How to make your business instagram private
How to Switch Your Instagram Account to Private
By Khizer Kaleem
If you want to make your Instagram account private, here's what you need to know.
Instagram offers users a feature to make their accounts and content visible to a limited number of people. If you want to share your content with only your followers, you should switch to a private Instagram account.
A private account only shows posts, stories, and follower lists to people approved and added by the account owner. You can convert your public account or an Instagram business profile to a private one with a few simple steps.
How to Switch Your Public Instagram to Private
When you create an Instagram account, it is public by default. Changing a public account to a private one does not have much impact on your profile except accessibility to those not on your follower list.
Follow these steps if you have decided to switch your public Instagram account to private:
- Open Instagram and tap the Profile icon in the bottom right corner of your screen.
- Tap the three horizontal lines in the top right corner of your profile to open a menu.
- From there, select Settings.
- Scroll until you see Privacy.
- Under the Account Privacy section, toggle the Private Account tab to turn it on.
3 Images
The settings are saved automatically. You can change your account privacy settings whenever you want without any restrictions.
Once your account is private, you will see a Follow Requests section in your Notifications. People not already on your Followers list won’t be able to see your Instagram posts. Though, they can still message you on Instagram.
After changing the settings, you can try some tips to make your account more private for enhanced security.
How to Switch Your Instagram Business Account to Private
An Instagram business account has added features you don’t see in public or private Instagram accounts. Instagram business accounts are mainly used by content creators and entrepreneurs.
You can switch your business account to personal and keep it open to the public or make it completely private. But to make it private, you need to revert to a personal account first. Follow these steps to switch your Instagram business account to private.
- Tap your Instagram Profile icon.
- Open a menu using the three horizontal lines in the top right corner and select Settings.
- Go to Account and then switch your account type. You cannot switch a business profile to private.
- From Switch account type, choose Switch to personal account.
Your account will remain public, but it will no longer contain business features. - Next, open the Privacy section from Settings.
- Under Account Privacy, you will see an option to switch to a private account. Toggle the Private Account tab to make your Instagram account private.
5 Images
Your business account activities will be affected once you change your privacy. Instagram will not show you your business analytics and post performances.
You will also lose monetization support after changing your privacy settings. Moreover, verified Instagram accounts also lose the blue tick. Your inbox will no longer contain filters and message organization tools.
Instagram does not revert completely if you switch your private Instagram account back to a business one. Your previous post analytics won’t be available, so you’ll need to share new posts to analyze your progress.
Users who wish to keep certain things private while running a successful Instagram business account should consider making multiple Instagram accounts with different privacy settings.
Enhance Your Privacy by Switching to a Private Instagram Account
A private Instagram account ensures that your content is shared with limited people, and you have complete control over who follows you on Instagram. You can make your Instagram account private with just a few steps.
Users with a public account can switch to a private one without compromising on any features. On the other hand, business accounts have analytics and engagement summary features that are no longer available once switched to a private Instagram account.
5 Reasons Why Brands are Using Private Instagram Accounts
Some brands and influencers are starting to change their public Instagram accounts to private, or create new accounts that are private from the get-go.
Adding a barrier to fans wanting to follow you might seem like a strange idea, but it’s gaining traction.
So, we decided to find out why—and whether it’s something you should consider doing for you brand.
Why brands are making their Instagram accounts private
Setting your account to private on Instagram means that only people who follow you can see and engage with your content. Even if you’re using popular hashtags, your posts will still be hidden from those searches.
It also means that any non-followers who want to see your content have to submit a follow request.
Recently we’ve seen big meme pages, such as Couplesnote (8.2 million followers), switch to private accounts. And brands like Everlane have launched new private accounts.
In an interview with The Atlantic, Reid Hailey, the founder of Doing Things—an agency that manages Instagram pages with a total of over 14 million followers—said that when one of his large accounts was public it was growing at a rate of 10,000 new followers per week. Once he switched the account to private, that number jumped to 100,000—an impressive increase.
Hailey sees it as a way around Instagram’s algorithm change and stagnating follower counts.
“If you’re public, people just always see your stuff and they don’t feel the need to follow you,” he told The Atlantic. “It didn’t really become a mainstream thing until the algorithm started hitting hard I would say about six months ago or so. People are hurting for growth. A lot of meme pages aren’t really growing.”
If your brand is considering making the move to a private account, consider these benefits:
1. There’s already a trend toward privacy and personalized content
The private Instagram account trend could be a result of the broader trend of users and brands moving towards smaller, closed groups. We’ve seen this happen with the rising popularity of Facebook Groups.
