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Instagram Business vs. Creator Account: What’s Best for Local Business Owners?
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Leslie Presnell
Hey, do you want to know what's possible for you when we work together inside the LocalPreneur Academy? Before you dive into this episode, I wanted to invite you to book a complimentary consult call with me so we can talk about exactly how your business will grow. And listen, I know hopping on a call can feel really intimidating. I've been there. I know it can be scary, I know it can be awkward, and I don't want you to feel nervous or pressured at all. In fact, I want it to be a really fun conversation. Let's like, seriously, how often do we get an hour just to talk about ourselves and our business to someone who actually wants to listen? I'll 100% lead the conversation so you don't have to be worried about being prepared or even knowing what to say. We're going to look at everything you're doing now to market yourself locally. Even if you don't think you are doing enough or it's not working at all how you want it to. We're going to figure out what's working and what's not working and why, and exactly what I'll do to help you inside the LocalPreneur Academy and how it will apply specifically to your unique business. And I know you likely have a lot of questions like how do I reach more people who live in my city? And how do I get people to stop scrolling and actually engage with my post? How do I get people to take action and reach out to book or buy? And we can totally cover this for sure. And anything else you can think of that's keeping you stuck. And I'll share how I can make the process easier for you to grow your local business. I've been there and I have helped so many local business owners do this work too. So click the link in the show notes to schedule your complimentary consult. Call with me and I will talk to you soon. You are listening to the Grow youw Local Business Podcast, where local marketing expert and life coach Leslie Presnell shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients. All right, let's dive in. Foreign hey, welcome Back to episode 120 of the Grow your Local Business Podcast. Today I'm answering a super common question that came up recently inside the localpreneur Academy and I know a lot of you are probably wondering about this too. I know I once had the same question, so I just wanted to answer it here on the podcast. I wanted this to be A good reference episode and it to just be a short and sweet episode. So should you choose an Instagram business account or a creator account for your local business? And what's the difference and what's the best option for your type of business? So today I just want to break this down really simply, like who should pick which type and the key features as of 2025 and how to decide which is going to be best for you right now. And also just as a quick note, Instagram is always changing. So if you are listening to this a year or two or more down the road, just do a quick double check to make sure this info is still current. But for today, here's what you need to know. And actually I do want to give another quick little note. If you are still using an Instagram, a personal account on Instagram, like if you are brand new in business and you've just been getting started, you might still be using your personal Instagram account to post about your business. And that is totally fine when you are starting out. But as soon as you are actively marketing your business, your business, I highly recommend switching to either a business or creator account because that is what unlocks all of these marketing tools that you need on the back end like insights and analytics content, contact buttons so people can easily get in touch with you like your email, phone number, address, things like that, the ability to run ads if you ever wanted to do that, scheduling tools and all of the professional features that really help you are going to help you show up as that go to in your industry. But a lot of my students start out posting on their personal account and then they switch to a business or creator account once they start getting serious about marketing or they create a new account. So either way it's easier to switch you or it's easy to switch. You won't lose your followers or your content. You just kind of upgrade the type of account that you have and it is free to do that. Okay, so let's get into the difference between the business and creator accounts and how to pick the one that's going to be right for you. So I do want to share what is going to be the same between the two because they do have a lot of just the same things happening. So both the business and creator accounts give you access to analytics. They both give you the access and the ability to run ads. They both give you contact buttons on your profile. So again that email address, address, phone number, things like that, they both give you Instagram scheduling tools which are lovely and they also Give you story links, collab, posting and tagging options. So the core features you need to be able to market your business on Instagram, you're gonna get with either one. So what's different? The business account. This is gonna be best for my service based businesses like salons, gyms, spas, anyone with a physical location or a team. Business accounts integrate better with backend tools like scheduling software, CRMs, meta business suite. They let you run ads more easily. You also can show your business category on your Instagram profile. And business accounts are more platform official for ad tools. So the downside is you may have less access to trendy audios compared to the creator accounts. So the creator accounts are going to be best for personal brands, meaning you are the face of your business. And I think this is where a lot of people realize like, oh, that's me. Because we tend to think of ourselves as a lot of people I know listening are solo business owners. So my photographers, stylists, home organizers, coaches, doulas, realtors, virtual assistants. If you are a one man, one woman show you're the face of your business, then you are technically a what we would consider a personal brand. So a creator account may be better for you. So this is any type of business where the client hires you directly, meaning they're not going to like a storefront or they're not working with an employee or a team member. Like you are the face of your business and you are the person they're hiring, you're the person that they're working directly with. So you are a personal brand. So the creator accounts often get better access to trending music and audio. The creator accounts are designed for the business owner who wants to build that personal brand authority. And the creator accounts have better direct message organization. So your inbox has the primary and general tab. So it's just cleaner for managing your personal conversations that you're having with potential clients and leads. And you also have insights that are more tailored to your content performance and your audience growth, like your follower growth, your content interactions, your audience demographics. This is like more influencer, like data. So the downside to the creator account is that some third party scheduling tools just may not integrate as seamlessly. So how do you know which is right for you? So the simplest way that in the way I teach it inside the LocalPreneur Academy and the way I teach my students to think about it is again, if you are the brand, if your face is the face of your business, you're the one on stories, your clients are hiring, you Directly, you're the one building the personal connection. Then start with a creator account. If you run a brick and mortar business, if you are not necessarily the face of your business, if you have a team, if you have a brand or a business that could operate without you, without you as the face, then go with the business account. Now can you switch between the two? Why yes you can. You can absolutely switch back and forth. You won't lose any followers or content or anything like that. The only thing to be aware of is your analytics do reset when you switch. So if you are tracking your analytics, just export them first so you have access to them. And then if you switch back and forth, your access to certain music or tools might shift slightly, but you're not locked in either way. So just try them out. Pick the account that the account type that supports how you want to show up right now. You can always change it as your business evolves or if you find you have a preference, you if you prefer one over the other. So final tip, don't overthink it. Just pick the option that supports where you currently are. Think what type of content are you creating? How are clients connecting with you? What tools do you need to run your business? You can always switch later as your business evolves. And of course, if you want more help growing your local following, creating what I call local go to content. Content that builds demand and turns your followers into paying clients. This is exactly what we do inside the localpreneur Academy. So if you are ready to get fully booked and become that local go to in your industry, come join us inside. You can learn more and enroll with instant access with the link in the show notes. All right, so that is it for this week. Go check your Instagram account settings, pick what is going to be best for you and I will talk to you next week. Hey, if you enjoyed today's episode, I want to invite you to check out my program, the LocalPreneur Academy. This is the only program for small business owners who want to become the local go to in their industry with a steady stream of clients. You can find more information@lesliepressnell.com and I'll see you inside.