Are you ready to start focusing on Instagram or thinking about starting an IG account for your business? 

If you want to make it as an Instagram Influencer, make money from Instagram, or use Instagram to grow your business, you’ve gotta treat Instagram like a business. 

And that’s why you’re going to need an Instagram Account for Business.

Perhaps you’ve already started a Personal Instagram Account and are wondering how to turn it into an Instagram Business Account and if you should.

We’re going to go over all of that. And I’m also going to tell you how to set up an Instagram Account for Business.

FYI: This is not a post about how to get Instagram followers or how to grow your Instagram account. It’s simply to help get you started in the right direction headed towards Instagram success.

Let’s cover the basics for setting up your Instagram for Business Account!

Why You Should Use an Instagram Account for Business

First off, let’s start with your actual Instagram account. If you want to set your Instagram account up for success, you need to use an Instagram Business Account (don’t worry, it’s free). 

Here are the benefits of using an Instagram Business account versus just a standard personal account:

• Insights / Analytics: You can track your post performance and follower engagement. Use this info to figure out where to focus your efforts for growth opportunities.

• Ads / Promoted Posts: You can run ads or promote individual posts to boost engagement for them and grow your Instagram account.

• Saved Replies: This is my fave feature of having an Instagram Business account. Saved Replies are SO helpful for using Instagram to grow your blog traffic and email subscribers! You’ll want to know how to use them!

• Links in Stories: Generally with Instagram, you only get to use 1 link in your Bio and aren’t able to use links in your individual posts. But if you have an Instagram Business account (and at least 10k followers), you can use links in your stories! Since you must have over 10k followers to use this feature, that’s even more reason to use the strategy in this post to grow your Instagram followers!

• Product Tags: Do you have an online shop? Good news! You can actually turn your IG feed into an online shop by tagging products in your posts to make them shoppable!

• Include More Company Info: You can include additional public business information, such as a Category and Contact Options like your email address, phone number, and/or business address. This makes it easier for people to get in touch with you.

• Action Buttons: You’ll have the option to use one of the following Action Buttons to allow people to interact with your business from your Instagram profile: Order Food, Book Now, or Reserve.

• Branded Content Approval: This gives you the ability to tag business partners for sponsored posts and stories. You can also run ads from a business partner’s account, and they tag you in ads they create as well.

• DM Management: Manage your direct messages by filtering messages into the following categories for better organization: Primary, General, and Requests.

• Auto Publishing Posts: With Tailwind, you can use an Instagram Business account to schedule your posts in advance to automatically publish at a later time. You can also preview how the posts will look in your feed for a cohesive design.

Want more details on Instagram Business Accounts? Here’s a good article about them.

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How to Switch from a Personal Instagram Account to an Instagram Business Account

Have I convinced you to use an Instagram Account for Business? Great! If you’re already using a personal account, don’t freak out. 

You can easily switch it over to an Instagram Business Account by following these simple steps:

1. From your Instagram profile, tap on the 3 lines in the upper right corner to pull up the menu

2. Tap on Settings, then Privacy, and make sure your account is not set to private

3. Go back to Settings, then tap on Account

4. Scroll to the bottom, tap “Switch to Professional Account,” and click on “Continue”

5. Select a Category for your Instagram Business Account and choose whether or not to display it on your profile

6. Choose the option that describes you best – Business or Creator

Not sure which one to choose? Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Instagram Creator Account. You can also use this helpful flowchart from Later.

I personally chose the Business option because I like to be able to schedule Instagram posts to publish automatically at optimized posting times. And that option is currently not available for Creator Accounts.

7. Go through the steps to set up your Instagram Account for Business (add your contact info, and connect your Facebook Page if you haven’t already)

Now you can start setting up your Instagram Account for Business!

How To Set Up Your Instagram Account for Business

You want to make the most of your Instagram Account for Business by filing out all of your Instagram profile details. 

Use as many fields as possible that are relevant to your business. This will give new visitors the information they need to be able to figure out if they should follow you.

These are the items you want to focus on to motivate visitors to click that follow button!

1. Optimize your Instagram Profile

With an Instagram Business Account, you have the ability to include additional details, such as your:

• Business Type (how would you categorize your business?)

