You may have heard that Instagram is set to run boosted posts for businesses and brands, in the same way that its parent company Facebook does. This means that advertisers could soon be able to pay to boost the reach of their posts across the network.  This is great news for small and medium business owners who are looking to increase their exposure to the right audience – which allows them to instantly boost their posts with just a few clicks. Whilst Instagram has not officially announced it, expert programmers have cracked the platform’s latest code and discovered signs that the social media giant is looking to create a ‘boost post’ functionality. Exciting! photo-1444356751607-31f0fd2714f1 This means that business will be able to advertise in a single click to increase their chances of exposure. It’s a much easier way to advertise for entrepreneurs and small business owners, compared to the current Ads Manager on Facebook.  Instagram To Focus on Business The announcement marks the latest development in Instagram’s metamorphosis over the past five years from niche hipster app to social media giant with 500 million monthly users. Its evolution is providing more and more opportunities for advertisers to share their stories and drive action. Alongside rumours of business profiles, Instagram is steadily becoming more and more focused for business Other updates from Instagram include new in-app analytics which will ensure that advertisers have better control over targeting and budget spend as well as business profiles. Some have expressed concern that this prospect of paid method of boosting may become the only way to efficiently reach followers, as some businesses found with their pages on Facebook. According to Tech Crunch, boosted posts will likely be even more in demand as a result of Instagram’s recent algorithm change. Alison Battisby, Director of Avocado Social said: “It’s really encouraging to see more opportunities for small and medium business owners to expand their reach and presence on Instagram. Instagram is steadily catching up with Facebook in terms of becoming a solid business platform.” Watch this space!