Marketers hungry for more insights into their Instagram audience now have the option of signing up for an Instagram creator account.
Instagram launched the account option in early 2019 as an alternative to the business profile. After a brief beta testing period, the social media platform made creator profiles available to anybody.
How do Instagram creator profiles differ from a regular business profile though? And are all the new features really worth making the switch? Read on to find out.
Who are Instagram creator accounts for?
Initially, Instagram provided its creator account features to any profile with over 10,000 followers.
This tells us two things:
- Instagram desires to double down on influencers. 87.1 percent of influencers say that Instagram is their top platform. Instagram recognizes that influencers play a large role in their app and now wish to offer even more companies to attract and keep them sharing content there.
- Instagram desires to separate companies from influencers. The creator profiles embody features and tools that particularly cater to influencers who aren’t attached to more traditional business models. They’re officially recognizing that the two have different needs in terms of social management. This attempt at separation could greatest be seen in the picture below.
Instagram is targeting individual users with their creator profile offerings. Actually, when you go to switch your account, the app says that creator profiles are “Best for public figures, content producers, artists, and influencers.”
To help attract and cater to influencers, Instagram creator accounts provide a wealth of new functions for influencers to go even deeper on their follower metrics.
What particular features do Instagram creator accounts include?
Is it really worth it to switch from your personal or business account to an Instagram creator profile? Sure, if you wish to learn even more insights on your users and handle your posts and messages better.
Instagram provides a number of new functions to help creators learn more about their users including:
Detailed growth data
Instagram creator accounts provide you with an in-depth look at your followers with info such as:
- Daily number of unfollowing and follows. With just a business account, users only have access to their weekly unfollow and follow count. This helps influencers because they could now see which videos positively or negatively affect them every day.
- Demographic data (age, location, and so on.). Offered in enterprise accounts as well, Instagram creator profiles provide influencers the ability to take a look at who exactly their followers are and cater content to them.
- Instagram creator dashboard. Instagram launched a new “Creator Studio” to help influencers gain all of their insights on one useful dashboard (see under).
Streamlined messaging
Influencers get countless messages each day for collaborations, followers who just wish to say “Hello,” and creepy followers who have no business being on social media.
With an enterprise or personal account, users have only one primary inbox for all their DMs as well as a message requests folder for DMs from people they do not follow.
With Instagram creator accounts, influencers have access to 3 folders:
- Primary. Messages that the influencer desires to receive and be notified of.
- General. Messages that the influencer does not want notifications for.
- Requests. Messages from people the influencer doesn’t follow.
Creators might move messages between folders whenever they want. This permits users to prioritize messages from friends, households, and different folks they wish to hear from.
More labels
Instagram creator profiles give users more flexibility with how they label and brand themselves.
With a business account, Instagram assigns the profile of the category you used on your connected Fb page. Which means if you’re an “underwater basket weaver” on your Fb page, then you are an “underwater basket weaver” on your Instagram business profile.
With an Instagram creator account, although, you might select whatever label you wish to brand yourself as—and with more selections.
This permits you to really go niche with your personal brand and select the label that’s right for you.
Flexible contact
Influencers get inundated with calls and emails for collaborations, influencer marketing pitches, and spam daily. Now with Instagram creator profiles, they have the option to turn off their contact buttons to stem that flow of requests.
Before, Instagram business profiles offered a call-to-action for followers to contact users utilizing whatever contact info the user-provided. Now, influencers could simply turn off that contact info whenever they need.
This provides users more agency over who contacts them—or rather, doesn’t contact them.
Instagram creator profile vs Instagram business profile
With all of the features included with the creator profile, there is no real reason to maintain a business profile — particularly if you would like more insights on your users (which you should).
Plus, the Instagram creator profiles provides you more control over your account and information on your profile. When you are an individual with a brand you wish to promote, you need to just make the switch.
Of course, creator account features are tailored to help profiles with massive followings. (If you wish to improve your follower count, read our article on how to get free Instagram followers). However, they could still assist you to if you have a smaller following.
How to switch to an Instagram creator account
So you have a big dedicated list of fans.
You wish to have more information and metrics to assist create more engaging content for them.
And you wish to have more control over your messages, filters, and contact info.
Congrats! You are ready to switch to a creator account. Now let’s check out the steps to do exactly that.
Note: that in case your account is private, switching it over to a creator account will make it public. If that’s a problem for you, then you may not want to make a creator account.
Step 1: Go into your settings
Go to your profile and click on the hamburger menu in the upper right corner.
Then click on the Settings button at the bottom of the menu.
From your settings menu, choose Account.
When you have a personal account, choose Switch to Professional Account at the bottom.
In case you have a business account, choose Switch to Creator Account at the bottom.
When you are switching from a personal account, you will then see this menu.
Choose the Creator box and move onto the next step.
Step 2: Create your account
Select your category label from the list.
Select the label that greatest describes you and your brand. Click on Next.
You will then have the option to link to a Fb Page. If you wish to link one, select from the list they provide you. When you do not wish to, that’s okay! Just click on Skip and move on to review your contact info.
That is where you will have the option to select whether or not the ability to contact you appears on your profile. Select the options you want. You could always change it later.
When you do this, then voila! You’ve created your Instagram creator account. Awesome!
Now you get to view all of your new metrics — which brings us to…
Step 3: Check out your new features
First, explore your new Insights by clicking on the hamburger menu on your profile.
Then tap on Insights.
From here, the app shows you all your new insights into three tabs. First, there is the Content tab. This shows you all of the posts you have had this week and how they have performed.
Next, you have the Activity tab showing all the interactions people have had with your profile, as well as the number of times your posts and profile have been found in the last week.
Last, there is the Audience tab. This shows you all of the demographic details about your followers.
In your messages, you could see the new General inbox you could keep your messages in.
Explore your new Instagram creator profile and familiarize yourself with the new features, metrics, and insights.