I recently created a content calendar and devoted days solely to networking and creating content on Instagram.

I recently hit 2200 follower by following tips I learned in last 10 months.

I complied all my tips into a blog post: Batsplaining Instagram: A quick guide to 1000 Instagram followers In efforts to grow my account even more I took some time to research YouTube and look for Instagram growth videos for 2019.

I wanted to see if there were tips I was overlooking. There was.

I was watching a YouTube video by Brandon D’Eon “Complete 7 Step instagram growth guide”

I was watching the video while cleaning the house. Brandon starts by shouting

“YOU ALL SUCK AT INSTAGRAM”

My daughter Brooke says.. “Mama turn him off he’s not cute enough to be yelling at me telling my I suck!”

I laughed and told her “That’s what he wants! I’m watching something good is going to happen! Trust me!”

Brandon’s video is 36 minutes long and intensely beneficial. Toward the end he mentions

“Business accounts, don’t get as much engagement”

He goes on to explain he runs a music account that a business account and he has a personal account that sky rocketed.

He explains that Ig Views business account as businesses!

“businesses” should have money to pay for promoted ads.

Instagram isn’t going to show those accounts as much. They view those post as advertising that isn’t being paid for… why show it 🤷🏾‍♀️

It hit me!

Think about when you’re scrolling every 3rd post is an ad its promoted!

With a business account IG thinks everything you post is an ad! It’s going to limit that unless you pay to promote your post.

Your work is NOT being shown..

It was at that point I broke down crying.

I thought about all the work I put into my Instagram.

I study for hours. I want to grow. I’m not growing because of I mistake I made at 0134 my 3rd day as blogger.The day I flipped the switch to make my personal Instagram account a business account is the day I regret so badly!

I was up studying about blogging. I watched a video that told me to switch to business to track insights. I flipped it to track. I tried to flip it back. I watched ANOTHER YouTube video about IG growth By Jade Darmawangsa

That’s mentioned similar tips. I was so pumped to go back to a personal account. Unfortunately I kept getting an error message for iG!

The message said I had Ads running.

I have no ads running. On Facebook or Instagram.

I thought about all the work I had done that no one had seen. I was crushed! I was devastated!

I started talking to my oldest daughter. She’s actually very knowledgeable about Instagram. I asked her advice.

She said:

“I was going to tell you something had to be up. You have 2200 followers I only have 157 and I have more likes than you. It’s because iG only shows your content to a few people. Make a personal page. Keep your business page because you grew it. When you have something to promote or that’s blog related post there. Then have your personal page to show your life.. that’s what most people do anyway. Your followers will follow your new page. Have faith in them. It’s one click.. they can do it!”

She was right.

Besides I could use this as a teaching moment!

I can really see if there is a difference between a Business Instagram

And a Personal Instagram

I’ve only had a personal Instagram for about 48 hours and I’ve noticed HUGE differences.

My business account averages about 50-60 “likes” with 2114 followers.

Personal account only has 111 followers and has 56 “likes” in less than a 24 hour period. The business account post has 58 “likes” over a 2 days period.

That leads me to believe that my business post just aren’t getting the reach they need in order for me to show the growth I’m trying to see.

Let’s talks about the pro’s and cons of an Instagram business account shall we.

The “Pro’s” of having a business account on Instagram

Insights

When you head to settings and make the switch to a business account you open yourself up to tools that allow you to track your growth.

You get access to what you audience really likes. You see what content is performing well, you can see how many “likes” a photo receives and which of those like converted to follows.

You can see the best days to post. The best times to post.

Insights is a super helpful tool!

You can really see what your audience interacts and engages with and it gives you the opportunity to create more of that! You can create a frenzy around your content on iG if you know what your audience enjoys.

You see can the amount of traffic coming to your websites etc.

For those of you that are into stats the insights tool is a huge selling point of iG. The analytics really help you in the creative process and give you just more of an edge in my opinion. You’re not flying blind if you already know exactly what your audience enjoys consuming from you.

