By Marcelyn 
Instagram has demonstrated tremendous growth since its purchase by Facebook. The community has grown to more than 400 million, and over the past two years, major brands have joined the platform. In fact, 86% of the top 100 brands have an Instagram account.
This is great news for B2C companies, but where does that leave B2B brands? Is the platform still a viable social media network for them to use? The answer is a resounding yes.
Instagram is a platform for marketing to a variety of audiences. Even if you have a B2B company, you can use the platform to market to potential customers and other key audiences.
To help you use this platform effectively, we have put together a list of our top 14 tips for using Instagram for B2B marketing.
1. Create an Instagram Business Account
Instagram has two account types: personal and business.
There are a few key differences between the two. Business accounts have access to Instagram Analytics, which provides data on your posts and stories, as well as data on your followers and audience.
You can also promote your posts and stories as ads, and you can add a contact button to your profile.
The most important feature of a business account is the ability to add a link to your website in your bio. This is a great way to drive traffic from Instagram to your website.
If you have a personal Instagram account, you can convert it to a business account by going to your profile, tapping the three lines in the top right corner, and tapping “Settings.” Then, tap “Account,” and tap “Switch to Professional Account.”
2. Optimize Your Instagram Profile
Your Instagram profile is the first thing a potential lead will see, so it’s important to make a good first impression.
Your profile is the only place on Instagram where you can include a clickable link, so make sure you include a link to your website or a landing page where leads can learn more about your business.
You should also include a brief description of your business and what you do. You can use keywords related to your industry to make it easier for potential leads to find you.
You can also include your logo as your profile picture to make it easy for leads to recognize your brand.
And don’t forget to include your contact information, including your website, email address, and phone number.
3. Share Instagram Content That Is Interesting and Informative
Instagram is a visual platform, and as such, it’s a great place to share high-quality photos and videos that are interesting and informative.
One of the best ways to do this is by sharing content that is related to your industry. For example, if you are a software company, you could use AI image prompts to create and share photos or even videos of the latest trends in software development.
You could also share photos and videos of your team hard at work, or behind-the-scenes looks at your company. This will help to humanize your brand and build trust with your audience.
4. Create a Content Calendar
As with all social media platforms, consistency is key to success. However, with Instagram, it’s more about the quality of your posts rather than the quantity. A strong customer retention strategy can enhance engagement and build long-term relationships with your audience.
We recommend posting at least 3-5 times a week on Instagram, but if you can only manage a few posts a week, that’s okay. Just make sure that you’re posting high-quality content that your audience will love.
Creating a content calendar will help you plan your Instagram posts in advance and ensure that you’re posting consistently. A strategic approach to planning your content can also involve learning how to schedule Instagram posts to maintain a consistent presence on the platform. You can use a social media management tool like Later to plan and schedule your Instagram posts in advance.
This will help you save time and create a more cohesive feed. Plus, it will give you a better idea of what your Instagram marketing strategy will look like in the coming weeks and months.
5. Use Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories allows you to share short video clips and images that are only visible for 24 hours. This is a great way to share real-time content or give your audience a behind-the-scenes look at your business.
You can also use Instagram Stories to share content from UGC Creators, run a quick promotion or announce a new product.
Instagram Stories are a great way to keep your audience engaged and drive traffic to your website. You can add links to your Instagram Stories, which is a great way to drive traffic to your website or blog.
You can also use Instagram Stories to share links to your landing pages or other lead generation forms.
6. Use Instagram Live
Instagram Live is a fantastic way to engage with your followers in real-time. Plus, when you start a live stream, Instagram will notify your followers so they can tune in.
There are plenty of ways you can use Instagram Live to connect with your audience. For example, you could use it to host a Q&A session, interview a team member, or showcase a product demo.
You can also use Instagram Live to promote an upcoming event or product launch. This will help you generate excitement and buzz around your business.
7. Use Instagram Highlights
Highlights are a great way to save and categorize your Instagram Stories content. You can add a highlight to your profile that will stay there until you remove it.
This is a great way to make sure that your followers can see your best Stories content even after the 24-hour time period has passed.
You can create different highlights for different topics and organize your Stories content accordingly. This is a great way to showcase your products and services, share customer testimonials, and more.
8. Use Hashtags
Even though hashtags are more important on some platforms than others, they are still important on Instagram. In fact, posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than posts without.
Be sure to include a mix of popular and niche hashtags to help your posts get discovered by people who don’t already follow you. You can use up to 30 hashtags per post but try to keep them in the first comment so they don’t clutter up your caption.
9. Use Instagram Insights
Instagram Insights is a built-in analytics tool that provides you with data on your content, audience, activity, and more.
You can use this data to gain valuable insights into what’s working and what’s not, and make data-driven decisions about your Instagram marketing strategy.
For example, you can use Instagram Insights to see which of your posts have the highest engagement rates, and then use that data to inform your content strategy moving forward.
You can also use Instagram Insights to learn more about your audience, such as their age, gender, location, and more. This can help you create more targeted content that resonates with your target audience.
10. Use Instagram Ads
Instagram ads are a great way to reach new audiences and get your content in front of people who may not already be following your account.
You can create ads from scratch or promote existing posts. You can also target your ads to specific audiences based on things like location, age, gender, interests, behaviors, and more.
There are several different ad formats you can use on Instagram, including photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, slideshow ads, and collection ads.
When you’re creating your ads, make sure you’re using high-quality images and videos and that your ad copy is clear, concise, and compelling.
11. Create a Call to Action
Every post you make on Instagram should have a purpose. And, one of the most important purposes of any social media post is to get your followers to take action.
That action could be to like your post, click on your profile, visit your website, sign up for your email list, or even make a purchase.
To create a call to action, simply tell your followers what you want them to do in your post. For example, if you want your followers to visit your website you could write “link in bio” at the end of your caption.
Conclusion
So, if you’ve been hesitant to jump on the Instagram bandwagon, don’t be. You can absolutely use Instagram for B2B marketing and grow your business.
There are so many ways to use Instagram for B2B marketing. We hope these tips have sparked some inspiration for you to kick off your Instagram strategy or take your current one to the next level.