One platform that is popular for marketers is Instagram, thanks to its variety of features, analytical tools, and diverse user base.

With Instagram marketing, you can cultivate brand loyalty, expand your audience, and raise your profile.

This article will explain the benefits of using Instagram to market your brand.

What Is Instagram Marketing?

Instagram marketing uses the social media platform to raise brand awareness, advertise a product or service, and grow an audience.

It’s a type of Instagram strategy that drives results, yet is oftentimes widely overlooked by businesses.

Types of Instagram Marketing

Knowing how to use different types of digital marketing can directly impact your brand.

• Content Marketing: Content marketing thrives on Instagram thanks to the platform’s reliance on storytelling, visual content, influencer community, and hashtags.
• Instagram Ads: Ads on Instagram Stories use various parameters to target a specific audience and won’t disappear after 24 hours like a standard Story.
• Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing campaigns are an excellent way to leverage a new audience. They can raise your brand awareness, boost your reputation, and increase engagement rates.
• Building Your Following: A following is crucial for any brand on Instagram. Without an engaged and growing audience, any content will struggle to generate interest.

Why Market on Instagram?

An Instagram marketing campaign offers versatility and content-rich options for increasing traffic and strengthening your brand.

• Visuals: Images are the most popular tool to describe your product or service on Instagram. They can be themed to match your brand or a marketing message.
• Wide Reach: With 1.21 billion monthly users, Instagram has the most expansive reach of all social media platforms.
• Reach a Younger Audience: Instagram often skews towards a younger audience, with a 2022 survey revealing that 62% of Gen Z use the platform.
• Useful Feedback and Insights: Insights provides comprehensive analytics that can guide your content and any marketing campaign you launch.
• Keep an Eye on Competitors: Whether your account is travel-focused or sells food, you can gain valuable insight by checking out the content of similar Instagram accounts.

Is Marketing on Instagram Free?

Some options are free.

However, there are features like Instagram Stories ads that cost money.

How Much Do Instagram Ads Cost per Month?

On average, an Instagram ad can cost up to $3 per click.

Some influencers get paid based on the number of clicks from Instagram advertising.

What You Need To Start Marketing on Instagram

To get started on the social media platform, you’ll benefit from having a business profile and a well-defined Instagram strategy.

1. Marketing Strategy

Implementing a clear strategy for your daily Instagram schedule can grow your business.

Consider the following tips:  

• Optimize your bio on Instagram
• Utilize an Instagram content calendar
• Use ads
• A visually consistent and aesthetically pleasing feed
• Choose the right Instagram hashtag
• Partner with influencers
• Host contests and giveaways

2. Business Profile

An Instagram business profile offers enhanced analytics (Instagram Insights) to help you optimize your content and maximize your brand’s reach.

Other account features include the ability to add links to an Instagram Story.

How To Create an Instagram Business Account

Here’s how to make a business account for Instagram.

This step-by-step guide is for the Instagram app on iPhone.

• Step 1: Log in to your brand’s Instagram account.
• Step 2: Go to your profile page, then tap the “Settings” icon in the top right corner.
• Step 3: Click on “Account” and then “Switch to Business Profile.”
• Step 4: Finally, Instagram will set up your public contact information.

Instagram Marketing Strategies To Adopt

The ideal Instagram marketing strategy will reach your target audience while increasing engagement.

1. Host a Giveaway

Hosting a giveaway of your product or service for an Instagram user to win can generate a lot of interest and potentially broaden your audience.

Giveaways not only drive engagement, but also signal to readers that you value them and aren’t simply a faceless entity.

You give back to them, in a roundabout way, which they’ll really appreciate.

2. Partner With Influencers

Influencer marketing is a great way to drive engagement directly with your users, as influencers are often leaders in their field.

An Instagram influencer can wear your clothes, advertise your products, and connect you to their audience.

3. Marketing on Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories are typically unpolished user generated content.

Stories can be highly resonant and a more personable way to cultivate relationships with your audience.

• How Often to Post on Instagram Stories: It’s often recommended that you post twice daily. However, there is no rigid rule as to how frequently you should upload content.
• When to Post on Instagram Stories: The best time to post is morning, but you will want to adjust based on where most of your audience is located.
• What to Post on Instagram Stories: Instagram Stories can offer your audience behind-the-scenes clips to give your brand a more relaxed look. You can even add shopping links and product reviews.

4. Give and Receive Shoutouts

Giving shoutouts to others on the platform is a valuable way to build enduring partnerships with brands and influencers.

Receiving shoutouts from those who have more followers helps you to raise your profile and audience.

Brand collaboration helps boost trust, builds strong relationships with customers, and can be an effective way to generate fresh ideas and content.

5. Write Moving Captions

Use moving captions in your Instagram Stories to give your stories some substance.

People are more likely to engage with emotive content, potentially generating buzz beyond your audience.

6. Drive Results With Instagram Carousel Posts

The first picture in your Instagram carousel should match your brand and overall aesthetic.

Next, use hashtags in the comment section to drive traffic to your posts.

Then, you can tag different brands and influencers in each post.

How To Plan and Schedule Instagram Stories for Business

You can automate a content calendar to make posts when your audience is most active.

How To Optimize Your Instagram Profile

Instagram has several features and tools to optimize your content and make it more engaging.

1. Reels

Instagram Reels are similar to TikTok posts. These videos are about 30 seconds long.

2. Post at the Right Times

Posting pictures, videos, reels, and stories at the right time is vital for audience exposure.

Instagram’s most popular time is between 9 am and noon.

3. Use Hashtags

Researching trending Instagram hashtags relating to your brand is crucial for optimizing your Instagram profile.

Without relevant hashtags, you might struggle to generate interest in your content outside your existing Instagram followers.

4. Change to a Business Profile

Switching from a personal account to a business account gives you more features, including:

• Insights about your Instagram post
• Enhanced Instagram advertising
• Follower information
• Business contact information

5. Use Stories

Use Instagram Story to keep followers informed and updated.

The new Highlights function lets you keep your Stories forever, ensuring a permanent catalog of content for the latest followers.

6. Ensure Consistent Posting on Instagram

A content calendar is one of the most effective ways to schedule when you post to your Instagram feed.

7. Tracking Progress With Instagram Analytics

Instagram analytics are a valuable resource for developing a content strategy.

Instagram Analytics show who your audience is, when your followers are most active, and what kind of content they’re drawn to.

You can quickly track your analytics by going to your profile and clicking “Insights.”

This button will take you to the “Overview,” where you can get a deeper breakdown of your data.

Is Instagram Marketing Worth Time and Resources?

For many businesses, Instagram is worth it.

If you’re unsure, consider these pros and cons.

Pros of Instagram Marketing

Here are the top benefits of Instagram marketing:

• High engagement
• Visual content
• Gain competitive advantage
• Targeted marketing
• Free Instagram advertising

Cons of Instagram Marketing

Some disadvantages include:

• Instagram users are primarily young
• Many users aren’t interested in business

Conclusion: Is Instagram Marketing Worth It?

An Instagram marketing campaign can drive increased engagement with a target audience while creating the right conditions to grow traffic for your brand.

Further Reading: Instagram Marketing Resources

Are you interested in delving deeper into Instagram marketing?

We have identified three key resources to check out!

