How to Choose the Right Type of Instagram Account for You

Currently, Instagram has three different types of accounts you can use. If you’re building your business, you might think that a Business account is the right choice, but it’s not as straightforward as that. Each of the three Instagram account types has its own set of pros and cons. Plus, there’s a possibility that your brand might fare better if you don’t choose the business account.

Instagram offers users a choice between a Personal, Business, and Creator account style. Before you decide which type works best, ask yourself a few questions:

• What are your brand or marketing goals?
• What are you selling or promoting? Is it a product, an experience, or your expertise?
• Do you value analytics or better access to specific trends like music?
• Will you need to make the account private?

The Pros and Cons of a Personal Account

Many people begin with a Personal account, as it is the default account, and are familiar with the choices and format. It is also where many start building their brand or business. Some of the pros of keeping your account Personal are:

• The ability to make the account private. There are many reasons why someone would want this feature, and Business and Creator accounts cannot be made private.
• Full access to music in your Stories and Reels.
• A sense of familiarity and closer relationships with followers. You can choose to share Stories with a set group of personal friends.

But there are many cons to using a Personal account for a business, including:

• You cannot access the full range of Instagram’s analytics, which help you track post performance, engagement, and more.
• Personal accounts do not have access to Instagram Shopping.
• Automatic post scheduling is not available.

Creator Accounts Offer a Different Set of Features

As the newest account type, the Creator account offers many business tools geared more toward Influencer-style marketing. Freelancers and independent artists may also prefer the Creator account. It can deliver many of the business tools you need to grow and collaborate and provides some control and greater access to music. Here’s what makes the Creator account an attractive choice:

• Access to the entire music library and access to some analytics tools.
• More privacy than a Business account with your profile controls, such as the ability to hide your contact information or business category.
• Establish a minimum age to ensure that mature content is not easily accessible to younger users.
• Creators can get account verification.
• The ability to integrate sponsored partnerships into posts.

But Creator accounts aren’t for everyone, and there are a few cons to consider:

• Creator accounts do not have as much access to analytics tools as Business accounts
• These accounts also do not accommodate approved third-party apps.
• You won’t have access to Facebook Creator Studio or scheduling.

Is a Business Account Your Best Choice?

Business accounts come with specific features designed to help you expand your reach and funnel followers and customers where you want them to go. Whether you have just launched your brand or you’re an established, long-running business, an Instagram Business account offers the tools that can help users precisely manage key data and how they want to reach established and new customers. Business accounts deliver tons of benefits, including:

• Full access to Instagram application programming interface (API) tools.
• Access analytics, integrate paid promotions and add a call to action (CTA) button.
• Access Instagram Shopping and tag items in your photos.
• Schedule posts and ads.
• Post links in your Instagram Stories once you have reached a specific threshold of followers.
• Get account verification and manage direct messaging functions and responses.
• Gain a professional, more established, and trustworthy appearance.

While Business accounts offer great features and work best for many, there are a few drawbacks that make them less than ideal for certain people:

• You’ll only have access to royalty-free music, severely limiting access to trending and popular music and sounds.
• You cannot make a Business account private.
• If you convert your Business account from a Private account, you will only be able to access analytics for posts after the conversion and not any of the pre-existing posts.

Should You Make the Switch?

It can be difficult to determine which Instagram account is right for you. Each type of Instagram account comes with its own pros and cons. Consider how your goals and needs align with each of the three account types. If your goal is to establish yourself as an influencer and collaborator, but you are not necessarily producing your own product, then the Creator account may be ideal.

Companies and individuals hoping to grow sales and drive engagement with the company will have a better chance to flourish with the Business account. And believe it or not, some find that the Personal account type fits their needs best. Some people may need to take advantage of the ability to set the account to private, while others find they can extend their reach by leveraging trending music.

If you’re still on the fence about which account is best, you can try switching back and forth between the Creator and Business account types to see how the different features work. However, be careful and avoid switching back and forth too often, as Instagram may flag your account. Additionally, switching back and forth between account types may result in Instagram temporarily hiding some insights from you to try to prevent you from getting all of the benefits from both kinds of accounts.

There Is No One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Another thing to consider is that you can have more than one account. If you are reluctant to give up your Personal account because you interact with friends and family there, never fear. You can keep your Personal account and make a separate Creator or Business account. Instagram allows you to quickly toggle back and forth between the accounts so you can work and play.

And if you find that you chose a professional account that doesn’t meet your business needs, or your needs change over time, you can convert your account.