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Introducing your business on Instagram is an exciting step in any business’s life! But there are a few tips and tricks you should know beforehand so that you can maximize the number of likes and followers you are able to get from your first post.
And for help writing your introduction post (and all other posts in the future), grab my free hook template guide. Hooks are the first few lines of copy that entice people to keep reading your post (so they turn into followers.) You’ll get 25 hook templates to get people excited about your business:
Introducing your business on Instagram might feel complicated, but I’m here to break down everything you need to know.
But first…before introducing your business on Instagram, you will want to make sure you have the right account type.
There are currently three different types of Instagram accounts:
- Personal account: this is not for businesses and you do not want to have a personal account because you will not have access to analytics and other features exclusive to creator and business accounts
- Creator account: this is for influencers, artists or freelancers
- Business account: this one is for small businesses and brands
For your business, it’s important to set up an Instagram business account to gain access to analytics and other key features exclusive to businesses and creators.
Once you have made the switch from a personal account, it’s time to figure out how to introduce your business on Instagram.
Steps to Introduce Your Business on Instagram
Before you go ahead and post your first post, there are a couple of things you will want to do first. Let’s talk about all the steps you should take prior to introducing your business on Instagram, so you go about it the right way!
1. Get a Good Profile Photo
Before you introduce your business on Instagram, you need to ensure you have set up your account correctly. Whether you are a freelancer or a small business, you need a clear profile photo.
You can use a photo of yourself, or you can use your logo if there is no “face” of your business.
Milk Jar Candle Co has cleverly used a cute icon that is heavily associated with their brand as their profile photo.
I’ve opted to use a photo of myself as I’m a one-woman show and represent my business.
You can choose anything that you feel is in line with your branding strategy on Instagram. Keep in mind that your profile photo will be small. If you are going to use your logo, a picture that has artwork, icons, or text, make sure it was designed for small screens.
When I used to design logos for clients, I would always create a sub-logo which is meant to work on smaller mediums. Below is an example of the primary logo, and then a sub-logo that can be shrunk down in size:
To change your profile photo, go to your profile and click on “Edit Profile.”
Then click “Change Profile Photo” to upload your photo.
Here is where you can also update your bio, which brings me to my next point.
2. Write Your Instagram Bio
After getting your profile photo up, your next step is to write an Instagram bio that helps new visitors to your account understand your business and brand. Your Instagram bio must be 150 characters or less, so make sure your bio is concise and to the point.
Ask your self these questions (from the perspective of your audience) when trying to create your bio:
- Who is this business?
- Why should I follow them?
- What’s special or unique about them?
- What makes them stand out from their competitors?
And don’t forget that you can use emojis in your Instagram bio as well, which can help you convey a message without taking up too many characters.
3. Craft Your Introductory Post
Now that your Instagram profile is complete, it’s officially time to get your post ready to introduce your business on Instagram!
Your first post on Instagram should give your followers some background into your business and how it can help solve their problem(s).
You can choose to post a video or an image. Whichever you decide to post, make sure it’s high quality and reflects your brand. You can post anything from a photo of your store, a picture of yourself, a photo of your work or whatever you can think of.
4. Write Compelling Copy
The copy (aka the caption) of your post is equally as important as the media.
Its what grabs someone’s attention and encourages them to read and learn more about you.
And, if it’s good enough, it will make them want to follow you, sign up for your email list, and check out your offers.
Your caption should not only introduce your business to the Instagram-world, but it should also include a call-to-action (CTA) for your visitors. In this case, you’d likely want your CTA to get visitors to your profile to follow you. So, your CTA should be something like “follow us to join our community!” or “follow to learn more!”
I put together 25 free hook templates to help you get a head start on writing social media captions that capture your audience’s interest, so they read your post and turn into followers and fans of your brand. Sign up below to access the templates:
5. Interact With Your Followers (or Potential Followers)
Before you introduce your business on Instagram, you should already be interacting with people who follow you. If you have no followers, interact with people who you think might be interested in following you.