By limiting the amount of people who can see your posts, you’re suggesting to the audience that you care more about quality content than reach. Followers will also feel the content you share is tailored just for them, as they’re a member of the private space you’ve set up for them.
2. It creates a sense of exclusivity
Why have you put a bouncer on the door to your content? Why is it so exclusive? Why? Tell me!
The FOMO is real.
Making your Instagram private can help make your current followers feel valued, but also make new followers curious. FOMO might come in handy if you’re launching new products, for example. You’re rewarding your most loyal followers with an exclusive first look, and giving newbies a reason to follow you.
Everyone loves to feel that they’re getting a deal or an exclusive look.
3. It might help you get more followers
As mentioned earlier in this article, by going private people have to follow you to find out what kind of content you’re posting. Brands have struggled to see their follower numbers rise since Instagram’s algorithm change, so going private serves as a way to navigate those updates.
There’s a reason this private Instagram account trend has been picked up by meme accounts. They know their content is highly shareable between friends.
By going private, any time one of their followers shares a post with a non-follower, that non-follower will be enticed to follow the account in order to see the content their friend shared with them.
4. Keep those followers you’ve gained since going private (potentially)
Just like having to request to follow you, there’s also an extra notification that pops up if a fan tries to unfollow you.
Unlike a public page, where it’s a one-click button to unfollow someone, private pages ask fans if they’re really sure that they want to unfollow you.
This little extra step could potentially have an influence on your retention rates when it comes to follower numbers, making people think twice before unfollowing you.
5. It gives you more control
This might seem like a strange argument, but bear with me.
By going private you can cultivate the kind of followers and fans you want to have as a brand. Social for brands should be about genuine connections and offering value to your audience.
Social media by its very definition is public—but fans might not be willing to give honest feedback or share a connection with you as a brand in those open spaces. By having a small, private space, you can give your brand the room and control it needs to facilitate those genuine connections and offer value to fans on that 1:1 level.
Plus you can weed out and ban any trolls immediately.
Why switching to a private Instagram account may not be right for you
So we’ve told you the reasons you should consider taking your Instagram account private as a brand, but what are the catches?
You can’t switch a business account to private
You have to switch your business account back to a personal one in order to make it private. This means you lose analytics and the ability to run Instagram ads and promoted content.
It’s especially telling that Instagram don’t allow business accounts to be private—suggesting it’s not a trend that they want to promote. It could also mean that Instagram might penalize accounts they deem are ‘gaming’ the system by switching their accounts private.
This is probably the biggest downside to switching your profile to private.
Potential followers might be turned off
People have no reason to follow you beyond a FOMO factor—and you run the risk of annoying people by hiding your content behind a follow request.
This is especially true if you give someone access to your account, only for them to find out your content isn’t what they were looking for. Some people might feel duped into following you, which could result in a longer-term dislike of your brand.
Your content won’t show up in searches
As mentioned before, even if you use hashtags on a private account, your content will not show up in public feeds, including the Explore page. You also won’t be able to embed your content on a website, or link to it either.
All this can have a dramatic effect on your brand’s ability to increase exposure to potential new fans and customers.
So, should your brand switch its Instagram account to private?
Turning private could be used as a short-term strategy (for example, when you’re launching a new product) to help build excitement and exclusivity.
It could also work long-term if you’re a smaller, niche brand with a following that you want to cultivate into a community, or a meme account that thrives on FOMO.
But for the vast majority of brands, social media should be a place to be discovered by a new audience. You can miss out on new and enthusiastic fans, and potentially annoy those who are looking for you. Which is a lose, lose for everyone.
If you want to grow your Instagram following, or create the best Instagram posts possible, and not turn your Instagram page private, we’ve got you covered.
If you decide to keep your Instagram account public, save time managing your Instagram presence using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can schedule and publish posts, engage the audience, measure performance, and run all your other social media profiles. Try it free today.
Get Started
How to make a private profile on Instagram: personal and company
A private profile on Instagram has a number of advantages over an open one.
For example, it helps to get rid of excessive attention from "bots" and commercial profiles. It is enough to change the privacy settings and make the profile private. If you want to share your photos and videos only with close people, then this is the best solution.
Bloggers can use the same trick to create an entourage of mystery and intrigue. In this article, you will learn how to close your Instagram profile from unknown users.
Advertising: 2VtzquY3wEz
Read also: How to create a profile on Instagram
Which is better: a closed or open account
On Instagram, you can only close your personal page from other users who are not subscribed to you. You can't do this with a business account. The explanation is simple - the Instagram administration believes that business should be visible. To grow your audience, you need to be open to it. Just like that, for the sake of curiosity, no one will subscribe to the page.
The exception is well-known brands and media personalities. But in this case, it makes no sense to use Instagram from a personal account - statistics on reach and actions with publications will not be available.
