Go to your profile and tap the three bars in the upper right corner.
Tap the round circle – Settings.
For some accounts, the Switch to Professional Account option will be listed directly under Settings.
Tap Account.
Tap Switch to Professional Account.
Tap Continue.
Select a Category for your business and tap Done.
Tap OK to confirm.
Tap Business.
Tap Next.
Add Contact details and tap Next. Or tap Don’t use my contact info to skip this step.
If you’d like, you can follow the steps to connect your business account to a Facebook Page associated with your business. This step is optional, and will make it easier to use all of the features available for businesses across the Meta family of apps. At this time, only one Facebook Page can be connected to your business account.
Tap X on the top right corner to return to your profile.
Add a keyword-optimized description and fill out your contact information. Choose an easily recognizable profile picture like your logo and add a clickable profile link to your website or another landing page.
There are several types of content you can use to share your business story including a post, story, and reel.
This is the traditional photo or video that you share on the platform. These live on forever and are good for longer evergreen content. These are also searchable for users looking for specific content.
To Post:
Tap on your profile picture.
Take a photo or record a video
Tap “Send to” on the bottom right of your screen. Then, tap “Share” to share your Instagram Story with your followers.
This is also a photo or video (15 second limit) you post, but they only exist for 24 hours. You can also text over the photos or videos for a call to action. These are good for showcasing your business’s everyday moments or event. It’s also good for testing your content since they only live 24 hours.
Create a Story and Post
Tap the circle button at the bottom of the screen to take photos or tap and hold to record a video. To add photos or videos from your gallery, swipe up on the screen or tap the photo icon in the lower-left side of the screen. You can add up to 10 photos.
Edit the photos or videos with text (the Aa button) or add a drawing (the button with three dots).
Tap Done to save your Story.
Tap the Your Story button to share it to your Story, or the Close Friends button to share with a customized list of accounts.
Repeat these steps if you want to add more than one photo or video to your Story. Each photo you add within a 24-hour period will be placed in your Story.
If you want to deleted any Stories, Tap on the three dots at the bottom right of the photo or video you’d like to delete and hit Delete.
To Save
Open your Story and tap the More icon bottom right of the photo or video. Then tap Save.
You can easily save your Stories to your camera roll, automatically, too. Go to your Story camera, find your Story settings and slide the Save story to Camera Roll option on. Every time you create a Story, the videos and images will be automatically saved to your camera roll on your phone.
Aside from regular photography and videography, Instagram provides several options to mix things up on your Story.
Boomerangs
Boomerangs are fun, short videos that play forward and backward.
To start a Boomerang, swipe right from your feed. This will take you to the Stories camera.
Select Boomerang on the left.
Tap record to shoot a short burst of photos.
Hands-free
No need to press and hold to make a video anymore. The Hands-Free option in the left menu lets you record a video without, well, hands.
1Swipe right from your feed to open the Stories camera.
Hit the downward carrot on the left.
Tap the Hands-Free button.
You can post about your property, amenities, staff members or anything that describes your business vibe and surroundings. Work on a content strategy that visually represents the entire travel experience. You can also use tagged user-generated content to share on your feed or Stories.
Photo Editing
First, learn about composition and lighting when taking photos. People like to see an accurate representation of your business.
Photo Tips for Social Media
You can use editing apps like VSCO, but usually, a clear photograph and minor edits within the Instagram app would help you create a great image or video. Facebook Business Suite will allow you to schedule posts and Stories, manage comments and direct messages, cross-spot on both platforms and use analytical insights to monitor follower demographics or campaign performance.
Add Filters
After shooting a photo or video, swipe across it to add a filter.
If you see someone else using a filter on their Story and you want to give it a try, tap the name of the filter (below their username). A menu will pop up allowing you to try it instantly or save it for later.
Stories also let you add augmented reality filters to your pictures. Here’s how to try them out.
Go to the Stories camera.
On the bottom, scroll across the different filter options. (Scroll to the end and tap the magnifying glass to browse even more effects.)
Tap the filters to try them on.
When you find a filter you like, snap a photo or take a video. These filters also work on Instagram Live.
Add Stickers
Once you’ve picked your filter, add some stickers. You’ll find a stickers button with a smiley face on it in the top right corner next to the text tool. Tap the button, and you’ll be able to jazz up your Story with customizable stickers. Some options include the weather, the day of the week, holidays, quizzes and polls. Once you add a sticker, you can add another, move it around and resize it.
You can also make your own stickers from images in your gallery. Here’s how:
Take a photo or video, then tap the stickers button.
Scroll until you find a circular icon showing your most recent camera roll photo.
Tap that icon, and select one of your images to use as a custom sticker.
Once the custom sticker is on your story, tap the sticker and it will transform into shapes like hearts and stars.
Hashtag stickers are another customization option. Just tap on the sticker that says Hashtag and customize it with your own hashtag. Other people will be able to tap on the sticker and find other photos with the same hashtag. You can also add a hashtag to regular text on your Story and it will be clickable, too.
