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📌 Types of Instagram accounts — LiveDune Blog

Currently, there are 3 types of accounts on Instagram: “Personal”, “Business” and “Author” account. Let's take a look at how they differ and help you choose.

Personal account on Instagram

Business Account on Instagram

Author account

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"Personal account" in Instagram

Initially, Instagram appeared as a social network for sharing experiences through photos with friends and family. Everyone had the same personal account and functionality: users posted photos with descriptions, liked and commented on the posts of others. The platform gained popularity, the number of users grew every year, and gradually business representatives began to register accounts of their companies on Instagram for commercial purposes. They experienced a lot of inconvenience on the Personal account type:

Inability for the user to contact the account owner from the application

The phone number can only be specified in the "About Me" section or in the text of the post. Therefore, users, in order to contact the owner of the account, must first rewrite the number somewhere, then dial it on their smartphone. Uncomfortable.

No statistics

You can only watch the figure with the number of subscribers and thus track whether the account is growing or not. Content can only be judged by the number of likes.

Inability to communicate with users
tete-a-tete

All communication with users takes place in comments or in instant messengers. Even if the user is interested in the product, and the price is not indicated in the text of the post, not everyone will bother with the correspondence of the number in order to find out the price.

Lack of official promotion methods

It was during the period when “Personal Accounts” were the only ones that mass following and mass liking services flourished.

In this regard, Instagram introduced "Business Accounts".

"Business account" in Instagram

No one predicted such popularity of this social network at the launch stage, and even more so that it would become one of the main channels of communication with users for many companies in the world. Advantages of a “Business Account” on Instagram:

Statistics

In Instagram itself, you can see how many subscribers interacted with the contacts section (called, looked at the address), find out the TOP publications, IGTV videos and stories by reach, see interactions with the publication (reach , likes, comments, etc.). For those who have more than 100 subscribers, statistics are available for their analysis: the periods of the greatest activity of subscribers, gender, age and top locations.

Instagram's internal statistics are cut down, you can get more data with the ability to download PDF reports in LiveDune. An analysis of these statistics will help you understand, for example, which hashtags bring more views and which posts do not reach your audience and, accordingly, they should be abandoned.

Convenient communication with customers

Subscribers do not have to rewrite a phone number somewhere to call. In the "Business Profile" they just need to click on the "Call" button under the profile header. Similarly, you can add a button with an address or email. Set up frequently asked questions and saved answers.

Advertising

"Business profile" allows you to start promoting a post and stories directly in the Instagram app.

Shopping Tags

For the online store category, the function of adding Shopping Tags posts to photos is available. When you click on this tag, the name, a small description, the price of the product and a link to the site where you can buy it appear on the photo. All this information will be linked, and when clicked, the subscriber will be taken to your site, where they can make a purchase. Cool? But while this function is officially unavailable in Russia.

“Author” account on Instagram

Wanting to get statistics and run ads, not only commercial accounts, but also bloggers switched to “Business accounts”. Therefore, in 2019, Instagram introduced another type of account "Authors" specifically for bloggers.

As soon as this type of account appeared, it had extended statistics on the growth of subscribers and small differences in functionality. Now all the functions and statistics of the "Author" account are similar to those of the Business account. The only difference is branded content tools.

Auto-posting to LiveDune is not yet available for accounts of the “Author” type, so if you do not post branded content, it is better to give preference to the “Business account”. Switching from one type of account to another will not affect the feed algorithm and account reach, so you can switch to test both the “Author” and “Business accounts” and choose the one that suits you best.

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Instagram business account: complete instructions for use

Almost every one of us has an Instagram account*. It was originally created so that users could share their photos with each other. However, over time, the network has developed, and now we can not only watch the moments from the life of our friends and acquaintances, but also purchase the goods/services we like. Now Instagram* is one of the main platforms for business promotion. The developers of the application have even created an opportunity to create a business account, which will help attract customers and make it easier to communicate with them.

Let's talk in this article:

• Why do I need an Instagram business account*?
• How do I create a business account on Instagram*?
• Benefits of an Instagram business account*;
• How do I disable my business account on Instagram*?

Instagram business account * is a type of account on the Instagram* social network that allows you to create a profile with additional business features: several one-click contact methods, profile statistics, ready-made answers, product catalog and more.

Why do I need an Instagram business account*?

In general, creating and maintaining an account on Instagram* allows a business to make itself known, increase brand awareness, gather its target audience, and also attract new customers. And if you create a business account, then there will be more tools for performing such tasks. This is especially convenient for a start-up business that does not yet have the resources to create its own website and rent a room.

Albina Isaeva

SMM specialist (@isaeva_albinaa)

Instagram* is the most convenient and well-developed platform for business promotion. I am approached by a variety of small businesses, from beauty professionals to furniture manufacturers. And all because most of the audience can be traced precisely in Instagram *, and the first orders also come from this site.

