Should You Switch To An Instagram Business Account?

Should you make the switch to a business account on Instagram?

Should you set up an Instagram business account?

Instagram has begun to tempt business owners with a new kind of an account. A business profile makes it easier for you to do business from Instagram.

It adds a ‘Contact’ button to your profile making it easy for followers to phone or email you direct from the app. Gives you statistics on how many people view your posts and more, I’ve been waiting to find out how many views my pictures since day one. And it allows you to easily boost posts and attract clicks to your website from within the app, no need to jump into your Facebook ads manager each time you want to run an ad.

With all these cool features why is it so many of us are unsure if we should make the switch?

Watch below for the pros and cons of making the switch to an Instagram business profile

Reach

Small business owners may have learned their lesson. We invested time and effort in Facebook for years, and for years they added features and cool stuff like statistics and ads. But it was with this roll-out of features that we started to see a drop in reach.

Years on, we are pulling our hair out and swearing at the tiny percentage of people Facebook decides to show our posts to. Will the same happen with Instagram?

The answer is yes, and it’s bound to happen faster this time. If we identify ourselves as businesses now we are sure to see a pull back in our reach eventually. I empathise with those who don’t want to lose this wonderful marketing tool but I think Facebook will force the change on us eventually. Maybe it’s smart to get ahead of the game?

Should you switch to an Instagram business account?

Don’t panic, at the moment if you switch to a business account you still have the option to switch back.

Here are a few questions to consider before choosing to make the swap:

Are you an individual or a business? What do you use Instagram for?

A question about making the swap came up in the Irish Bloggers Facebook group. Many bloggers set up Facebook pages for their blogs so that they don’t annoy their friends with updates but Instagram is different.

You can set up and manage multiple Instagram accounts from the app. You don’t need to connect your accounts under one profile like you do on Facebook so having an Instagram account for your blog is manageable without making the swap.

Bloggers tend to share a mixture of inspiration and day to day life. As there is no linking out from Instagram, except in the bio and ads there is no chance of overwhelming followers with commercial posts like on Facebook.

If you make money out of your Instagram, either as a marketing channel for your business or your blog you should consider making the switch.

The analytical element of your business account will help you understand the types of content that work, the best times of day to post and the detail on who is seeing your posts.

The easy advertising paired with the analytics could help you drive more traffic to your website and more sales.

Finally, from a branding perspective, it will make you look authentic and professional. At the moment I doubt many people notice which kind of account you have but in the future people will associate a business profile with legitimate companies.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Statistics and analytics – You’ll want to know which images work best, get the most views and engagment. This will help you improve your marketing.

Contact button – Making it simple for customers and clients to contact you directly from the app.

Easy access to advertising – Save time on creating ads, you no longer need to go through the Facebook ads manager.

Branding – A business Facebook page makes you look like a legitimate, trustworthy business.

Cons

Future decline in reach – Facebook is likely to pull back the reach on business profiles in the future. But will they force everyone to use business accounts before this happens?