Instagram Creator Account: What You Need To Know

Creator accounts are one of the professional account types Instagram offers. With this type of profile, you can access tools that help you manage your social media presence.

This guide focuses on Instagram creator accounts — their features, setup process, and differences from Instagram business accounts. Keep reading to learn more about this option and decide if it's right for you.

What’s a Creator Account on Instagram?

An Instagram creator account is a specialized profile for folks who make money by posting content online. For instance, influencers, artists, and performers may prefer this profile type. 

These profiles aren’t required to make money on the platform, but they do give you access to additional data that helps you manage your following. For instance, you can monitor post performance and audience insights.

If your following is growing and you need more tools to handle messages and track data, this account may be a great fit for you. Best of all, you can convert a regular profile into a creator account at any time, so there’s no need to plan ahead.

Best Features of Instagram Creator Accounts

Signing up for a creator account gives you access to specialized features to help you manage your content, including the following.

Professional Dashboard

This tool lets you monitor your profile’s data and activity so you can figure out what type of content is most effective. Here are a few key features: 

• Analytics — Discover how well your posts do, and see detailed breakdowns of your audience’s demographics.
• Content suggestions — Instagram analyzes your metrics to understand what performs best on your profile. Based on this data, the platform suggests things like posting times and post types.
• Additional resources — Creators will have access to detailed tips on content creation. For instance, this section shares updates about the platform and how to use it.

Streamlined Messaging

Unlike standard profiles, creator accounts automatically separate your messages into three categories: “Primary,” “General,” and “Requests.” As your online presence grows, managing your DMs can be more difficult, so this sorting process simplifies the process.

To save even more time, you can write automatic replies for questions you answer repeatedly. For example, if you often receive questions from people asking what filming equipment you use, add an automatic reply letting your followers know details about your studio setup.

Post Scheduling

With a creator account, you can schedule content to go live automatically by choosing “Schedule this post” and entering the date and time. This is especially useful if you’re going on vacation and still want your posts flowing without interruption. Another benefit of this feature is you can reach your audience when they’re most active — check your account insights to see when they’re typically online.

Profile Control

You can set category labels, such as author, baker, or YouTuber, to help audiences find you more easily during searches. This also allows audiences to quickly understand your niche. 

Another customization option is setting contact information, which encourages brands to reach out for partnerships.

Shoppable Posts

If you have access to a product catalog, this feature allows you to add linked tags to your posts, making it easy for potential customers to purchase an item. To add product tags once you’ve created a post:

1. Open — Tap “Tag products.” 
2. Search — Look for the products you want to link to in the search box.
3. Post — Click “Share” to display tagged items on your post image.

How To Switch to a Creator Account on Instagram 

If you’re curious about trying out a creator account to see if it might be a good fit for you, there are a few steps to follow:

1. Sign in — Log into your personal Instagram account.
2. Go to “Settings and activity” — In this section, tap “Account type and tools.”
3. Choose “Switch to professional account” — To complete the setup, select from categories such as digital creator, artist, or video creator. A green banner will tell you your account has been successfully created.

4. Go to “Creator tools and controls” — In this section, you’ll be able to see your new features and start experimenting.

Quick tip — If you’re wondering how to make your creator account private, it’s important to know that creator accounts are always public. Once you switch, all your pending follower requests will automatically be accepted. You can always change back to a personal account by following the same steps.

Instagram Creator Account vs. Business Accounts: Key Differences

Some of the features of creator or business accounts are similar, like auto-publishing and analytics. However, there are key differences to remember if you’re trying to decide which type of account to choose. 

Sound and Music

A business account doesn't have access to the extensive music and sound library, so the choices are more restricted. This is due to copyright restrictions — Instagram (and Meta, its parent company) has licensing agreements that prevent you from using certain songs in commercial content.

Shoppable Products

Both types of professional accounts have shoppable features and can link to specific products in a post image. For business accounts, you can add a shop to your profile and access more detailed business insights, a feature not available to creator accounts.

Contact Information

Both business and creator accounts allow you to share your email address and phone number with followers. However, business accounts also allow you to add geographical locations, like an office, storefront, or restaurant.

Call To Action (CTA) Buttons

For both types of accounts, you can add a CTA under your bio. This message tells your audience what action you want them to take after viewing your profile. Often, CTAs lead to shopping links or external websites. For Business accounts, there are more specific options tailored to the business type, like “Order Food” for a restaurant.

Grow Your Instagram Presence With Captions

Switching to an Instagram creator account gives you valuable tools like advanced insights and streamlined messaging. The flexible, customizable options are ideal for creators and influencers, letting you highlight products and your personal brand. 

However, signing up for a creator account is only part of connecting with more followers. To improve your reach, you’ll need to make engaging, unique content — that’s where Captions comes in. Our platform helps you produce professional-looking videos faster than ever. 

We can help with every stage of content creation, from generating scripts to editing footage to making an upload schedule. 

Add Captions to your social media strategy today.

FAQs

What’s the Difference Between Creator and Personal Instagram?

With an Instagram creator account, you gain access to tools that aren’t available to personal accounts, such as: 

• Increased profile controls
• Advanced analytics
• Shoppable posts
• Post scheduling options
• Messaging features
• Call-to-action (CTA) buttons

These tools make it easy to manage the messages and inquiries you receive. If you want to get paid on Instagram, these insights can help you connect with more followers and brands.

What’s the Downside of an Instagram Creator Account?

You'll want to be aware of some disadvantages of Instagram creator accounts before making the switch:

• Accounts are public — Since this is a type of professional profile, there’s no option for a private account. You’ll have to revert to a traditional account to make your page private.
• Automatic follower acceptance — If you switch from a personal private account, any outstanding follower requests will automatically be accepted.
• Brand approvals — You need access to brands’ catalogs before linking to their shop.