I recommend spending 30 minutes or so interacting with potential followers before you introduce your business on Instagram with that first post. This is so when you do put up your very first post, you’ll have engaged users clicking to your account who will be more likely to like, comment or follow you!
Finding potential followers is incredibly simple! Your first step is to go to your competitions’ Instagram accounts. You can find your audience by:
- seeing who followers your competition and interacting with them
- seeing who has commented or likes some of the recent posts from your competition
People who are following your competition are likely doing so because they are interested in that particular product or service, therefore, they will be more likely to care about the content you post as well!
You can also search up hashtags that are related to your niche by clicking on the magnifying glass at the bottom of your screen:
From there, you can enter a seed word that is related to your niche in the search bar at the top, that you think your customers would use. For example, if you are a pet store, you can start with the word “dog” to bring up dog-related hashtags! Click on the word “tags” to display different hashtags related to your initial seed word.
Now click on those hashtags and begin interacting with the most recently posted photos and videos! The reason you will want to interact with content that is most recent is that it means the user is still likely on the app. You’ll have a better chance at driving traffic back to your account if you are interacting with someone who is already scrolling through the ‘gram.
Pro tip: if you engage with recent posts (something posted within the last few minutes), it’s likely the person will still be on Instagram and can immediately check out your account. If you interact with people who haven’t posted in months, they might not check Instagram often and may not click back to your account right away.
6. Post Your Photo or Video
Now is the time to officially introduce your business on Instagram by posting your first post! You have the caption ready to go and all you need to do is upload your photo (or video), add the caption and select some hashtags.
To find hashtags for business on Instagram, I like to use a hashtag finder that can weed out poor performing hashtags so I don’t waste my time with them. One of the best hashtag finders to use is Tailwind. Plus, Tailwind has a forever free account! Tailwind’s hashtag finder makes it incredibly easy to find hashtags that are actually going to drive engagement to your account.
You can see from the screenshot below that I was able to get over 17,000 impressions from my hashtags alone!
I am also putting together various hashtag lists. You can click below to be taken directly to your niche (this list will be updated as I add to it):
- Cat hashtags for Instagram
- Hashtags for Dogs
- Hashtags for Puppies
- Hashtags for Fashion
- Hashtags for Travel
- Hashtags for Fitness
- Hashtags for Art
- Hashtags for the Days of the Week
- Hashtags for Bloggers
7. Reply to Comments
After you’ve introduced your business on Instagram, don’t put your phone down and leave it for the day. You should reply to all the comments you receive to begin building a relationship with your followers and potential customers.
Examples of Business Introduction Posts on Social Media
Below are a few examples of businesses that used Instagram to introduce their new venture. Note how in their captions, they describe who they are and give potential viewers a reason to follow.
FAQs About Introducing Your Business on Instagram
These are some questions I often get from my readers about introducing their business on Instagram.
What should my first Instagram post be for my business?
Your first posts on Instagram should make it clear what your business is. Take some time to introduce yourself or your business and the services you offer. Talk about the benefits you provide. At this point, it’s not about being salesy, but rather breaking the ice with your new followers.
Also, notice how I said, “your first posts” (plural) and not “your first post”…
As your account will be new and your followers will be coming at different intervals, you shouldn’t just introduce your business for one post and then stop.
There are lots of different Instagram theme apps you can use to help you edit, plan and manage your Instagram feed. Clicking the above link will open a new browser tab, so I recommend checking out that article to figure out what apps will help you.
Should I have a certain number of photos before I share my account with people?
This is a great question! A lot of people will advise businesses to put up nine posts before introducing their business or before telling anyone about their account.
The idea is, when someone new comes to visit your account, if you have nine images up it will look more professional.
Here’s why I don’t think this is a good idea…
First, nine images is a lot. For many people, that’s over a weeks worth of content if you are posting daily.
But most importantly, if you are just putting up images for the sake of getting something on your account, you are wasting good content.
New businesses come and go all the time and people who visit your Instagram account aren’t going to be turned off at the fact that you’re a new business.
When you post something, it should be intentional and there should be a strategy behind it. By throwing up nine photos, when people do come to visit your account, they might not understand why those nine photos have no likes, no engagement or no real thought behind them.
