Have you been wondering about the difference between a business vs. creator account on Instagram in 2023? Well, you’re in the right place.
With continual Instagram algorithm updates, you may be a part of the percentage of users that have seen a decrease in engagement.
Does the algorithm favor content from business vs. creator accounts on Instagram? Are you struggling to find trending audio on Instagram as a business?
With an increase in business accounts and paid advertising on the app, more people have been wondering if that impacts the reach and engagement of a business vs. creator account on Instagram.
Our team dug deep to get to the bottom of which Instagram profile is best—the results may surprise you!
Ready to make your Instagram dreams a reality? Keep reading to get all the details.
Are you a business looking for help with your Instagram marketing? Check out the top Instagram marketing agencies that have been researched, compiled, and verified by our team.
Business vs. Creator account on Instagram 2023
Wondering about the difference between a business vs. creator account on Instagram?
Generally speaking, business accounts are best suited for brands, and creator accounts on Instagram are for influencers, public figures, and content creators.
What does having a business account on Instagram do?
Switching your account to business on Instagram gives you access to more features to help grow your business and drive your followers to purchase.
Instagram business account benefits:
- Gain insights into your audience demographics, post-performance, and other metrics.
- Integrate with third-party tools, like Vista Social, so that you can take your social media marketing and management to the next level.
- Promote Instagram posts as ads.
- Get access to Instagram Shoppable posts when you sync your store with Instagram.
- Add additional Call-to-Action buttons to your profile so that you can add contact information or a website.
Is a business account on Instagram free?
Yes! Any Instagram profile can convert to a business account by going to Settings and selecting Switch to professional account.
Can I use music on an Instagram business account?
Yes! But you’ll need to do it through a third-party tool. Vista Social is the first approved social media management tool to offer trending audio!
Vista Social’s trending audio tool lets you:
- Schedule Reels with trending audio.
- Quickly source the most popular songs and sounds on Instagram and TikTok.
- Import audio to your media library for your next social media post.
- Organize your audio with labels so you can quickly associate them with clients, brands, or projects.
How to find Instagram music for a business account in Vista Social:
- Trending Audio tool: Find hundreds of the most popular audio on Instagram in the Trending Audio tab.
- Upload from computer: Upload any MP3/WAV files to your media library so you can quickly find the right audio when you need it.
- Upload from URL: Insert a link to an audio file, an MP4/MOV file, or a TikTok video, and we will extract the sound from it.
- Find trending audio by Instagram hashtag: Enter a hashtag to browse through the latest Instagram posts, then save the audio to your Media Library for easy scheduling.
- Find trending audio by Instagram user: Enter an Instagram username to browse through the latest Instagram posts, then save the audio to your Media Library for easy scheduling.
What does having a creator account on Instagram do?
An Instagram creator account has features that are related to the needs of content creators and influencers who identify as a personal brand instead of an organization or small business.
With the boom of content creators, Instagram added a new profile type in mid-2019 to meet the needs of those creators.
Instagram creator account benefits:
- Access to built-in analytics for up to 90 days.
- Full music library on Instagram.
- Inbox sorting so that your DMs can be sorted into Primary, General, and Requests boxes.
- Access to Instagram’s “Creator Studio,” which displays all your stats in one convenient location.
- Add contact options with additional Call-to-Action buttons. But it’s worth mentioning Creators have fewer options for buttons than Business accounts.
Is a creator account on Instagram free?
Yes! Any Instagram account can be switched to a creator account for free. You can easily convert your account by tapping Settings and then choosing Switch to Professional Account and selecting Creator.
Is having a creator account worth it?
If you’re a personal brand looking to streamline your messaging, create shoppable posts, and access Instagram’s music library—then a creator account is worth it!
But we wouldn’t just switch to a creator account if you’re only looking to gain access to just more music options for your Reels. Third-party tools like Vista Social give business and creator accounts access to any sound or song they’d like.
Does Instagram limit reach and engagement on business accounts?
It can certainly feel like Instagram has limited the reach of your post if you’re using a business account.
But, from what we know, Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t intentionally limit the reach of posts from business or creator accounts on the app.
However, the algorithm does have key ranking signals that are more tailored to the type of content that would be created by personal accounts.
Instagram algorithm updates 2022:
- De-prioritization of content that contains visible watermarks from other apps.
- Prioritization of original content (read: the algorithm will favor content that hasn’t already been shared by someone else on the app).
- The chronological feed with the introduction of “Favorite” and “Follow” home Feed options.
- More suggested content in the default Instagram Home feed view (favoring Instagram Reels in particular)
- Improved content categorization. Check out Instagram Topics!
So, what does this mean?
There are a few studies that have been conducted that have shown that engagement is higher from personal accounts than business accounts.
One of the conclusions has been that it depends on the number of followers the account has!
For this particular study to uncover whether you should have a business vs. creator account on Instagram, there were 274 personal and business accounts analyzed.
The results found that personal accounts had a 1% higher engagement than business accounts. It’s worth mentioning that the study seemed to only affect business accounts with over 10,000 followers!
How to increase reach on Instagram?
Deciding whether to have a business vs. creator account on Instagram can be a tricky decision.
If you’re struggling to increase your reach on the app, we recommend following these tips:
- Try not to add watermarks to your content so that it doesn’t get deprioritized by the Instagram algorithm.
- Create original content! Reshared UGC content is great for social proof and social influence, but it could be limiting your reach.
- Minimize stock photography and video usage. Since the algorithm favors original content, your content with stock images may get flagged as it could be viewed that someone else has already shared this content on the app.
- Prioritize Instagram’s latest features in your strategy. For example, when Instagram launched Reels, the algorithm favored this form of content on the app.
So, which is better business vs. creator account in 2023?
There are a ton of ways that business and creator accounts can increase their reach and “hack” the algorithm to boost engagement.
We recommend that if you’re a brand, organization, or company with employees that is selling a product or service—you should stick to a business account.
Instagram business accounts give you access to a ton of tools to help scale your business such as shoppable posts, improved CTA buttons, and integrating with third-party tools.
Businesses can use an approved social media management tool, like Vista Social, to gain access to more in-depth analytics and reporting, auto-publishing, streamlined messaging, and trending audio options that aren’t fully available if you’re manually operating within the Instagram app.
Creator accounts are best suited for a personal brand that is representing one person instead of an organization or company.
If a content creator or influencer needs more features to help grow their personal brand like going beyond 90-day metrics, competitor analysis reports, content creation tools, and an innovative media library—it’s also recommended to use a social media mangement tool for your Instagram marketing needs.
Can’t switch to Vista Social just yet because of an annual contract with another tool? Contact their sales team to get a Vista Social Pro plan for FREE for the remainder of your contract with a competing SMM tool!