Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and on and on.

Are you overwhelmed by the sheer number of social media channels available? With so many different options, it's hard to find the time to focus your energies on mastering any single channel.

This post aims to get you up to speed with one of the most popular and visually pleasing social media channels - Instagram for Business.

We'll look at a number of topics including setting up your account, planning and scheduling posts, connecting your business account with Facebook, using hashtags and more.

By setting up an 'Instagram for Business' profile, you'll be able to connect with new and existing customers, as well as build your brand image and hopefully, increase sales.

Why should my business pay attention to this channel?

Instagram now has 500 million active monthly users, with 80% of these users coming from outside the US.

What’s more impressive for businesses and marketing teams alike is that 75% of Instagram users will take an action, such as visiting a website, after viewing a post.

Almost 50% of brands are active on Instagram and this is set to increase to 70% in 2017. 60% of users also reported that they learn about a product or service while been active on the channel.

Setting Up Your Account.

Before we begin, it’s important to note that you must have a Facebook Business Page if you wish to set up an Instagram Business Profile.

Instagram is an app for mobile devices and designed to make use of photographs taken with the phone’s camera.

To set up your account on your phone or tablet:

Download the Instagram app for iOS from the App Store, Android from Google Play Store or Windows Phone from the Windows Phone Store.
After Installation, tap the Instagram icon to open it.
Tap Sign Up, then enter your email address and tap Next. You can also tap Log in with Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account.
If you register with email, create a username and password, fill out your profile info and then tap 'Done'. If you register with Facebook, you'll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out.

(Important to note - I would recommend signing up with an email address. Set your username similar to your company name so people can find you. You can connect to your business Facebook Page at a later stage - more on that below.)

Switching to a Business Account

Once you’ve downloaded the app, installed it and logged in, you’re ready to take the next step and set-up your Business Account.

By using a Business Profile, you can include extra information about your business. For example, add a phone number, an email address, and your business's physical address.

What’s even more important, is when you add your contact information, a ‘Contact’ button appears near the top of your profile. When people click this button, they'll see options such as ‘Get Directions’, ‘Call’, and ‘Email’, depending on the contact information you provided.

Follow these steps below to connect your Business Account. (Note - Business profiles on Instagram are connected to a Facebook Page. Instagram will copy over your information and let you edit it).

To add a Business account, click on the ‘Options’ icon in the top right-hand corner.
From the ‘Options’ menu, scroll down to ‘Account’, and select ‘Switch to Business Profile’.

On the presented page, you can learn more about the Business Tools. Click ‘Continue’ to progress.
Connect to Facebook - Here you’ll login into Facebook or continue as ‘username’. Make sure you have selected the right username and click ‘Continue as ‘UserName’’.
Connect to Facebook Page - Here you'll be presented with the Facebook pages for which you are the ‘Administrator’. Select the Facebook page you wish to link to this Instagram account and click the ‘Next’ blue arrow icon in the top right-hand corner. (Important to note - you can only link one Facebook Page to an Instagram account).

On the 'Set Up Your Business Profile' page, review your business's contact information, make any changes and tap 'Done'.

Profile

You’ll want to set your profile image. This can be a logo or picture of a product. We recommend selecting an image that best represents you and your brand. It’s important to keep consistency so choose your best image and set it as the profile image for all your social media channels.

Bio - Call-To-Action

Here you can explain what is your company does exactly and what users can expect from your Instagram account. Most importantly, add a call-to-action so users and followers can visit your site and make a purchase.

Info

It’s important that you remember to include a call-to-action - i.e. a website or a link where users can buy products or contact you directly.

What’s the difference between Instagram Posts and Instagram Stories?

An Instagram post is a curated photo or video that you upload to your profile and appears in the Feed on your Profile Page.

You can upload a photo/video captured from your camera or share images from your Gallery. You can also edit the photo/video, add filters and publish it for all to see.

Instagram Stories is a new feature which works like a photo-sharing app called SnapChat. Instagram Stories are a collection of photos and videos which a user can upload to Instagram. However, each story will disappear after a 24-hour period. Stories are found in the top channel of the Home Feed page.

