With over 3 billion active monthly users, Instagram is one of the busiest intersections online. But figuring out how to turn all that potential into a real Instagram marketing strategy? That’s the real question.
Find out what works on Instagram right now and how to build a strategy that fits your goals and your audience, no matter your industry.
Key Takeaways
- Instagram marketing is the practice of using Instagram to grow your brand through organic posts, ads, influencers, and shopping tools.
- Stories are the most popular format on Instagram, Reels deliver the most reach, and Carousels drive the highest engagement.
- Success comes from strategy, not guesswork. Knowing your audience, tying your content to business goals, and showing up consistently are key for a strong Instagram performance.
- The right tools save hours. Tools like Hootsuite streamline workflows, approvals, insights, and reporting for teams at scale.
What is Instagram marketing?
Instagram marketing is the practice of using Instagram to grow your brand awareness, audience, leads, and sales.
Instagram marketing strategies include:
- Organic content. Photos, videos, Carousels, Reels, Stories
- Paid content. Instagram ads, including Stories ads, Shopping ads, and more
- Influencer marketing.
- Shopping tools. Live shopping, Instagram Checkout, Shopping ads
Why market on Instagram?
Instagram has more than 3 billion active monthly users, making it the world’s second-most-used social media platform. If you run a business of any kind, your customers (present and future!) are absolutely on the app.
86% of Instagram users say they visit the app to watch entertaining content. But do you know what else they’re doing there?
Looking for things to buy.
That’s right: 62% of users use Insta to follow or research brands and products. And 37% will make a purchase via the platform this year.
So get out there! Make some new bffs… in the name of business! (Want more intriguing Instagram statistics? Here’s our extensive list.)
How to Create an Instagram Business Account
You set up Instagram for marketing by switching to a professional account, which unlocks analytics (called Insights), advertising tools, and new account controls for your business.
Here are step-by-step instructions for switching to an Instagram business account:
1. Head to your Instagram profile page and hit the three horizontal lines in the top right corner.
2. Tap Settings and privacy.
3. Scroll down to Account type and tools.
4. Tap Switch to professional account.
5. Choose Continue and continue through the prompts
6. Choose the category that best describes you or your brand. Depending on your category type, you may be prompted to clarify if you’re a Creator or a Business. Both types of accounts have access to analytics and advertising tools, so choose whichever suits you best. Tap Next.
7. Review your contact information and update it as required.
How to create an Instagram marketing strategy
To create an Instagram marketing strategy, define your goals, learn what your audience responds to, and build a content plan around both. Here’s how to do it.
Oh, and remember: your Instagram plan works best when it’s part of your larger social media strategy, not something you plan in a silo.
Psst: Looking for inspiration to grow your business on Instagram? Learn more about how to use Instagram for business for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Understand your audience
If you don’t know who’s reading your posts, it will be hard to create engaging content. A strong Instagram marketing strategy starts with a deep understanding of your target market.
Where do they live? How old are they? Where do they like to hang out online? What kind of hashtags or online communities are they a part of? Look at your analytics and data from your offline marketing efforts, too, to see who you’re talking to.
Once you know who you’re talking to, everything else clicks into place — your content, your tone, your ideas. Just think about it: your Instagram presence will be very different if your followers are teen boys from India or suburban grandmas from Canada.
Learn more about defining your social media target market here.
Make the best Instagram profile possible
Think of your business profile as your first impression, so you want to get it right.
Similar to a business card, there’s limited space to share everything you want, so make sure you have a snappy bio packed with as many SEO keywords as possible.
Or, take a page out of this wine club’s book and get playful with the emojis. (Maybe you want to take advantage of Instagram Story highlights to showcase some past content, too.)
It’s also best practice to make sure all your contact details are filled out and your URL is working. You’ll also want a high-res professional profile image that aligns with your business’ branding.
For more tips on making the best Instagram profile possible, here’s our deep dive into optimizing your social media profiles.
Align your social strategy with your business goals
Before your team starts posting up a storm, take a beat to make sure your social plan serves your bigger business goals.
