In 2021, most companies already know the value of social media for their business. Having a robust social media presence is key to furthering awareness of your brand, gaining customer leads and getting more clicks to your website. But as social media platforms change, so do their features. There are tools specific to Instagram Business accounts that you probably already have available to you, whether you know about them or not. Plus, here are some examples for how to apply them.

Tool 1: Get Your Website in an Instagram Story (Even if You Don’t Have 10,000 Followers)

Instagram Business accounts with 10,000 followers or more are given the privilege of including a link within Instagram Stories thanks to the popular “Swipe up for more” feature. However, I recently learned there is a way around this, for newer Instagram accounts or for businesses who aren’t at that 10,000-follower milestone yet.

How to Apply It

Create a Story. Among the sticker options you can choose from, there is the “@Mention” sticker, which people usually use to mention other Instagram accounts. If instead you mention your own account, you can direct followers to the link in your bio. To encourage users to click on your mention sticker, you can add text pointing to it and asking followers to click on it to schedule with you or view a specific product. This blog post gives a great example of how to pull off this maneuver. (Related: If your account is approved for Instagram Shopping, you can add product stickers to Stories, too.)

Tool 2: Keep Videos Simple

During “normal” times, you might have access to a budget and a video production team. However, everyone has had to adapt during the pandemic, and slightly lower quality video has become a lot more acceptable, especially for social media.

How to Apply It

According to Instagram, Lo-fi style video — or videos with a DIY look and feel — is trending amongst businesses and brands looking to engage customers on an authentic level. Seek out videos from satisfied customers or even your employees, who use and love your products, to crowdsource content. Plus, Stories are not limited to the 24-hour shelf life they had when Instagram first debuted them. Now you can save the videos you love most by pinning them to the top of your profile so they will be the first things your followers see when they view your account.

Tool 3: Cross-Promote Between Instagram Business and Your Facebook Page

Most companies that promote on Instagram also have a Facebook page. That said, if you don’t have the latter yet, you might be missing out. Because Instagram is owned by Facebook, and because Facebook has such targeted advertising options available, you can achieve a lot by sharing your Instagram content to a fresh audience over on Facebook. You also can’t run an Instagram ad without also having an associated Facebook page, unfortunately.

How to Apply It

Adjust your settings to automatically share your company’s Instagram posts to your company’s Facebook page. The results look seamless since the two are formatted to work well together. Once you’re there, you can set up an ad campaign on Instagram and Facebook to get more followers, more eyes on your latest product or more clicks to your website. You can target ads by ZIP code, very specific demographics and much more.

These are just a few examples of how to make the most of Instagram Business account, but there are a lot more untapped resources. Share your own tips in the comments below and check out business.instagram.com for case studies and other tips.