1. Instagram Marketing Book

Instagram Power gives you the step-by-step process and strategies for setting up on the platform, from crafting a branded hashtag to getting more Instagram followers.

Learn about tools for editing photos and videos, monetizing your account, and leveraging your Instagram Stories.

2. Instagram Marketing Course

SkillShare offers free courses for optimizing your profile.

Their courses cover hundreds of topics, like making the perfect Instagram caption and understanding the all-important Instagram algorithm.

3. Instagram Marketing Forums or Communities

There are numerous dedicated marketing communities.

Some even offer tools and documents to help you grow traffic.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few questions commonly asked about Instagram marketing.

Wrapping Up

With the right approach and plenty of patience, Instagram marketing can have a positive impact on your brand and how you do business.

You will first need to consider your Instagram marketing strategy to determine the best way to optimize your profile and grow traffic.

Have you been thinking about marketing yourself on Instagram or do you have questions about using an Instagram marketing service?

Instagram marketing takes time but can deliver.

You will need to decide what strategy is best for you to improve brand engagement and grow your audience.

Instead of trying to use your calendar app or alerts on your phone, consider some of the best tools.

The right tool has the features you need to plan your content.

It can also offer insights into the content that performs the best for you.

Read on to learn more about platforms for scheduling Instagram content.

An Overview of Scheduling Instagram Posts

If you want to stay on track with your Instagram posting schedule, you should consider scheduling Instagram posts.

Then, you can prepare the content in advance so that you don’t have to worry about it later.

You may still need to upload the post at the scheduled time.

However, you can get right back to your task at hand.

What Is an Instagram Post Scheduler?

An Instagram post scheduler is a tool that lets you prepare your posts ahead of time.

You can load the photo and write the caption right in the program.

Some tools will then auto-post certain types of content.

Other tools will send you a push notification on your mobile device so that you can share the post within a few seconds.

Why Should You Use Tools to Schedule Instagram Posts?

You should use tools to schedule Instagram posts to save yourself time and stay on track with your content calendar.

Each week or month, you can sit down and plan out and create your content and not have to think about it later.

Best Tools to Schedule Instagram Posts

Consider a few tools to schedule Instagram posts.

Then, you can select a tool that meets your needs.

Here are some of the most popular social media management tools for Instagram.

Buffer

Buffer is an excellent social media scheduling tool because it works with Instagram and other social networks.

You can plan your content for multiple platforms in one dashboard. It also gives you a lot of analytics to help track your account’s success.

Our Rating: 5 out of 5

Best For: Ease of Use

Notable Features:

• Scheduling across platforms
• Detailed analytics
• Engage from your desktop

If you want to schedule Instagram posts, Facebook posts, and Tweets, Buffer has what you need.

You don’t have to use a separate tool for each platform, but you can use it only for Instagram.

The scheduler gives you analytics as well to help track the success of your posts.

And if you can’t stand using a small screen, you can engage with your audience from a computer.

That’s also helpful if your phone needs to charge but you still want to work.

Pros:

• Flexible pricing model
• Easy to use
• Features a photo editor
• User interface is transparent
• It can be used personally and professionally

The flexible pricing is excellent for new and growing businesses to get the features they need.

And Buffer is easy to use, so you can jump right in and schedule posts.

If you need to do a small touch-up, you can do so with the photo editor right in Buffer.

The user interface is also nice for beginners.

Plus, you can use Buffer for your business or personal social media accounts.

That makes it a great choice for people with a personal brand as well as a separate business.

Cons:

• Primary Pinterest and Instagram features
• Requires other tools to supplement
• Can get expensive

Buffer works well for Instagram and Pinterest, but it’s not the best for other platforms.

So you might need to use other tools to get the most out of social media scheduling.

And if you supplement with other paid tools or add multiple social accounts, it can easily get quite expensive.

You’ll want to evaluate your budget for social media tools to determine how many accounts to connect.

But it’s affordable if you only need it for Instagram.

Is Buffer Hard to Use?

Buffer makes it easy to create and plan your social media content.

You can access everything you need from one dashboard to help save time.

There might be a small learning curve, but it gets easier with practice.

Pricing & Plans:

• Free
• Essential at $5/month per social channel
• Team option at $10/month per social channel
• Agency at $100/month for ten social channels

Buffer has multiple plans to suit your needs, including a free option.

Sadly, you’ll need to pay to access analytics, and the cost is per channel, including per Instagram account.

Fortunately, you can pay annually to get two months free each year.

Buffer also offers a free 14-day trial for you to test the features and decide which tier you need.

Our Take

Buffer is an excellent tool to schedule Instagram posts, especially if you use other platforms.

You can manage your content for Instagram and Facebook in one place.

The analytics also make it easy to track the success of your posts so that you know what to share more of.

Hootsuite

Another tool to consider using for Instagram scheduling is Hootsuite.

You can view everything in a calendar format to see when posts go live.

The tool is great for responding to messages and for managing social media ads.

Our Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Best For: Scheduling and Posting

Notable Features:

• Calendar view
• Social media streams
• Real-time audience insights

When you use the calendar view, you can see when specific posts will publish and where.

That can help you manage upcoming promotions and other events.

The social media streams also let you pay attention to specific accounts and message threads.

You don’t have to use your phone to monitor and reply to messages.

And as you use the tool, you can get access to insights to help plan future posts.

Pros:

• You can respond to messages in one place
• Quick scheduling and posting
• Easy monitoring
• Tracks trends and competition
• Combines all social metrics

Responding to messages is much easier when you can go to one dashboard.

And when you’re ready to schedule a new post, you can do that from the same place.

Hootsuite also helps you monitor audience activity and trends in your industry.

You can then see what your competitors are doing to stay ahead of them.

Finally, the various metrics help you track the success of your content.

Cons:

• Expensive
• A limited number of platforms
• Aimed at Twitter

Compared to other tools to schedule Instagram posts, Hootsuite is quite expensive.

You also can’t use it for just any social platform.

However, it does work with popular networks like Instagram, Facebook, and even TikTok.

Another issue is that Twitter is the best platform to use with Hootsuite.

You can use it for Instagram, but you might not get the best results.

Is Hootsuite Hard to Use?

All of the features can be overwhelming to beginners.

If you’re not very good with technology, you might struggle to get the most out of the tool.

However, practice can help you learn the basics.

Pricing & Plans:

• Professional at $49/month
• Team at $129/month
• Business at $739/month
• Enterprise negotiable

Most of the Hootsuite plans cost a lot more than similar tiers from other tools.

However, you do get a lot of features, including unlimited posts and 10 social accounts on the Professional tier.

If you have a tight budget, you can try the free plan, but that comes with a lot of limitations.

It’s not the best for serious social media scheduling.

Our Take

Hootsuite is a suitable tool to schedule Instagram posts.

It seems like the tool better suits activities such as social listening and audience engagement.

The streams feature is also better for a platform like Twitter.

Give the free trial a shot to see if Hootsuite is for you.

Sendible

Sendible claims to help you manage your social media as you scale your business.

It can help you attract new potential customers and grow your overall audience.

The tool is also a Meta business partner, so it works well with Instagram and Facebook.

Our Rating: 5 out of 5

Best For: Tracking Analytics

Notable Features:

• Auto-post Instagram Reels
• Collaboration tools
• Show off analytics to investors and more

If you use Instagram Reels as part of your strategy, Sendible lets you schedule and auto-post them.

