How to Use Instagram: The Ultimate Guide for Business Owners

With 2 billion monthly active users, Instagram is probably home to some of your most ideal clients. Learning how to use Instagram to promote your business, find new customers, and engage with existing ones could help transform your online presence.

We’ve helped hundreds of multi-location businesses and franchises turn the social media app into a thriving connection point. In this blog, Tyler Phillips, Marketing Manager, will share how to post to Instagram in a way that will turn scrollers into your most loyal customers.

What You’ll Learn:

• What Is Instagram and Why Does It Matter for Businesses
• Setting Up for Success: How Does Instagram Work for Business
• How Does Instagram Work?: Understanding Instagram Content
• How Do I Use Instagram?: Creating a Content Strategy
• How Do I Make Connections?: Engaging Your Audience
• How Will I Know If It’s Working?: Measuring Performance
• Scaling Instagram for Multi-Location Brands
• Bringing It All Together
• FAQs

Expert Opinion on Using Instagram for Business

It’s been said that 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business account. Talk about a direct line to your customers! 

What started as a photo-sharing app for friends has become a platform where brands can master visual storytelling and customer relationships. Second only to Facebook, Instagram is where people go to connect with their friends and family, discover new trends, and connect with their favorite brands.

Since Instagram allows multiple types of content to be shared, including static posts, Reels, carousels, and Stories, it’s also a one-stop shop to capture the attention of your audience, regardless of their favorite type of content. Plus, with the Discovery page and the ability for people to share posts with their own audiences, getting found on Instagram is easy – when you post strategically.

What Is Instagram and Why Does It Matter for Businesses

Given that Instagram is the second-most-used social media platform, it’s no surprise that it serves as both a discovery engine and an engagement powerhouse. Potential customers browse Instagram every day to find products, services, and inspiration.

This is great news for businesses because it means you don’t need a massive advertising budget to find success on the app. Your content can appear in their feeds, stories, and explore pages organically.

While Instagram is great for any business to share behind-the-scenes content, customer stories, and helpful tips, it’s especially beneficial for franchises and multi-location businesses. With the way content is posted and shared on Instagram, it’s easy to reach both local and national audiences simultaneously.

This allows each location to maintain its unique personality while staying on-brand. Local customers connect with neighborhood-specific content and promotions while still understanding what’s going on at a larger scale.

Setting Up for Success: How Does Instagram Work for Business

If you want to gain traction on Instagram, the first step is to set up a professional account. Unlike personal accounts, Instagram business accounts unlock analytics, contact buttons, and advertising capabilities you won’t get otherwise.

If you’ve already set up a personal account, you can easily change it to a business account by going to your profile settings. The process is user-friendly, takes less than five minutes, and opens powerful opportunities.

Once you’ve set up your account, you need to optimize it so people can find you and understand the value you bring to the table. Let’s talk about how to use Instagram to reach your business goals.

Profile Optimization Checklist

Optimizing your profile makes the crucial first impression on potential followers. Here is an easy checklist to optimize your profile when using Instagram for business.

• Username: Keep it simple, searchable, and consistent with other platforms
• Bio: Use all 150 characters to communicate value and personality
• Profile Photo: Choose a clear, recognizable image that represents your brand
• Links: Direct visitors to your most important destinations
• Category: Select a business category that helps customers find you

Your Instagram presence should align perfectly with your overall brand voice. If your brand is playful and fun, your captions should reflect that. Professional service providers might adopt a more authoritative yet approachable tone. No matter what you do, stay consistent!

How Does Instagram Work?: Understanding Instagram Content

Instagram offers four main content types: Posts, Stories, Reels, and Live videos. Each format serves different purposes and reaches audiences in unique ways.

• Posts: These posts stay on your profile forever, making them ideal for evergreen content. Things like product announcements, major updates, and great visuals are perfect for creating your brand’s identity and telling your story.
• Stories: Only available for 24 hours, Stories are great for daily updates, quick promotions, and casual behind-the-scenes moments. They keep you top-of-mind without overwhelming your followers’ main feeds.
• Reels: These short-form videos can help you reach new audiences through Instagram’s discovery algorithm. Educational content, quick tips, and entertaining moments work perfectly here.
• Live: “Going live” builds intimate connections through Q&A sessions, product launches, and events. These unedited videos can humanize your brand, create urgency, and encourage immediate participation. 

Remember to keep the social in social media and balance promotional content with value-driven posts to keep followers engaged and interested. The 80/20 rule works well – 80% helpful content, 20% promotional material. Understanding how to post to Instagram effectively means serving your audience first and selling second.

How Do I Use Instagram?: Creating a Content Strategy

Don’t just post to Instagram for the sake of posting. You need to start by defining your target audience so that it shapes every decision you make on Instagram. Ask yourself:

• Who are they?
• What problems do they face that you can solve?
• What content would make their lives better or more enjoyable?
• What type of content do they engage with?

