Update to original post as of 17/09/2018 at 10 am [PT] ¹

Today, there are more than 200 million daily active Instagrammers visiting a business profile each day.² As people spend more time on Instagram exploring and sharing their passions, how do you make sure that your brand stands out from amongst the rest?

Here are some different ways that your business can get started on Instagram and build creative that drives real business results.

1. Make your brand the lead actor.

Use different elements of your brand, such as brand logos, colours and products when making ads. This will allow your business to establish its brand identity, create a holistic creative experience for your community and drive brand recall.³

2. Create for mobile first.

As more and more people interact with content on their mobile devices, make sure that you bear this audience in mind when creating on Instagram – especially since mobile may be one of the best ways to reach them. Think creating 'thumb-stopping' designs on mobile.

3. Fully utilise your vertical canvas.

On mobile, people's attention span is much shorter, so make sure that you create content that instantly grabs your audience. The visual, immersive nature of Instagram and the vertical format makes it easy for your business to do just that – driving more engagement and inspiring action as a result.

4. Design for an objective.

Whether repurposing existing assets or creating new ones, make sure that each part of your creative works together to help you achieve your overall business goal. For example, if you're looking to increase mobile app installs, then use creative that aligns with that messaging and highlight with a call-to-action button.

1. Highlight your brand in three seconds.

When creating content, make sure that you put the most captivating moments of your creative within the first few seconds of the video as a hook. This will allow your message and story to be seen by the most viewers from the very beginning.

2. Get creative with in-platform features.

In-platform features such as stickers, GIFs and different typefaces allow you to be more creative with your content on Instagram, while tools such as Rewind and Boomerang let you bring your videos to life in fresh, immersive ways – helping your story feel more organic as a result.

3. Tailor the creative to an objective.

Whether your business is looking to increase video views, drive app installs or sell more products, it's important to design with an objective in mind when creating content on Instagram. Something as simple as using the 'Swipe Up' feature as a call to action may be the difference between making a sale or losing a potential customer.

4. Repurpose existing assets.

Now that Instagram provides full-screen support for all ads in Instagram Stories, it's easier for your business to create native ad experiences in stories without having to build new content. It's a great a way to share existing content vertically and utilise the immersive nature of Instagram Stories.

To discover how businesses of all sizes such as Samsung Australia (@samsungau), Beanpole Outdoor (@beanpole_official) and Zexy (@zexyrecruit) have successfully created thumb-stopping content on Instagram, take a look at their success stories here.