Growing a Business on Instagram: Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As of 2025, Instagram has emerged as one of the top-most popular social media apps. According to sources, today, Instagram has over 2 billion active users, accounting for 37% of the world's total internet users. For something that started as a photo-sharing app, today Instagram has become one of the most important social media platforms for millions of users to launch, run, and grow thriving businesses. 

Instagram has proven itself to be a powerful platform with its various tools for marketing, brand building, collaboration, and eventually selling products and services. A lot of small business owners to large businesses rely on Instagram Business, and 50% of users interact with brands on Instagram. According to the 2025 Sprout Social Index™, 29% of users have made a purchase on Instagram, making it the third most popular social platform for shopping.

But for many business owners—especially those just starting out—navigating Instagram’s tools, features, and algorithms can be overwhelming. This blog answers the most frequently asked questions entrepreneurs and small business owners have about using Instagram for growth. Whether you're trying to understand the best time to post, how to increase engagement, or how to use Instagram ads effectively, we’ve got you covered with clear, practical insights.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Instagram Strategy for Businesses:

These are the most common questions that people ask to leverage their Instagram strategy in order to build and grow their business.

1. How do I set up an Instagram business account?
2. How to write an Instagram bio for business?
3. How often should I post on Instagram to gain followers?
4. Is Instagram for business free?
5. Are Instagram ads worth it for small businesses?
6. Should I link my Instagram account to other social media accounts?
7. Is there a right time to post on Instagram?
8. How do Instagram hashtags work?
9. How to measure how my business is doing on Instagram?
10. Is it possible to set up a chatbot only using a personal account?
11. How to create a QR code for my Instagram account?
12. Will Instagram recommend content to my users?
13. How do Instagram stories help?
14. What additional tools should a small business owner use to manage Instagram easily?
15. How can a business get more engagement from its Instagram audience?

Let’s dive into the questions that matter most for growing your business on Instagram.

1. How do I set up an Instagram business account?

Business accounts are a great way to grow your business with access to features and tools that are otherwise not present with a personal account. Retailers, small businesses, local brands, service providers, or big brands have Instagram business accounts as it supports business growth. 

While setting up a business account on Instagram, here are the basic steps that you need to follow-

• Start with an Instagram account – You can use an existing personal or creator profile.
• Go to your profile and tap Edit Profile.
• Select “Switch to Professional Account”, then choose a category that fits your business.
• Choose “Business” as the account type.
• Add your contact details (or skip if preferred).
• (Optional) Connect your Facebook Page for more tools across Meta platforms.
• Complete any optional setup steps or skip to finish.
• To show/hide business info like category and contact details, go to Edit Profile > Profile Display.
• You can switch between business, creator, or personal accounts anytime.

On Instagram, you can change your personal profile or professional creator account into a business account to access features that can help you grow your business. Business accounts are best for retailers, local businesses, brands, organisations, and service providers.

2. How to write an Instagram bio for business?

The Instagram Bio section is the most crucial part of your business account that exactly defines who you are as a business, what you do, who your target audience is, what your value proposition is, what makes your business unique, what problems you solve and what sets you apart from your competitors.

The tricky part is that all of this information has to be clear, concise, and articulated in the most encouraging and actionable way possible.

The Bio Section of a Business account has the following-

• Name 
• Username or handle
• Bio Text (150 characters limit)
• Profile Photo (for business logo)
• Link in Bio (1 Clickable link)
• Location (specially enabled for business accounts)
• Contact Buttons- Call, Email, Get Directions (specially enabled for business accounts to users to reach out to the businesses)
• Call to Action Buttons such as Book Now, Order Now, and so on (specially enabled for business accounts for people for users to directly book from the Instagram profile page)
• Story Highlights 
• Business Category (specially enabled for business accounts to set a category that appears under the name. You can either display or hide this information)

3. How often should I post on Instagram to gain followers?

A business should aim to post around 3 to 5 times a week. The frequency of posting at times depends on your brand's audience and geography. But generally, the more static posts, reels, and carousels are done, the higher the chances of discovery for your account, and as such expose your content to a larger audience to ultimately explore your content and follow your page. 

For Instagram stories, however, the frequency is higher. It is normally advised to post 4 stories in a day or at least 1 story every day to maximize visibility.

