What's the difference between personal, business, and creator accounts on Instagram?

You may not know, but Instagram currently offers 3 specialized account types: Personal, Creator, and Business. Each account type has its own privileges, aimed at different purposes.

What is a personal Instagram account?

Basically, a personal Instagram account is the most common, regular type of account. This is the type of account that people get by default when they sign up for Instagram.

Although it is a default, 'amateur' account, personal Instagram accounts have a very valuable privilege: They can be set to private mode. When this mode is activated, you will have the right to approve any new followers, and especially strangers will not be able to see or access all the photos and videos you post.

Overall, a personal account is suitable for most people. It gives users all the benefits and features to experience Instagram in the most perfect way from a personal perspective.

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What is a business Instagram account?

Business Instagram accounts are one of two types of accounts labeled 'Professional' by Instagram. They are designed for businesses, organizations that operate a real business model, and want to use Instagram as a tool for communication, advertising, customer engagement, and even business development.

In other words, this is the ideal type of account for business and company administrators who need to run ads, promote posts, sell products, and collect Instagram analytics.

In most ways, business accounts are similar to personal accounts. For example, you can still post photos, share things to your Story, and send messages to people's DMs. However, you'll have access to a few additional business-specific features, including:

Get 'Insights' and analytics that let you see the reach of what you share, your follower growth, and more.

1. Promote posts and run ads.
2. Create shopping posts that link directly to an online store.
3. Automatically schedule posts.
4. Special inbox with built-in message sorting and categorization.
5. Have the right to set up auto-reply, tag… features to interact with customers more flexibly.
6. Have the right to publicly disclose business details such as business hours, location and company phone number.

However, there is a rather 'weird' condition that you need to meet if you want to use an Instagram business account: linking your account to a specific Facebook fanpage to run ads or sell products - Even if you don't intend to use Facebook in your marketing activities.

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What is an Instagram creator account?

A creator account is another type of professional Instagram account besides a business account. In simple terms, it falls somewhere between a personal account and a business account, and is designed for public figures, influencers, YouTube channel owners, influential internet content creators… Or in general, 'celebrities'.

With a creator account, you can:

1. See detailed information about each post, run ads, organize your inbox, and create posts that link to your sales website — just like with a business account. However, you won't be able to schedule posts.
2. Hide contact details and business categories on your profile to make it look more like a personal account.

Just like with a business account, you'll still need to connect your creator account to a Facebook page if you want to run ads or create product posts.

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Which type of account should you use?

There are two types of professional accounts designed for people who use Instagram as part of their business or marketing plan, and who want to run ads and sell products. They can also be individuals with large enough followings to require a dedicated inbox and analytics reports on engagement metrics related to their posts.

If needed, you can absolutely convert your current personal Instagram account to a professional account.

But for most people, a personal account is enough and suitable to ensure a full experience with Instagram. For example, if you only have a few hundred followers and do not need to promote or trade products on a commercial scale, using a professional account is not necessary.

David Pac

Update 09 December 2024