Overview of Instagram profiles
You can manage your Instagram account in Hootsuite as you do your other social accounts. However, it's important to know that the features and functions available to you depend on whether you have a personal profile or a business profile connected to a Facebook Page in Instagram.
Instagram business profiles connected to Facebook Pages have access to all of the Instagram features and functions available in Hootsuite. This includes post engagement in streams, analytics, and direct publishing.
Due to the limits imposed by Instagram, Instagram personal profiles, creator profiles, and business profiles that are not connected to Facebook accounts have limited access to features and functions in Hootsuite. Consider converting your Instagram personal profile into a business one and connecting it to your Facebook page. For more information, see Convert a personal Instagram profile to a business profile.
What is a business profile?
If you want to create an impressive following, you'll need an Instagram business profile. The additional Instagram features available to business profiles can help you learn more about your followers and the people interacting with your business. As a result, you can better target your audience when creating posts. An Instagram business profile allows you to access the following additional features:
- Promote your posts directly from Instagram
- Use Instagram Insights to track post performance and audience demographics
- Add business contact information so customers can reach you through Instagram
And just look how much more professional and fancy a business account looks!
Anyone can convert their personal profile to a business profile for free; having a business is not required. Note that business profiles can’t be private. To learn more about business profiles, see the Instagram help article About Professional Accounts.
The following table compares the Instagram functionality available in Hootsuite to each profile type.
| Functionality | Business profile | Personal/Creator profile |
|---|---|---|
| Publishing method | Choose between direct publishing and the mobile notification workflow for each post Use the mobile notification workflow for publishing stories or carousels |
Mobile notification workflow only |
| Content | Publish up to 10 images and videos in a post or story | Publish up to 10 images and videos in a post or story |
| Required setup | Enable direct publishing, stream engagement, and analytics by connecting your Instagram profile, and then connecting its associated Facebook Page Turn on Instagram notifications in the Hootsuite app to enable the mobile notification workflow |
Turn on Instagram notifications in the Hootsuite app to enable the mobile notification workflow |
| Available streams | My Posts Engage with and moderate comments on your own posts Hashtag search Monitor hashtags relevant to your business Scheduled View the scheduled posts for the profile |
My Posts View the published posts for the profile. Open the post in Instagram to view engagement Scheduled View the scheduled posts for the profile |
| Analytics | Access to Instagram analytics | No analytics |
| Profile display | Profile pictures display for easy identification in Hootsuite | Profile pictures are not available and display the default black Instagram logo. Profiles are identifiable only by handle. |