4. Is Instagram for business free?

Yes, Instagram for business is free to use and you can access all of the basic features that are required for displaying information or content. Even features like business insights, shopping, and promotion are free. 

However, if a business chooses to upgrade to a paid account, then it provides opportunities to scale quickly. For instance, the Paid version has advanced features that promote posts and stories directly from the app or via Meta Ads Manager, a verified blue tick for added credibility to your page, enables broader reach via paid campaigns, deeper insights and business analytics, dedicated customer support, and so on.

5. Are Instagram ads worth it for small businesses?

If targeted properly, Instagram ads can absolutely be useful for small businesses. They help boost visibility, drive engagement, and speed up conversions by placing your brand in front of the right audience. For businesses looking to build awareness quickly or promote specific offerings, ads can be an effective tool—especially when paired with strong creative and smart targeting.

That said, cost can be a major barrier. Instagram’s ad space is relatively expensive compared to other platforms, and ROI isn’t guaranteed—particularly for businesses with tight marketing budgets. So while ads can work well, they’re most beneficial if you have some flexibility in your spending or a clearly defined campaign strategy.

Another important point to consider is how Instagram is now indexing and ranking every user activity more deeply—from the posts users engage with, to the accounts they interact with, and even activity across linked platforms like Threads. This means that paid ads, when aligned with high-quality organic content, can feed into Instagram’s algorithmic signals and improve your visibility not just through ads, but organically as well. For small businesses, this opens up new opportunities to amplify reach and stay discoverable even after the ad has run its course.

So yes, Instagram ads can be worth it—but they work best as part of a balanced strategy.

6. Should I link my Instagram account to other social media accounts?

It is ideal to connect your Instagram account with other social media accounts such as Facebook (Meta) as it allows you to directly post Instagram posts to Facebook newsfeed at the same time, across audiences for more traction. Moreover, linking an Instagram business account with Facebook also helps in easy account recovery in case you get locked out of one of the accounts.

7. Is there a right time to post on Instagram?

In order to increase reach and engagement for your post, it is important to post at the most optimal hours that your target audience is active on Instagram. This usually depends on the type of business you are, the demographics of your audience, audience behavior, audience timezone, and so on. If you are a business associated with recreation or lifestyle, then Fridays to the weekend might work best for you. 

Mid-week is mostly seen as a time for general engagement. 

The type of content also matters during posting. If it is a reel, then afternoon or evening timings could work when users take a break from work to scroll Instagram. But a carousel post relating to growth or strategies works well at the start of the day. 

Instagram’s algorithm rewards consistency. Hence, you can also check your Instagram dashboard for insights and learn about the most active times for your audience and post consistently.

8. How do Instagram hashtags work?

Instagram hashtags (#) mostly work towards categorizing specific content so that it is easier to explore and find similar types of content related to specific topics. When you use a hashtag before any keyword, it basically clubs your content with all the content that is tagged under the same hashtag. Hashtags are clickable and searchable, and therefore make your tagged content easily discoverable by a wider audience beyond your usual feed.

9. How to measure how my business is doing on Instagram?

There is a feature in Instagram called Insights that helps users to measure how your business is doing on Instagram. Once you switch to a business or creator account, you will be able to check business insights. Insights feature allows you to view the overall performance of your content and also look at stats for individual posts or ads, including profile views, post interactions, change in followers count and so on. 

10. Is it possible to set up a chatbot only using a personal account?

No, a chatbot cannot be set up using a Personal Account. A Business or Creator Account is a must to use chatbots or automated messaging tools on Instagram through Meta’s API or third-party platforms.

11. How to create a QR code for my Instagram account?

If you need to create a QR code for your Instagram account, you can navigate using the Instagram app, tap “Share Profile” and then choose “QR code”. This makes your Instagram account easily discoverable by users. You can also customize the way your QR code appears.

There are also third-party apps to generate QR codes with advanced customization options. However, Instagram’s web version doesn’t generate QR codes directly, but you can generate one using a third-party QR code generator.

12. Will Instagram recommend content to my users?

Yes, Instagram’s algorithm works in a way that it shows your content based on what people ‘like’, who they interact with, your post popularity and engagement with your account. However, although Instagram may recommend your content, it is no guarantee that it will be recommended as in the case of paid ads. 

