How To Set Up an Instagram Business Profile + 4 Benefits

Instagram business profiles are free to anyone who wants one. We’ll teach you how to switch and take advantage of exclusive features.

Are you wondering how to get an Instagram business profile? We’ve got good news: Anyone who wants one can have one.

An Instagram business profile is a powerful tool in your digital toolbox. After all, Instagram has approximately 1 billion monthly active users — and many of those people happily follow brands.

In this article, we’ll take you through how to set up your business profile, four benefits you’ll get from switching over, and how to delete it if you change your mind. Plus, we’ve included a handy chart to compare business, personal, and creator profiles.

Bonus: 14 Time-Saving Hacks for Instagram Power Users. Get the list of secret shortcuts Hootsuite’s own social media team uses to create thumb-stopping content.

How to set up an Instagram business profile

“Sure,” you’re thinking, “You claim switching is easy, but how do you get a business profile on Instagram?”

Relax, we’ve got you. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to change your Instagram profile to a business profile.

1. Head to your Instagram profile page and hit the hamburger menu in the top right corner.

2. Tap Settings on the top of the list.

3. Navigate to Account, then scroll to the bottom of the list

4. Tap Switch to professional account

5. Choose Continue and continue through the prompts, beginning with “Get professional tools.”

6. Choose the category that best describes you or your brand and tap Done.

7. Next, you’ll be prompted to answer whether you are a Creator or a Business. Click Business and Next.

8. Review your contact information and decide whether or not you want it displayed on your profile (if you do, make sure to toggle that option). Hit Next.

9. Connect your Facebook Page. If you don’t have one, you can either create a new Facebook Page or navigate to the bottom of the page and click Don’t connect a Facebook page now. It’s totally fine to have a business profile on Instagram without Facebook, and the next step is the same whether you connect to Facebook or not.

10. Next, you will be prompted to set up your professional account. Here, you can browse your new features and tools.

Get Inspired will prompt you to follow other businesses or creators. Grow Your Audience will prompt you to invite friends to follow your account. And Share Content to View Insights will encourage you to post some new content so you can view your insights. Or, if you hit the X in the top right corner, you’ll go straight to your business profile!

11. Choose Complete your profile and fill in any missing information. Be sure to include a URL here so people know where to find your business outside of Instagram. And voila! You officially have a business account on Instagram

If you’re just starting out or simply curious, here’s a step-by-step guide on exactly how to use Instagram to your business advantage.

Why change to an Instagram business profile

With 90% of people on Instagram following a business, using the platform is a no-brainer.

But, if you are on the fence about whether or not an Instagram business account is for you (no judgment), let us change your mind. A business profile on Instagram has benefits that will help you save time and grow your audience.

You can schedule posts

This may be the most important feature because you can save time as an extremely busy content creator, business owner, or marketer. With third-party apps like Hootsuite, you can schedule posts in batches way ahead of schedule. It’s easy to do, and your audience will appreciate the consistency.

Here’s more on using Hootsuite to schedule Instagram posts and reap the benefits.

Instagram insight access

Instagram’s insights may not be a crystal ball, but they are an excellent tool for understanding your followers.

A business profile gives you access to a deep dive into your audience’s profile views, reach and impressions, along with demographic information about them. You can tailor your posts to appeal to specific interests when you know more about the folks that follow you.

If you’re serious about improving your content, you’re not limited to Instagram’s built-in analytics tools. When you use Hootsuite Analytics with your Instagram business profile, you can track Instagram metrics in more detail than the native Instagram Insights.

The Hootsuite Analytics dashboard allows you to:

• Review data from the distant past
• Compare metrics over specific time periods to get a historical perspective
• Find the best posting time based on past engagement, organic reach, and click-through data
• Generate downloadable custom reports
• Look at specific post performance using your preferred metrics
• Rank Instagram comments by sentiment (positive or negative)

Try Hootsuite for free. You can cancel anytime.

Access Instagram Shop features

If your business is in the business of selling products, you’ll want to access the Instagram Shop features.

With Shops, you can upload a product catalog, tag your goods, and (in some cases) even process sales directly in the app.

You can also create collections of goods (like new arrivals or summer fits), shoppable Reels, and set up brand affiliates who can share and sell your products for a commission. And, you have access to Instagram Shop insights.

Here’s more information about how to set up your Instagram shop. Get your product flying off the digital shelves.

Control who promotes your products

If you’re a business account with an Instagram Shop, you can control who tags your products. And, once you’ve given a creator permission to tag your products, they can allow you to promote their organic branded content feed posts as an ad.

Influencer marketing works — people trust other people over brands. So, partnering up with creators who love your products can be a lucrative marketing strategy.

Here’s more on how to maximize your Instagram advertising strategy.

Business profile vs. personal Instagram vs. creator profile

Here’s that handy chart we promised you! It has all the features of each type of profile at a glance. If you’re looking for more on what creator accounts really look like, head here.

FeatureBusiness profilePersonal profileCreator profile

Private profile capabilities❌✅❌

Insights and growth analytics ✅❌✅

Access to creator studio ✅❌✅

Sortable inbox✅❌✅

Ability to create quick replies for DMs✅❌✅

Display category in profile ✅❌✅

Contact information on profile ✅❌✅

Location information on profile✅❌❌

Third-party app integration ✅❌❌

Instagram Storefront with shoppable products and Shop insights✅❌❌

How to delete a business profile on Instagram

Knowing how to delete a business profile on Instagram is pretty easy. But first, let’s be very clear on what you mean — because you can’t come back from some of these.

If you just want to delete the “business” part of your profile, you can always change your account back to a personal one. Simply head back to your Settings (using the hamburger menu on your profile). Navigate to Account. Scroll down to Switch account type at the bottom and click Switch to personal account.

If you would like to delete the entire account, remember that your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes and followers will be gone forever. If you’re not quite sure, you can also temporarily deactivate your account. But, if you’re sure-sure, head here to delete your account.

Manage your Instagram Business Profile alongside all your other social media profiles using Hootsuite. From a single dashboard you can create and schedule posts, engage followers, monitor relevant conversations, measure (and improve!) performance, and much more.

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