Episode Summary: A guide to setting up and using an Instagram business profile — the conversion process, the differences from a personal account, the Insights analytics available, and the ad formats businesses could use in 2018.
What You'll Learn
- How to convert a personal Instagram account to a business profile
- The key differences and limitations between personal and business profiles
- What Instagram Insights reveals about audience, posts, and Stories performance
- The 4 ad formats available and how to create ads directly from a phone
Instagram facts at the time (source: Instagram for Business): over 25 million business profiles, over 2 million advertisers, 60%+ of people say they discover new products on Instagram, 200 million people visit business profiles daily, video watch time up 80%, and a third of the most-viewed Stories came from business profiles. The bottom line: Instagram was (and remains) a serious platform for businesses of every size, with new features continuously rolling out.
Requirements to Create a Business Profile
The only real requirement: a Facebook Page set up for the business first, used to verify payment credentials and contact information. Since Facebook owns Instagram, converting to a business account also unlocks ad management from within Facebook's tools.
How to Convert
Set up a Facebook Business Page, log into Instagram on a phone, go to profile settings, tap "Switch to Business Account," link the Facebook Page, and fill in business information. The whole process takes just minutes.
Differences and Limitations
- Sharing: business profiles can only cross-post to their linked Facebook Business Page — not to other pages or a personal profile. Switching which Page it's linked to just means briefly reverting to a personal account and reconnecting.
- Privacy: business accounts can't be set to private, unlike personal accounts. Switching back and forth between personal and business is always possible.
Advantages and Tools for Business Accounts
- Business status — official recognition as a business, even for a brand-new account, which carries some marketing credibility.
- Contact info — phone, email, directions, and a physical address (if applicable) all become visible on the profile, plus one clickable link — a real benefit for local businesses.
- Insights — arguably the most valuable feature: detailed analytics on audience (age, gender, location, active hours), profile visits, link/contact clicks, reach, likes, comments, saves, and follower growth. For Stories specifically: views, reach, forward/back taps, and exit rate.
Advertising and Monetization
Four main ad formats at the time: photo ads (square or landscape), video ads (up to 60 seconds, square or wide), carousel ads (swipeable multi-photo), and Story ads (vertical, up to 15 seconds) — with 300 million people using Stories at the…
Read the complete show notes and resources on mikemurphy.ai.
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