Should You Switch to a Business Profile on Instagram?

You’ll lose all your followers overnight, nobody will ever see your posts and you’ll end up shelling out a fortune on promotions just to be noticed. These are just some of the rumours surrounding the mystery that is the business profile on Instagram. But as you might realise by my tone, that’s all they are: rumours.

It’s true, as with most things, that there are some disadvantages. But when it comes to a business profile on the ‘Gram, the positives far outweigh the negatives. And I’m here to tell you exactly why you should be making the switch from a personal account right now.

Insights

Technology is getting smarter by the second. But now we’re learning to adapt to that and actually analyse it in a way that serves us well. Switching to a business profile on Instagram allows you to access insights about your followers. This data shows you everything from the time of day your followers are active to the percentage increases or decreases in reach. You can even get a detailed look at how people interact with your stories, allowing you to see the number of people who ‘tapped back’, exited, followed a link and much more.

It goes without saying, but to properly monitor and improve your social media, this kind of information is crucial.

Contact

This feature is what makes business accounts stand out from personal ones. Using an Instagram business profile means that you can place a “Contact” button underneath your bio, which can be linked directly to your email, phone number and/or address. Not only does this make things more streamlined, saving people from clicking through to your website to then search for your details, it simply looks more professional.

Promotions

I’ll start off by saying that although you don’t have to spend your life savings on Instagram promotions, at least the business profile gives you the option. Much the same as boosting a post on Facebook, paid promotions on Instagram can help drive traffic to your profile and get clicks through to the website. It’s not essential but it can be highly effective, particularly when done in tandem with high-quality content and consistent posting.

Disadvantages

As I mentioned earlier, the biggest concern about switching profiles is that you’ll encounter a drop in organic reach, leading to a decrease in engagement, too. There are rumours that this is intentional, so as to push the need for paid promotions. Whether that’s just the cynics out there or there’s truth to it, you’ll only really know by giving it a go yourself. In any case, if you’re putting in the time and effort, the pros of switching your account should make it more than worth your while.

If you have any questions about Instagram, or how best to manage your social media, shoot us a message or give us a call!

 

FSM.