Instagram is planning to become more business-friendly with three new features designed to increase use of the social media platform at work.
The company identified three desires from businesses to stand out, get insights and find new customers. Instagram Business Tools, launching in the US, Australia and New Zealand in the coming months, will offer dedicated business profiles with new contact buttons and directions, insights from within the app, and the ability to turn well-performing posts into an ad.
Instagram will suggest targeting for the ad to the user, and a call to action button will be added.
In an official blog post announcing the news, Instagram wrote: "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. So we listened."
Facebook, Instagram's parent company, has been targeting business users for some time, launching Facebook at Work and making it easier for companies to communicate with Facebook Messenger with unique company usernames.
"With more than 200,000 advertisers now on Instagram, businesses are looking for ways to stand out to customers, know if what they are doing on Instagram is working and drive business objectives on mobile. That's why we are unveiling business profiles, insights on how all content performs and the ability to promote posts. Instagram Business Tools will be coming to all regions by year's end," said an Instagram spokesperson.
Instagram Business Tools will be available in all regions globally by the end of 2016.