In my opinion, that’s a bigger turnoff than not having much content at the start!
How do I introduce myself on my Instagram business page?
Now let’s say you want to introduce yourself down the road. If you are running a business where you aren’t the face of the company, you might feel weird posting photos of yourself.
However, your followers will appreciate seeing who is behind your business from time to time!
Here is an example of how @hellowhitespace introduced herself to her followers:
This simple introduction is a great way to say “hi” to your followers every now and then!
It’s also easy to take good pictures of yourself with your smartphone or camera, so you have no excuse to hide behind the ‘gram ;).
Should I revamp my business on Instagram?
After you’ve introduced your business account and established a following, you might decide to revamp it.
Here’s my advice: if you plan to completely change the focus of your business, start fresh. For example, if your followers are following you for fitness tips and personal training information, and you decide to start a new business selling soap, your audience will not translate over. In this case, I’d delete everything.
However, if you just want to change up your Instagram feed theme and get a new aesthetic, go for it!
When changing your theme, many people wonder if they should delete their previous posts to start fresh.
I say no. Keep what you have! Your previous posts contain valuable information in them that might convince someone to purchase your products.
I'm getting ready to introduce my business on Instagram! #newbiz #entrepreneur Share on XWhat to Post After Introducing Your Business on Instagram
After you’ve introduced your business on Instagram, your next task is to come up with a schedule of Instagram posts and begin posting regularly.
If you aren’t sure what to post, I’ve compiled a bunch of Instagram post ideas to help get you started!
What will your first post be (or what was your first post) on Instagram? Let me know in the comments below!
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Dana Nicole is an award-winning freelance writer for MarTech/SaaS who was rated one of the best SaaS writers by Software World. She specializes in writing engaging content that ranks high in search engines and has been featured in publications like Semrush, ConvertKit, and Hotjar.
Dana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and has over 15 years of experience working alongside national brands in their marketing departments.
When Dana’s not working, you can find her dancing en pointe, cooking up new recipes, and exploring the great outdoors with her two big dogs.
Hi Dana! Thank you so much for the article! I´m starting my new online business and I was very lost on how to start my Instagram account and you really helped me! Lots of ideas and now just put everything on practice.
Hey Letty! Such an exciting time — congrats on the new business!
Hey Dana! Thank you so much for this helpful article 🙂
You’re welcome, Meghna!
Thank you, Dana, for the article, I started my online business but took a long break and I was searching on how to launch again and found this article and I must say it is helpful
So happy to hear that, Jane! Best of luck with your re-launch! ❤️
Hi Dana,
Thank you for this post. Am inspired to get an Ig account, I hate writing though. And am super shy of social media. I opened a Facebook business account some two years ago but I hardly go there. How do I make this different?
Hi Funmi!
I can definitely relate. Before I opened up my Instagram accounts for my business, I didn’t have a personal Instagram and I felt uncomfortable and awkward every time I had to post. It’s more common than you might think! What helped me was to schedule social media into my day and force myself out of my comfort zone. Eventually, it will become second nature to post on Instagram and you’ll get over that shy feeling. As for the writing, do you feel more confident speaking? You could always use the speech-to-text function on your phone to audibly caption your Instagram posts, and then go back to edit them for clarity after. Sometimes it’s easier to speak than it is to write, so you might find that this takes the pressure away to write your captions.
I hope I’ve been able to provide some insight for you!
Hey Dana! This was super helpful! I’ll be launching my fashion brand soon! I felt so lost about it, then came across your article. Thankyou so much for this!
Hey Dana! This was amazing. I definitely got a better understanding of how to go about starting my business on Instagram. I was sort of clueless and this indeed helped me a lot. Thank you so much for this 🙂
Hey Dana you really educate me on how to about my instagram business online.Thanks a million.
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Wow. I’ve been reassured of many tips I was actually following correctly without even knowing!
Also, I’ve learnt many great other tips that I can’t wait to put into practice.
Thanks a lot, Dana! Have an amazing 2021.