Let's compare a regular account and a business account on Instagram*.

This is what a typical Instagram account looks like*:

To get in touch, you can use the phone number in the profile header or contact Direct (as private messages on Instagram* are called). It will be quite inconvenient to contact by phone, since it is impossible to copy the phone number from the profile header. You will have to constantly open and close Instagram *, copying the numbers into the phone for a call.

And this is what a business account looks like:

Additional buttons “View store”, “Contact” have already appeared here, and the account category “Beauty, cosmetics and personal care” is now displayed. For example, the "Contact" button allows customers not to suffer from dialing a number from the profile header and saving it, as in the previous example. For some customers, this complexity can already stop placing an order.

We will discuss this and other tools later in this article, but first we will show you how to create a business account step by step.

How do I create a business account on Instagram*?

1. Download the Instagram App*

You can download it from the App Store or Google Play. There should be no problems with downloading, especially since almost everyone uses this social network. So, many people have already downloaded this application. Make sure your application is updated to the latest version.

2. Don't forget about VPN

Instagram* is blocked in the Russian Federation and works only with VPN technology. It allows you to change your location, as if you are using this application from another country, and bypass blocking. Apps that activate VPN can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play, they are free and paid. Free ones have a number of restrictions: a usage time limit (about 30 minutes), a limit on Internet speed and traffic. Some free VPNs are not secure at all and can steal your personal data illegally. If you are creating a business account, you will probably devote a lot of time to it. Therefore, we recommend that you immediately choose a paid VPN that will be reliable and convenient.

On the Internet, you can find 1000 and 1 advice on how to install a VPN and which one is better to choose. Most resources give preference to the following VPN services:

• HideMy.Name;
• Surfshark;
• CyberGhost;
• Turbo VPN;
• NordVPN;
• Windscribe.

3. Choose the appropriate way to create a business account

There are two ways to register a business account on Instagram*:

• Create a new account
• Transfer a personal account to a business.

We will show you the first option on an iOS phone (iPhone). Below in this article, you will find how to convert a personal profile to a business account. Our instructions can also help Android users, since the application interface and the account creation algorithm are no different from those used in the iOS system.

Enter the Instagram app*. Since almost every smartphone user has an Instagram* account, we'll show you how to create a new one without leaving your profile or deleting the app.

4. Create a new account

Go to your profile in the application. Open the "Menu" (three horizontal bars) and select the "Settings" section.

Scroll to the very bottom of the page and click the "Add account" button.

Next, click "Create a new account".

5. Create a username

The application is asking for a username for a new account. Let's say we want to create an account to sell home goods. Let's call it Home Space and come up with a username: home_space.ru.

Remember that the username must be unique, i.e. there is no user on Instagram* with the same name as yours. Otherwise, you simply won't be able to register.

Also, you cannot use capital letters, spaces, or most characters in the username. The available characters are period and underscore.

The account name should be concise and memorable. Don't make it too long. Your title must include the brand name. Do not use generalized words: shop, official, restaurant, etc.

6. Create a password

Next, the application asks you to create a password for your new account. He must be reliable. Use uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. Be sure to write it down so you don't lose access to your account if you forget your password.

Enter the password and click the "Next" button, after that the registration will be completed. As you can see, the application notifies you that an email address and a phone number from an existing profile have been added to the new account. However, at any time you can link a new phone and email to a new account.

Click the "Complete registration" button. The app will prompt you to find your Facebook* friends and sync your contacts. We will skip these steps for now, but you can follow the detailed instructions in the app.

7. Add a profile photo

As the next step, you will be prompted to add a profile photo or, in other words, an avatar. We recommend doing this right away, especially if you are creating a business account. Other users will recognize you by this photo.

Profile photo should be chosen especially carefully. Do not use pictures or photos with small details, it will simply be impossible to see them. The best option is your company logo. It should be legible even on a small scale.

Our imaginary home goods store does not have a logo, so we just took a close-up photo of the alleged product. Add a photo and click the "Next" button.

Registration passed, now our new profile looks like this:

By clicking on the username, you can expand the entire list of your accounts and easily switch to another one. This is very convenient if the user has a personal account and a work (business) account.

8. Switch from personal account to business account

We have created a regular (personal) account. Now we need to switch to business account mode. To do this, again go to the "Menu" (three horizontal bars) to the "Settings" section, as we showed earlier.

By the way, if you just want to change your existing personal account to a business account, then proceed in the same way starting from this step.

In "Settings" go to "Account".

Now scroll down to the very end and select "Switch to a professional account."

After clicking the "Switch to a professional account" button, the application will tell you about the benefits of this type of account, we need to read it and click "continue".