Stories are a great way to engage with your audience on daily basis. This feature allows you to share content that will not interfere with the style, messaging or theme of your Profile Feed.

How to create a Story

To create a story on Instagram, you have to tap the new “Your Story+” icon at the top left-hand corner of the screen. You can also reveal the ‘Story’ camera by swiping right on the home screen.

Once you've captured your photo or video, you can edit it, add text and filters and upload it. You can add many photos and videos to the same story.

Instagram Insights

One of the key benefits of connecting to a Business profile is having access to Instagram Insights.

Insights for Posts and Stories

Impressions: Total number of times your post or story was seen*
Reach: Number of unique accounts who saw your post or story*
Website Clicks: Number of accounts that have tapped the website link on your Business Profile.
Follower Activity: Average times your followers are on Instagram on a typical day

*Impression and Reach are different in an important way. Impressions are the total number of times your post was viewed - for example, the same post may be viewed by the same individual many times, all of which will be counted. Reach displays the total number of unique users who viewed your post. Each unique individual will only be counted once, even if they view your post multiple times.

Insights specific to stories

Replies: Number of times people send messages through the Send Message option on your story
Exits: The number of times someone swiped from one of your stories to someone else's story or returned to their Feed.

Creating a Plan

The key to growing any audience is to post content that you believe your audience will relate to and are interested in.

Moreover, posting on a frequent and consistent basis is just as important. To keep on top of things, there are many tools designed to help schedule and automate your uploads.

Some of you may already be familiar with some popular scheduling tools for Twitter and Facebook such as HooteSuite and Buffer. However, there are also many specific scheduling tools designed for Instagram.

Christian Karasiewicz, at SocialChefs, has written an article highlighting the 10 Best Time-Saving Instagram Scheduling Tools. I recommend trying a variety of solutions before committing to any specific tool. With apps like these, features and options will vary, so try and find the one that best suits your needs.

One scheduling tool we’re currently testing here at COCA Studio is an app called ‘Later’. Later allows users to bulk schedule up to 30 posts per month for free from your desktop and mobile app.

Upload the media you wish to use, drag and drop it on the calendar to schedule it. 'Later' notifies you when it’s time to publish and it’s a simple click of a button to publish.

Techniques

Image sizes

When uploading a photo to Instagram, the app will try to upload the image at the best quality resolution possible (up to a width of 1080 pixels).

Instagram currently displays images in three default formats: Square, Vertical, and Horizontal.

Square - this format currently has a resolution of 1080 width x 1080 height pixels.

Vertical - displays images with a resolution of 1080 width x 1350 height pixels.

Horizontal - displays images with a resolution of 1080 width x 566 in height.

If you have taken a photo that has an alternative aspect ratio, Instagram will crop the photo to fit a supported ratio. Instagram will scale images up or down depending on the size of the image resolution.

Filters

Instagram provides a wide range of excellent filters which you can add to your photo to give it that professional or vintage look.

Each filter has default parameters which, when added to the image, will alter the photo depending on brightness, contrast, saturation, tint, etc.

The filter you choose is a personal decision and depends on the image taken. Nonetheless, we recommend selecting one or two filters for all your of images. Consistency is key for your profile.

Editing

If you have snapped a photo in a rush and it’s not up to your usual standards, Instagram provides a wide-ranging set of editing features.

These editing features include Adjust, Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Warmth, Tint, Vignette, Sharpen, Highlight, Shadows and more. There are endless ways to edit your image to get that perfect look.

One of my favorite features is Tilt Shift. This tool can add focus to specific areas of the image and change the perspective of the photo.

Themes

Instagram users are becoming more sophisticated. Using themes on a profile has become increasingly popular.

However, don’t fret as it is not as complicated as it may sound. Using a theme means selecting images, filters or colours which remain consistent throughout your profile page.

Another popular theme to use is a ‘Grid’ technique. This means dividing an image into columns and rows (3x1, 3x2, 3x3, etc.), so the image will appear larger on the Profile page. There are many apps available to help achieve this look - I am currently using INSTAGRID for Android.

