If you are wondering whether you should switch to a professional account or stay with a personal Instagram profile, consider what you want to accomplish overall. If you are looking for an Instagram creator account as an influencer, you may choose differently than someone who recently opened a local bakery.
According to several surveys, over 70% of businesses use Instagram as a part of their social media strategy. With several ways to market to their target audience on the platform, setting up an Instagram profile for a business is a relatively cheap marketing tool.
In this article we will go over the differences between business accounts and personal accounts, as well as some of the reasons and usage of a business account.
Business Instagram Account vs Personal
Personal and business accounts are very different and should be presented as such. Your professional account and business profile connected to it will need to display information that personal accounts do not need.
Your professional account is for your Instagram business, connecting people with your Instagram business profile and Instagram posts pertaining to your business.
An Instagram business account is the online presentation of your business. Unlike a personal account, where you can choose who sees your information, business accounts are fully viewable by the public.
While this can be very helpful when building your business’s brand, it is not always what you want when posting to your personal account.
To add to this, an Instagram business account offers a variety of tools to help with reach and connectivity to potential customers.
These tools are unnecessary if you only use Instagram to connect with friends and family.
Benefits of Having a Professional Instagram Account
An Instagram business account has access to key features that allow you to reach a greater audience and grow your brand. Your professional account is the gateway to your Instagram business page, and the tools offered in the Instagram app are the best way to shape your business profile to appeal to your target audience.
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Call to action button
One amazing feature that can help with customer interaction is the Call to Action button. With this you can set up an easy way for customers to do things like
- Set up appointments
- Make reservations
- Place online orders
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instagram shop
A business account can also set up a shop on Instagram using a Meta Business Manager account. From your shop, you can sell your products to Instagram users through Instagram directly.
You can create links to your products directly from your Instagram business profile. These shoppable Instagram posts can be the key to making your IG business account stand out in the world of online marketing.
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Instagram insights
When building an Instagram business profile, it is important to keep track of all the interactions your Instagram business has with the public. The Instagram Insights tab allows you do this with ease.
Instagram Insights allows a business to track a ton of different metrics including:
- Number of Instagram accounts reached and engaged
- Users interactions with your content
- How many plays your videos have
- Total followers of your business account
This information is important when growing your business account to better understand how to reach your target audience.
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Instagram ads
If you want to make Instagram Business posts that can reach a very large audience, your business account has the ability to turn posts into ads.
To turn a post on your Instagram business account into an ad
- Find the post on your Instagram business profile you would like to boost into an ad
- Under the image on the post, tap the Boost button
- Fill in the required information about your ad
- Goal – your expected result from the ad
- Audience – the type of people you want to see your ad
- Budget – the amount you want to spend each day to run your ad
- Duration – length of time you want your ad running
- Link your Facebook business page or Skip
- Finally, tap Boost Post to complete your ad
(To create an ad on a new post from your business account on Instagram, simply tap Create Ad before sharing your post.)
These tools offered to Instagram business accounts can be instrumental in your ability to grow your business online. Using them properly can take your business account to the next level of online marketing.
Who Should Use an Instagram Business Account?
An Instagram business account is for new or established businesses. The tools offered have very little use outside of the business world. For most people, a personal account will offer everything they need.
Creating an Instagram account for people whose business accounts have a Facebook page on Facebook Marketplace can be a great way to grow. You can connect your business account on Instagram to your business Facebook page to reach a larger market.
If you are starting a business, and want to separate your Instagram personal account from your new professional account, creating a separate business account on Instagram will keep the activity of your business away from your personal profile feed.
Tips for Using an Instagram Business Account
Instagram business accounts are the gateway to your business. Because of this, your business profile should have all the information a customer will need to contact and find your business.
The Public Business Information section of your business profile allows you to easily put your business’s contact details: address, email, and phone number.
Instagram business profiles also offer a nice customer interaction tool unavailable on your personal profile.
Your business profile will probably have more comments on posts than personal Instagram accounts. To avoid feeling overloaded trying to reply to every one of these, you can set up Quick Replies.
In the Quick Replies section of your account settings, you can set up pre-written responses to commonly asked questions.