It really helped me to target what to create. In doing so I was able to grow. I just knew I should have been growing a lot faster.

Promoted post

If you have money to promoted your business then this is tremendous! It’s giving you a heads up and placing you front and center on the feed to be discovered! It’s amazing! Every third post on IG is sponsored so imagine if that was you! That’s great!

The ability to add links into stories once you hit 10k

When you hit 10k followers on Instagram you’re allowed to add those “scroll up” for more links to your stores and that increases traffic to your page. The more links the better!

Cons of a business account for Instagram

Limited reached

Instagram is tracking you reach for a reason when you are a business account. They are showing you that

” you could have so much more reach.. if you paid for an ad.”

They show business accounts less in hopes they pay for advertising to increase their reach.

If you’re trying to grow your following limited reach is a huge draw back.

For me it hurt because that means no one saw all the time and energy I put in to shots like this.

I spend a lot of time researching the right angles for a flatlay. The right hashtags, the right time of day.

I spend a lot of energy really wanting my Instagram feed to be of value. Only for it be displayed in a limited amount really hurt me.

I just thought of all the hours lost. All the most lost. I was really took it hard. For me as a creative having people engage and interact with my post is the ultimate compliment. It really motivates me. I love it.

To feel like I wasted so much time and energy I was pretty defeated. Limited reach is a huge con! Limited reach means of 2200 people maybe 100 see it.. that’s NOT GOOD!

Especially if I want to leverage my iG to brands.

(The 7 sites I use to find paid work with a small blog)

They look at your reach and your engagement. If you have no reach or engagement the amount of followers you have doesn’t really matter. You can have 89k followers but brands can see if you only have 600 “likes” it won’t add up. It Look like you paid for followers. The engagement will be so off.

If you’re trying to grow you have to work twice as hard.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to waste. I don’t extra have money to spend on props for photos no one sees.

No one sees the content created because Ig thinks everything coming from a business account is an ad.

You could have posted a fire recipe for your blog, no one will see it because the reach is limited. Unless you have the money to pay for ads.

If you’re unable to buy ads you won’t be visible.

Instagram is a business. A business owned by Facebook. They want you to buy their ads! If you are a business in their minds you should have the revenue to purchase ads. The problem is we aren’t business.

We are people running businesses so we don’t have the funds to compete with brands with big money.

Over all opinion

A business iG is great if you have money to pay for ads of 10k follower and links to embed in stories. Otherwise you’re creating more work for yourself.

Most people have both a business and personal IG. I was trying to avoid that for so long. I was trying to be lazy and have to post less. I figured “lifestyle blogger” encompasses everything. It’s doesn’t I have days on my blog page where I give tips,there’s pics of my kids.. at least now it will be more organized. Kids and momlife on my @shaylamarie85 Instagram.

And on my @Batmom8503 Instagram I’ll give all my social media growth tips, blog coaching, all the business aspects that I’ve learned will be posted on the @Batmom8503 account.

I’ll be able to know once and for all of there is anything to the business vs personal.

So far yes. I’ve grown an account from 0-111 in about 48 hours and have more engagement on that account than my larger by far. I like my work being seen. I spend a lot of time on it.

I don’t care that I have to start from “0” eventually everyone will catch on and see I’m not post my family on the “Batmom” IG and go where I’m posting.

It all takes time. I’m actually glad I learned this now and not when I had 10k followers and spent 5 years growing.

I’m not saying one is better than the other I’m just saying know which is the best for you.

I’m excited to have an organized feed and be able to explore and share my personal life. I’m stoked!

It’s great to know your growth and see improvement but if you’re not growing as fast as you could be that’s a big No for me.

So is your IG business or Personal?

Also do you have more than one account. I think I was in the minority. I have a business and personal iG.. anyways your comments on the subject are appreciate 🤗