The social media platform is introducing a profile option—with three key features for small businesses.
Your Instagram account might not reach Kardashian level, but it should see a boost from the platform’s soon-to-be-released functions.
Instagram will be introducing business profiles—similar to Facebook’s brand pages—along with three new features to make it easier for small businesses to enhance visibility and boost their follower counts.
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In addition to the profiles, Instagram will be adding a contact button, a location tag feature, and the ability for owners to categorize their business through tags. All of these features can help small business owners market their companies and draw in consumers if used effectively, The Next Web reports.
Feature 1: Contact Button
The contact button will provide a dropdown menu where users can email or call a business directly. Previously, Instagram users had to manually input those details or had to click on a link that re-routed them to the business’ website. Current profile descriptions are also limited to 150 characters, so this new feature will free up space to further pique potential customers’ interests.
Feature 2: Location Tag
Developers will be including a location tag feature, which will allow business owners to post their address, complete with a map that will help users find a business. Until the update, owners had to put that information in their bios (again taking up space)—and users had to leave the app to look up where a business was located.
Feature 3: Categories
Lastly, the new business profiles will give people the option to categorize their accounts. If businesses want to be considered a “health/wellness” business, for example, they can tag themselves as that type, so it will be easier to be seen by customers searching for companies under that tag. It also might help users “shed doubt that you’re adding the right account,” according to The Next Web.
Instagram has not announced an official launch date for these features, but they are coming “in the next few months,” Recode reports. It is also unclear whether these features will be available for all accounts or reserved for business accounts.
