Instagram Account Types: Personal, Creator, or Business? Which is the best one for you or your brand?

Did you know in May 2021, Instagram had around 28.74 million users in the United Kingdom? And, currently there are approx. 1.074 billion Instagram users worldwide in 2021?

You may know that Instagram is one of the best advertising and brand awareness platforms out there. So let’s discuss Instagram account types: personal, creator or business? Which is the best one for you or your brand?

1: The Pros and Cons of Using an Instagram Personal Account for Business

There are three types of Instagram accounts, organised into two of the following categories: personal and professional.

Let’s start with personal accounts. This account type has no analytics or API access. This means you can’t schedule posts, use Facebook Creator Studio to manage Instagram, or get third-party access to analytics. Additionally, you can’t use contact buttons on your profile, delivery sticker gift cards, or use the swipe-up function in Stories. If you’re a business owner or marketer, those are big disadvantages.

However, personal accounts do have some benefits. They have access to all of the music options in Reels and Stories. And, this account type is the only one that can be private.

Personal accounts are great for those who want to keep a private profile. You can have a public personal account too!

2: Choose Between an Instagram Business Account and Creator Account

Instagram groups the other two account types – business and creator – under the title of professional accounts.

Both of these account types share a lot of the same features, including access to Instagram Insights, gift card delivery stickers and contact buttons. They also let you collaborate with other accounts leveraging the branded content features.

There are some differences between these types of accounts to be aware of. 

Instagram business accounts are intended for a business entity that’s making money or selling something, so this account type has API access. Which means scheduling, access to Facebook Creator Studio and the use of third-party analytics. Creator profiles don’t have API access.

Another difference between creator and business accounts is the music access for Reels and Stories. Most business accounts don’t have the full music library. They have the royalty-free music library.

Instagram creator accounts are intended for influencers – those who are creating content that might align with a brand but aren’t actually selling their own products. Creators have access to all of the music in addition to business features like analytics and branded content.

To summarise, if you need scheduling or the aim is to sell products, use an Instagram business account. If you need access to all of the music for your Reels content and don’t mind about scheduling or using Facebook Creator Studio, go with a creator account. Especially if you’re an influencer, the creator account is designed for you.

4. Things to be aware of when switching account types

Before you make a switch, we want to address a few warnings. While you can switch back and forth between account types without much consequence, Instagram does temporarily hide insights when you switch to a business account and may delay your access to features like music if you’re switching over to a creator account.

The reason they do this is they don’t want you just swapping back and forth to get the best features of both types of accounts. You need to pick one and stick with it. If you switch back and forth two or three times in one day to try out a feature, that’s fine, but if you’re constantly switching back and forth, Instagram will look at this as spam-like behavior and potentially flag your account, which could reduce your reach and impact on the platform.

Conclusion

If you’re using Instagram for business, consider weighing up the pros and cons discussed in this blog post, before you decide which of the three account types is right for you or your brand. Are you a personal, creator or business account?

If you need help setting up one of these account types, let’s have a chat. Feel free to email our Director, Lisa: lisa@digitaza.co.uk.