How to Do Instagram Marketing in 2026 + 10 Top Instagram Tips
The number of brands incorporating Instagram marketing into their business strategy continues to grow rapidly. While in 2018, only just over 25% of marketers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia used Instagram, by 2026 that number is estimated to be more than 75%.
No wonder… Instagram now has more than one billion active users and an advertising audience of more than 850 million accounts.
Setting Up an Instagram Business Account
Before you start with Instagram marketing, you need a business Instagram account. If you already have one, skip the following tips. If you already have a personal account, skip to step 3 of this guide.
Step 1: Download the Instagram App
Android: ANDROID
Ios: IOS
Step 2: Register
- open the app
- click on “Create New Account”
- enter your email or phone number
- create your username and password
- fill in the remaining profile information and click “Done”
Step 3: Activate Your Business Profile
- click on the 3 horizontal lines in the top right corner of your profile
- click on “Settings” and then on “Account”
- link your Instagram with your Facebook business account (if you have one)
- click on “Switch to Professional Account”
- click “Done”
10 Instagram Marketing Tips You Cannot Afford to Ignore!
1. Use a Business Instagram Account
In case you skipped the previous steps and plan to dive straight into the rest of the tips, here are a few reasons why you should reconsider.
A business Instagram account gives you access to features that you cannot use with a personal account, such as:
- Instagram Insights!
- the ability to create ads on Instagram
- the ability to sell products on Instagram (Instagram Shopping)
- the ability to add contact information and a call-to-action button
2. Clearly Define Your Goals
All social networks are money-making machines. However, you cannot use these machines effectively to your advantage if you don’t know what you are trying to achieve and gain.
Instagram marketing can generate various outcomes depending on the strategy chosen by individual marketers and account owners, such as:
- increasing brand awareness (services, products, news, events ..)
- acquiring new leads (a lead refers to a potential customer who has expressed interest in a product / service)
- reaching a new group of potential clients
- direct sales
You can focus on all of these and much more, but if you don’t set precise goals, you will likely never reach them.
3. Define your audience
Clearly define your target audience so that you can effectively reach the group that is relevant to your business.
Defining your target audience is essential to know when it comes to automation (more about it by clicking HERE), but also when setting up standard paid advertising, or configuring short-term and long-term strategies for your account.
You can boost your Instagram account here
4. Optimize your profile
Instagram BIO (description): you have 150 characters at your disposal to make a great first impression on potential visitors and to let them know why they should stay on your profile and pay attention to it.
Profile photo: in most cases, your profile photo should be your logo.
Your Instagram profile photo is displayed at 110 x 110 pixels, cropped into a circle with a diameter of 110 pixels. However, it is uploaded at a size of 320 x 320 pixels, so you should choose a file large enough to look good even if Instagram changes the way profile images are displayed.
A properly created Instagram BIO and profile photo with the company logo @easycars_sk.
5. Create visually and content-wise interesting content
Instagram is primarily a visual medium, so your posts cannot look average — they need to look great. However, this does not mean that your posts have to be created with professional photography equipment.
Simple, sharp, and with a relevant description and hashtags – an Instagram post from @roseteddy.sk
If your Instagram profile is not managed by a professional agency and you are just a small online store or an individual, it is perfectly fine to post content of this quality. However, if you have bigger goals for Instagram, we recommend entrusting your account to professionals, who will generate content of a higher level.
6. Don’t overdo it with direct selling
A major mistake that many companies make is turning their account into a sales-focused online store. Most of the posts that such brands produce are created exactly in this style.
Such posts have very little value. Most people will ignore them and Instagram’s algorithm will treat the profile’s future content as lower quality and less interesting, which will significantly reduce the potential reach of the profile.
7. Post content and stories at the right time and at the right frequency
Although logic might suggest that more posts = more followers, reach, and more success, the experience and data provided by Instagram do not support this claim.
Too many posts and stories annoys followers, the quality of posts automatically decreases, it comes across as spam, etc.
The recommended number ranges between 1-3 posts per week and 1-5 stories per day.
When it comes to stories, however, we recommend always maintaining at least the minimum of 1 per day! The account then appears active when visited by a potential follower or fan, and active accounts generally achieve better results.
When it comes to adding posts and stories with regard to timing, Instagram Insights – the statistics available directly within the Instagram app – will serve you brilliantly. They will show you the exact time range during which your fans are most active.
8. Use #hashtags correctly
Hashtags were once one of the key ways to increase visibility and reach. Today, due to Instagram’s popularity and their misuse, they no longer hold as much power, but they must still be part of your Instagram strategy.
We recommend using 2-10 hashtags per post – hashtags that are relevant, specific to your segment, and don’t come across as too spammy.
If you want to dive deeper into this topic, you’ll find many articles dedicated to it online.
9. Use story highlights
A recent addition is the ability to create highlighted story albums, in which you can preserve the best content from individual categories/areas that your profile produces, and which can be interesting for new visitors.
Beautifully crafted story highlights (including visually) can be found on the profile @nesia.sk . These include “Videos, Rstudio team, 3D designs …”.
10. Make use of Instagram Shopping
This feature, which is not available for personal accounts, allows you to sell products directly from posts and stories on Instagram.
An example post from the account @dm_slovensko .
We will cover the topic of Instagram Shopping in an upcoming, more in-depth article.
You can boost your Instagram account here
If you want results right away, you can get Instagram followers right now.
Michal Záruba is a digital marketing specialist and a consultant in social media and SEO. For more than 8 years, Michal has been helping brands grow online through strategic content, search engine optimisation and effective communication on platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
On the blog, Michal shares practical tips on how to combine SEO, social media and brand building into one working strategy, focusing on how companies can use modern tools and algorithms so that their brand gains not only reach but also trust.
Alongside creating content, Michal lectures on digital marketing, trains teams and follows new trends in AI and search.