If you want a sticker for something specific — like, say, hamburger– search “hamburger” and you’ll be presented with both emoji options and gifs. To add a GIF sticker to your post, go to the sticker option and tap on the GIF icon. A library of the moving photos will open, provided by Giphy. When you find one that you like, just add it like you would any other sticker. Searching the word “Effects” will get you sparkles, hearts and other fun additions for your subject’s environment.
Add Text
Once you have your stickers added, add some snappy text. To add text simply tap on the text icon in the upper right side of the screen and tap on your color of choice. If the colors just aren’t right, don’t despair. Swipe left on the color palette to reveal more options, or tap the eyedropper icon to pick a color from the image.
Add Tags
When adding text to a Story, all you have to do is include the @ symbol followed by the username to tag someone. The tag is a live link to the person’s profile and you can tag up to 10 people or businesses.
Instagram Reels are full-screen vertical videos that can be up to 90 seconds long. They come with many unique editing tools and an extensive library of audio tracks. These have become enormously popular. On top of sounds, Reels can include multiple video clips, filters, captions, interactive backgrounds, stickers, and more. Unlike stories, they are not deleted.
The best part? Reels are currently favored by the Instagram algorithm, which is more likely to recommend them to people who don’t follow you than feed posts. That’s huge for social marketers.
The Reels icon is at the bottom of the screen and looks like an icon to play a video.
Create a Reel
Tap the plus icon at the top of the page and select Reel
Press and hold the record button to capture footage. During the recording, you can tap the record button to end a clip, and then tap it again to start a new clip. Or, upload video footage from your cameral roll.
The Align button will appear, allowing you to line up objects from the previous clip before recording your next. This allows you to create seamless transitions for moments like changing outfits, adding new music, or adding new friends to your Reel.
Edit Your Reel
The Reels editor features built-in creative tools so you can do all your editing from one interface.
Audio lets you select audio from the Instagram music library or import it from your device and add it to your video. You can even choose to add your favorite part only.
Length lets you change the length of your video. You can choose to make your video 15, 30, 60, or 90 seconds.
Speed lets you change the speed of your video. Slow it down by choosing .3x or .5x or speed it up by choosing 2x, 3x, or 4x.
Layout lets you adjust the layout and add more than one recording to the frame.
Timer lets you set a timer that will go off before you start recording and set a time limit for the next clip. This is useful if you want to record hands-free.
Dual lets you record videos using your front and rear cameras at the same time.
Align appears after you record your first clip. It allows you to line up objects from the previous clip.
Add Sounds
Tap the music note icon to add trending sounds or music, or record a voiceover.
Make Additional Adjustments
Tap Next in the bottom right corner of your screen.
Edit your Reel cover. You can choose a frame from the video or add an image from your camera roll.
Add a caption.
Tag people in your Reel.
Add a location.
Enable Facebook recommendations. If you select this option, your Reel will be surfaced to Facebook users who are likely to enjoy your content (according to Meta’s algorithms). You don’t need a Facebook account to use this feature.
Rename your audio. If you add your own audio (e.g. a voice recording) to your Reel, you can give it a name that will show up in other users’ Reels if they decide to use the sound.
Enable or disable automatically generated captions.
Decide whether you want your Reel to be posted to your Instagram Feed (and not just the Reels tab on your account).
Then Save Draft or Share to post.
Firstly, use your existing social media platforms to announce your new Instagram account and include a small segment with a link to your Instagram account in your next email campaign.
You can scan tagged content daily and engage with potential followers and dedicate some time every day to engage with your followers replying to comments or questions. There’s the option to promote some of your content to target audiences to extend your reach.
Good use of hashtags is an easy way to extend your reach; there are different types of hashtags for you to consider:
Your branded hashtag: it can include your name but it doesn’t have to, use it in your posts and place it in your profile to encourage users to use it.
Generic hashtags: #foodie #wanderlust #vacation are popular hashtags relevant to travel and tourism categories. Do some hashtag research to find out which suits your business best.
Niche hashtags: each industry has specific keywords relevant only to their target audience, niche hashtags don’t have the wider reach as generic ones but will make your brand more discoverable to those users you want to attract the most.
Seasonal hashtags: use these at specific times of the year such as summer, Christmas or Valentine’s Day to help users discover your business when searching for something to do or places to go.
Contest hashtags: photo submission contests or giveaways are a great way to engage with your current and potential followers. These also provide user-generated content that you can re-share. Think about a branded contest hashtag for your contest or giveaway and add generic relevant hashtags like #giveaway or #instacontest.
Broadcasting your live stream is only available on the Instagram mobile app.
Open the Instagram App: Open the Instagram app on your mobile device and make sure you’re logged into your business account. From the News Feed, click the camera icon in the top left corner of the screen or swipe right.
Start Live Stream: Scroll to the “Live” option at the bottom of the screen. Click the live/broadcast icon and instantly start broadcasting. At the top of the screen you can also see how many of your followers are active on the platform prior to going live.
Engage with Viewers: While live, you can see the number of viewers at the top of the screen and comments at the bottom of the screen. Engage with your viewers by directly responding to or addressing comments in the video.
End Live Stream: Once you’ve finished the live stream, you can delete, save or share your video. If you share your video, it will appear in your Instagram Story for 24 hours.
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