Optical company Warby Parker, for example, regularly posts non-glasses-related content — for instance, a meme about soup. We’d take a good guess this sort of content is part of the company’s broader business goal to make the brand seem fun, approachable, relatable and human. (Or maybe they’re about to pivot into DTC soup; we’re speculating here.)
So, if you’re all about creating brand awareness, make a social plan geared towards exposure and reach. Or, if you’re hoping to build your database of leads this year, your social strategy should be built around driving traffic into your sales funnel.
In other words, there should be a reason behind everything you do.In case it’s helpful, here’s a primer on how to set social media goals that make sense for your business needs.
Create a content calendar
What’s the best way to plan, organize, and scale your content? A content calendar. It helps your team brainstorm content pillars and plot our social content in advance – no more off-the-cuff posts.
By carving out dedicated time to plan and prep in advance, you’ll be more efficient (and definitely less prone to typos.) Learn more about creating a social media content calendar here.
Schedule your posts in advance
With a scheduling tool (like Hootsuite, ahem), you can batch-prep a week or month’s worth of posts when you’re in the creative zone for maximum impact.
Scheduling your Instagram posts is also a great way to make sure you’re posting when your audience is most likely to be online. (Hot tip: Hootsuite will actually analyze your past posts and suggest unique-to-you times and dates for maximum engagement. What a sweetie.)
You can even schedule Instagram Stories, too!
Never miss a mention (or keep an eye on the competition)
Instagram marketing isn’t just about what you’re putting out into the world. It’s about being responsive and receptive to the people who are talking to and about you, too.
Social listening is a key component of a strong Instagram marketing strategy. With Hootsuite Streams, you can track mentions, keywords and search terms most applicable to your business.
Want a running feed of industry news? Looking to catch all those Tweets that misspell your business name? Custom search streams will make sure you never miss an opportunity to react.
Get familiar with the algorithm(s)
Instagram’s algorithms control what winds up in people’s feeds, what makes the cut on the Explore page, and what winds up languishing in Instagram purgatory. If you wanna succeed on the platform, you better study up.
Put simply, Instagram’s algorithms look at information about content (Reels, feed posts, and Stories) and information about users (interests and behavior on the platform) to serve the right content to the right people.
Each algorithm considers information about the post (like relevance and popularity), the person who posted, your history of interaction with them, and your activity across the platform.
Want to learn more about best practices for mastering Instagram’s algorithms? We’ve got posts on Instagram’s primary algorithm as well as the ones that govern Reels and the Explore Page.
Experiment with different formats
While Instagram started as a simple photo-sharing app in 2010, the platform is a very different beast these days. Instagram now offers a variety of formats to explore.
You can cultivate the perfect Instagram grid on your main feed and share photos, videos or even carousels of pictures.
Instagram Stories have a prime, top-of-the-feed position, capture millions of views daily…and disappear after 24 hours.
Instagram Reels, meanwhile, are a chance to play with short-form video.
Most businesses try a mix of these different content styles. What’s best for your unique needs? Well, there’s only one way to know what works best for your audience: get postin’, kid.
Build for retention
Everyone wants more reach, but reach doesn’t mean much if people don’t stick around. Retention is where real growth happens.
So how do you keep people around? At the end of the day, retention is built on quality content and engagement. Post consistently. Respond to comments. Invite your audience into the conversation (polls, questions, etc.).
Luckily, measuring retention just got easier. This year, Instagram added new retention metrics for every Reel, so you can see the exact moment attention dips. If people drop off in the first three seconds, your hook needs work. If the line stays steady, you’ve got something worth repeating.
When Instagram sees your audience watching your Reels, tapping through your Stories, and swiping your Carousels, the algorithm will push your posts to more people like them.
Try out a livestream
Instagram’s livestream feature offers a unique (and extremely engaging) opportunity to broadcast live to your followers.
Whether you’re giving a behind-the-scenes tour, sharing an exciting product update, taking questions from your audience, interviewing a brand ambassador, or even selling your wonderful wares, Instagram live streams are a thrill to audiences—a chance for an intimate interaction with the brands they love. (And you can repost that Live content to your feed later, too.)
Here’s everything you need to know about going live on social.
