Instagram Adds Analytics, Contact And Promotional Tools For Businesses

Instagram is adding tools for businesses, giving them additional contact, analytics and promotional capabilities to better understand and attract more customers.

“With so many companies using Instagram, and many people on the platform interacting with them, there was a desire from our business community to do more,” said the photo sharing app.

“So we listened. And, after hundreds of interviews with businesses, three key needs became clear—stand out, get insights and find new customers.”

Instagram business

Business accounts can now choose how customers get in touch. A contact button can be set for calls, texts or emails and users can also be provided with directions. Instagram said many businesses prefer emails because comments can be difficult to sort and read if there are too many.

Additional insights will give firms more information about their followers and which posts perform better than others, offering an idea of what kind of content they should do more of. And, if a post has done particularly well, it can be turned into a promoted item directly from within the application.

A target audience can be selected manually, or Instagram can suggest an audience, and then the post is promoted for a specified length of time.

“These business tools are just some of the ways we hope to make growing a business on Instagram that much easier,” said the company. “Business profiles, insights and the ability to promote will be rolling out in the US, Australia and New Zealand in the coming months, and will be available in all regions globally by the end of the year.”

Parent company Facebook has offered business accounts, analytics and promotional post options for some time and the moves should make it easier for the social networking giant to generate more cash from Instagram, which was purchased for $1 billion in 2012.

Advertising provides the bulk of Facebook’s revenue, which has been boosted in recent years by increased marketing spend on mobile and online video platforms.

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