's what we're talking about.
Why do you need this? As mentioned above, you can group certain pictures by topic by adding the necessary hashtags. For example, #winter_shoes #men's_jackets #discounts #promotion and so on. The user, instead of scrolling through all your messages and looking for the ones he needs, can click on the hashtag and filter out the product groups that interest him in seconds.
This is a very convenient feature that may become your feature over time. As a rule, if you seriously engage in promotion on Instagram, you will have thousands of photos that the user will not look through from start to finish, looking for something they need. But hashtags will help to significantly simplify navigation through your offers and increase the chance that an order will be placed.

Rule #3. Effective. You must use at least 2 hashtags.
If we have already talked about hashtags, and you understand what they are, now you need to understand how many of them to use and which ones will be best. If you look at the reaction of users, there is an opinion among them that using more than one hashtag is bad form. But when your task is to promote your goods and services, then you don’t need to pay attention to such trifles. No, I don’t want to say that the opinions of your subscribers are trifles. Simply using more than one hashtag is not critical, and it is unlikely that anyone will reproach you much for such a move.
SMM experts unanimously declare that the more hashtags you use, the greater your audience reach. Therefore, it is in your interest to select the right tags and use them to the maximum. But it’s also worth noting that you don’t need to enter dozens of tags if they don’t relate to the post at all. For example, if you are advertising new vegetarian products, then the tags #vegetarianism #nutrition #health #veganism #diet are ideal.

Rule #4. Tactical. Post discounts, promotions, and promo codes to your account with some regularity.
If you decide to promote your business on Instagram, you should understand that discounts and promotions are the basis of your marketing ploy. Even if you already have communities on Facebook or Vkontakte, make sure that the subscribers of each community feel unique and individual. How to do it? Yes, simple. Regularly publish information about discounts and promotions only on one social network, and do not duplicate it on others. This way, subscribers will understand that you provide them with a unique opportunity and chances that are not available to other people. This will motivate them to view the photo, read the descriptions in it, and regularly check your account.

Rule #6. Maximum. Make the most of Instagram
Everyone knows that Instagram is mostly for photos. This is the main content of this social network, but also don’t forget about the video, which you can also post on your page. You can post photos around the clock, and time has virtually no effect on viewing activity. With video everything is different, because the optimal time is considered to be between 20-00 and until the morning. This is due to the fact that at work your subscribers can watch photos without any problems, but videos, and even with sound, are difficult.

Rule #7. Feedback. Chat with your subscribers
This rule is perhaps the same for all social networks. Earlier, when we talked about promoting our business on Facebook and Vkontakte, we also focused special attention on this. It is clear that over time, various comments, questions, and clarifications will appear under your photos. You should not ignore them, but, on the contrary, maintain a conversation, start discussions, and answer all questions posed. This way, clients will see that they are not ignored, that their opinion is important, and you will always maintain contact and give the necessary advice.
Such Feedback– the basis for business promotion on social networks. Believe me, your clients can provide dozens of interesting ideas with their comments, suggest further development paths, and point out promotion mistakes. Keep in touch with them, and never ignore their questions and gratitude.

Rule #8. Human. Always address people by name.
Instagram, like Twitter, uses a rather inconvenient system for contacting users compared to VKontakte. In order for your answer to reach exactly the user you want to address, you need to put @ in front of his nickname. Without this symbol, there will be no automatic notification of your response, and the user may not see it in a timely manner.
Why is it so important to address yourself personally and by name? Scientists have long proven that calling a person by name instills a certain amount of trust and wins over the interlocutor. Yes, and we all love attention, but how can we show it if we don’t personally address the client.