It will not be possible to set up targeted advertising for a private profile, and people will not find you by hashtags. Moreover, your posts and link to the page will not be included in the list of recommendations. You can only grow your subscriber base by working with existing audiences. For example, asking subscribers to tell their friends and acquaintances about you. But in order for your subscribers to share a link to your account, you will have to build the most trusting relationship with them. This is long and labor intensive.
Article in the topic: How to connect a business account on Instagram
How to close your Instagram profile
If you still want to close your Instagram profile from the curious, study the mini-instruction and change the settings in a few clicks.
Personal profile
To close your personal Instagram profile, click on the three horizontal bars in the upper right corner of the screen and click on "Settings" from the pop-up menu.
Scroll through the settings window to the "Account" section. Find the “Closed profile” item in it and move the switch to the “on” state.
The application will ask you to confirm the action. Click on the "OK" button.
After confirming the action, the slider will freeze in the on position, and your profile will become closed.
Only people you give access to can become your subscribers. Other users will see a notification that the page is hidden by privacy settings.
Read also: What to write about yourself in your Instagram profile
Business account
You cannot close a business account on Instagram. The only way to do this is to convert the business page to a personal one and set the privacy settings in the way described above.
But you should not do this, as the post statistics will become unavailable to you. You will have to collect it using third-party services.
How to open an account
To open an account again, follow the same algorithm. Go to settings and turn off the "Closed account" option.
Interesting: Self-promotion on Instagram
Should you close your Instagram account
Close your Instagram profile only if you want to limit the list of people with whom you will share publications. Privacy settings will save you from unnecessary attention to your person and protect you from spam requests for correspondence, which are often sent to Direct.
If you have a business profile and want to profit from promotion on Instagram, you do not need to close the page. Otherwise, you will not be able to track publication statistics and run targeted advertising on Instagram .
Before changing the privacy settings of a page, decide for yourself what is more important to you - privacy or statistics.
This is the very case when you can’t eat a bagel and leave a hole as a keepsake.
Comparison of online courses
Before you buy any course, compare conditions from different schools - tuition fees, discounts, duration, whether there is an employment program. Find an online course >>
Advertising
More articles on the topic:
We recommend:
Advertising
News
Reviews
Article
9000 .Someone actively promotes their profile, and someone wants to close their Instagram account from prying eyes. You can do this in a couple of clicks, you just need to find the desired item in the settings.
Now Instagram has updated the "Settings" section. We are posting screenshots of how to close your Instagram account after the 2022 update.
How to close your Instagram account in 2022 after the
update Below you will find instructions on how to close your Instagram profile so that posts and Stories are only visible to followers.
Even on anonymous browsing sites, your Stories will not be viewable.
If you want to temporarily hide your account from everyone, you can block it. And if only from a specific person, then block his profile.
- Log in to your account, go to Settings (this is how they look after the 2022 update).
- On some phones in 2022, the settings menu looks like this:
- Scroll down and find the "Privacy" item, after - "Closed account" drag the slider to the right.
- Make account private? Click Make Private
How to add or remove followers on a private Instagram profile
When someone wants to follow you, you will need to go to notifications and confirm or decline the subscription.
In order for one of the already approved subscribers to no longer see your posts, he must be removed from the subscribers.
Open the list of your subscribers, find the right one. Click the three dots on the right, select "Delete". Your subscriber will not know about this until he goes to your profile (he will no longer be able to see the posts and will understand that he was removed from the subscribers).
How to open a closed account on Instagram
To open the account back, repeat all the same steps (screenshots above). Open the settings, find "Privacy and security", after - "Account privacy". "Closed Account" Drag the slider to the left. "Make the account public?" Click OK.
How to make a private business account on Instagram?
.
None. If you have an account with connected statistics (business account), then you can make it closed only by transferring it back to your personal account. Business accounts were invented to make promotion on Instagram more efficient. Accordingly, such an account should be open in order to attract a maximum of subscribers.
Still want to close your profile? Switch to a personal account without statistics and then close it according to the instructions above.
How to switch back to a personal account is in the article: How to make a business account on Instagram.
What is the difference between a closed Instagram account and an open one?
In 2020, after the update, only the interface has changed, while all the advantages and disadvantages of a closed account have remained the same.
- All photos and videos in a closed account can only be seen by subscribers.
- Your posts will not appear in hashtag searches.
- Your Instagram profile can be found in the general search by account name, but when you go to it, posts will not be visible.
- If you want to subscribe to a private account, you must first submit an application and wait for the owner of the private profile to approve it. To do this, he needs to go to his notifications and click on "Subscription requests".