A similar grid technique is to take a photo of the same product, person, etc. from different angles and post them in groups of 3. NikeLab’s Instagram profile page is an excellent example.

Instagram Slideshow - New Feature

Instagram Slideshow has only literally been released in the last few days. This new feature allows users to add to 10 photos or videos to a single post. It works like a album and allows users to swipe to the left to reveal each new photo or video.

How it works:

In the Gallery section, choose 'Select Multiple'.
Select upto 10 photos or videos.
To reorder, tap, hold and move an image.
You can edit and add filters individually or as a group.
Choose your first wisely, as this will the image that appears on your feed.

As this is new relevatively new feature, brands will certainly be coming up with inventive ways to maximise its usablility. For example, a number of ways it can be utilised is to make longer video sequences, improve on overall storytelling, enhance product demonstrations, highlight differnt product angles and present customers reviews and testimonials.

Instagram Boomerang

As Instagram says "It’s not a photo. It’s not a gif. It’s a Boomerang". With Boomerang, Instagram captures multiple photos, stitches them together and creates a mini video. This video will then play back and forth. This can be a fun little feature and can make a generic image more interesting. Boomerang can be accessed from the Gallery section.

Instagram Layout

Instagram Layout is a straight forward feature which allows you to make photo collages. Select some photos and use the various templates provided to select your desired layout. Images and borders can be moved to create the perfect collage. Layout can be accessed from the Gallery section.

Sharing

Hashtags

When sharing an image on Instagram, it’s imperative to include hashtags which relate to the photo. This allows Instagram to share the image with users who have similar interests. It also provides users with the ability to search and find photos with these tags.

If you have a business, I recommend using Hashtags based around your industry, brand, and products. I would also recommend using your business name as a Hashtag.

Tip: To save time, I create a list of hashtags around certain topics and save them in an online notepad app (I currently use Evernote, but there are tons of apps available online). This allows me to copy all the hashtags I need and paste them directly into Instagram.

Posting to other channels

Instagram provides the functionality to connect to many apps. This allows you to share your images with most of your business accounts including Twitter, Swarm, Tumblr, Flickr and more.

When you set up Instagram for Business, you will be automatically connected to your Facebook business page.

To add or edit a connected account, go to your ‘Profile’ page, tap the ‘Options’ icon in the top right-hand corner. Next, choose ‘Linked Accounts’ from the ‘Settings’ menu. Select the accounts you want to connect to.

Once your accounts are connected, you will be able to select them from the ‘Share’ menu before you upload a photo. Click the account you want to share the image with. It will turn ‘Blue’ to signify that it has been selected. Click ‘Share’ to upload your photo to Instagram and your selected accounts.

Growing Your Channel

In this last section, I will run through some tips that can help to grow your channel organically.

Liking photos and Users in your Niche

By liking photos on similar accounts to yours will help other users discover you and your profile. Following similar profiles will also give you a better opportunity of receiving a return follow.

Socialising

It’s important to be active on Instagram and engage with fellow users. Leave comments on photos you like and always respond to comments left on your photos and videos.

GeoTagging Photos

Adding a location to your photos helps other users find your photos. Users’ who post photos with the same GeoTag will see your photo. This can help increase your chances of receiving a follow as you share common interests.

Run A Contest

Use Instagram to run a contest by getting users and followers to repost, like and share a certain image. When sharing, get them to use a specific hashtag or ask them to tag you in their repost.

Call-To-Actions

At the end of the day, we want to use Instagram for Business to build brand awareness, drive qualified leads to our site, and convert into sales. Make sure your link in your Bio connects to the page you want users to visit. You can also add CTA’s in the comment section of a photo so users are crystal clear on the actions you want them to take.

Wrapping Up

If you are new to Instagram and interested in creating a business account, I hope the above information will help you take the first steps.

Instagram is an essential channel for communicating and engaging with users who have similar interests and have the possibility of becoming potential customers.

We would love to hear your thoughts on Instagram and any tips and tricks you may have.

Instagram For Business 101 - A Beginner's Guide.