Rule #9. Image. Publish photos from the life of the company.
Instagram should be used not only to post photos of your products, but also to create a positive image of the company and inspire the trust of your subscribers. How to do it? You need to publish photos from the life of the company. You can post a few photos of your working day, showing how you try for your clients, how hard you work to ensure that all products are of the highest quality. Post it good photos from parties and corporate events, thereby showing that you are the same ordinary people, that you also have emotions of joy and a desire for relaxation. Buyers must consider you “one of their own”; they must understand that you do not consider yourself better than them, do not rank them higher or lower.
Work on your Instagram look the same way you would work on it in real life. Now many large companies they are beginning to come to the conclusion that social image plays an increasingly important role and influences the choice and trust of potential buyers.

Rule #10. Important. Keep your distance
A very big mistake of all those who are going to promote their business on Instagram is the desire to give as much information as possible in a short period of time. Remember, more does not mean better. If you post 10 photos per hour, this does not mean that users will like such activity. Most likely, everything will be completely different.
Have patience and calm. Even if you know that you have several dozen very high-quality and “bold” photographs, then spread out their publication over a couple of days. At the same time, when publishing a new photo, make an announcement of future events like: “Did you like the photo? That's not all. Tomorrow we will continue to introduce you to the everyday life of our advertising and marketing department.”

Interesting facts about Instagram

This free application appeared relatively recently, in 2010, and has already won the recognition of millions of users.

At the moment, more than 100 million people are registered on Instagram, and this despite the fact that the prospects for the development of this service are enormous. Instagram is just starting its journey in the CIS countries

Users add approximately 5 million photos every day

In August 2013, as part of the development of the application in the CIS market, integration of Instagram with Vkontakte appeared. Now every user, if he is registered on VKontakte, can automatically post photos both on Instagram and on the VKontakte wall.
As we see, social service Instagram is just beginning to actively develop in the CIS countries, therefore, you have a good chance to express yourself and your company using all the capabilities of this mobile application.

The “factory” purpose of Instagram is to give people the opportunity to freely share photos and videos. We agree that this is quite a good act of communication, especially since 1 billion (!) people can confirm this. Yes, that’s exactly how many people dived headlong into this application, a figure reached in June 2018.

If we dig deeper, we will see that Instagram is much more than a “like and follow”. With its help, you can improve your aesthetic and intellectual abilities, master (at least on a whim) the skills of a photographer and videographer, and simply look at others and show yourself. Also, in general, useful. Moreover, all this is free, stylish, with a user-friendly interface. It's no wonder Instagram is so popular.

The most advanced users quickly realized that Instagram can become an excellent platform not only for self-presentation, but also for business promotion. The application itself immediately met halfway: it provided users with the opportunity to register both personal and business accounts.

We talked about the basics of using Instagram as a platform for business promotion in our last article. Let's read if you haven't read it yet, and remember the basics if you've forgotten. In the meantime, we’ll go on a trip through the new products of this social network.

Source of eternal life: creating a “Relevant” section on Instagram

Stories only “live” for 24 hours? Now there is no. Stories can live forever if you move them to the “Relevant” section.

Why does your business need this? In the BIO field, even with a very strong desire, you will not be able to correctly fit all the information about your company. In an attempt to “shove in what cannot be shoved in,” you will only clog it. It is much more convenient to put some items in the “Current” section. What can you put there:

It’s easy to create a “Relevant” section on Instagram.

Your mother is shown here and there! Learning Instagram TV

A new promotion tool that many still view with distrust: how can it help business development? First, let’s figure out what Instagram TV is.

Instagram TV is a channel that you can create based on your profile and post videos there. But not in 15-second excerpts, as in stories, but in a full-fledged feed up to an hour long. However, there is a small note here: only advanced accounts can afford hour-long videos. But more modest profiles still have room to roam - they can freely upload 10-minute videos to Instagram TV.

How is this useful for promoting your account? First of all, because there are not many competitors there yet. In the future, you may be rewarded with an increase in the number of customers if you begin to be one of the first to use the new product and experiment with content on Instagram TV.