That way, you don’t have to publish Reels at the best times yourself.

You’ll get access to collaboration tools so that you can approve posts that your team creates.

And you can show off various analytics to investors and stakeholders.

If you don’t have investors, you can keep the analytics for your reference.

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Offers reports hub for tracking analytics
• Real-time audience interaction
• It makes engagements easily visible
• Quick-posting features

Sendible is an amazing tool for beginners.

Once you start using it, you can track the success of your various posts with analytics.

You’ll also be able to interact with your audience from the tool.

That can help you engage more with people.

You don’t have to pull out your phone and use the Instagram app to respond to comments or messages.

Finally, the quick-posting features can help you save time on social media.

If you struggle to post on social media and get back to other tasks, Sendible could help.

Cons:

• No tagging features
• A real-time monitoring option could be better
• Can get expensive

Unfortunately, if you want to tag people in your posts, you’d need to use Instagram directly.

You also don’t get the most up-to-date information when monitoring your account.

If you want to build a team, you’ll need to pay quite a bit each month.

The cost goes up for adding multiple users, so keep that in mind before you sign up.

Is Sendible Hard to Use?

Like any tool, there’s a bit of a learning curve.

But Sendible is generally easy to use.

You can do a lot with it once you learn more about the features.

Pricing & Plans:

• Creator at $29/month billed monthly
• Traction at $89/month billed monthly
• Scale at $199/month billed monthly
• Expansion at $399/month billed monthly
• Creator at $25/month billed yearly
• Traction at $76/month billed yearly
• Scale at $170/month billed yearly
• Expansion at $340/month billed yearly

Sendible offers four plans you can choose from.

The Creator plan is perfect for individuals, while teams can choose from the higher tiers.

You can save 15% if you pay for a year at once, and you can change plans as necessary.

Even then, the plans can still be costly and out of your budget.

If you want more features, you might find other tools with more economical plans.

Our Take

Sendible has flexible plans to fit your needs, and all plans have fantastic features.

It’s particularly useful for posting to an Instagram Business account.

While there are limits, they’re high enough that most people won’t hit them.

You can test it out with a free trial.

SproutSocial

SproutSocial is an excellent tool to schedule Instagram posts and manage your entire account.

It has a unified social inbox to help you manage messages and comments.

You can also use it for social listening to learn more about your industry.

Our Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Best For: Easy Navigation

Notable Features:

• Employee brand advocacy
• Post to multiple platforms at once
• SproutLink (link in bio)

SproutSocial allows your employees to share about your brand on their profiles to help expand your reach.

And if Instagram isn’t your only social network, you can share content with other sites at the same time.

The tool also offers SproutLink so that you can organize multiple links for your Instagram bio.

If you don’t want to change your bio link all of the time, you can edit the SproutLink from your dashboard.

Pros:

• Downloadable and robust reports and analytics
• User-friendly
• Easy navigation
• Flexible
• Amazing social listening tool

You can download the analytics you see in SproutSocial to share them with others.

The tool itself is also easy to use as a beginner, and you can navigate it without a ton of practice.

SproutSocial is flexible to support your social media needs as your business grows.

Plus, the social listening tool helps you stay on top of trends.

Cons:

• Expensive
• Unreliable response
• Can’t edit posts after approval

SproutSocial is probably one of the most expensive tools out there.

It’s a bit overkill if all you need is to schedule Instagram posts.

Also, getting a response from customer service can be hard when you need help.

If you use SproutSocial, the tool has to approve your posts before publication.

But if you catch a mistake after that, you can’t edit your posts and have to start over.

Is SproutSocial Hard to Use?

Using SproutSocial is easy, and you can get started in minutes.

However, learning some of the advanced features can be tricky.

Pricing & Plans:

• Standard at $89/month billed annually
• Professional at $149/month billed annually
• Advanced at $249/month billed annually

While all of the SproutSocial plans are expensive, you get plenty of features.

Even the Standard tier has a content calendar, message inbox, and more.

Sadly, you’ll need to pay extra to add features like social listening and employee advocacy.

You can add those features to any plan you select, though.

Our Take

SproutSocial is best for businesses that have more revenue and larger teams.

If you’re just starting, you probably won’t have the money to cover the plan.

Either way, you can test the tool with a free trial to see if it meets your needs.

Sked Social

Sked Social focuses on Instagram when it comes to scheduling content.

You can schedule anything from standard posts to stories.

It also lets you repost your Instagram posts on other platforms, like Facebook and Twitter.

Our Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Best For: Saving Time

Notable Features:

• Auto-post to multiple platforms
• Comprehensive analytics
• Social inbox

You can schedule Instagram posts to share on other platforms at the same time.

Then, you won’t have to spend time resharing content all over the internet.

Sked Social also provides you with detailed analytics for Instagram and Facebook.

You’ll be able to see data from up to two years ago.

Reels insights are also available to help you see what videos are doing well.

While it’s a newer feature, you can review all of your social media messages in one place.

And you don’t have to use your phone to respond to people.

The feature should get better with time since it’s currently in beta mode.

Pros:

• Saves on time
• Friendly interface
• Allow for story scheduling on Instagram
• Regular improvements
• Intuitive

The option to schedule content and share it in multiple places can cut down on the time you spend managing social media.

Plus, the interface is easy to use and good for beginners.

If you have a hard time keeping up with stories, you can even schedule those out.

Sked Social also updates its system regularly, so there’s always something new.

You can get used to those new features quickly since the program is intuitive.

That makes it a great choice if you need to hire social media help since training doesn’t have to take forever.

Cons:

• Manages limited social channels
• Not robust enough
• Somewhat complicated

While you can manage various channels, you can only manage one Instagram account on the most basic plan.

You’d need to pay much more to add a second or third account.

This tool also isn’t the most robust for overall social media scheduling and management.

And the features that do exist are complicated.

Some people have had trouble adding their Instagram accounts to Sked Social.

That could delay your ability to start using the tool.

Is Sked Social Hard to Use?

Sked Social can be hard to use for beginners, and approving accounts can take a while.

You might also get a lot of emails about the tool rejecting an account.

However, once you learn how to get going, the tool can become easier.

Pricing & Plans:

• Fundamentals: $25/month billed monthly
• Essentials: $75/month billed monthly
• Professional: $135/month billed monthly

Sked Social has plans for every budget and social media team.

You can save on any plan if you pay for a year upfront.

Of course, the plans offer different features, so you can find one that meets your needs.

All plans come with some analytics, but the Essentials and Professional tiers have more features.

They’re better for teams, while individuals can get by on the Fundamentals plan.

Our Take

Sked Social is an excellent option to schedule Instagram posts.

The tool puts Instagram at the forefront of what it does, so it’s not just another feature.

You can also schedule link stickers in your stories, which other tools don’t always offer.

All plans come with a free seven-day trial so that you can give the tool a test drive.

Later

Later is a tool that you can use to schedule Instagram posts and other social posts.

You can use it to plan your Instagram feed and even set up a link in your bio.

There’s also a Reels scheduler and a Stories scheduler, but you’ll still need to post Stories manually.

