Instagram Creator Profile: How Does It Work?
What is the Instagram Creator Profile?
At the risk of oversimplifying, it is an upgrade from the Instagram Business Profile in one sense and personal profile expanded just for influencers. It is one of the newest, and most dynamic, social media profile setups available to influencers.
Many influencers have complained that the standard profile (and the Business Profile) lacked key data tracking for their audience. This prevented influencers from understanding what their audience preferred to engage with, or at the very least, understanding how and why they were resonating with their audience. Instagram heard their cries and has delivered a much more effective product with their Creator Profile.
Who Can Sign Up for a Creator Profile?
Technically, anyone can convert their personal or business profile into a Creator Profile. However, the new Creator Profile is not for everyone.
It is not enough just that you have a business or desire a following. To get the most out of Creator, you should possess a decent number of followers. In short, true influencers are the ones that benefit the most from the Creator Profile.
What Does Instagram Creator Mean for Marketers?
Marketers using Instagram for their clients will be able to use the Creator Profile to accomplish two things: increase revenue and boost traffic organically.
Creator’s shoppable posts will more effectively connect shoppers to the products that they want, particularly if their favorite influencer recommends it. Creator’s shoppable posts integrate perfectly with Facebook Business Manager and Catalog (see below for more details). Influencers can tag products in lifestyle photos (as opposed to lifeless studio shots), and followers can purchase right from the post.
The robust analytics on post engage through the Creator Profile will give marketers deeper insights into what messages resonate best with their influencer’s followers. And because Instagram’s focus is on organic traffic (rather than paid boosts), that means that clients are getting more bang for their buck.
What does Instagram Creator Mean for Influencers?
The Instagram Creator Profile was built specifically for influencers, not businesses. What is revolutionary about the Creator Profile is that it supersedes traditional and/or paid advertising. Instagram wants to continue rewarding the influencer marketing model over the noise of traditional marketing.
The emphasis now is on the influencer’s credibility and power to resonate with an audience. The Creator Profile gives you more information to increase your audience of followers.
Quick Setup Guide to Instagram Creator Profile
You must first have a personal or Business Profile before you can convert that profile into a Creator Profile.
When making this conversion, you will be doing this from your mobile device rather than a desktop computer.
- Login to your IG account and go to your profile. Locate the three horizontal lines on the top right corner (some social media managers call these a “hamburger”).
- The first option on the menu is “Settings.”
- From Settings, scroll down towards the bottom and select “Account.”
- At the very bottom in blue letters is “Switch to Professional Account.”
- Now you will be asked whether you want to convert your personal account into a Business Profile or Creator Profile. If you are converting from a Business Profile, you will only have the option to change to a Creator Profile.
In your Creator Profile, there is a little more setup required. There are more categories to select, and you have another option to select a label, too. This makes your influencer presence more precise. Make sure to select carefully so that your future followers can find you easily.
Follow the directions for linking accounts and choosing which contact information to display. This will finalize your account, and everything is ready to go.
Getting Acquainted with Your New Profile
The first thing that you want to feel comfortable with is your Insights capabilities. Click on the hamburger on the top right and select “Insights.” Here, you can view your “Content” (What did you post this week?), “Activity” (What kind of engagement did you get on those posts? Did anyone new discover you?), and “Audience” (How many make up your audience? Where are they from?).
Next, back out of your Insights and go to your direct messages. You’ll notice that you now have a Primary inbox and a General inbox. Play with your filtering options so that the messages you want to see arrive in Primary and the ones that are less critical arrive in General.
Setting Up and Managing Shoppable Posts
Initially, Instagram introduced shoppable posts for influencers in the Creator Profile, but technically shoppable posts are also available on a Business Profile. However, shoppable posts from Creators will feel more organic, or lifestyle-centered, than they do coming from a Business Profile.
The first step is to visit Facebook Business Manager and build a Catalog. You can access a Facebook free tutorial here. From the Business Manager, you will connect your IG Creator Account.
Now all you need to do is tag your uploaded photos just as you would tag individuals. It’s that easy!
For more information on setting up a Creator Account on Instagram, visit IG’s Help Center.
Are you ready to stake your claim in the creator economy? Discover more helpful tips and resources from the experts at GRIN: Creator Management Learning Center