Once you understand your audience, you can create a content strategy using consistent themes, such as:

• Educational Content: Tips, tutorials, and how-to guides
• Behind-the-Scenes: Show off your team, process, and company culture
• Promotions: Share sales, new products, and special offers
• Testimonials: Feature customer success stories and positive reviews
• User-Generated Content: Repost customer photos and experiences with your products
• Employee-Generated Content: Let your employees take the reins every once in a while

Building a consistent posting cadence keeps your audience engaged and the algorithm happy. Here are some pro tips for building an audience:

• Start with 3-5 posts per week and daily Stories
• Choose quality over quantity
• Create a content calendar to plan ahead and reduce daily stress

How Do I Make Connections?: Engaging Your Audience

Social media is all about engagement, so don’t forget to respond to comments and messages. Try to reply to comments, questions, and messages within a few hours. Your interaction shows you value your audience beyond just their follows.

You can also cultivate a community by giving your audience reasons to engage with you. Use these strategies to start the conversation:

• Polls in Stories: Ask opinions about products, content, or industry trends
• Question Stickers: Invite followers to ask anything or share their experiences
• Clear CTAs: Tell people exactly what you want them to do
• Contests and Giveaways: Encourage sharing, tagging, and user-generated content
• Conversation Starters: End captions with questions that invite thoughtful responses

Building community requires shifting your mindset from broadcasting to genuine relationship building. A smaller, engaged audience provides more value than thousands of inactive followers.

How Will I Know If It’s Working?: Measuring Performance

How will you know if your posting is working? By tracking your KPIs – Key Performance Indicators! 

These numbers will reveal what’s working and what needs adjustment in your strategy. Here are the ones that matter most:

• Engagement Rate: Likes, comments, and shares divided by reach or followers
• Reach: Total unique accounts that saw your content
• Saves: How many people bookmarked your post for later
• Profile Visits: Interest level in learning more about your business
• Website Clicks: Direct conversion potential from Instagram to your site

Viral posts are fun, but lasting business growth is better. By tracking your metrics and making the appropriate adjustments to your content and strategy, you’ll be able to achieve long-term success and stability on social media. 

Scaling Instagram for Multi-Location Brands

Instagram is powerful for single-location brands, but even better for multi-location ones! Use the social media app to create consistency across locations, protect your reputation, reinforce brand recognition, and build brand loyalty.

You can do this by:

• Creating clear brand guidelines that include voice, visual style, and messaging standards
• Providing templates and approved content that local teams can customize slightly
• Having a central asset management system
• Simplifying content approval 
• Encouraging your team to communicate and collaborate on post ideas
• Creating unified reporting to show which locations are excelling and which need additional support

Bringing It All Together

Instagram works best as one component of your broader social media strategy. Be sure to cross-promote content between other channels. This integration will create a cohesive experience no matter where customers find you.

Keep in mind that managing multiple accounts manually can quickly become overwhelming and inefficient for growing businesses. Tools like Rallio simplify the planning, publishing, and analysis of content.  

When you can centralize your workflow, schedule posts in advance, monitor engagement, and track performance all in one place, it lets your team focus on running your business instead of managing endless manual tasks. 

FAQs

1. How do I start using Instagram for my business?

Download the Instagram app and create an Instagram business account through the settings. Choose your business category and add your contact information and website link. Optimize your bio with clear, compelling information about your brand, and start posting! Be sure to follow other relevant accounts and consistently engage with your audience to build your community naturally.

2. What should I post on Instagram?

Post content that provides value to your target audience while reflecting your brand. Educational tips, behind-the-scenes glimpses, customer testimonials, and product highlights work well together. Mix formats between photos, carousels, Reels, and Stories for variety and reach. Keep the 80/20 rule in mind. Post mostly valuable content with some promotional posts. Pay attention to what resonates and adjust your content accordingly over time.

3. How often should I post on Instagram?

Start with 3-5 feed posts weekly and daily Instagram Stories for consistency. Don’t just post for the sake of posting; always monitor your analytics to see when your audience is most active. Adjust your schedule based on engagement patterns and your capacity to create.

4. How do I grow my followers on Instagram?

Create consistently valuable content that serves your target audience’s needs and interests. Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags, keyword-optimized captions, and smart collaborations to grow your reach. Focus on attracting the right followers and continue to engage with them to build a sustainable community.

5. What metrics should I track on Instagram?

The most important social media KPIs are engagement rates, reach, saves, shares, comments, profile visits, and website clicks.

Make the Most of Your Business’s Instagram with Rallio

Do you want to make the most of your Instagram efforts? Rallio can help!

From centralizing your content to giving you access to advanced AI tools, we can help you build a social media presence your competitors will envy. Ready to transform how you use Instagram for business? Partner with Rallio today!