In an effort to cater to the businesses that use Instagram as a platform to expand their marketing and branding, the social media site is now offering new analytics and metrics measuring tools to help track activity and engagement.

With a few hundred thousand businesses using the platform as their main form of advertisement and branding efforts (aside from emails), Insta has decided to offer them specialized business profiles, which allow them to create ads directly inside the app. This will prove to be especially useful for the in-house marketing teams of businesses, as well as digital marketing agencies like Home Service Direct and many others that could control the marketing side of a number of different businesses. It is great to see businesses being supported on the platform. In today’s climate, it can be very challenging for a business to make a mark. However, even little things like comparison sites such as Utility Bidder offering businesses the opportunity to compare business energy makes the lives of business owners so much easier.

If you’ve noticed, some business accounts have several pictures in a single post, sort of like an album, with users being able to swipe through the ad to check out the different offerings. In addition to the photo album post, business accounts also have the option to lead customers to their website through clicking a link embedded on an image.

In order to obtain a business account on the ‘Gram, businesses must upgrade their current account, which is currently limited to those who already have a Facebook Page for their business (and of course, they have to cough up coins also).

Some other game changers in the IG business accounts include the ability to send emails or texts, maps and directions to a business location.

As far as analytics go, businesses will be able to see how their posts perform throughout the day, in addition to being able to see the demographics of those who engage the most with their business page, as well as each post. The better their posts perform with users, the more likely they are at being able to increase their Instagram following, and when it comes to business success, this could be extremely important. To give them a head start when it comes to getting noticed, looking into growth services like https://nitreo.com could help you to increase your followers whilst creating content that is relevant and attractive to potential clients. That’s why implementing analytics could help to make the difference in being able to drive your business forward.

We knew it was a matter of time before Instagram gave businesses the ability to promote “Sponsored” content, and these new upgrades mean you’ll be seeing more sponsored ads on your timeline.

Good or bad? We’ll have to wait and see.

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