If reading that title made you go, ‘yeah I already know the differences’, then why not read on - you might learn something new. If reading that title made you go, ‘wait, there’s more than one type of Instagram account?’ Then, welcome, pull up a chair, this one’s for you.

Instagram is everyone’s favourite photo sharing social media platform and it is also one of the most powerful marketing and business tools you can have in your social media arsenal. Instagram has had over 1 billion users for a while now and its popularity is growing all the time with new features added regularly. 

On your timeline you’ll probably see people posting selfies, their lunch or a last-minute trip to Mexico (jealous) but if you’re a business owner or a content creator, there is so much more just beneath the surface. 

Within a standard personal Instagram account, you’ll find the usual profile sections: a bio box, a box for a website link and your contact details. You post photos and stories, perhaps tagging friends or maybe brands that you enjoy using - and that’s it. 

But there’s so much more at your fingertips! By clicking into your profile settings, you’ll see there’s an option to switch to a professional Instagram account - but what’s the difference and what are the benefits?

What’s the difference between a personal and professional account?

In short, a professional Instagram account will enable you to increase your discoverability and access valuable tools to measure and track your progress along the way. These measurement tools are referred to by Instagram as Insights.

As a professional account is designed to help you to promote yourself and your brand, you aren’t able to change your account to private, as you would be able to with a personal account.

Personal Instagram Accounts

With a personal account you can also link multiple accounts, whereas with a business account, to keep things professional you are only able to link one Facebook page and profile. Working with the Instagram algorithm, you’ll be rewarded with better brand awareness and audience interaction.

Other perks of going pro…

If you manage to reach over 10,000 followers on a professional account (congratulations!), you are then able to add a swipe up link to your Instagram stories. This valuable resource means that viewers will be able to go straight to a website link that you link from your story! This is a great way to drive traffic to a specific website or webpage.

The insights tool in your professional account is a fantastic way to learn more about your audience and the success of your content. It allows you to measure and track your performance including new followers, impressions, profile views, website and email clicks. 

To work with and not against the Instagram algorithm, you can also track shares and saves for your posts, which is an essential way of tracking whether your grid is peaking in popularity or quietly crashing.

Promoting your posts as ads adds another layer of brand awareness that you are able to harness. Providing clear contact information at the top of your account, means that your audience is able to reach out to you easily, via email, website and phone number. You can even track the number of website and profile clicks from each of your posts.

Quick replies are another tool provided with a business account. Instead of spending time responding individually to lots of DMs (a nice problem to have, there), you can draft responses for your most common questions and respond immediately. 

This cuts down on the time spent responding to each individual message. Simply write out and save your drafted responses and then insert them into the appropriate DMs.

So… Would you benefit from a professional account?

If you are a business owner looking to actively promote your business, gain followers and increase engagement, then you would benefit from a professional account. 

It is free to change your account from personal to business and once you understand the importance of each insight and feature, a professional Instagram account is a fantastic free resource for your business. 

If you are looking to create a more personal, content creator Instagram presence, then weighing up the tracking benefits of a professional account with the tone of a personal account, is worth considering.

Still unsure whether to take the plunge?

If you’re still feeling unsure which account best suits your brand (or creator!) needs, get in touch with us and we’d be more than happy to guide you through your Instagram options.