• Contact Info (how do you want people to get in touch with you?)

• Location (do you have a physical business where you want people to go?)

So utilize that info. Make it clear who you are and what your account/business is about.

2. Use a Personal Profile Photo 

I recommend using a photo of yourself instead of a logo to make it more personal. Sure, you’re trying to create a brand for yourself. 

But when you’re deciding who to follow on Instagram, would you rather follow a person or an obvious brand? 

Show your potential new followers who’s behind the brand. Give them a face to put the Instagram for Business Account to.

3. Write a Good Instagram Bio

Your Instagram bio is a key piece of your presence on Instagram. Don’t let this piece of online real estate go to waste!

Your Instagram bio needs to convince new visitors to click the follow button on your profile. Because that’s what it’s all about – converting visitors into followers.

Tell potential followers who you are, what your account is about, what you offer, and why they should follow you. What’s your brand identity? 

Include personal details to make yourself more relatable if you can. The more info, the better. But you only get 150 characters for your Instagram bio. So you have to be strategic with them.

If 150 characters just isn’t enough, you can also utilize your Instagram Name to provide more info about yourself. Your Name can be different from your username, and you get 30 characters to use for it.

For example, my Instagram username is Next.Destination.Unknown. This is used in the link to my Instagram profile: www.instagram.com/next.destination.unknown

But the Name for my Instagram profile is RV Travel & Outdoor Adventures to give my audience an idea of what my profile is about.

I also like using emojis in my Instagram bio because I think they’re fun, add personality, and draw attention. But whether or not you want to use emojis yourself is a personal choice. You could use symbols instead to stand out.

It can be challenging to convey everything you want to with just 150 characters though. If you’re stumped on what to say in your Instagram bio, try some of these Instagram bio ideas.

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4. Include a Call-to-Action

While you’re at it, be sure to include a Call-to-Action (CTA) in your Instagram bio. Let people know what you want them to do next, and make it enticing! 

Do you want them to sign up for your freebie, read your latest blog post, buy your product? Tell them what they should do by directing them to your bio link.

My CTA is for people to sign up for my email list in exchange for free resources. I did the best I could to motivate people to click on my link below with the limited space available. It’s not perfect, but it gets the point across.

I’m just showing you mine as an example. You can have your Call-to-Action say whatever you want as long as it persuades people to take the specific action you want them to.

5. Make Your Link Count

Since you only get to display one link in your Instagram bio, you need to make it count! There are free and paid options for bio link tools out there to direct visitors to a landing page featuring multiple links. Some options include Tailwind’s Smart.bio, Later.com’s Linkin.bio, and Linktree. 

BUT… let me tell you why you should NOT use one of these bio link landing page tools! Essentially, they’re driving YOUR blog traffic to another site instead of sending visitors straight to your site. 

What if they go to the landing page on another site, glance at your links, and decide not to click on one of them to then go to your site? You just lost that valuable blog traffic!

You’re better off directing traffic straight to your blog rather than some other random site first. Don’t risk them not clicking through to your site from the landing page. Capture that traffic instantly! 

You can do that by creating an Instagram bio landing page on your website featuring links to your various blog posts, pages, products, and anywhere else you want to direct them.

I’ve created a fully customizable Template you can use with the Divi theme or the Divi Page Builder plugin if you’re using a different WordPress theme. This plug-and-play Template lets you create your own landing page on your site with your branding and as many links as you want!

You may also like: Instagram Strategy for Bloggers: How To Use Instagram to Grow Your Blog

Wrapping Up How To Set Up Your Instagram Account for Business

Now that you’ve set up your Instagram Account for Business properly, you’re well on your way to Instagram success! You’ve gotta start somewhere, right?

Next up: it’s time to start getting Instagram followers. Growing your Instagram following is a must if you want to be successful on Instagram. It all comes down to the number of followers you have and how engaged those followers are with your account.

What about using Instagram to drive traffic to your blog? You’ll need to convert your followers into blog traffic by giving them links to click.

Get your Instagram Links Landing Page Template and grow your traffic by driving your Instagram audience directly to your blog or website!

Leave a question or comment here!