You probably heard it through the grapevine: Instagram launched a new type of profile—the Instagram Creator Profile. Sounds intriguing, right? But what is it exactly? How does it work? And is it worth a spin?
Well, get ready! Because we’re going to give the Instagram Creator Profile a closer look and see if you should jump on the wagon or sit this one out.
Off we go!
What is the Instagram Creator Profile?
The Instagram Creator Profile has been announced at the end of 2018 and it was presented to us all as a set of great tool for influencers, public figures, and other creators. Are you one? Then read on, because the new set of tools promises to make it easier for these three categories of users to control their accounts and manage the growth of their profiles.
As Ashley Yuki, Product Manager at Instagram said: “[creators are] an important part of our community… We want to make sure that Instagram is the best place, and the easiest place, to build fan communities and also build [creators’] personal brands.”
With the new Instagram Creator Profiles, influencers can—allegedly—cut through the clutter and get valuable insights to improve their independent businesses (because being an influencer is, after all, an independent business). Oh, and we say allegedly, because the feature is, to this day, only available in beta to a few selected accounts. Thus, more spin tests are needed to give a definitive ‘sentence’. However, here’s what the evidence so far suggests.
How does the Instagram Creator Profile differ from the Instagram Business Profile?
At a first glimpse, you might not exactly understand how the new Instagram Creator Profile differs from the classic Instagram Business Profile.
However, there are essential differences. While the Business Profile is more suited for companies and brands, you, as a creator, might find your heart beating faster for the new Instagram Creator Profile.
After all, the ‘creator’ part of the name has a certain ring to it, promising to deliver more opportunities for creative minds. So, the main difference between the two types of profiles comes from a different set of tools that tackle their specific needs through certain analytics and message filtering options.
What are the key features of the Instagram Creator Profile?
The Instagram Creator Profile brings three new cherry-features on top of the Instagram-cake. First, the Instagram Creator Profile includes a bunch of delicious account growth tools. Secondly, the new profile promises to cut through the clutter of DMs and make it easier for influencers to read and respond to messages. And thirdly, but not lastly, it backs creators’ experience on Instagram with more flexible account control tools. But let’s take them one by one and see exactly what these feature-treats actually include.
Targeted Insights for the Needs of Influencers
The Instagram Creator Profile includes all the insights available in the Business Profile and then some. Practically, while the Business Profile offers generic analytics, the Instagram Creator Profile focuses on the specific insights of how and why a profile’s audience shifted.
How exactly?
The Audience Tab offers clear data regarding how many people followed or unfollowed you. And, having a clear picture of your account growth, it’s going to be easier to put in place comprehensive strategies and clear tactics.
Let’s say that you suddenly gained a bunch of new followers (or lost an alarming number of existing followers). The analytics from the Instagram Creator Profile will show you exactly when the increase or decrease happened, correlated with the posts you’ve shared in those days. Thus, you’ll be able to determine what type of content works or what type of content you should definitely avoid if you plan to grow your profile.
Two-Tab Inbox to Cut Through the DM Clutter
Until the Instagram Creator Profile, influencers struggled to cut through the clutter in their inbox. With tens, hundreds and sometimes even thousands of messages to filter every day (you know the struggle is real, my friend!), influencers had a hard time sorting out spam and answering those really important messages.
Well, you can breathe a sigh of release, because the direct messages hassle is now a thing of the past. The Instagram Creator Profile’s new (and highly improved) inbox comes with the option of separating noise from real-info. The two-tab inbox, with a Primary and a General tab, allows you to organize messages and notifications by category between friends, businesses and fans. This way, important messages won’t ever get lost again.
However, when you’ll first make the switch to the Instagram Creator Profile, the existing messages will remain under the Primary tab. Then, with the new tools available, you will easily be able to sort your messages as you see fit.
Profile-Categories and Contact Toggle Options
Besides the growth analytics and message management tools—that will definitely make your life on Instagram easier—the new Creator Profile also brings some pretty neat account control tools.
For example, the Instagram Creator Profile enables you to attribute a specific category to your account. The categories you can choose from include labels such as ‘actor’, “blogger”, “musician” and other similar creative tabs that better match personal brands.
And, while Business Profiles have no choice but to display a contact option such as Call, E-mail, Text or Directions, the Instagram Creator Profile leaves the option open.
Access to the Facebook Creator Studio
Access to new analytics regarding followers is great news, but top this with access to the Facebook Creator Studio and things start to look even better. The Instagram Creator Profile does just that—it offers you the possibility to use Facebook’s desktop dashboard management tool to view all Instagram related insights.
With the Creator Studio installed and all accounts connected, you can easily check (on your desktop, without using any third-party tool) all your Instagram content by category (photos, videos, stories etc.). Of course, the really juicy part is that you will have access to relevant insights for each post (engagement levels, audience etc.). However, keep in mind that the Creator Studio is just an analytics visualisation tool and you can’t directly post by using it.
Shoppable Posts Directly from Influencers
Now this one could be the real game changer and maybe the number one reason you should switch to the new Instagram Creator Profile: shoppable posts. Yes, shoppable posts are in no way new, but the way in which the Creator Profile enables you to use them is.
Let’s say that you have a big partnership with a retailer. You can create content with their products, tag the items and transform the posts into…shoppable posts! Not only will this offer added value to influencer-brand partnerships, but it will add an extra layer of transparency for users.
When will you be able to switch to an Instagram Creator Profile?
Although the Instagram Creator Profile was announced at the end of 2018, it was just recently made available to a bunch of selected influencers. So far, they are testing the new accounts’ capabilities and they are pouring feedback back into Instagram’s cup. That means that it’s not certain when you’ll also be able to take a sip. Don’t worry though, because good things come to those who wait. And speaking about the ‘good’ side, let’s get down and dirty to the ‘bad’ side as well…
Okay, so are there any sour points to the new Instagram Creator Profile?
So far, everything sounds fairytale-ending-perfect. But is it? Well, first of all, since the profile is still in beta testing, you can be sure it has some cracks here and there (but that’s how the light gets in, right? Secondly, there is one right-away visible shortcoming: no integration with third-party tools. This means no scheduling, no extra analytics, no nothing—just plain Instagram (not that there’s anything wrong with that, just that it’s less).
So, is it worth a spin?
That depends.
For the moment, our reasoning is that even if the Instagram Creator Profile offers some pretty neat analytics insights and the cool shoppable post option, it’s not necessarily worth the hassle of renouncing all other third-party tools. Sure, it brings more truth to growth, but it also brings more manual work. However, if you’re not a heavy-user of third-party apps, then we’re thinking “Yes, have a go at it and see what’s what”.
As for us, we’re patiently waiting to find out more from the ‘research’ stage in beta. So far, we got excited and then we got over ourselves. But we’re keeping our minds open. Who knows what the future of the Instagram Creator Profile might bring!
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