Wouldn’t it be great if you could promote your personal brand and increase ecommerce sales?
Instagram is here to make your dreams come true. It has great sales potential for digital creators: the community has grown to one billion active users and 60% of them discover products in-app, according to Business Instagram. No matter what you offer, whether you have a physical or digital product, you can sell it directly to your audience through Instagram.
What is more, the platform has rolled out Instagram creator accounts that help users get additional insights and control their online presence with ease.
Whether you’re a creator, artist, or influencer, switching to an Instagram creator account may interest you. In this article, you can learn everything you should know about this type of accounts and make the right decision.
What is an Instagram creator account?
Back in 2010, when Instagram was launched, every user had a personal account. Once the company had realized the sales potential for businesses, it introduced business profiles in 2016. With the growing popularity of social media influencers, Instagram rolled out the third profile option, a creator account, to help creators and opinion leaders get more flexibility. Why? An Instagram creator account not only offers in-depth analytics and data, but it also gives users a chance to customize the look and feel of the profile.
Top five reasons to switch to an Instagram creator account:
- Get flexible profile display options: Setting up an Instagram creator account, users have to choose the category that describes their area of expertise and at least one contact option. However, it’s you who decides whether you want to display this info or hide. It’s a handy option as you can change it anytime.
- Understand your growth: With an Instagram creator account, you get access to Instagram insights. However, the main feature of this profile type is an ability to understand net follower data, which means you can see how many people follow/unfollow you on a day-by-day basis. It helps to secure collaboration with brands if you’re an influencer.
- Sell featured items in-app: As a creator, you must know everything about Instagram monetization ideas: Whether you want to promote your products or help businesses sell their goods, there’s an opportunity to create shoppable posts promoting brands that you love in partnership with companies and avoid getting questions about the featured items.
- Simplify direct messages: When it comes to DM filters, Instagram creator accounts have more options as you have the 2-tab inbox to manage primary and general messages. For users, this means an opportunity to use Instagram direct messages for communication with friends, fans, and partners without confusion.
- Manage your account with ease: Wouldn’t it be great if you could manage posts and get insights from a computer? Instagram creator accounts can explore your Instagram insights with Facebook Creator Studio website which makes management easier.
As you can see, this type of profiles offers many benefits, so it’s no wonder many creators have already switched to it. Just take a look at an example from An Medina, an international life coach who writes ebooks on business growth:
And here’s another example of using Instagram creator account. Shauna is a blogger with a passion for Harry Potter and the story. She runs a blog and collaborates with brands to help them promote their products on social media:
Both creators choose to display their category and contact options to attract the right audience and the right collaborators in an easy way.
If you still doubt whether you should switch to an Instagram creator account or not, pay attention to Later’s flowchart to make the right decision:
Have you decided to give Instagram creator account a try? That’s great! Keep on reading to understand how to make a switch and find actionable ways to make the most out of this profile type.
How to switch to an Instagram creator account
When an Instagram creator account was announced at the beginning of 2019, this profile type was available for people with over 10k followers. Today, every person can make a switch on the mobile phone and convert either a personal or business account into a creator profile.
NB: Instagram creator account is always public so every user can see your posts, videos, and stories.
So, if you’re ready to switch to an Instagram creator account, there are four easy steps for you to take:
1. Get to your account settings
Go to your Instagram profile and find the three-line button in the top-right corner, tap on it and scroll down to the settings wheel where you will find a profile icon called ‘Account’. From here, you should scroll down and tap on ‘switch to professional account’ if you have a personal account or ‘switch to creator account’ if you have a business profile.
2. Switch to a creator account
Once you click on ‘switch to professional account’, you should choose from two options – a business and creator. Tap on the ‘creator’ option and read more about the benefits you can get with the settings:
3. Choose the most relevant category
To attract the right audience and secure collaboration with brands, you should interest them. Spreading the word about your activity is a proven way to hook Instagrammers’ attention. With the right category, you can tell visitors more about what you do. Today, there are over 60 category options, so every creator can find the most relevant one, whether you want to grow your business or have fun. You can choose from the suggestions or start typing your option in the search bar.
4. Add contact options
If you have ever used a business profile on Instagram, you know that providing followers with at least one contact option is a must. When it comes to creator accounts, you have to add contact options, too. However, you can also decide whether you want to hide it or display:
As you can see, switching to an Instagram creator account is easy. And the best thing is that you can always make a switch back to your personal or business profile. However, there are some ways to get wonderful results with Instagram creator account, so it’s more likely you will fall in love with the new features and options.
3 ways to make the most out of Instagram creator account
1. Convince brands to collaborate
Influencer marketing is on its rise: both brands and opinion leaders get wonderful results from collaborations. It’s no wonder that creators want to partner with world-known brands to make money and build personal brand awareness.
However, when it comes to securing sponsorships as an influencer, most brands have analytics requirements that help them understand better whether you’re the right influencer for partnership or not.
Instagram knows the importance of in-depth analytics for influencers: “We’ve gotten feedback that existing tools around business profiles make it difficult to track creator follower growth and engagement over time, and that existing business tools weren’t designed with them in mind.”
With an Instagram creator account, you have access to in-depth data about your following growth which can convince brands to collaborate.
Once a potential partner requests your performance metrics, you have access to more detailed analytics which means it’s easier for you to prove that you’re the right person for collaboration.
2. Network on Instagram direct messages with ease
As a creator with a significant following, you must receive tons of direct messages from your friends, partners, and fans. With a great number of messages and requests, managing your Instagram inbox can be daunting.
Switching to a creator account allows users to get two inboxes for messages: Primary and General ones.
If you’re connected with a person on Instagram, messages go to the Primary inbox. If you approve a message request from a stranger, it goes to the General inbox which is made for first-time communicators.
The best thing about the 2-tab inbox is an opportunity to filter your direct messages the way it suits you. You can also get quick access to unread and flagged messages which makes it easier to manage your inbox.
3. Sell promoted products in-app
Here comes the great news for influencers: Instagram is planning to allow users to shop looks from creators.
Living in the digital era, every social media user influences their followings. The scheme is simple: The more followers you have, the more questions about featured products you can get. Most influencers know that their followers ask for product details via the comment section or direct messages, and replying to every request is time-consuming.
Now, Instagram is testing a new feature: a small community of creators can sell products in-app with product tags. Here’s how it looks like:
With the shopping post, Katie Sturino minimized the number of comments about the featured product. It also helped the partner company get insights on the post performance. And if you want to stay one step ahead of your competitors and get better results, you can create animated Instagram posts that grab the audience’s attention.
Whether you’re an influencer who works with brands or a digital creator who wants to sell products directly to your audience, switching to an Instagram creator account is a way to get better results.
In a Word
Instagram takes care of users, brands, and creators who use this platform for growth. With the announcement of Instagram creator accounts, creators can get new features, including shoppable posts and in-depth analytics insights. This account type was designed for creators and influencers who want to bring their Instagram game to the next level, so don’t miss a chance to give it a chance.
The post How to make the most out of Instagram creator accounts appeared first on Sellfy.