9. Decide on the category

Now you need to choose the category that best describes the business area for which the account is registered. The application page states that the category will help other users find this profile easily. Instagram* offers hundreds of categories. It can be education, a restaurant, a photographer, real estate, health/beauty, and many others.

For the business account from our example, there is even a special category for "home goods store". We found it by simply entering the word "house" in the search.

Select the appropriate category and allow it to be shown in the profile. Then click "Finish" and proceed to the next step.

10. Business or author?

At this stage, you need to choose who your account represents: a business or an author. Obviously, business is suitable for our example. The author is used by bloggers, influencers and other celebrities. Both modes (both business and author) provide account holders with almost equal opportunities and tools.

Select "Business" and click the "Next" button.

11. Enter contact information

Now we need to provide up-to-date contact information. It is according to these data that customers will contact the company using the "Contact" button, which we talked about at the beginning of the article. You must enter your email address, company address, and phone number. You can also allow users to call you directly on Instagram*. Then you can not enter your phone number.

Email and phone number will be automatically entered (those associated with the account), but the address and permission to voice calls on Instagram* must be entered manually.

After filling in the information you think is necessary, click the "Next" button.

Business account registered. It remains to set it up and learn how to use all its useful tools.

In fact, designing an Instagram* profile, especially a business account, is a whole science, with its own laws and canons. The username, profile photo, information in the profile header, publications, stories - all this must be formatted according to certain rules. When a potential client visits your page and has to make a choice: stay or leave, these are the factors that will influence his decision. Often companies turn to specialists (this profession is called an SMM specialist) who will manage the account so that, due to an incorrectly designed profile and content that does not catch or attract, they do not miss customers. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about creating an account on Instagram * within the framework of this article; for this, it is necessary to release a separate material.

The following video shows the basic rules for creating an Instagram profile:

Now we will fill out the profile header and post some product photos, but the way we do this is not a sample and a guide to action. In this situation, we do this in order to revive the profile and further talk about the useful tools of a business account.

This is what our business account looks like now for other Instagram users*:

Benefits of a business account on Instagram*

After switching to a business account, the user has access to useful tools. Their use will help build communication with customers and properly present your business. We will tell you how each of the tools works and how to connect it.

"Contact" button

In this article, we have repeatedly mentioned such a useful tool as the "Contact" button. In the process of connecting a business account, all the necessary information is filled in for the operation of this button. But you need to check if your contact information is allowed to be shown to make sure that the button works.

To do this, go to your profile, click on the "Edit" button.

Next, find the section "Profile display", go to this section.

We check that the "Show contact information" function is enabled. We have everything turned on, so the "Contact" button should work.

Let's go through the account of another Instagram user* and check the operation of the "Contact" button. After clicking this button, all 3 types of communication (email, phone call and Instagram call *) should be available to us, and the address will be indicated in the profile header. The button works properly, so everything is configured correctly.

Albina Isaeva

SMM specialist (@isaeva_albinaa)

As an SMM manager, I pay special attention to filling out the account with all possible convenient ways of communication for clients. Business account tools are here more than ever. Everything is already thought out for you (phone, address, website, e-mail), all that remains is to enter your data. The client is comfortable and you are pleased.

If you choose the "Call" method, another button with a ready-made phone number will pop up, you just have to press it and make a call. This is how the "Contact" function should work, which will allow customers to contact you in any way convenient for them. Such a tool can even increase customer loyalty.

Due to the blocking of the social network in Russia, it is not convenient for all customers to correspond with stores on Instagram*. Therefore, entrepreneurs insert a link to their WhatsApp business account in the profile description. So the store manages not to lose customers and get direct contact with potential buyers.

Statistics

Displaying statistics is the most useful feature for those who want to promote their account. It allows you to draw conclusions about the reaction of the audience to a particular content, about the results of sales through Instagram*. Thanks to this, you will be able to deduce effective ways to interact with the audience, and not work blindly.

Albina Isaeva

SMM specialist (@isaeva_albinaa)

According to statistics, you can determine a lot in a business account. Which points sag, and which tools work well. The final result of the work of any SMM specialist can be seen right here, in the statistics. According to it, reports are made that are provided to managers for summing up the results.

Statistics are calculated in several ways:

• Total account statistics
• Post statistics
• Stories statistics

a profile of a photographer from Kazan, which has been around for a long time and has a certain level of activity.

The statistics of the entire account can be viewed in the "Menu" (three horizontal bars) in the "Statistics" section.

Here you will find information about your profile in all respects: covered accounts (those who watched your content), engaged accounts (those who forwarded, saved, commented on your publications), the number of subscribers. If you click on the icon in the upper right corner, you can learn more about the meaning of each section from the account statistics. The results can be viewed for different periods of time: for the last 2 days or for the last 90 days.

