There's been a lot on this topic. Simply google "Instagram business account vs. personal account" and you'll see what I mean. The headlines of the search results will probably make business account owners question their decision, while personal account owners will have a feeling of affirmation. If you didn't even know there was a debate going on over the two different account types, well, now you know. Hopefully, this blog will objectively answer any questions you have.

What you get with a personal account

All the basics you're probably already familiar with on Instagram. Posting photos, videos, stories, etc. That's about it.

What you get with a business account

All the basics you get with a personal account with a few additional features. You'll get access to analytics, audiences, ads, calls to action on profile, and some other more obscure uses. 

The argument for personal accounts

The people who argue that businesses should have personal accounts usually point to organic engagement numbers. Because Instagram favors genuine, authentic content over content that's trying to sell something, personal accounts do tend to have higher organic engagement numbers. This is the main reason people recommend not switching to a business account even if you're going to use your Instagram account to represent your business. The common belief is that business accounts inherently obtain a penalty from Instagram's algorithm.

The argument for business accounts

While lower organic numbers can correlate with business accounts, it's not always caused by the sole fact that it's a business account, but rather, the type of content that's typically posted by users who have business accounts. There are multiple additional features that come with business accounts that, if used strategically, can negate the one argument people use in support of personal accounts. 

A quick examination of the two screenshots below shows some of these additional features. The screenshot on the left is a business account and the screenshot on the right is a personal account.

Chief among these additional features is the ability to see analytics on your posts. This one feature can be all you need to reverse your low organic engagement numbers. How can you use analytics to boost engagement numbers?

1. You can easily look through all your posts and see what types of content people tend to engage with. Once you know this, you can double down on this type of content. Consistently large engagement numbers will boost your exposure to users. 
2. You can see what demographic makes up the majority of your audience and create content that's tailored to them.
3. You can see the most popular times and days for your audience to use Instagram. Posting engaging content during these times and days will increase your chance of garnering even more engagement.

The ability to strategically use your analytics should increase your engagement, and guess what, Instagram equates high engagement numbers to genuine, authentic content, which is favored in their algorithm.

Another feature unique to business accounts is the ability to promote posts. This is great for reaching more people and building a greater following of users who will engage with your content in the future.

Lastly, on a business account, you can add a few calls to action to your profile to help people contact you easier.

Conclusion: Which should you choose?

While there are some potentially major disadvantages to having a business profile, you can make those disadvantages null if you're practicing good social strategies. The only reason people tend to find business accounts problematic is because the majority of their content tends to be about making a sale. Constantly pitching your business is not only unengaging, it's also disingenuous and inauthentic.

Need help setting up a business account on Instagram? You can learn how to here.

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