Our Rating: 5 out of 5

Best For: Visual Planning

Notable Features:

• Find user-generated content
• Instagram feed planning
• Link in bio tool

If you ever struggle to find content to post, Later lets you search for user-generated content.

Then, you can easily reshare the content and tag the users who created the original post.

That can also help you build trust with your audience.

You can also use Later to plan out your visual Instagram feed.

If you want to maintain a specific aesthetic, it’s an excellent choice.

It also works well for other social networks, from Facebook to TikTok.

Pros:

• Affordable
• Easy to navigate the platform
• Intuitive
• Instagram focus
• Best time to post

Some of the Later plans are expensive, but others are affordable.

They even offer a free plan with limited features for you to get started.

The platform is easy to navigate and intuitive for beginners.

But it also works well for people with experience scheduling Instagram posts.

When it comes to scheduling, Later can tell you the best time for your account.

That way, you can reach more of your audience.

You also don’t have to think about your posting schedule to help connect with current and potential customers.

Cons:

• Limitations on the free plan
• Only email support
• Post count applies to all posts

If you choose the free plan, you can’t schedule many posts per month.

You also won’t get some of the features at all, such as analytics.

Next, the only way to get customer support is through email, which can be slow and inconvenient.

Another downside is that the post count limit includes posts, stories, and other types.

That means you can’t post 30 stories and 30 feed posts in a month if 30 is the limit.

So if you want to be very active on Instagram, you may need a more expensive plan.

That way, you’ll have a higher post count limit.

Is Later Hard to Use?

Later is relatively easy to use, especially after some practice.

The dashboard is intuitive, and you can upload media and create posts quickly.

You can also use the mobile app if you want to schedule posts on the go or use Later to notify you of when to post.

Pricing & Plans:

• Free
• Starter: $18/month
• Growth: $40/month
• Advanced: $80/month

The free plan is great for testing Later over a long period.

However, you’ll want to explore the paid plans for more and better features.

Luckily, the Starter plan has everything you need to start managing your Instagram.

You can upgrade as your business grows.

With any plan, you’ll get access to an app and a desktop version.

That allows you to work on whichever device you prefer.

Our Take

Later is an excellent tool for Instagram and other social media networks.

You can schedule and plan out content in one place.

Plus, you can try any of the paid plans for 14 days without having to pay to make sure you select the right tier.

Iconosquare

Iconosquare makes it easy to schedule Instagram posts and other content.

You can schedule posts, carousels, and stories.

Upload images in bulk to help choose pictures to use in the future as well.

Our Rating: 5 out of 5

Best For: Compiling Data

Notable Features:

• Schedule different types of content
• Store images for future posts
• Account and location tagging

Some tools only let you schedule Instagram posts of individual pictures.

However, you can also schedule carousel posts with multiple pictures.

Iconosquare even lets you schedule Instagram Stories so that you can keep up with that every day.

Pros:

• Compiles data in comprehensive reports
• Shows the number of likes
• User-friendly
• Fairly fast
• Tracks Instagram analytics

If you want to watch your account grow, you can take advantage of the reports.

Then, you can share them with your business partners or investors.

Iconosquare shows you how many people have liked your content so that you don’t have to go to Instagram.

The tool is also easy to use, which can help you grow, and it works quickly.

You can use your analytics to figure out what content to post and what to avoid.

That will help you save time and maybe even increase your growth rate.

Cons:

• Data manipulation is difficult
• Accesses only Instagram and Facebook analytics
• Difficult setup process

Sadly, you can’t do just anything with the data Iconosquare provides.

You’ll have to use it as-is, and you can only get analytics for Instagram and Facebook but not other platforms.

When you first create your account, it can also take a while to get going.

You have to do a lot of back and forth with the company.

They also aren’t in the US, so many of the responses happen outside of traditional work hours.

Is Iconosquare Hard to Use?

Iconosquare is easy to use, and it can help you build a social media team.

That way, you can schedule more content in less time.

However, some users may need a bit of training to start using the platform, so keep that in mind before hiring people.

Pricing & Plans:

• Pro at $49/monthly billed annually
• Advanced at $79/month billed annually
• Enterprise price is custom
• Pro at $59/month billed monthly
• Advanced at $99/month billed monthly

While it’s not the most expensive, Iconosquare costs more than some other tools.

The different plans let you pay monthly or annually, and you can save on a yearly billing cycle.

If the plan you select doesn’t come with enough profiles, you can add more for extra money.

That way, you can customize the plan to suit your situation.

Our Take

Iconosquare is fantastic for Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

While it works with platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn, it has limited support for them.

If you want to give it a try, you can start a free trial or request a demo to learn more.

CoSchedule

If you want something to plan all of your content, even for your website, CoSchedule is great.

You can plan your entire marketing calendar and also receive marketing training.

The headline tool helps you craft titles to help attract visitors.

Our Rating: 4 out of 5

Best For: Content Calendars

Notable Features:

• All-in-one marketing calendar
• Full marketing suite
• Marketing training

CoSchedule launched a free marketing calendar to help you plan all of your content.

That way, you won’t forget to share posts on time.

Meanwhile, the marketing suite helps you manage your marketing resources.

And if you want to learn more, you can get training through the tool.

The training is for the tool, so you can make better use of it, and it can be better than general marketing training.

Pros:

• Scheduling is conveniently easy
• The mobile app works well
• Convenient content calendar
• Tracks your task
• Has simple SEO hints

If you want to streamline social media scheduling, CoSchedule is great.

You can schedule posts on your desktop or using the mobile app.

Plus, you’ll see when posts are going to go live with the content calendar.

The tool will track the tasks that you perform.

And if you want to also improve your website content, CoSchedule can help you with search engine optimization (SEO).

That makes it the perfect tool for all of your digital marketing needs.

You won’t have to use one platform for social media and another for your website.

Cons:

• Expensive
• Overwhelming panel
• Has glitches

While the marketing calendar is free, the other features can cost a lot based on your needs.

You’ll want to talk to CoSchedule to see how much you’ll have to spend.

That can also make it hard to turn down the offer, especially if you speak with a good salesperson.

The panel can also be overwhelming to some users.

You should set aside time to learn how it works before you jump into CoSchedule, and that’s not always worth it, especially if you just need to schedule Instagram content.

If you use CoSchedule, you could also experience some glitches.

And if you aren’t using it for website content, it’s a bit more complex than what you need.

Is CoSchedule Hard to Use?

CoSchedule can be difficult to use, especially as a beginner.

You should plan for a significant learning curve.

However, it can get easier with practice, so don’t give up if you like the features it can offer.

The learning curve is worth it for full marketing use but not always for Instagram alone.

Pricing & Plans:

• Free
• Pro at $29/month billed annually
• The marketing suite is custom

You can test out the marketing calendar without paying anything.

However, if you want more features, like unlimited social publishing, it will cost you.

For better or worse, CoSchedule customizes the marketing suite cost.

That means you can’t plan for the cost ahead of time.

You’ll have to contact the sales department to learn more about the tool and for them to discover your needs.

Our Take

CoSchedule is best for teams that want to manage all aspects of digital marketing.

It’s unnecessary if your main purpose is to schedule Instagram posts.

You can find more economical options.

However, you can use the marketing calendar for free to learn if it’s for you.

Combin Scheduler

Combin Scheduler is a free tool that lets you schedule Instagram posts and stories.