Set up an Instagram Shop
Instead of directing customers from your account to your website, Instagram Shopping allows them to select and purchase products easily from the Instagram app.
An Instagram Shop is a brand’s customizable digital storefront. It allows customers to shop right from your Instagram profile.
Think of it as a landing page where users can discover or browse all your products. If you sell tangible goods, your Instagram Shop is a great opportunity to capture a ready-to-buy market right on the app… especially if you actively tag products in your Stories and Posts.
Find a step-by-step guide to setting up your Instagram Shop here.
Boost top-performing posts
Maybe Instagram advertising isn’t a fit for your business, but you still would love to get some exposure to a new audience. If that’s the case, Instagram’s boosting option is a lifesaver.
Just set the budget at your comfort level, define a target audience, and pay to give a regular Post a little extra juice. You can even boost Instagram posts right in Hootsuite—and then get back to your social media monitoring and scheduling in the very same dashboard.
Measure content performance with analytics
The best Instagram marketing strategy is built on a foundation of knowledge. And the data you need for peak performance is right here in front of you, thanks to our old pal analytics.
Instagram’s own Insights offer plenty of, well, insight into which posts are doing well, which Stories are popping off, and exactly how many people saw your latest Reel. This info is incredible feedback to help you take your next batch of content even further—you’ll see what worked, what didn’t, and where some tweaks might be helpful.
Hootsuite’s own Analytics tool is really, really great for Instagram, too. (Really!) You can even schedule auto-reports that track your preferred metrics in a visually appealing package to really wow your team.
Ultimately, there isn’t really any special trick to creating a great Instagram marketing plan: it’s all the same stuff that will make any of your social media accounts pop.
What are the most popular types of content on Instagram?
The most popular types of Instagram content are Stories, Reels, and Carousels, each serving a different purpose.
Instagram Stories = most popular
Instagram Stories are by far the most popular format on Instagram, according to a recent Metricool study.
Brands love them because they’re quick to make, don’t require heavy editing, feel spontaneous, and disappear after 24 hours — which creates a built-in FOMO. They’re also one of the easiest ways to drive people to your website, a product page, or your latest campaign.
Instagram Reels = most reach
Stories win in popularity, Reels win in reach. They’re Instagram’s most “algorithm-friendly” format, built to travel beyond your follower list. If your goal is reach or discovery, Reels outperform every other format on the platform by a mile.
Carousels = most engagement
If the goal is more interaction (likes, comments, swipes, saves), Carousels are the strongest format. They consistently delivered the highest engagement rate (around 10%), according to a study of 5 million posts.
Most popular posts
As of November 2025, the most popular posts by number of likes were all by celebrities (save for one enigmatic egg).
But what’s interesting is that the celeb posts that continue to drive engagement are all deeply personal — pregnancy announcements, dramatic makeovers, wedding photos, or jokey posts with friends. They’re not pushing tickets to their soccer games or advertising their movies. They’re being (seemingly) authentic, and fans connect with that in a big way.
So, even if you’re a brand and not a pregnant Kylie Jenner, there are ways to tap into that desire for connection. Get personal. Be silly. Express your values creatively. Showcase the people and personalities behind the scenes.
Helpful Instagram marketing tools: free & paid
The best Instagram marketing tools are the ones that help you plan, schedule, analyze, and optimize your content efficiently. Here’s a list of tools that help you do just that:
1. Hootsuite
Hootsuite helps you plan great content, boost your follower count, and rack up more sales on Instagram — in way less time, with way less effort. Grow your account, manage all of your Instagram marketing in one place, and save time with Hootsuite, your all-in-one social media management tool.
- Create engaging content using built-in creative AI tools, a hashtag generator, Canva editing tools, and more
- Schedule posts, Carousels, Stories, and Reels in advance
- Get personalized recommendations for the best times to post on Instagram to reach more people
- Boost organic posts and Reels with just a few clicks
- Answer comments and DMs from all your Instagram accounts
- Keep tabs on competitors, industry leaders, and relevant influencers who could turn into future partnerships
- Track your results in real-time
- Download custom reports to showcase your success
- Handle Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest from one dashboard
2. Ads Manager
Ads Manager serves as a shared platform for both Facebook and Instagram — it’s a tool for creating and monitoring advertisements on Meta’s social networks. It offers advertisers access to Facebook’s targeting capabilities and the flexibility to run campaigns on both platforms.
