Businesses are finally getting special recognition on Instagram with an upcoming upgrade that will allow them to do what they’ve been wanting – to set their company apart from other profiles and to allow them to analyze their profile’s performance.
Last week, Instagram announced businesses will soon be able to upgrade their existing accounts to business profiles which will offer special features just for them. Businesses’ posts will not look any different from normal, but the business’ profile page will include a contact button. This contact button will let customers call, email or text the business. It will also allow users to pull up a map and directions to that business.
Along with this business profile upgrade comes Instagram’s new tool called Insights. Similar to insights on Facebook and Twitter, Instagram’s Insights will provide the user with analytics on how each post performs. Insights will include performance numbers such as reach and impressions along with audience demographics, including age and location.
Instagram for Business also allows users the ability to promote, turning those top-performing posts into ads, all within the app. This will help businesses connect with even more customers. All you have to do is pick a post you’ve already shared, add a button that urges people to take action, then you can select a target audience or take Instagram’s suggestion. Just like that your post is promoted as an ad for the length of time you set.
Yes, this feature is free. All you need is a Facebook page for the business. This allows for addresses and contact information to be transferred from Facebook (which owns Instagram) to Instagram.
This upgrade will be available to users by the end of the year and should allow businesses to hone in on what works best for their business on Instagram specifically.
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