You can also edit image sizes, tag locations, and use hashtags.

Uploading stories in bulk is also available to help you save time.

Our Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Best For: Automation

Notable Features:

• Scheduling posts
• Edit image sizes
• Tag locations

Combin Scheduler makes it easy to schedule feed posts and Instagram Stories.

You can also use the tool to create posts to go live immediately.

If your photos don’t have the right aspect ratio, you can edit them in the app as well.

To help gain visibility, the tool even lets you tag locations without having to post from Instagram.

Other tools don’t have that option, so you’d need to manually publish the posts through the social network.

Pros:

• Easy to schedule posts
• Nice interface
• Great functionality
• Works well with Instagram
• Automates most tasks

If you’re new to Instagram scheduling, this tool can be a great option.

The interface looks good and offers plenty of functions.

Plus, Instagram works well with Combin Scheduler to help you manage your account.

Some tools are for social media overall, so they don’t work as well with Instagram.

To further help you manage everything, you can automate a lot of tasks.

That’s particularly helpful if you’re a solo entrepreneur and don’t have a team to help.

Cons:

• Slow
• Lacks convenient statistics
• Bad follow/unfollow feature

Unfortunately, the tool can be somewhat slow at times, so it might not save as much time as it could.

You also won’t get as many analytics with it as you would with other tools.

Combin can follow and unfollow accounts for you.

However, it might unfollow accounts that you want to continue to follow.

It’s unclear how to control that, so you should probably avoid that feature if you use the tool.

If you want to use the feature, you should monitor its activity.

Then, you can make sure you don’t unfollow the wrong people.

Is Combin Scheduler Hard to Use?

Combin Scheduler is easy to use and has some good features even on the free plan.

If you want to make the most of the app, you might need to spend some time learning how it works.

Like any tool, it may become second nature after some time.

Pricing & Plans:

• Free starter
• Personal at $15/month
• Business at $30/month

Not every tool to schedule Instagram posts offers a free plan, so that’s a great advantage.

The paid plans offer more things like analytics and more accounts that you can connect.

Luckily, even the most expensive tier is still relatively affordable.

That makes Combin Scheduler a fantastic option for new business owners.

Our Take

Combin Scheduler is suitable for Instagram scheduling but not much else.

It offers some data, but you won’t get as much insight as you would with other platforms.

The Scheduler is completely free though, so you can test it out right now.

SocialBee

SocialBee is another amazing choice for scheduling Instagram posts.

It lets you create, schedule, and publish on various social platforms.

You can also integrate it with Canva and other tools to help with content creation.

Our Rating: 5 out of 5

Best For: User Interface

Notable Features:

• Create, schedule, and publish
• Multiple integrations
• Concierge services

You can do all of your content creation and posting from SocialBee to help save time and reduce the number of tools you use.

If you use other tools, though, it can integrate with link shorteners and tools to find images.

When you’re ready to hire social media help, SocialBee offers Concierge Services.

You can work with a social media specialist.

That way, they’ll be able to help you grow your Instagram account and online presence.

Pros:

• Equipped with handy features
• Nice clean UI
• Convenient auto-scheduling
• Creation of several workspaces
• Well-managed content

SocialBee offers plenty of services to help you manage your Instagram content.

The user interface is clean and easy to use as well.

Scheduling posts automatically is easy to do once you learn to use the tool.

And you can create workspaces to help separate content.

Meanwhile, SocialBee makes it easy to manage your content across your account.

That can help you determine when to post what content so that you can reach your business goals.

Cons:

• Beginners might find it difficult at first
• Frequent integration reconnections can be annoying
• Poor link shorteners

When you first start using it, you may need to spend more time on SocialBee to complete tasks.

But it can get easier with time and practice.

If you want to use the integrations, that’s convenient.

However, you may need to reconnect those programs often, which is frustrating.

SocialBee works with link shorteners, which is great.

Some users have found that the links don’t work at all, and that can cost you your customers.

Is SocialBee Hard to Use?

SocialBee is a bit hard to use when you first give it a try.

The more you use it, the more you can understand how it works, so it could get easier after a while.

Be sure to give it a good trial run to learn if it works well for you.

Pricing & Plans:

• Bootstrap at $19/month
• Accelerate at $39/month
• Pro at $79/month

The SocialBee plans are great because they work for different budgets.

You can connect to anywhere from five to 25 social accounts.

It works with platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and even Google My Business.

All tiers are available at a discount if you pay yearly, but you’ll have to contact the company to set that up.

Consider trying the tool for a month to make sure it’s for you.

While it’s a general social media tool, that means you don’t need to pay for more stuff.

You can manage all of your accounts from one dashboard.

Our Take

SocialBee is an excellent tool for Instagram and other social networks.

You can use it to schedule content and monitor the analytics of your posts.

When you need help, you’ll be able to hire SocialBee experts.

Start a free trial to test out the platform before you select a plan.

Features to Look for In Tools for Scheduling Instagram Posts

When choosing the best tool to schedule Instagram posts, you have a lot to consider.

Here are some features you’ll find in a good platform.

Tailored Posts With Previews

Being able to preview a post before you finalize it is essential.

Consider finding a tool that also lets you view how the image will look in your Instagram feed.

That way, you can make sure it will look good before the post goes live.

Bulk Image Uploading

Another excellent feature is the option to upload multiple images at once.

Then, you can grow your image library and choose from various photos when creating posts.

You can also save images for later and track which photos you’ve used.

Image Editor

Along with uploading, you’ll want the option to edit images in the tool.

If you find a flaw after uploading, you won’t have to edit the image elsewhere and upload it to your library again.

You should be able to make minor changes right in the app.

Video Editor

A video editor can also come in handy, especially if you want to schedule Reels.

You can plan the video and make sure it looks good before you plan to post it.

The right tool has a video editor that’s easy to use.

Hashtag Suggestions

Doing hashtag research can help you choose the right tags to add to your posts.

While you can use other tools, a scheduler with suggestions can save you a lot of time and stress.

You can take the suggestions or ignore them if they don’t make sense.

Analytics & Reporting

Instagram offers analytics for only 30 days at a time.

Meanwhile, the best tools to schedule Instagram posts let you view the analytics for much longer, sometimes up to two years.

If you want to track your data, you need a tool with that feature.

Frequently Asked Questions

When looking at the best tools for Instagram scheduling, you may still have questions.

Consider the following queries people have about this topic.

Conclusion

Buffer is the best tool to schedule Instagram posts because it has the features you need.

Other options to try include Later and Sked Social, which focus on Instagram over other platforms.

All of the tools offer analytics, so you can keep track of your content performance.

You can also plan out your feed with Later, and you can set up a link in your bio as well.

Being able to plan and review your content can help you with future posts.

Having analytics can help guide you when deciding what to post next.

Be sure to give these tools a try to choose which you prefer.

Whether you run a local business, an online store, or are one of the many influencers on the web, sites like Instagram can help boost engagement and get people talking about you and your products.

To assist businesses and brands on their platform, Instagram added Professional Accounts.

You might be asking, what is a Professional Account on Instagram and how do I sign up for one?

We will cover the ways a Professional Account operates, what separates them from personal Instagram profiles, and how you can sign up for one today.

What is a Professional Account on Instagram?