The keyword search function is not yet available, but the developers promise that this is temporary. So for now you can only watch channels in the following sections:

• For you. This includes things that may be of interest to a specific user. The data is generated based on his interest in certain posts and profiles.
• Subscriptions. Everything is obvious here: you look at what the people you follow have uploaded to the channel.
• Popular. This category is compiled based on what has generated the most interest across Instagram.
• Look beyond. In this section, you can continue watching the video you watched earlier.

Even if you are walking to the moon before reaching the top on Instagram TV, you should not ignore this new product. Increasing customer loyalty has not been canceled. There you can stay in touch with your subscribers, talk about your business, give tours of your store, present a new collection, tell and show your “behind the scenes” life. In general, it all depends only on your imagination. The main thing is to remember: littering the airwaves of your audience with information that does not carry a semantic load is, at a minimum, unsightly, and at a maximum, it threatens to reduce the number of subscribers.

How can you hear me, reception: we are broadcasting live on Instagram

No takes or editing. You will actually be live if you select and launch the appropriate mode in the story recording section.

Let's consider the practical benefits of live broadcasting:

• With it, you will remind subscribers about yourself, because they will immediately receive a notification that “account N” has started a live broadcast.
• You will be able to increase the loyalty of your audience, because you will enter into a direct dialogue with them. During the broadcast, your subscribers will be able to ask you questions.
• You will show that you are a living person)). As a rule, we devote most of our posts to our products, completely forgetting that there is a person behind them. In general, don’t forget to show up at least sometimes; live broadcasting is a great opportunity for this. Prove to your audience that you are “not a bot.”
• Just like on Instagram TV, you can show subscribers the new products of your store, give them a tour, and talk about the intricacies of production. Backstage always goes off with a bang if they are presented correctly. When deciding on this format, adequately assess your strengths. Subscribers are unlikely to like it if you really can’t tell or show anything. A bit of artistry and competent speech definitely won’t hurt. Write a script and rehearse well to reduce the risk of a bad performance.
• You should not bypass the format of training videos if your product or service allows you to demonstrate your working kitchen to the audience. For example, you are into handmade crafts, so why not show your subscribers how they can make themselves a nice piece of jewelry using scrap materials?
• If your company periodically holds seminars, training, buffets, holidays and other events, then the announcement of the event can be made through a live broadcast in a lively, friendly manner. For example, a long-awaited new collection of clothes has arrived to you and you decide to organize a show for your clients. Click “Live” and invite us, tell you what, when, why and what goodies the guests will receive. Of course, don’t forget to duplicate information about the event in your profile and stories.
• You can broadcast live together with your partner. This way you will simultaneously reach two audiences: yours and the audience of your “co-host” of the live broadcast. Consider collaborating with a “like-minded” brand. There are a lot of options: clothes + accessories, cars + spare parts, exercise equipment + sportswear, pizza + sauces.
• Of course, not all subscribers will be able to watch the live broadcast. What to do: those who didn’t have time are late... Just kidding)) The live broadcast can be saved in stories - you’ll definitely collect a couple of dozen (or maybe more) views.

But all these new products will be largely meaningless if your profile is a mess. Content. Unique, interesting, in-demand content is the pillar on which your account rests.

Great Lent. What to add to your Instagram feed

Content has the power to attract and retain your potential customers. Imagine that you see in your profile the store’s products, which are demonstrated stylishly and tastefully, with an original and competent story about them. From such a publication we receive aesthetic pleasure and... become interested in the store.

But it’s not so simple: you can’t fill your Instagram feed with crap. The smart feed algorithm won't like this. In short, the smart feed is an algorithm for weeding out those publications that do not arouse public interest. The more likes, saves, and comments your posts have, the lower the risk that the smart feed will hide your posts (or the lion’s share of them) from the audience. It's simple: friendship with subscribers = friendship with a smart feed.

Okay, everything is clear. How to be friends with subscribers?

