If you own a business, you should have an Instagram business account. It's as simple as that. With a business account comes many perks and analytics directly in the app to help you target your core audience effectively.
When you set up an Instagram business account, you will gain access to their powerful Insights analytics. In the insights hub, you will be able to view your audience:
- demographics (age, income, gender)
- number of followers gained and lost through the week
- peak posting times and days based off your own page's data
- number of impressions your post reach and how many of them are unique
- updates daily with 7-day rolling tracking period
- tag items in photo from your e-commerce store
- and much more
In addition, you will be able to create promotions for posts and stories.
If you're wondering if you can just sign up for a business account as a brand and skip the personal account--sorry, you unfortunately can not. You must create a personal account and switch over.
Should I switch to an Instagram "Business Account" or "Business Profile"?
A business account and business profile are essentially the exact same. Both give you access to the exact same tools, neither one offers more than the next. The main difference between the two are the intro screens (one is in color, one is not). The only other major difference is tt a switching to a business account will allow you to create a new account vs converting your existing account. Switching to a Business profile and "converting your existing account" are equivalent in this sense. Therefore, simply switching your account to business profile is the best route.
How-To Switch From a Personal Account to a Business Account
**I used my personal account for this demonstration.
From your personal account, access the Settings feature at the very bottom of your hidden sidebar. From the setting menu, select Account and scroll down to "switch to business profile".
To access the sidebar and switch to business profile:
Profile page > Swipe Left > Settings > Account > Switch to Business Account
Next steps,
When you switch to a business account, the screens you follow will look like this:
When you switch to a business profile, the screens you follow will look like this (one less screen, not in color, gives the option to create a new account or connect your existing page. Convert your existing page is usually the choice here if you use this method):
Tip: Switching to a Business Account is the best route to take here.
After selecting continue through all steps, you will end up at the same screens asking you to:
- select a category describing what you do
- enter contact information for your business
Once you select done, you will notice a few subtle changes to your profile. You will now have your selected category under your Profile Name Line and contact information buttons. In addition, you will now be able to link an e-commerce store, create promotions, accept payments, schedule appointments and so much more.
Before and After:
Insights will open up a whole new world for your business...after 7 days. Instagram insights are tracked on a rolling 7-day schedule that updates every night at 12:00 am pst. After 7 days, you will be able to track trends and demographic hot spots that you can target.
Here is what your Instagram insights will look like on Day 1:
You will also have insights on each post made after switching to a business account. I recommend a brand switch over immediately to get insights from your first post.
Here are insights from my entertainment blog to give you an idea of what you will see when insights are available:
Post Insights
Impressions, Reach and More
And there you have it. You have officially converted your personal account into a business account, getting you one step closer to unlocking powerful insights that you can use to target your niche market accordingly.
If for some reason you need to Switch back to a Personal account, you are able to but will risk losing all of your insights.
How to switch back to a personal account:
Profile page > settings > account > Swtich back to Personal Account
If you switch back to a personal account you will have to start over with insights.
