Setting up an Instagram business account is a great way to gain some marketing insights that will help your business in the long run. For one thing, a business account can make your page look more professional and eye-catching by providing easy access to contact information. Additionally, business accounts give their owners access to data that personal accounts don’t have. As a business account owner, you can see who’s viewing your posts and when, where your audience is located, and which posts perform better.

Instagram business accounts are free and easy to set up. Here’s what you need to know.

Register as a business page

First, you’ll want to switch your Instagram page to a business account in your settings. Under “Switch to a Professional Account,” the app will ask you to choose a category. Choose one that best describes what your company does. This may not seem important, but the category gives page visitors a quick idea of whether or not your business is what they’re looking for.

It’s also a good idea to link your business’s Facebook page to your Instagram, but more on that later. Once you’re through the initial account setup, you’re ready to start building your profile!

Know the post dimensions

Instagram has quite a few different types of posts, and all of them have different dimensions. So, it’s important to have a size guide for your posts to ensure that your content won’t accidentally get cut off or cropped in a way you don’t want. Here’s a quick look at the dimensions:

• Standard Instagram grid post: 1080 x 1080 pixels (1:1 ratio)
• Instagram Stories and Highlights: 1080 x 1920 (9:16)
• IGTV cover: 420 x 654 (1:1.55)
• Portrait size: 1080 x 1350 (4:5)
• Landscape size: 1080 x 608 (1.91:1)
• Profile photo: 360 x 360

Build your bio

The more thorough you are with your bio, the better, but keep in mind that you only have 150 characters to work with. That’s why the other profile categories to fill out are so important! When editing your profile, you can change your username and your display name; make sure that these clearly indicate your business.

In addition to the names, you can add your business’s website, as well as a few words to describe the business. You can be as detailed or as minimalist as you’d like (remember the character limit!). If you’re going the minimalist route, make sure that other areas of your page describe the business.

You can also add some contact buttons to your page, which will display your business’s email and/or phone number. Finally, there are “action buttons,” which include Order Food, Book Now, and Reserve.

Explore some hashtags

We’ll talk a bit about hashtags later, but once you create your account, you might want to begin exploring hashtag options for your posts. Be sure to look into hashtags that relate to your industry and the type of content you share.

Contact October Dreams Marketing today for more help with Instagram Business accounts.