Yes,
switch to an Instagram Business Profile.
Switching to an Instagram Business Profile has a lot of perks, and we're not the only ones who think that. From 2016 to 2017, the switch to Business Profiles jumped from 8M users to 15M users. Now, there are nearly 25 MILLION active users with Business Profiles.
Why are they switching, you ask? It's actually extremely valuable to you as a person or a brand.
Why you should switch to an Instagram Business Profile:
Analytics — More insights into your content and community.
Links — More ways to share links outside of Instagram.
Ads — 8M people engage with Instagram sponsored posts daily
Shoppable Posts — Brands reported a +1,416% increase in traffic and +20% increase in revenue.*
Branded Content — Hey Influencer, if you want to get paid by some brands, you have to switch.
👉🏼 How to switch and FAQ
Why you should stick to a personal instagram account:
You don’t care about anything on the left.
You want your IG account to be Private.
Analytics
Before, we got a few stats with Personal Instagram Accounts. We thought that was awesome. Now with Business Profiles, we get:
Post Metrics
Photo and Video Metrics
Story Metrics
Insights: Impressions, Reach, Link clicks, Audience Gender, Age, and Location
Plus, everything we had before!
The data we are getting is incredible and we’re excited to figure out how to best present this information to you. Our goal is give you a clearer, holistic view of your analytics that will help you measure the impact of your Instagram Strategy.
Share and Promote Links
Anyone who is on Instagram to grow their account should be using the platform to grow something else outside of PeopleMap. Instagram gets that and added more ways to link out.
Here’s what you get:
Contact buttons - Email / Phone / Address for your business (so people can find you OR if snail mail is your thing)
Links in your Instagram Story (must have a minimum of 10K followers)
The profile link isn’t enough anymore. If I’m on an Instagram Story and I have to go to the link in the bio, not only will I have to exit that story, but I’ll have to type in the name of the profile and then go to the bio link. That’s a lot of actions. Normally, it takes someone seeing something at least 8x to even produce one action. So you want to add three more?! You crazy! Adding this link to your stories is a great way to drive direct traffic to your website, blog, or online store. It’ll just be up to you to think of creative ways to drive this traffic!
If linking direct to your site isn’t enough to convince you, you can also add buttons to your profile page that allow people to contact you directly. Consumers want to know the brands they shop from are paying attention to them. Allowing them to contact you directly via Instagram is a great way to open that door of communication.
Instagram Ads and Promoted Posts
You’ve already put in a lot of work to make an engaging post seem more engaging. Unfortunately, most posts only get engaged by 2% of your followers. If you take advantage of Facebook’s Ad platform and put your most engaged content into the feed, you’ll see more eyes, more likes, and more dollars.
Even influencers are treating their accounts like businesses and promoting their sponsored posts. If you’re looking to upsell your activation, tell a Brand you’re down to promote your posts. Free reach for you!
Quick fact for ya: Did you know more than 800,000 shoppers use Instagram every month?
Not only will Ads provide you with tools to grow your reach and engagement, but 75% of Instagram users take action after looking at an Instagram Ad, whether it’s visiting your website or clicking to purchase.
Unlike organic posts, Instagram Ads can be made to link directly to a product page or other landing page, allowing for direct engagement with your products. They can also be run on your Instagram Stories! Cool, right? Especially cool when there are more than 250 million daily users helping you grow your brand awareness through other means than simply scrolling through the feed.
For Influencers and anyone who wants to grow your account — Promoting posts strategically is also a great way to start. Sure, it’s not as cheap as a bot, but (1) at least they are real people and (2) you won't be caught following, liking, commenting on some whack profiles! People watch that feed ya know.
If you're an e-commerce Brand, set up automatic retargeting on Instagram with our friends at Snappic.io.
Shoppable Posts
IF you’re a brand who has a product, ding ding ding! Shoppable posts are the answers to your prayers. Another feature only available to those with an Instagram Business Profile, this allows users to shop your product directly from the organic image that you posted.
When using this feature, you can choose the photos you’d like to feature (obvs), tag up to five products per image and up to 20 products per carousel. Details like pricing will show up once the photo is tapped, and then if a user does decide to click that price tag, they’ll be redirected to your site to purchase. With more than 500 Million active users a DAY, why not give them the chance to shop direct from your post?
Branded Content
Instagram policies require creators and publishers to tag business partners in their branded content posts when there's an exchange of value between a creator or publisher and a business partner. You can read the full policies here.
Instagram is expanding the access of the Instagram Branded Content tool to more creators (celebrities, influencers, public figures, publishers) and business partners. So, if you don't see the features yet, that's why! Here's how to tag a Business Partner in Posts. And you can apply for access to the Branded Content tool by using this form. FYI, since they are rolling this feature out in stages, you might not get accepted yet.
For Brands — Make sure you add these conditions in your contracts:
The Influencer will mention your brand in the photo or first caption (reiterating, first caption).
The influencer will add your hashtag in the first caption (if you have one).
The influencer must have an Instagram Business Profile.
When available, the Influencer tags your brand as Branded Content.
I want to switch, but I don’t know how!
It’s really easy, we promise! See below a step-by-step guide on how to switch.
On the Instagram app, go to your profile page.
Click the Settings Gear on the top right.
Scroll down to the section under the Account heading that says Switch to Business Profile.
It’ll then redirect your screen and walk you through an additional step-by-step process to make the switch.
You can always switch back to a personal profile from a business profile if you decide you don’t love the features. Just go to your profile page, click that gear icon, and under account settings, select, “Switch back to personal profile.”
Don’t worry so much about your Facebook page unless you want to grow that as well. Instagram just needs you to connect back to it for internal reasons since Facebook owns Instagram, yada yada. :P
FAQ
I only have admin access thru my personal Facebook account, is that OK?
If your personal Facebook has admin access to the company's facebook business account, then you should be all set.
I just logged in with my facebook profile but I was actually looking to grant access to some of my business manager profile accounts.
If the business manager profile accounts are tied to a different facebook username and password, then refresh the PeopleMap page (to get the button back again) and connect again using the other facebook username and password.
Should I convert my personal account to a Facebook Page?
This is a bit confusing. You're not actually converting your personal account. You are creating a new Facebook Page and keeping your personal profile.
The only reason to convert your Personal Profile is so you can choose friends from your profile to automatically like your new Page, but posts on your profile won't be carried over to your new Page.
Most accounts create a non-active Facebook Business Page through the setup on the account.
How do I convert my personal account to a Facebook Page?
Converting your personal account to a Page creates a new Facebook Page that's based on your personal account. You can only convert your profile to a Page once. Make sure to do this BEFORE you switch your account to an Instagram Business Profile so that you won't lose any insights or promoted post data.
When you convert your personal account to a Page:
You'll have a personal account and a Page after conversion
They'll transfer your profile picture and cover photo to the Page
The name on your personal account will become the Page's name
Tools to help you move info from your profile to the Page will be available for 14 days after conversion
You can choose friends from your profile to automatically like your new Page, but posts on your profile won't be carried over to your new Page
You can manage the Page from your personal account
To convert your personal account to a Facebook Page:
Click Get Started and follow the on-screen instructions