You’re a natural at marketing! Glad you found some extra tips to help you out 🙂
Hay Dana,thanks for this blog post it is really an eye opener. I changed from one business to another and I feel scared to start from scratch and gain followers again but I have learnt a lot that I can implement to make things work for me..
So glad to hear, Presh! Best of luck with your new biz 🙂
I think this is the first post I’ve come across that ACTUALLY tells me what I need – which is how to start from the VERY beginning. Although I already started my business IG account before reading this post, you have no idea how much I wish I saw this sooner!
Thanks you Dana for this article
You’re welcome, Carole!
Dear Dana, I’m glad for your vast knowledge in instagram I’ll catch up though I am aslow learner
This is what I needed ..to be honest the idea of having a business account for my business is just overwhelming because I had no idea where to start but this blog has just come in handy…thank you Diana!
hey dana…..
I am starting new and first ever my small scale business of ” coloured contact lenses”
and i am litrally blank about what to write in bio and how to intoduce
my instagram page name : elegant_coloured_lenses
Hey Sana! Ask yourself what the benefit is of your contact lenses, a.k.a why would someone want to change their eye color? One benefit might be self-expression. Here’s a super quick example: “express yourself through our colored contact lenses!” I’d write down several different benefits and play around with some different ideas!
Hi Dana,thanks so much for this article, am so happy I came across it…My name is Mercy and am a fashion designer,have got some amazing designs of dresses made already that I can post to start with but I don’t have a brand name yet do I need to have a brand name before I can open a business account?
Hey Mercy!
You can absolutely start posting. You can change your username on Instagram so once you come up with your business name you just need to change your username 🙂
Thanx so much Dana,you’re blessed.i want to know why my posts on Instagram isn’t drawing much attention ,is there something am not doing right? Do I need a qeb page before my posts can draw traffic on ig? How much posts will be tagged too much on my page? Thanx so much for your anticipated response.
Hello! You don’t need a website to get your posts more engagement.It’s hard for me to tell what the issue could be without doing a deep analysis of your IG account but here are some things you might want to look into:
Lastly, remember: sometimes more followers isn’t the answer. Keep working to cultivate a strong relationship with the followers and brand fans you already have! Best of luck!!
Thanks so much this is just what I need. I am a fashion designer, and I have been having trouble introducing my business on Instagram. Despite having created a business account. Now I feel like closing the account and starting all over again.
I can’t wait to implement all your guidelines and watch my online business grow!
Hi! I opened a business page last year September and have been posting without a direction. I have close to 300 followers and have posted alot. But now I want to revamp cause I now have a business logo and I also register my business. I have some posts I found not useful for my page although they are informative.
Now, is it necessary to delete any of my post?
Hi Shakirat, if you’re going a completely different direction you might want to consider archiving your posts (rather than deleting them permanently).
Thank you so much Dana for the informative post. I’m just about ready to open my business account and wasn’t quite sure where to start not being a social media buff.. this information and helpful links have been immeasurably helpful. Thanks again
You’re welcome, Veronica! Best of luck with your new business!
You’re the perfect example of “Good copy”,
I genuinely learned so much for my new IG business account, thank you!!!
Social media is not my forte, but your articles make it seem more “possible”, at least I know where to start now!
I’ll be reading more from you 🙂
(my IG in case anyone wants to support me haha : @paradise.bootcamp, a coding bootcamp for by women FOR WOMEN, on a paradise-like island )
Ah Louise thank you so much! Your comment made my day 🙂
Hi Dana , thank you so much for thus great insight, its like these articles are for me directly because I have been having issues in my business, no sales ,I even do promotion still nothing but after reading these I discovered I have been doing everything wrongly. My Instagram was disabled though I don’t know why they did because I have never violated ig policy. I pray i recover it soon if mot i will open another account and put everything i have learnt here to work. Thank you Dana.
I’m so sorry to hear your account was disabled—that’s incredibly frustrating when you don’t know why! I hope you can get it back, but I’m glad you find these tips useful, Rhoda!
Thank you so much for your heaven sent article. I was contemplating and stressing out on how to introduce my business to Instagram in a few days . Then I came across this and immediately begin taken notes . You don’t know how much you’ve put my overthinking mind at ease.
