In this week’s blog, learn more about Instagram’s new feature for business accounts – the Instagram Creator Account!

 

Introducing the Instagram Creator Account!

Instagram rolled out another “new beta” feature in early May, and the responses have been extremely positive thus far! Would you like to connect with your audience further? Well then, you’re reading the right blog! 

This new feature opens up a realm of possibilities through detailed analytic tools and insights to help you understand who your target audience is and how to reach them better. 

Throughout this blog, we will discuss exactly what an Instagram Creator Account is and how this could benefit you and your business!

What is an Instagram Creator Account?

An Instagram Creator Account is a “new option” made specifically for the growing influencer community. With the new influencer trend, anyone can suddenly market themselves and their brand!

Similar to Instagram’s iconic business accounts, an Instagram Creator Account offers a new range of exclusive features and analytics to help manage and maintain your social presence with ease. 

However, unlike Instagram’s business accounts, this new feature puts the power back in the hands of the content creators themselves.

This new feature gifts them back a sense of freedom and individualism through flexible profile controls, while also allowing them more focused access to important engagement data with many new growth tools!

This could massively benefit you or your business by creating a more personalized connection with your audience. This will also provide you, the creator, with a better understanding of the content that resonates with viewers, increasing both engagement and trust, prompting better sales!

Want to learn more about the Instagram platform? Read our previous blogs to learn how to run an Instagram remarketing campaign, how to easily grow your Instagram presence, and 5 new Instagram updates for 2019.

So, Why Use A Creator Account?

Creator Accounts were made with a specific audience in mind –  those who are public figures, content producers, artists or influencers. As influencer marketing within Instagram continues to skyrocket, beginning to exceed stereotypical digital ads in terms of engagement, it is important now, more than ever, to begin forming personal relationships with your audience! 

Through the analytic tools, as well as the brand new simplified messaging system, the creator account is all about allowing connections to blossom through communication and curated engagement.

In turn, this heightens the user experiences on all ends – influencer, audience, and marketer!

And the best part is that there’s no negative impact on the algorithm when switching over! 

The New Unique Creator Account Features!

The Creator Account has four significant new features that sets it apart from the business accounts. 

#1: In-Depth Follower Growth Insights

According to an Instagram spokesperson, “We’ve gotten feedback that existing tools around business profiles make it difficult to track creator follower growth and engagement over time and that existing business tools weren’t designed with them in mind.” 

Thus, the Instagram Creator Studio dashboard was born with a new intention in mind to allow creators better access to their own engagement data.

Considered the most significant of the new features, the follower growth insights will allow creators more insight and information on audience growth and decline.

The insights will provide daily and weekly analytics and measure growth across posts, IGTV, and Instagram Stories. This feature even offers access to analytics around when followers are online and new discovery data!

This means that if a Creator Account has a significant surge or loss of followers, they would be able to determine on which days those fluctuations happened. In turn, one can then review any posts or content shared on those days that might have contributed to those loses or changes in followers. (Talk about knowing what content your audience wants to see!) 

These new growth metrics will allow creators to see what content is resonating with their audience as well as ways in which they can better reach them! 

#2: Simplified Messaging

This new feature allows creators to filter, and even limit, their direct message options. This sets a priority upon brands outreach as well as communication with friends. There are even filters which can set relevance in messaging so that a creator will never miss an important message within the shuffle of direct messaging again!

#3: Flexible Profile Controls

The new Creator profile will let users quickly designate their preferred method of contact, which will help foster better communication between brands and influencers. This will also allow the influencers’ audience to connect with them directly as well.

#4: Shopping from Creators

The final new feature is the ability for creators to tag products within their posts, allowing their audience to shop directly from a Creator Account without having to leave their feed. This is a major selling point because, as we all know, the younger generation has the attention span of a newborn. 

This helps the shopping experience on both sides of the influencer/audience relationship as the audience no longer has to guess what their favorite creators are wearing. In short, this allows creators to promote products directly within their posts!

Most importantly, this helps to streamline ads, benefiting both the brand and the influencer repping the brand.

As previously stated, the focus on the new Creator Account is to create a more significant connection between influencer, brands, and audience. The new account features support the symbiotic relationship the three have within the online marketing space.

The Creator Accounts help foster better communication and content that truly resonates with the creator’s viewers.

Switching to a Creator Account is Super Easy! Here’s How You Can Do it:

To begin, simply log into your Instagram business account.

Once you are on your business’ Instagram page, you will see three horizontal lines at the top of your profile on the right-hand. Click those!

After clicking the lines, a menu will appear on the right side of your screen. All the way at the bottom of the screen, you will see a “Settings” option. Click on the Settings gear.

Once the Settings menu populates, locate the “Account” option and click there.

Once in your account’s “Account” tab, you will see the option “Switch to Creator Account” in blue at the very bottom of your screen. Select the text.

Once selected, Instagram will show you the major things a Creator Account can do for you. Review the options and decide if you would like to continue. If you decide to opt-out, there is a “Cancel” button located in the top left-hand corner.

Select “Next” to continue. Instagram will then prompt you to answer a few questions: 

Step 1: Select a category.

What kind of creator are you? Select the category that best suits you, your account, and your content.

For us, we are a digital marketing agency, so we located the Marketing Agency option.

Select the blue “Next” button at the bottom of the screen to continue.

Step 2: Select your profile display option.

This asks if you would like your new Creator title to display on your account. You can turn off your display category or contact information if you prefer.

Select the blue “Done” button to save your preferences.

Just like magic – your official Creator Account if completed and ready to use!

If you’re looking for extra help, swing on over to Instagram’s very own guide here. 

Debunking Some Creator Account Myths and Downfalls

A rumor that’s been running rampant about the new Creator Account is that you need 10,000 followers in order to switch over.

However, this appears to be false on multiple fronts as anyone can convert to the account whenever they’d like! We pinky promise it works, try it out for yourself!

The only downfall with the new creator account is that it is still in its beta testing phase, meaning there could be some possible glitches or changes happening in the near future. 

However, never fear because it is incredibly easy to switch your account back to a personal or business account after you have taken the creator account plunge. 

Another issue with the Creator Accounts is that, due to Instagram’s recent decision to change to their API system in hopes of protecting their user’s privacy better, this account cannot be used in connection to outside auto-publish or analytical tools. However, this specific problem is platform-wide instead of specific to the new Creator Account features.

Cool, and?

Creator accounts are an amazing way to improve the connection you or your business has to your audience. The new account option will allow you to reach your audience through the use of the various new features. 

Creator Accounts give the user access to:

• Growth tools
• Data analytics
• A simplified messaging system
• More flexibility
• Added account freedom
• And the ability to promote a brand within a post itself…

With these tools, your business can continue on its path of growth!

Have you switched over yet? Tell us how your experience has been in the comments down below, we’d love to hear from you!

If not, tell us what’s stopping you from taking the plunge!