Once your campaign is rolling, you can make modifications, engage with comments, and monitor performance. The Amount spent and Cost per result sections are there to help you gauge the effectiveness of your spend.
3. Instagram hashtag generator
Give your feed posts, Reels, and Stories a dash of viral magic with this Instagram hashtag generator. Everybody knows hashtags are social media’s secret sauce, but who has time to come up with them from scratch? This handy hashtag helper can do it for you.
4. Instagram username generator
Get a list of Instagram name ideas in a few seconds flat. It’s the perfect tool for businesses or individuals looking to nail it on Insta. Just answer a few Qs, and this AI username generator will whip up a list of inspiring handles to get you started on your Instagram marketing journey.
5. Instagram bio generator
Your bio is your chance to tell the world what you’re all about (within the character limit, of course). Give your Instagram profile a refresh with this quick Instagram bio generator. It works for business and personal accounts.
6. Canva
Visuals are everything on Insta, but we aren’t all graphic design specialists. Luckily, Canva can help you create eye-catching images and simplify your content creation process.
It even integrates with Hootsuite, so you can use templates made specifically for social media and save time bringing your ideas to life.
7. Content ideas generator
We know, we know: saying “build a content calendar” is easier said than done. If you need some help getting the creative juices flowing, this AI-backed content ideas generator is here to help. Answer a few Qs and you’ll be given ideas for social media posts, blog posts, videos, and more.
8. Panoramiq Insights
Panoramiq Insights seamlessly integrates robust Instagram analytics into your Hootsuite dashboard. (Oooh!) With Panoramiq, you can delve into account activity, explore follower demographics (very useful for targeted campaigns), and gauge the effectiveness of your Posts and Stories.
9. Instagram caption generator
A picture is worth a thousand words, so you gotta think words themselves have a pretty big impact, too, right? (And our experiments with Instagram captions prove it.) Generate Instagram captions in seconds with this AI-powered Instagram caption writer.
10. Engagement rate calculator
Your engagement is everything: it defines just how much you’re connecting with your audience. Determine your social media return on investment (ROI), enhance your media kit, and figure out which posts work and which need work with this easy engagement rate calculator tool for Instagram.
11. Adobe Lightroom
If Instagram’s editing options are falling short, it might be time to experiment with Adobe Lightroom CC. The app simplifies the use of professional photo editing tools and can even be enhanced with downloaded Lightroom presets.
Find more amazing tools marketers should use for Instagram here.
Instagram marketing FAQs
What is the best Instagram marketing strategy for 2025?
The best Instagram strategy in 2025 is one that hits two marks: it resonates with your audience and ladders back to your goals. Pay attention to what your followers respond to, then build a content rhythm that actually moves your business forward.
How do brands grow on Instagram using Reels, Carousels, and Stories?
Brands grow on Instagram by using each format for what it does best. Research shows Stories are the most popular format, Reels deliver the most reach, and Carousels drive the highest engagement. When you use them intentionally together, you cover reach, retention, and engagement in one strategy.
What should businesses post on Instagram to increase reach?
To increase reach, businesses should focus on Reels with strong hooks, timely content (trends, FAQs, “what you need to know”), and posts that encourage shares. Reach follows relevance. The more useful/entertaining/helpful your content feels, the farther it travels.
How do I optimize Instagram content for engagement and conversions?
Engagement grows when your content gives people something to do — swipe, vote, answer, save. Conversions grow when you pair that same clarity with clean CTAs, product tags, and link stickers. The easier you make the next step, the more people will take it.
How do marketing teams measure Instagram performance effectively?
Strong teams go beyond vanity metrics, tracking a mix of reach, engagement, retention, and conversions. Tools like Instagram Insights or Hootsuite make it easier to monitor trends over time, spot what’s working, and share quick reports with the rest of your team. The real goal: use data to make your next post smarter than your last.
Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. Publish and schedule posts, find relevant conversions, engage your audience, measure results, and more — all from one dashboard. Try it free today.
