Use Instagram to build brand loyalty for your company or to present your products and services! Starting a business account is very easy: follow our step-by-step instructions and you’ll set up an Instagram business profile in just a few minutes.
How to start a business account on Instagram
When starting a business account, you can’t register on Instagram directly as a brand. First, you need to have a “personal” account. Since it is for your business, we don’t recommend using your personal data, but the ones of your company or your business email, respectively.
Time needed: 3 minutes.
This is how you register an account for your company from scratch, if you don’t already have one:
- Open the Instagram app
Install the Instagram app on your smartphone and then open it.
- Create an account or sign up
Tap “Create New Account” (iPhone) or “Sign Up With Email or Phone Number” (Android). Enter your phone number (you will also get a confirmation code) or your email address. If you want to connect your Instagram account with your Facebook profile, choose “Log in with Facebook” or enter the same email address that you use there.
- Optional: Log in with Facebook
If you opted for a registration using the Facebook account and you are not currently not logged in, you will be asked to log into your Facebook account.
- Create a username and password
Create a username and a password, if you register using your email address or your phone number. Add your profile info and then click “Next”.
- Upload a profile picture
Your account is now ready. If you plan to use it as a business account, we recommend you upload a nice, representative profile picture (like a brand logo).
How to switch from a personal to a business account on Instagram
After you’ve registered a personal account (or if you already had one), you can easily convert it to a business profile:
- Open Instagram on your smartphone and then your profile page (by clicking on your picture in the bottom right corner).
- Open the menu in the top right corner (three horizontal lines).
- Tap “Settings”. On the next page, tap “Account”.
- Scroll down. At the bottom of the list you’ll find the option “Switch to Professional Account”.
- Confirm that you want to switch to a business account.
- Now select a category that best describes your business. Per default, this info will be shown on your profile page. But you have the possibility to deactivate the option “Display on Profile”.
- Now you must let Instagram know if this account is for a business (company, brand, organization) or for a creator (artist, public figure, influencer etc.). Select “Business”.
- Add your contact information (this will be displayed on your profile).
- In the next step, you can opt to connect your Instagram profile with your Facebook page.
- You’ve completed your new business account. You can continue setting it up by inviting friends or sharing photos and videos.
- At any time, you have the possibility to change back to a personal account or to switch to a creator profile.
Reasons to switch to a business account on Instagram
When you register the account for your business, at first you’ll have a personal account. You could directly start using it – so why should you switch to a business profile?
- You get access to Instagram analytics, to find out how your account and your posts are performing.
- You can add links to your stories (with a verified business account or more than 10,000 followers).
- You can promote your posts (using the ads manager on Facebook).
- You can tag products in your posts.
- You have the possibility to schedule posts to be published at a later time.
- Important: Your business profile is public. That means that you can’t go private, unless you switch to a personal account first.
