So far in this series, we’ve explored some of the best ways to make your business stand out with a little help from Instagram. From setting up a Business Profile to creating awesome content, to harnessing the combined power to Facebook and Instagram, and tapping into Insights, you’ve got the foundations in place for success.

Now you’ve found a wealth of ways to stand out with Instagram, it's a great time to plan ahead and make your ambitions a reality for 2018.

Get ready to have your best year ever with Instagram. A little planning goes a long way, so take some time to think about what you want to achieve in 2018 and how you'll do it. If that sounds daunting, look no further than our tips for planning ahead the easy way. Ready?

Think about the year ahead. What are some of the major upcoming milestones that are meaningful to your followers? Perhaps it’s family time and holidays like Easter and Mother’s Day. Or perhaps it’s major sporting or cultural events—or a combination of these. And what’s meaningful to your business? Think in terms of peak shopping periods, anniversaries, new product launches and announcements. Start to map your year around major milestones, so that you can be ready for every single one, as it happens.

It might be months away, but what does summer festival season mean to you and your audience? How about Black Friday? For every major milestone in your year ahead, start thinking about the kind of content you can create: consider themes, places, people, potential collaborations, relevant products and offers. Step outside of your comfort zone and plan to try new approaches, too. If you haven't used Instagram Stories much yet, 2018 could be your year to master them. If you're wondering about advertising, plan to experiment on a small scale around Valentine's Day, for example.

Now you have an idea of what’s ahead, it’s time to make a plan. Month-by-month, what’s your Instagram focus? What do you want to achieve, who do you want to reach and how can you do it? You might not have all of the answers right now, but it’s good to have even a rough idea of where you’re heading. You can refine the plan as you go along, helped by Insights.

Instagram is great for sharing spontaneous moments day-to-day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t plan ahead, too. So, just how far ahead should you be planning campaigns and content? Well, as a rule of thumb, it’s good to be thinking a good few months ahead when it comes to major campaigns and activity periods like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and back-to-school season. Make use of Facebook Ad Manager, where you can plan and schedule campaigns across Facebook and Instagram well in advance.

Instagram opens up the world to businesses, giving them access to a highly engaged and creative community of more than 500 million active daily accounts. And that number is growing. Make 2018 the year you stand out with Instagram—and achieve more than you ever imagined possible.

To learn even more Instagram for business skills, explore our free courses on Blueprint and download the 5 ways to stand out PDF here.