Instagram provides Professional Accounts, also known as business accounts or business profiles, with analytics to track how their content is engaging with followers.

These tools are more advanced than the ones found in personal accounts.

Using these tools, businesses can find out what engages with their customers and tailor their content to match the customer’s desires.

What is the Purpose of a Professional Instagram Account?

Instagram created Professional Accounts for businesses and brands who want to have more data at their fingertips.

What information is on a Professional Instagram Account?

All businesses and people will be able to view their Impressions, reach, follower demographics and Interactions.

Who needs a Professional Instagram Account?

Instagram designed these accounts with businesses and brands that need lots of data in mind.

If that describes your situation, you might consider creating a Professional Account.

Instagram: Personal Profile Vs. Professional Account

While Professional Accounts come with several benefits that make them a superb choice for brands, they are not for everyone, and some will prefer the simplicity of a personal profile.

It is vital to choose the right account type for your needs.

Professional Accounts have more statistical tools at their disposal and can help businesses understand what makes their content engaging.

However, you sacrifice a few key features when you convert your profile to a professional one.

A personal account is suitable for most users and allows you to post pictures and engage with other users’ content.

It also gives you the privacy you may not have with the always public-facing Professional Account.

If you are new to Instagram or are unsure if you need a Professional Account, consider signing up for a personal account first to try out the site.

If you find yourself in need of more statistical data, then it might be time to upgrade to a Professional Account.

You can always upgrade a basic account to an Instagram business account, so you do not have to worry about being locked into one or the other.

Benefits of a Professional Account

If you need more data about your engagement on Instagram and want to better understand how your content reaches its audience, the bevy of features in a business account will serve you well.

We will highlight some of the features that set an Instagram business profile up to be an asset for your brand.

Insights

Nearly every business today uses advanced analytics to better understand its market and customers.

Instagram understands this and includes Instagram Insights with every Professional Account.

This is the main benefit of a business account and what makes them enviable for brands.

Instagram Insights is your one-stop shop to see how well your content engages with your audience and understand what is working with your marketing strategy.

Insights are free for all Instagram business profiles to use.

Every Instagram Insight will help you fine-tune your messaging and content to meet your follower’s needs.

You can view analytics detailing how posts, Stories, or reels you have shared are doing with your audience and quickly get an idea of the impression you have made.

The program also gives you insight into the type of people following your profile, such as their gender, age, nationality, and when they are active on the site.

Perhaps most importantly, a business account can see its reach and how many people have at least scrolled past the content.

Knowing your reach will give account holders a good idea if their content is reaching the desired market and if it is making the desired impression.

The most convenient part is that you can view all these analytics directly from the Instagram app.

You don’t have to bounce around between different websites to get data and implement changes.

It is all easy to do through the app itself.

Boosting Posts

If you have spent time on social media, you have probably heard of boosting posts.

Business accounts can boost their posts to appear in Instagram ads to better reach the desired consumer.

Once you have boosted a post, you can view how customers engage with it compared to your other posts in the Insights tab.

Instagram Shopping

If you are in the e-commerce field or a retailer, Instagram Shopping is a feature you will likely use often.

If you have a business account, you can create a tab directly on your Instagram page for users to shop from.

The benefit of this is you can showcase your products in boosted posts, and then drive those consumers directly to your store without ever having them leave the Instagram app.

Using Professional Account features like this in tandem, you can expand your reach and develop it into sales.

Swipe Up Links

Instagram Stories are a great way to engage with your audience, and professional accounts get bonuses too.

If your professional profile has more than 10,000 followers, you can add links to your Stories that users can swipe up to follow.

Using this, you can drive traffic to your main website without your customer needing to type in the address on their own.

Scheduled Posts

Scheduling posts is the perfect way to ensure you release content at peak traffic hours on your page.

With an Instagram business profile, you will have the tools to put out content exactly when you need it.

Personal accounts cannot schedule posts, and it is a hassle to set alarms to remember when to post.

Scheduling posts takes all the hassle out of posting and allows you to focus on other aspects of your company.

Contact Button

Instagram business profiles allow followers to directly contact your account with a designated button.

Physical stores can even include an address and phone number for users to know your location or call you.

Instagram business profiles also have access to “Quick Replies” which allow you to respond to direct messages with automated responses.

These responses give you a way to answer the most common questions and hold followers over until you can give them a personal reply.

Disadvantages of Instagram Business Account

While an Instagram business profile has several advantages for brands, the service includes a few downsides.

While these do not make Professional Accounts bad, it is something to remember when making the switch.

Organic Reach

Instagram gives priority for reach to personal accounts rather than business profiles.

Brands will likely have to pay to get the same number of impressions that personal accounts might enjoy.

Privacy

You cannot set Professional accounts to private.

While most brands will not mind this lack of privacy, smaller businesses or Instagram influencer accounts should keep this in mind.

Music Sticker

The Music Sticker is not available for business profiles as a way to avoid copyright infringement.

An Instagram Story with music is a popular tool to boost views, but it won’t be available to business accounts.

How to Create a Professional Instagram Account

Signing up for an Instagram business profile is easy, and you can do it with a few simple clicks.

You can also freely switch back to a personal account if you find you do not enjoy the features of an Instagram business profile.

When you are ready, log in to your profile on the Instagram app.

Is It Free to Create a Professional Instagram Account?

It is free to set up a Professional Account, so even unsure users can give it a try risk-free.

Instagram Business Profile Key Features

• Insight about your posts
• Shop on instagram
• Promoting post from the Instagram account
• Follower information
• Add contact information

How to Switch to an Instagram Business Profile

1. In the app, select the Main Menu in the corner
2. Select Settings and then tap Account
3. In the Account menu, tap Switch to Professional Account and then select Business
4. Optionally, you can connect a Facebook Business Page as well
5. Enter your business’ contact data and finalize the process

With the process complete, you will immediately access all professional features, such as Instagram Insight and Instagram Shopping.

How to Convert a Creator Account to a Professional Account

A Creator Account is typically used by Instagram influencers.

It is a different kind of Professional Account that is less focused on selling and advertising products and more on boosting engagement.

Converting a Creator Account to a business profile is completed the same way as transforming a personal account.

Go to the Switch to Professional Account menu and select Business.

Conclusion: What is a Professional Account on Instagram?

Whether you are a big business or just a startup, using an Instagram Professional Account is a great way to boost your social media footprint.

Instagram business accounts have multiple features that will help you better understand your customer such as Instagram Insight.

And you can drive that traffic directly to your store, Facebook page, or website.

Creating a business profile is fast and easy.

You have nothing to lose, so why not try it today and see if it can help you boost sales today.

You may have even already defined your social media channels, but are you maximizing each platform?

Today, we dive into different components of Instagram stories.

Read on to learn how you can use IG story ideas to engage your audience, generate new leads, and achieve more sales.

What Is an IG Story?

Instagram stories enable users to share videos, photos, and content to their “story.”

Their followers will then be able to view this content.

But if the profile is public, non-followers can also access the story in this time window.

The process and concept are like a regular Instagram post.

The difference is that IG stories are only available to the viewers for 24 hours.

An account with a recent story post will have a gradient, darker border around the user’s profile picture.

All your followers will be able to view the story in the regular feed or by navigating to your specific profile.

Why Are Instagram Stories Important?

There are several reasons why you or your business should use Instagram stories.

