PipeflowWhat a business account gives you
An Instagram account comes in two versions: private and professional. The professional account in turn is split into business and creator. For a business, the business account is usually the obvious choice.
What you get: statistics on your posts and followers, contact details such as phone number, email or address as buttons on your profile, a category under your name, such as “Bakery” or “Electrician”, and the option to run ads. Many external tools for scheduling posts also require a professional account.
Switching over costs nothing, and you can undo it in the settings too.
New account or switch an existing one?
If you've been using Instagram privately so far, with holiday photos and family, it's better to create a separate account for the business. A business account is publicly visible, and your private contacts probably don't want to see offers for boiler servicing.
If there's already an account named after the business that's been running as a private account, simply switch that one over. Your followers and existing posts are kept.
In the Instagram app you can create several accounts and switch between them. You usually create a new account via the account name at the top of your profile or via the settings. Use a business email address that someone else can still access later, in case you're ever unavailable.
Switching over step by step
The menus in the app keep changing, but the basic logic stays the same. The names may be slightly different for you.
- Open your profile: tap your profile picture in the app to go to your profile.
- Open the settings: use the menu, usually three lines at the top right, to get to the settings.
- Find the account type: look for a section like “Account type and tools” or “For professionals”. If you can't find it, use the search in the settings.
- Switch to a professional account: tap the relevant option and follow the instructions.
- Choose a category: pick the category that best describes your business, and decide whether it should be visible on your profile.
- Select business: Instagram asks whether you're a creator or a business. For a business, choose business.
- Check your contact details: decide which contact options should appear on your profile, and finish the process.
Finishing your category, contact details and profile
After switching, it's worth taking a quick look at everything visitors see first. The category helps people understand straight away what you do. Choose it as precisely as possible: “Joinery” says more than a general category like “Local business”, as long as the right one is offered.
For contact details, the rule is: only list what someone actually looks after. A phone number nobody answers is more annoying than having none at all. For many businesses, phone and email are enough; a shop with walk-in customers also benefits from showing the address.
Then come the profile picture, name, bio and link. The profile picture is shown small, so a clearly legible logo or a clear photo works better than an image with lots of text. Also remember that for business accounts in Austria and Germany, mandatory information about the provider usually has to be easy to find, often via a link to your legal notice. The best way to find out exactly what applies to you is to ask the Wirtschaftskammer, the IHK or Chamber of Crafts, or a legal adviser.
Linking a Facebook page: necessary or not?
During setup, Instagram may ask whether you want to connect a Facebook page. Whether that's necessary depends on what you plan to do.
A connection can be handy if you want to run ads through Meta's advertising tools, handle messages from both platforms in one place, or use a tool that requires this connection. For simply posting on Instagram, it isn't always required. Which connection a particular tool needs is stated in its instructions.
If you link them, make sure you have full rights on the Facebook page. If the page was set up back then by an agency or a former employee, sort out access beforehand, otherwise you'll get stuck later.
Typical stumbling blocks
Most problems can be solved in a few minutes. If nothing works at all, Instagram's help section describes the current menus. These points come up especially often:
- Account should stay private: professional accounts are public. If you want to stay private, you need a separate account for the business.
- Menu item not found: update the app and use the search in the settings, often the option has just been renamed.
- Only one person has access: add an email address and phone number the business can access, and turn on two-factor authentication.
- Wrong account type: if you chose creator by mistake, you can switch to business in the settings.