Dee, I’m so glad you’re no longer stressed – congrats on the new business (or new to Instagram, at least!). Best of luck on your first post!
Hi Dana, thank you so much for putting this piece together. It is fantastically written and couldn’t have come at a better time!
I am introducing my business tomorrow on IG, (yeah I know a bit of a crunch) but I am confident all these tips will still be really helpful. I am looking forward to implementing them and will be sure to follow up with you and let you know how it all went.
Your insight is truly appreciated and again thank you!
Hi Dana, this article was great, I wish I had come across it before I set up my IG account. I have a couple of questions that maybe you can help me with. First, I am an Acrylic paint artist and sometimes I would like my posts to relate to the season, holiday etc. Example would be Fall and Thanksgiving. I would like to introduce those paintings on IG with a fun post. Then follow it with the related paintings. When that holiday etc is over I would remove the post and paintings and wait until the next Holiday etc is coming up. How do I do that? Second if I change to a Business account will I lose my followers or my insights and have to start over? By the way I am 70 yrs old, been painting for about 2 yrs.
Thanks for this post it has been very helpful!!
Hi Sally! I’m so happy to hear you found this information useful and I’m proud of you for pursuing your passion and creating an Instagram account for it!
Here are some answers to your questions:
1. When the holiday is over, should you remove the post? I personally wouldn’t. People who scroll through your feed will see the posts and might think, “hey, I really like that Thanksgiving piece. Maybe I should reach out and see if I can get one for next year.” You can keep your content up on Instagram for as long as you’d like, even if it’s seasonal 🙂
2. If you change to a business account, will you lose any followers or insights? Nope! You can switch back and forth from your accounts as much as you’d like and you will never lose followers as a result of the switch. When you move to a business account, you will get detailed insights for your account and your followers. However, if you choose to switch back to a personal account, you will lose access to those insights. But if you then switch back to a business account, you regain access.
Hope this helps!
Hi Dana
Yes it does! Thanks for the advice and the prompt answers.
Sally
Hi Dana,
I have just opened a business account on Instagram, selling home organizers. However, I do not know how to introduce this business to my friends using my personal Instagram account. Writing and speaking are not my forte. I have been searching for the Instagram post template, quotes everything, but yet, I do not know how to create a post that can be used introduce my business. 🙁
Hi Lily! There’s no pressure for your personal account! Just make sure to link your business account in the caption so your family and friends know how to find your new biz 🙂
Hi Dana, I am about to start up a small cake business and set up an Instagram account. I have had a logo designed and also a cute illustration/caricature of myself in the same style. Would you advise to use this as my 1st post or is it better to use an actual photo of me with a cake? What is more engaging?
Hi Helen! People love seeing real faces, so for your very first post, I’d recommend a picture of you. But save the caricature for down the line to post at a later date 🙂
Thank you, Dana, your article really help with my first post on Instagram.
Your content is so useful that l can’t help reading and reading again. Thanks a lot. Please how to be updated to your posts?
Hey Dana,
Thank you for this amazing article.
I’m starting my new IG business account(from scratch) very soon and I just wanted to know when to start promoting my posts?
Shall I promote my first posts ? Or wait till I get some followers?
Start following, interacting, and posting right away! It’s hard to attract followers when your IG is empty; you’ll need some content to entice people to follow in the beginning 🙂
This has been such a helpful article, thanks for taking the time to put it together! I am new to Instagram and certainly posting. Started a new business and want to post to introduce myself. The guidelines you have are very helpful. Wondering if you have any examples of what a first post to promote or introduce a business would look like? I am visual and that would help the most. Thanks so much!
Hey Dana you really educate me on how to about my instagram business online.Thanks a million.
Hi Dana, I will be launching my fashion business in a months time.I would like to create a video me ft my products but I don’t know what to talk about.Please help me. Thank you.
Hi Grace! Perhaps you can show how to style different pieces, talk about what makes your clothing unique, or tell a bit about what inspired you to start your own fashion business. Congrats, BTW 🙂