Instagram provides 3 main post formats for the feed:

1. Image or video + text.
2. Image gallery (attached publications) + text.
3. Collage + text.

None of these formats are superior to the others, and they are equally important to your business account. The main thing is to remember some nuances:

• Instagram cares about its users, so videos in the main feed are played with the sound turned off by default. Obviously, we don't always turn it on (wrong place, time, moon phase). Therefore, if you post a video where the main meaning lies in the sound, make subtitles.
• If you choose the format of nested publications, choose the most catchy picture for the title page. This is what should encourage subscribers to scroll through the entire carousel.
• You should restrain your creative impulses when creating a collage. It should not become “visual noise”, be clumsy and busy. What can be successfully shown in a collage? The formula “before” and “after” or, for example, “front view” and “rear view”.

So, we took the photo according to all the rules, posted it and that’s it? Not really. We need text under the photo. You won’t leave the image “to the mercy of fate”, will you?

Text and visuals should work in tandem, and not be disparate elements. Play with the photo with text, make a cohesive publication, and only then will it work. In the case of Instagram, the image catches attention, but it is the text that holds the user.

Here are a few topics for posts on the main Instagram feed:

And, as we know, if there is “how to do it,” there is also “how not to do it.” Some things are just a bad idea, while others have already gone out of fashion. In general, we will try to avoid the following:

• Collages with a lot of photos that don't fit together. More than four photos is too much. Images will be unclear and unclear. You'll likely just force your subscriber to strain their eyes (and brain) to look at something. And no one likes to stress.
• Wise quotes. No, if your products are closely related to Nietzsche’s philosophy, then no questions arise. In other cases, if, for example, you are engaged in sewing bow ties, then thoughtful, and even more so, hackneyed, worn-out quotes are unlikely to help increase subscriber engagement.
• Filtermania. Remember that a filter can either “save” a photo or completely ruin it. You shouldn’t overuse filters, make the image look too old, or add too much sharpening to it. Try to use a filter to present the true, but slightly improved appearance your product.
• The text is continuous. And the picture seems delicious, and the first lines of the text beckon to unfold it... But we look at the publication in full and are frankly frightened by the long canvas of text that has opened up to us. Break your text into paragraphs, use emojis and bulleted lists. So, your subscribers won’t even be afraid of a long read.

But, as we know, there are exceptions to the rules. All this “bad advice” can be used, but only if there is a competent concept or subtle humor behind it.

Do you want to order profile promotion on Instagram?

Comprehensive business promotion on Instagram: from creating a profile to setting up advertising.

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Leave a request, and our specialists will contact you as soon as possible - they will answer any question, help you choose a tariff and tell you about all the nuances.

Do a business account need stories, and what to add to them?

To promote your business on Instagram, you can do everything that is not prohibited)). Once a function exists, it needs to be used. Therefore, you should not ignore stories, because they are especially good because they do not fall under the sanctions of the smart feed, and your subscribers are much more likely to see them than a publication in the feed.

What we add to stories:

So if you are serious about promoting your business on Instagram, you shouldn’t ignore the main feed and stories. Also, you should not ignore such important nuances as hashtags and geolocation.

One, two, three, four, five - I'm going to look for you! We put hashtags and geolocation

What is this mysterious word with a hash mark and why is it needed? A hashtag is a specific #tag that allows Instagram users to find publications on a specific topic. For business accounts, a hashtag can work to its advantage and bring in subscribers for free.

There are 4 types of hashtags:

1. Branded - #service1ps
2. Thematic - #flower_delivery
3. Local - #new buildings in Moscow
4. Personal - #wedding of the Seleznevykhs

If, as a rule, no questions arise with the first three types of tags, then with the fourth one will definitely appear: how can this type of hashtag help with promotion?

Firstly, by coming up with your own personal hashtag, you will make life much easier for your followers. So, they will be able to navigate by your products: #companyN_new items, #companyN_discounts.

