Instagram Is Launching New Tools for the 25M Businesses that Use It

25 million businesses are now on Instagram, so the network is gaining new tools

Instagram's newest feature lets users in on its algorithm. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

In September, Instagram showed user growth that has the platform on pace to hit a billion users as soon as next year — but individual users aren’t the only ones growing the platform. On Thursday, November 30, Instagram reached 25 million businesses on the social network. To celebrate that milestone, it will be rolling out new insights for business users over the next few weeks.

That number climbed by 10 million in less than half a year, since the platform’s business count sat at just 15 million in July. A large majority of companies on the platform, Instagram says, are small businesses.

“Through the visual content they share, businesses are making valuable connections and sparking conversations with people like never before,” the announcement reads. “Instagram is increasingly becoming the primary digital presence for these businesses.”

So how much reach do those 25 million businesses have? Instagram says that over 80 percent of users follow a business on the social network. Every day, those businesses see profile visits from around 200 million users every day and around two-thirds of those visits come from users who don’t already follow the company.

Shopping on Instagram has also grown, the company says, with many of the successful businesses that sell directly on the platform using shopping hashtags to reach new users.

A survey conducted by Morning Consult earlier this year showed that one out of every three U.S.-based small- to medium-sized businesses said Instagram helped build their business. In another survey, 45 percent of businesses said they increased sales because of Instagram.

Businesses will soon be able to get a better idea of where their Instagram efforts are making the most impact. Instagram says that new insights that will show businesses how new followers discovered them, offering data on how many new followers came from the feed, location tags, hashtags or the explore section. The company didn’t detail exactly how the new insights will work, but said the new tool will be rolling out globally over the next few weeks.

Instagram has also already launched a toolkit for businesses to use during the holidays, which includes different resources from product photography tips to using Instagram Business Tools.

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