Instagram is the marketing platform of choice for top fashion, lifestyle and design brands, as well as for retailers in those industries. It’s ideal for discovery, and now has ecommerce features that allow people to buy directly from the platform.

If you know you need Instagram as part of your DIY digital marketing mix, but aren’t sure how to get started, you may have questions like:

I have an Instagram account, but I don’t see some of the features I’ve heard about businesses using. What am I doing wrong?

There’s a difference between personal accounts and business accounts! Business accounts offer a lot of advanced features that make marketing your business easier, including contact information, analytics, promoted posts, and the ability to create & schedule posts in advance. It costs you nothing to create a business account or transition your personal account into a business one.

Do I need to use hashtags?

Hashtags may seem daunting, but they’re an excellent way to extend your reach. When someone searches for a hashtag you use, your post will appear in their feed. This will expose your content to people who otherwisewould never see it. Compiling a list of hashtags that are relevant to your business – and your customers – will make your Instagram efforts worthwhile.

Stories? Hashtags? IGTV? I don’t know what this means. I think I need more help.

We’re here for you. We regularly define all the Instagram basics in our Instagram for Beginners training. It’s an intimidation-free introduction to what youneed to get started successfully. 

We begin at the very beginning, covering choosing a good handle & properly setting up your account. You’ll learn about the different types of Posts & Stories, and how often you should be posting each type. There’s also a section focused on audience engagement, because people who are excited about interacting with you on Instagram can become enthusiastic customers. And we’ll cover how to review and learn from your Insights, so you can get even better results from your Instagram.

Check out our training schedule to find sessions about mastering Instagram and other social platforms.