13. How do Instagram stories help?

Instagram Stories are a powerful way to grab attention and create a sense of urgency. Since Stories appear at the top of the feed, they’re often the first thing users see—making them perfect for showcasing new posts, reels, or time-sensitive updates. Stories let you share photos, videos, reshare user-generated content, or static posts that disappear after 24 hours, and you can post multiple times in a day.

They also offer interactive features like polls, Q&As, and AMAs, which make it easy to engage your audience in real time. For businesses, Stories are a great tool to highlight promotions, limited-time offers, or important announcements. That glowing ring around your profile picture signals fresh content, encouraging users to check in. Plus, stories help humanize your brand by making it more relatable by sharing behind-the-scenes tour, approachable, and visible.

14. What additional tools should a small business owner use to manage Instagram easily?

While there are many tools to manage the social media side of your business, here are a few for a start that we have mentioned which will help you get things done in the most effective and streamlined way.

• Sprouts Social- This is an all-in-one social media management platform that helps businesses to effectively manage and grow their social media presence. From content planning to creation to publishing to understanding insights and so on, Sprouts Social manages a consistent posting cadence across all major platforms.
  
• Buffer- It helps in easy scheduling of posts across multiple platforms and with multiple time zones. Buffer helps to queue content, edit caption writing with AI, collaborate with teams, shorten links with their inbuilt link shortening tool and also check the basic analytics for performance insights.‍
• Canva- Instagram is essentially a platform that talks through images and videos. Hence a powerful yet user-friendly design tool such as Canva is a must for every solopreneur and SMBs. The best part is Canva allows pre-sized Instagram templates for posts, stories and reels and is very easy for even non-designers to create content that looks highly professional.‍
• Linktree-  You’ve probably seen the phrase “Link in bio” more times than you can count, right? That’s where Linktree comes in—one of the most underrated yet incredibly useful tools for any business account. Think of it as a mini landing page where you can neatly organize and showcase multiple links—whether it's your website, blog posts, booking pages, or latest offers—all in one place. Just drop your Linktree URL in your Instagram bio, and you're good to go!

💡Know a social media management tool we didn’t mention that offers something unique that we can add to the list? We’d love to hear about it—drop us a message on Instagram and let’s chat!

‍15. How can a business get more engagement from its Instagram audience?

There are several ways to garner more engagement on Instagram and mostly all points out towards frequency and consistency of posts. Businesses need to keep experimenting on the type of content formats that works best for them. 
For instance- If you are a fitness trainer, then your Instagram content should be  dynamic, educational, visually clear and around body-positive transformations. Reels and Stories are ideal for quick workout demos, fitness tips, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into your routine. Carousels can be used to break down exercises, bust common fitness myths, or showcase client transformations. Going Live for Q&As or short classes is a great way to engage your audience in real time. 

Similarly, for kids activity centers, focus could be on content that highlights fun, safety, and learning. Reels and Stories can showcase activities in action, snippets of classes, or event highlights. Carousels work well for educational tips for parents, sharing artwork, or step-by-step overviews of your programs. Parent testimonials, staff intros, and themed weekly updates build trust and relatability. Mixing content formats and maintaining a warm, friendly tone helps make your center more discoverable and engaging to both kids and parents.

Apart from that, in today’s world, collaborations with influencers or niche users and businesses with a good following are a big part to reach a wider audience and get more engagement as such.

Conclusion

Instagram can be a powerful engine for business growth—if you know how to use it right. From understanding when to post and what content works best, to making the most of tools like Stories, Insights, and ads, the key is to approach the platform with intention and creativity. We hope these FAQs have helped clear up some of the confusion and given you the confidence to build a stronger presence on Instagram. Keep experimenting, stay consistent, and remember—genuine engagement always wins.

Got more questions or tips of your own? We’d love to hear from you—connect with us on Instagram!

While social media helps you reach and engage your audience, streamlining operations with the right tools makes everything run smoothly. With Omnify, you get a smart, easy-to-use platform to manage all your classes, events, and bookings in one place. Accept online registrations, stay on top of your calendar, and communicate effortlessly with your team and clients—all from your phone. 

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