They help transform your content strategy.

Moreover, they allow you to connect with and understand your target audience.

Publishing regular posts on Instagram will only go so far.

With stories, you can unlock another communication channel with your loyal fans.

According to Meta, over 500 million accounts use daily Instagram stories.

As such, you don’t want to lag behind your competition.

The following are four reasons why Instagram stories are important.

Outreach

When it all comes down to it, the Instagram algorithm decides how many followers will view your story.

It determines the most relevant, engaging, and new content for each individual follower.

Then, it positions the post toward the forefront of their feed.

When you are a business, you do not need to reach every follower.

But, the Instagram story can help you reach the people who buy your products and services.

Instagram stories help you achieve this goal if you do the following:

• Ensure your stories have a defined beginning, middle, and end.
• Integrate several different video formats in your stories. For example, boomerangs, GIFs, and face filters, among others.
• Envision your story views like family or friends. Speak directly to their emotions and needs.
• Add other elements to your stories, such as music, text prompts, stickers, and more.

Lead Generation

You may already have excellent engagement with your existing audience.

But IG stories open doors to new ways of lead generation.

A story will allow you to publish your advertising copy, photos, and pictures like a standard post.

Notably, you can include a “swipe up” feature on the story that will take your followers or viewers to a landing page.

From here, you can guide them toward a call to action, such as purchasing a product or entering an email.

Interact With Instagram Users

Instagram stories provide another way for interaction.

They yield a direct response from a broad range of your followers.

This is particularly true when direct messaging or posting comments isn’t ideal.

As such, Instagram stories are a critical feedback mechanism.

By posting polls and other content, you can learn about your customers’ preferences.

That way, you can further improve your products, services, or website.

Opportunity To Advertise

Instagram stories are another way to showcase your products, services, or company updates.

Your story will show at the top of the user’s feed, making it more visible than a regular post.

There are many ways you can use the 24-hour duration of stories to your advantage.

You can use it to announce upcoming sales, store hours, and any real-time updates.

Do IG Stories Increase Followers?

There are several ways that consistent Instagram stories can increase your follower count.

Among others, the explorer page, reshares, location tags, hashtags, and more.

When you post stories daily, the story could show up in two places: at the top of your feed and on the explore page.

The explorer page is a public page within Instagram where people who do not follow you can see your stories.

The more stories you post, the more likely they will appear on the explore page.

Thus, you will gain more followers.

You can also gain exposure and new followers through reshares.

When you tag another account in your story, the post will show in that user’s direct messages.

The account then has the choice to reshare your post to their story.

If you partner with other businesses or users, you can secure some of their followers as your own.

If your account tags a location in the “stickers,” your post will show in the story of the specific location.

For example, you can tag the location when on a business trip to a conference.

Much like the explorer page, anybody on Instagram can see your story.

How To Use Instagram Stories To Promote Your Business

We explained the basic concepts of Instagram stories and why they are essential.

But what are some specific, actionable strategies you can start implementing today?

Below are the most effective ways to promote your business through Instagram stories.

Promote Discounts and Giveaways

The Instagram story is the perfect way to let your followers know you are running a sale or a giveaway.

The 10-15 seconds that your story plays will entice your followers to visit your store.

If you have over 10,000 followers, you can insert a link that takes your followers to the website.

Once you upload or create your picture, photo, or visual content, you must add the call to action.

This phrase will guide customers toward acting on a decision.

Here are some call-to-action phrases you can use:

• Get 25% off today!
• Shop now!
• See new summer styles!

Conduct Market Research

Nothing boosts engagement more like a poll.

This story idea only takes five seconds for a follower to vote on a poll.

They are an excellent way for people to provide an opinion.

Furthermore, they provide your business with actionable results.

You can use poll “stickers” within the interface to post.

You can type a question and then list out two answers.

Users will only need to click their response to engage with your page.

As the poll stays live for 24 hours, you will see the percentage distribution.

Host Instagram Live

Going “live” on your Instagram is the perfect way to interact with your followers and fans in real-time.

Instagram live does not derive from the Instagram story feature.

Instead, you select it from the regular “post” button.

When your business goes live, followers can tune in at any time.

Followers can comment and engage with the story as it goes on.

As the account owner, you can see these comments come through.

You can then address them through the life story.

Instagram live adds a valuable “live news” aspect to your business.

This can help boost your brand storytelling.

IG Story Ideas

Knowing the power of Instagram stories is the first step to success.

The second step is planning what type of stories you want to publish.

Below are eight creative ways to engage your followers.

They will also help you elevate brand awareness and drive more sales.

Promote Posts

Instagram stories allow you to pin a previous post to the story.

The viewers or followers can click on the post within the story.

This will redirect them to the original post.

Promoting posts is an excellent way to showcase memories involving your business.

This strategy works well for highlighting various things.

For example, product launches, promotions, or key company milestones.

Promote Blogs

If your brand has a website or blog, the Instagram story is the perfect place to showcase past blog posts.

Your blog is another versatile lead generation tool.

It can collect emails, provide affiliate marketing revenue, and elevate brand awareness.

You can publish the story by attaching an image snippet of the blog post, including a link for people to follow.

Do a Countdown Story to a New Release

Instagram stories also have a sticker option for countdowns.

You can input the end date and time, and then the Instagram story will be the live countdown.

This Instagram content strategy is perfect for a store opening.

Moreover, it is ideal for a product or a promotion launch and any other new releases.

Make a Sneak Peek

Because the Instagram story is temporary, it is an ideal opportunity to give a “sneak peek.”

You can post a 10-second video that shows an upcoming product or service in action.

This will leave the followers craving more information.

Ask for Feedback

Customer feedback is critical for continuous improvement.

Luckily for you, Instagram stories allow you to post polls to your followers.

You can type out a custom question, set up the answers, and allow the followers to vote.

Seeing the final tallies and percentages can give you vital insights.

You can learn what products to showcase more or what type of promotions to launch.

Introduce Your Team

A company or brand is only as good as its people.

You can use IG stories to showcase your team, who they are, and what motivates them.

Just make sure your employees are comfortable with it beforehand.

Every team member has a story and reasons for why they work for the brand.

Use the story to post “about me” snippets, video introductions, or other fun facts.

Highlight Testimonials

Social proof is an effective way to earn trust from your followers.

Posting a snippet of a quote from a satisfied customer will go a long way.

Reflect on customers or clients you had a positive, productive relationship with.

Their kind words can influence your followers to learn more about your brand.

This can also lead to better engagement with your products and services.

Instagram Takeover

An Instagram takeover is when an employee, brand ambassador, or company leader “takes over” the social media account for the day.

They can post a “day in the life” to give followers a “behind the scenes” look at your company.

The person can also do selfie videos, discuss company announcements, and more.

How To Use Hashtags for Instagram Stories

When you integrate a hashtag into an Instagram story, it can go in the text, sticker, or location tag.

You can also style the hashtag, much like you do with stickers and text.

Below are some helpful hashtag tips to re-energize your Instagram story!

Hashtag Tips

• Location tags operate the same as hashtags, so you can attach them to a video or image to show up on a location’s story.
• Add a branded hashtag to your story, which will increase awareness and engagement.
• Use the same hashtags as your target audience. Research to see what your followers or ideal user are saying. And then keep it consistent with how you hashtag.
• Take note of your industry-relevant hashtags that have the most posts, and then join the party.