When there are more than 100 subscribers, Instagram* will start distributing them by gender, age, cities, countries. This data will help you create content that targets your core audience.

The statistics of each publication should be viewed directly below it. Go to any published post. Under the photo, click on the "Statistics" button and see the statistics of a particular publication.

First of all, we have access to information about how many people liked the publication, the number of comments, reposts and saves.

You can also view post statistics by reach (those who viewed the post), by interaction with content (likes, reposts, saves, comments) and by profile actions (number of profile visits and number of subscriptions). Such information is presented both in general form and in detail for each item.

Statistics of stories can be viewed through the already familiar "Menu" button, then go to the "Statistics" section, select the "Stories" section.

Here you can see general statistics on the number of story views for the period you need. If you go to a specific story, you can see detailed statistics, similar to those in publications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recently, a new feature has become available for business accounts on Instagram* - Frequently Asked Questions. It allows businesses to prepare answers to questions that are regularly received from customers. For example, about working hours, delivery, returns, address, etc. It looks like this:

The company independently selects the most popular questions and creates answers to them. When entering a chat with a company, the client sees several buttons with ready-made questions in front of him. If among them he finds a question of interest to him, he can simply click on the button and instantly get an answer. This is a convenient feature that does not make the client wait for a response from the company, and the company does not waste time answering the same questions.

Albina Isaeva

SMM specialist (@isaeva_albinaa)

A lot of clients in the dentistry business account I manage ask the same questions about consultations and prices. In such cases, it is convenient to use the "Frequently Asked Questions" tool, where you immediately write down a question and a ready-made answer to it. It is especially convenient in our time, when notifications from Instagram * may not come due to the VPN being turned off.

How to connect this tool. Go to "Menu" (three horizontal bars) → "Settings".

Next, select the "Company" section, then go to "Frequently Asked Questions".

In the Frequently Asked Questions section, check that the Show Questions feature is enabled. In total, you can create 4 questions with answers. To add a new question, click the Add Question button. To edit a question or answer, go to the specific question.

Instagram* Shopping and Shopping Tags

Particularly advanced business accounts on Instagram* also get a kind of online store (Instagram* Shopping) in the profile, where you can make interesting selections of products, post products with a price, description and a link to website for online ordering.

Albina Isaeva

SMM specialist (@isaeva_albinaa)

In the cosmetics store we use Instagram* Shopping. Not all subscribers can go to the store's website, so the product is already indicated in the posts, where a potential buyer can quickly and easily buy it.

The presence of such an online store in the profile makes it possible to put price tags in publications in the feed, the so-called Shopping Tags. They look like this:

The Instagram* Shopping and Shopping Tags tools only work if the Instagram* account is linked to a Facebook* business account. A catalog with products, prices, and descriptions is first created on Facebook* and then transferred to an Instagram* profile. Also, these tools are not available to stores that do not have their own website. Without a website, creating a catalog on Facebook*, and therefore on Instagram*, will not work.

Step-by-step instruction "Instagram* Shopping and Shopping Tags: how to set up and connect" is presented in the following video:

How do I disable my business account on Instagram*?

Disconnecting a business account is the same as connecting. Go to the "Menu" (three horizontal bars), then to "Settings", select the "Account" section.

After going to the "Account" section, scroll down the page, click the "Change account type" button and select "Switch to personal account".

After you click the "Switch to personal account" button, Instagram* will once again ask you to confirm this action, and will also warn you that there are no statistics on your personal account. As soon as you disable your business account, all statistics will be reset.

FAQ

What is the difference between a business account on Instagram* and a regular one?

A business account allows:

• Specify the category to which your business belongs.
• Enter the "Contact" button , which will offer several ways to contact, and the client will be able to choose the appropriate one. This greatly simplifies communication with customers and increases their loyalty.
• View statistics of the entire account, as well as individual publications and stories. This data will help you create high-quality and useful content for your audience, increase sales and attract new customers.
• Chat with the customer frequently asked questions and answers to them, so that he can instantly get an answer, and you save time.
• Set up a store in your profile ( Instagram* Shopping ) and tags with prices for goods posted in publications ( Shopping Tags ).

All these features are not available to users with a personal Instagram account*.

Why do I need a business account on Instagram*?

Instagram* is one of the effective and affordable ways for a start-up business to make themselves known, gather their target audience, customers and develop their business. A business account will provide all the necessary tools for this.

How many followers do you need to create an author and business account?

The number of subscribers does not matter when connecting a business account. You can do this even if you have 0 followers yet. There is a limitation in displaying statistics on account subscribers. Data by gender, age, cities and countries will only be available if your account has 100 or more followers.

How often can I change my account type on Instagram*?

No such restrictions.

How much does it cost to connect a business account on Instagram*?

Switching to a business account is free. You don’t even need to involve an Instagram specialist* for this.

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