What Are Instagram Creator Profiles And Should You Make The Switch?
What’s an Instagram Creator Profile?
Instagram rolled out Creator Profiles in the spring which are specifically created for Instagram influencers. Many influencers have complained recently that the platform is working against them with the constant changes to the algorithm, however, these new profiles are making things easier. Given the influx of influencers and content creators on Instagram, it makes sense that Instagram would cater to this user segment.If you’re wondering how creator profiles differ from regular business profiles, keep on reading!
What special features are included with a Creator Profile?
More Detailed Insights
If you’re looking to gain more insight into your followers and audience and want to manage your posts and messaging, then the creator profile is for you! With a creator account you have more detailed data; it will tell you the daily number of unfollow and follows compared to a business account which just gives you weekly data. I check these stats the day after I post a photo on my feed and see whether it had a positive or negative impact. The creator profile also highlights the metrics that matter most to both influencers and brand partners, simplifying the sharing process. You can tag brands in your posts which gives them full access to the metrics – this eliminates the need to manually send stats and also creates authenticity as the brand can see the metrics firsthand without any tampering. I personally love this feature, because it makes it so easy to partner with brands, but I know a lot of influencers feel pressure when their engagement is shared.
Streamlined Messaging Options
The Instagram creator profile has more DM filtering options so you can prioritize messages and rank them by relevance. This is a feature I am LOVING! It allows influencers to create high quality filters to limit the people and messages that come through their direct messages. I used to get the same few companies that would constantly spam my messages, and I was able to select keywords which sends them directly to my ‘requests’ section rather than to my general or primary messaging center.
Additional Categories and Hidden Contact Info
With business profiles, you’re assigned a category based on the label from the connected Facebook page. Creator profiles have the option to choose a new category and can choose whether or not it shows up on their profile. The categories also align much better with personal brands and influencers (blogger, photographer, video creator, etc.). In addition to the new category options, with a creator profile, you have the option to turn your contact info on or off. Business profiles automatically include the different action buttons for Call, Text, Email, and Directions based on the contact info included but creator accounts can choose to turn this off.For my blog account, I actually like having my email address included, as a lot of brands prefer to reach out via email rather than DM but I know not everyone does. This gives more control over their profiles and how they connect with their followers and potential partners on the platform.
Desktop Analytics with Creator Studio
Creator Studio is essentially a desktop dashboard management tool where you can view all of your Instagram content and insights. It isn’t any different from what you see on the app, but it shows you everything on your desktop which can be quite helpful. I personally don’t use this feature very often (or at all ha!) but I know a lot of people do so I figured I would mention it.
Is it worth the switch?
One major drawback is that creator accounts have no API connection for third-party tools; the Instagram API only supports business profiles (for those of you who don’t know what an API is, it essentially allows features or data from one app, service, or operating system to be used by a third party). By switching to a creator account, you won’t be able to rely on that scheduling tool you love, utilized any auto-publishing features, or content creation dashboard to post your content from the desktop.You’ll have to compose all of your posts from within the Instagram app itself. You can always save the post to your drafts, but you’ll still have to go in and manually publish the post.So, is switching to a creator account worth it? If you’re an influencer or content creator, I would definitely still say yes, but honestly at this point, a creator account is most likely not the best option for most businesses. I personally plan my feed out and then post manually, so that aspect didn’t affect me, however, if you’re an influencer that heavily relies on scheduling tools or third-party apps I would recommend you stick with your business account!