Secondly, you can turn your company into an Insta-brand. For example, launch a giveaway where the obligatory condition will be to post a publication with a special hashtag. For example, #companyN_generous_soul, #friends_with_companyN, etc. This way, there is a chance that your hashtag will become viral over time. This can bring you a new, interested audience.

When using hashtags, keep in mind that they do not work on the principle of “the more, the better.” The optimal number of tags is 10. Why?

• More hashtags will simply push users away. It looks unaesthetic and in some cases even stupid. For example, when you put hashtags “neither to the village nor to the city,” that is, completely unrelated to your topic.
• Instagram itself is not happy when posts are littered with a large number of off-topic tags. Such users, who are very eager to show their post to as many people as possible, are “punished” by Instagram for their greed by reducing their reach.

Relatively recently, the application gave users the opportunity to follow a hashtag of interest to them. This feature is useful because, for example, your customers can subscribe to your personal hashtag and always be aware of current events. In addition, if you use thematic hashtags, they can work in your favor when the user views tags on the topic. For example, subscribers of the hashtag #manicure_moscow will see you. They saw it, became interested, subscribed, and used your service. This development of events is quite realistic.

How to choose the right hashtags for your account? Please note the following rules:

• The number of uses of a particular tag can be found out automatically when adding a hashtag. For example, we write #manicure. Instagram itself shows us that this tag has been used millions of times! So, you can experiment with signatures, along the way, find out how many times they have been used. It is not recommended to use hashtags that are too rare (with the exception of your personal ones). It is also not recommended to put overly popular ones, such as #manicure. Neither one nor the other tag will bring you to the top. It is better to focus on the average number of uses - 3-40-100 thousand, depending on your topic.
• You can also choose the optimal set of hashtags through special services. For example, InstaTag or WEBSTAGRAM. Here you will find a database of hashtags by category, and simply lists of relevant and popular hashtags. But here, as they say, trust, but verify. The hashtags that the services will offer you should be evaluated for their semantic meaning. There is no need to add everything to the publication.
• If instead of ideas for hashtags you are completely empty, you can take a look at what your competitors are putting up. We go through the tags, see how many times they are used, under what posts they are placed. We take something into our arsenal and test it.

Although we mark our region of work on hashtags, it’s also a good idea to indicate it in the geolocation section. This is a geographic marker that is placed above a post for which the photo was taken in a particular place. You can add geolocation both in the main feed and in stories.

A geographic tag will be relevant and necessary for almost everyone: restaurants, shops, fitness clubs, beauty salons... It wouldn’t hurt to ask your subscribers to put your geolocation in their posts if they take photos from you. So, your company will form its own database of photos by geo, and your potential clients will be able to “get to know you better.”

But what if you don’t have the tag you need yet? For example, you want to enter your address Lenin, 58, but the search does not return anything. Let's take matters into our own hands and help Instagram find us. To do this, go to the business page on Facebook from your phone and look for the “Mark visit” button in the post section. Enter your address and select “Add new location.” Click, create and use geolocation on Instagram.

The same search is carried out using a geographic tag as using hashtags. And the benefits, in general, from geolocation are the same - attracting new subscribers. By the way, with the help of a tag you can find out what customers think about your company. Often, users post photos from an establishment, such as a restaurant, mark its location and write their impressions. In general, you have the opportunity to learn about your strengths and weaknesses. Naturally, we multiply strong qualities, and eliminate weak ones.

Now let's look:

High-quality content in the main feed - yes ✔

We make stories wisely and don’t overwhelm the audience - done ✔

We've sorted out hashtags and geos ✔

Section Current - filled out ✔

Live broadcast - conducted ✔

Channel on IGTV - created ✔

Now the subscribers will start pouring in like manna from heaven! But... wait. Why is the audience growth not at the desired frantic pace, but at a teaspoon per hour? Not so simple. No matter how interesting and high-quality your profile is, the main impetus for development will come from promoting your business account, that is, advertising it.

