Now that you've converted to an Instagram Business Profile, you now have the tools at your fingertips to help your business be more easily recognized and discovered by the people who matter. Perhaps you’ll learn more about your audience with Instagram Insights, just one of the features a Business Profile offers. Or perhaps you'll promote your business to new audiences. We’ll go into more detail about these tools in upcoming posts in this series, but for now, we’re turning our attention to what Instagram was made for: creating and sharing great content, easily.

Inspiring, eye-catching content not only brings your message to life, but also helps you grow your business by prompting people to interact with your business. Three-quarters of accounts on Instagram say they typically take action after being inspired by a post they’ve seen..

The businesses that get the best results from Instagram are the ones that post consistently and create a clear style and look for their posts. For some, that might mean fun photos or videos and quirky captions. For others, it’s simple photos, inspiring quotes or exciting photography and effects. On Instagram, there are plenty of ways for businesses to stand out creatively without big budgets or special equipment. In most cases, just a mobile phone is all you need to get started.

Instagram is constantly investing in finding new ways to serve its community better. To make the most of all that’s on offer, experiment with new tools and formats, and you might just find a new winning formula for your business. Photos and videos are some of the easiest ways to showcase your products, but by using some of the creative tools on offer it’s even easier to up your game. Take a look:

• Instagram Stories are used by over 250 million accounts and it’s growing fast. Why? Because this dynamic format allows people to post time-limited content that disappears after 24 hours. It doesn’t sit in your business profile grid or in the feed, so think of it as a way to offer an exclusive sneak-peek behind the scenes of your business, or a way to preview products and offers.
• Boomerang from Instagram allows you to turn video into fun, engaging mini video loops that’ll entertain your audience. In fact, 25% of videos shared in Stories are Boomerangs, so that’s a great place to give it a try.
• Hyperlapse lets you create high-quality time-lapse videos from your phone that stabilizes your shots with no extra equipment required. Businesses love it as a way to share events or progress over a period of time—reduced down into a slick, short, compelling video.

Ready to get creative but wondering where to start? Well, take a look at these hand-picked examples of how other businesses have used simple, yet effective, creative approaches to stand out with Instagram:

Healthy-eating brand Inspiralized used Boomerang to create captivating video for its Mothers Day ad campaign. Boomerang proved to be the perfect way to showcase Inspiralized’s products in action and encourage viewers to take action.

Italian seafood-themed takeaway business Pescaria has grown its business with Facebook and Instagram, largely thanks to its mouth-watering photos posts themed around the day’s restaurant specials, local produce and neighborhood scenery. Pescaria’s lively updates share a common look and feel that showcases its products and brand personality to perfection.

Huit Denim, on the other hand, has taken its Instagram feed in a very different, but equally powerful direction. Carefully curated photos, often monochrome, reflect the moody landscape that houses the small Welsh denim company and conveys the brand story through a distinctive, glossy-magazine style aesthetic.

Have fun experimenting with all the possibilities Instagram has to offer your business. Check out The Top 10 Creative Apps vetted by Facebook's Creative Shop as the most useful for businesses. These smartphone apps will help take your photos and videos to the next level.

In the next post of this series, when we’ll be talking about how to reach your customers with Instagram and turn interest into sales.

You can also take free, online training courses to help you better understand how to use Instagram to build your business.