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How to Create and Set Up an Instagram Business Account

by Vaibhav

All new Instagram accounts by default are personal accounts. So if you have a business and you wish to grow your social media presence, a personal account won’t cut it. It lacks insight tools, auto-posting options, and other options designed to help a business grow. A business profile is a better option. If you are not sure how to switch, here’s how to easily set up an Instagram Business Account and how it fares when compared to a personal account.

How to Create Instagram Business Account

You cannot create an Instagram business account directly. The only option is to create a new personal account and then switch it to a business account. Doing that is extremely easy and only takes a few minutes. Here is how you can create and then switch to a business account. Choose your username and input other details as if it is your business account.

1. Open Instagram and select Create New Account. In the next step, select the method of sign-up. You can either sign-up using your phone number or email ID. After you feed in your number/ID, tap on Next at the bottom.

Create a new Instagram account

2. In order to verify your account, a new user has to Enter a Confirmation Code. The code will be sent to your phone number or email ID, whatever you’ve chosen. In the next step, type your Full name and Password. Make sure that the Remember password option is checked unless you wish to rely on third-party password managers. Now, tap on Continue. You can choose to sync contacts or skip them and do it later. Syncing contacts will store them on Instagram servers and will help them suggest users (from phone contacts) if they too have an account on Instagram.

Instagram will ask for your birth date in the next step. Remember a user needs to be at least 13 years old to create a personal or business account on Instagram. Choose a date and tap on Next when you’re done.

Add account details to Instagram

3. You’ll see a preview of the username with an option to change it. Once you have chosen your preferred username, tap Next to continue. Simply follow a few more steps, such as adding a profile picture, following suggested users, etc., until you reach your Instagram feed.

Instagram's profile photo option

You have created a personal Instagram account. Now, in the next point, we will see how you can switch it to a business account.

How to Switch to Instagram Business Account

Instagram makes a personal profile by default as we saw above. So a user needs to switch to a business account once a personal account is created.

1. In order to switch to a business account, tap on the menu button (three horizontal lines) on the top right and open Settings.

Instagram's settings tab

2. From the Settings menu, open Account settings. Now scroll down and tap on Switch to Professional Account.

professional account settings on Instagram

3. To Proceed, tap on Continue and select a category that represents your business. The next step is choosing whether the account is a Creator or a Business account. In our case, tap on Business and hit Next to continue.

How to switch to business account on Instagram

4. You also have an option to add information about your business in the profile. For example, you can add an email or phone number so it’s easier for customers or prospects to get in touch with your business. If you wish to add a contact button on your profile, fill in the contact info, or else, tap on Don’t use my contact info to continue. This is how you set up Instagram business account.

If you have a Facebook page, you can connect your Instagram to it as well. This allows you to cross-post, enable shopping tools, post ads, etc. A Facebook account also comes in handy if you wish to use an Instagram scheduling tool to manage updates and content. That’s it, now you’ve successfully switched to a business account. Remember, you can switch back to a personal account anytime.

Instagram's complete your profile option

Instagram Business Account vs Personal Account

Instagram’s personal account has a few add-on features when we compare it to the personal account. These features are useful for any business, be it large or small, to get a better idea of the user base and how the posts are performing. With a business profile, you get the analytics tool and Instagram Insights. It gives you info on accounts reached, content interactions, followers breakdown (at least 100 followers), etc. A business account also allows you to track your followers, the time when they are active, gender, and most importantly, the age group.

Instagram business account Insights tab

If your business mostly involves selling products, you can make use of Instagram Shops. This way, users can browse products, preview them, and even buy without exiting the app. Apart from that, another unique feature depending on the type of business you run is the Action Button. For example, it allows you to add an action button related to health and beauty (booking option), dining (reserve a table), and order food as well.

Closing Remarks: Setting Up an Instagram Business Account

Even if you do not have a business, you can still switch to a business account. I say that because it has tons of features that will help you grow your profile. Most importantly, you’ll be able to get both followers and performance insights which will allow you to modify and improve content depending on how each post performs.

Also Read: How to Add Multiple Photos to One Instagram Story

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