Ale-op! Look how I can: attracting an audience to a business account on Instagram

We advocate exclusively for legal methods of advertising on Instagram (and on other platforms too), since the risk, although a noble cause, is unjustified. They will be banned and you will have to start all over from scratch. Therefore, it is better to do everything according to GOST from the very beginning.

Illegal methods of promotion

• Mass following and mass liking. The idea is simple - we look for users who are interesting to us using geo and hashtags, start liking them and subscribing to them in the hope that they will respond in kind. This can be done manually or using special services. But if Instagram recognizes that you very often and suspiciously actively subscribe to accounts, then - hello, blocking! At first, of course, it will be temporary, for educational purposes. But if you don’t learn the lesson and continue to use mass following and mass liking, then eternal profile blocking is not far off. There is a risk of losing both your content and, more importantly, your subscribers.
• Cheating bots. The most useless and unwanted way to promote your business account. Of course, when you’re just creating a profile, you don’t want to see tumbleweeds instead of subscribers, but believe me: bots are much worse)). They can only influence your progress in a negative way, worsening your reputation and not providing any activity.

Semi-legal promotion methods

Legal methods of promotion

If you are determined to attract subscribers as efficiently and effectively as possible and are willing to pay for it, set up targeted advertising without hesitation or doubt.

Targeted advertising on Instagram

Targeted advertising. An officially recognized promotion method by the application. You can configure it in two ways: directly through the application itself or through Ads Manager (Facebook advertising account). We recommend choosing the second option, as this gives you access to more targeting tools.

Ads Manager has a division by goals:

After you have chosen a goal, we proceed directly to reaching the target audience. It is worth considering that parsers do not work on Facebook (and therefore on Instagram). If you have already worked with the advertising account on VKontakte, then you know that there you can snatch an audience from the community, filter them according to certain parameters and send an advertising offer to them. On Facebook, the targeting is different:

• Geography collection. This parameter can work not only for cities, but also for specific addresses.
• Collection according to socio-demographic characteristics. These include: gender, age, marital status, religion, etc.
• Gathering based on interests. The algorithm “reads” the interests of users based on those posts that attract their attention.
• Collection by behavioral characteristics. These include: what gadgets do we use to access the Internet, do we travel, do online shopping, etc.
• Retargeting and look-alike. You can put a pixel on your website that will “collect” those users who visited the site. Later, you upload the received data to your advertising account and target an already “warm” audience that has shown interest in you. Another option is if you have collected a database email addresses, phone numbers of your clients, then you can upload it to your advertising account. The system will process the data and find the owners of these emails or telephone numbers on Instagram to show them ads. By the way, you can set up a look-alike on this base - an algorithm for searching for an audience that is similar to your original one.

So, the goal of the advertising campaign has been determined, the audience parameters have been set - we launch the advertising post itself in the form of a ring gallery, one photo/video or a slide show. You can post it both in the main Instagram feed and in stories. In both cases, it will be served with the mark “advertising” and with a link to your website or Instagram profile.

If you decide to promote your business account on Instagram through targeted advertising - bravo, this is a good decision. But be prepared for the fact that it is not cheap. Adequately assess your financial capabilities and remember - in the case of targeted advertising, the game is worth the candle.

Promoting a business on Instagram: what's the bottom line?

Managing Instagram is work. Everything we've covered in this article may seem easy in theory, but in practice it can be more difficult. Lack of ideas for posts, difficulty with self-configuration advertising, and the banal thing - there’s just no time!

But if you are uncompromisingly determined to become a guru in the field of Instagram promotion, then sign up for our online course for beginners. Once again we will discuss all the points, tell you and show you on your fingers, give real examples and answer all the questions.

And if, nevertheless, eternal time pressure does not allow you to delve deeper into this creative and fascinating, but sometimes complex process of maintaining an account, we will always come to the rescue)). We will find your target audience, wherever they are hiding, figure out how to attract their attention, and provide you with a detailed report (even with numbers). You can find out more about our service for promotion on Instagram.