How To Schedule Story Posts To Publish Automatically

Instagram story posting can be a lifesaver when you wear a lot of different hats for your business.

You can schedule your posts to publish through Facebook’s Creator Studio.

Using the Creator Studio is easy:

1. First, you will have to link your Instagram account to your Creator Studio account.
2. Develop your Instagram story.
3. Add any relevant info you wish, such as IG hashtags, caption, and the location.
4. Click on “Schedule” to choose the time and date for your post.

Wrapping Up

As you can see, the opportunities are endless with Instagram stories.

Before you start exploring Instagram stories, it is critical to define your goals.

Instagram stories help boost awareness, gain followers, drive revenue, and gain customer feedback.

Furthermore, they create excitement about your brand.

Get creative and use Instagram stories to transform your brand storytelling.

With how large the platform is, it’s a great place to ask some questions and get feedback for your brand or business.

If you understand how to engage users on this platform, your Instagram marketing abilities will be off the charts.

Let’s take a look at how you can increase your engagement and brand focus with some useful features built into the platform.

What Are Questions for Instagram Stories?

Questions on Instagram stories are questions that owners of an Instagram account can ask using their posts.

On their Instagram posts, Instagram users can use a question sticker that lets the creator type up a question to ask their followers a question.

From there, viewers can tap on the sticker and reply to the question.

This sticker works differently than an Instagram poll.

With question stickers, users type up an answer instead of choosing a premade one.

Why Ask Questions on Instagram Stories?

There are several benefits to being able to ask open-ended questions to your Instagram followers, including:

1. Get Feedback

The feedback you can get from open-ended questions is fantastic.

On Instagram, you can pair photos or videos that tease new products or services for your business with the question sticker to see if folks have any interest in the new idea.

Using that feedback, a development team could make changes to suit customers before the project gets too far ahead in development.

Pro Tip: Take things even further by using one of the best survey software platforms to collect, gather, and crunch your responses.

This helps drive decisions based on data, taking your business to the next level.

2. Interact With Followers

When the question sticker came out in 2018, Instagram mentioned that the major design idea behind it was to increase engagement for Instagram creators with their followers.

Questions compel folks to give their answers, increasing the chance you’ll receive a comment or answer on the post.

3. Outreach

An Instagram post has the potential to reach more than just your followers.

As one of the largest social media platforms, Instagram posts get shared around to all sorts of places, giving you a chance to promote outreach with a viral Instagram post combined with a compelling question or call to action.

4. Business Growth

Depending on your business, increased engagement on social media can mean more customers.

Many businesses out there have promo materials or photos they can use to show off their business, catching eyes and drawing in curious customers that want to know more about your products.

Questions For Instagram Story Ideas

If you need some content ideas, here are some ways you can use Instagram Story questions:

Funny Questions for Instagram Story

As we mentioned, folks love to smile on Instagram.

To get some smiles going, here are some sample questions:

• What’s your favorite quote from a movie?
• What superhero do you think I would be?

Business Questions for Instagram Story

To do a little market research, you could try one of these business-minded questions:

• What feature should we add next to our service?
• What color looks best on our product?
• How did you hear about us?

Deep Questions for Instagram Story

To get some thoughtful answers, try out some of these questions for your Instagram Story:

• What do you want to accomplish in life?
• Who is your favorite artist and why?

How to Use Questions For Instagram Stories

If you’re not sure what the reasons would be to use questions in an Instagram story, here are some examples:

1. Market Research

Asking a question to your followers and customers can provide some great insight into what the market wants.

Responding to the needs of your customers when they have the means they’ll think of you and your business when they want more.

2. Understand Preferences

When it comes to business offering customizable goods, learning the preferences of your audience can help you focus on your brand.

If one color isn’t in high demand, then skipping over it to focus on others during the next batch of production will help you save on effort and storage space.

3. Gauge Product Interest

A teaser pic and a question asking what folks think about it can tell you a lot about whether customers want your product or not.

If the question doesn’t get much feedback, then ditching the idea and moving on to the next one could save a headache later.

4. Get Personal

Instagram users love to get to know the content creator or influencer behind the account.

Asking questions lets you take the chance to get personal with your followers and let them learn a little more about what makes you tick.

5. Have Fun!

Ultimately, Instagram content is meant to be fun! If you’re not doing something funny or entertaining, your followers aren’t as likely as another account’s followers to engage with your posts.

How to Ask Questions On Your Instagram Story

So, with the benefits of Instagram Story questions laid out, let’s take a look at the different ways you can incorporate them into your posts.

Instagram Polls

Instagram polls give you a way to ask a question with set answers to your followers.

How It Works

Instagram polls let influencers ask a question in their post.

The poll has preset answers the poll, meaning only one of the pre-determined choices can be selected by users.

Comments on the post might give some other answers, but only choices made in the poll are recorded.

Step-by-Step Instructions

To set up a poll on Instagram Stories, follow these steps:

1. Tap the plus icon and slide over to the Create New Story option in the Instagram app.
2. Tap the sticker icon and select the Poll option.
3. Type up your question and some answers to go along with it.
4. Tap Your Story and Send To, which will post the poll to your Instagram story.

Quiz Questions

With an Instagram quiz, you can create a fun multiple-choice question for your followers to answer to get feedback or ideas.

How It Works

Quizzes work similarly to Instagram Polls.

However, the quiz sticker instead lets people select from several choices to answer the question or give feedback on what they think is correct.

Step-by-Step Instructions

If you want to set up a quiz on your Instagram Story, here are the steps you’ll want to follow:

1. Tap the plus icon and slide over to the Create New Story option in the Instagram app.
2. Tap the sticker icon and select the Quiz option towards the bottom of the screen.
3. Type up your question and some answers to go along with it.
4. Tap Your Story and Send To, which will post the quiz and post
5.  to your Instagram story.

Question Sticker

If you want open-ended answers instead of setting them yourself, then the Instagram question sticker will be your best bet.

How It Works

Instagram Story stickers let creators post a question that has no set answer.

Viewers can submit their answers that the poster can review later in the Story.

Step-By-Step Instructions

To set up a question sticker on Instagram, follow these steps:

1. Tap the plus icon and slide over to the Create New Story option in the Instagram app.
2. Tap the sticker icon and select the Quiz option towards the bottom of the screen.
3. Type up your question using the sticker’s text field.
4. Tap Your Story and Send To, which will post the stickered post to your Instagram story.

How to Answer Instagram Story Questions

To answer a question on Instagram, tap on the sticker when it comes up in the post.

You should see a small text field come up inside the sticker.

Tap on that text field, type up your answer and hit send to deliver your answer to the Instagrammer.

Where to Find Responses to Instagram Story Questions

To find answers to your Instagram questions, go to your Story the question was in and open the Seen By options.

Choose the See All option to see all the answers your followers replied with.

You can respond to answers here by choosing the Share Response option and posting a new Story with the answer inside it.

Wrapping Up

Instagram Stories are a great place to ask questions of your followers.

With the poll, quiz, and question stickers, you can learn a lot about yourself and your followers.

Next time you want to create an Instagram post, think about how you can add one of these stickers to it.

You might be surprised how much more engagement you get just by asking questions!