What Are Instagram Business Categories and How Do You Choose Yours?

Reaching customers on social media is more important than ever, so today we’ll be explaining the Instagram business categories feature and how you should use it.

You’ve probably given your posts a lot of thought and researched all the hashtags your competitors are using. However, growing your business on Instagram also requires a business profile that works for you.

As a small business owner, you should never use your personal social media profiles for your business, which of course includes your Instagram profile. Not only does it look unprofessional, but more importantly, a business account gives you access to important features such as analytics, adding links to Instagram stories and promoting your Instagram posts.

In this brief guide, we’ll walk you through setting up your business profile and specifically choosing your Instagram business category. In the end, we’ll mention some categories which you may want to consider.

How to set up an Instagram business profile

You will first need to create your profile on Instagram (you can use either your personal account on Facebook or email address to do this).

Once you have your Instagram profile set up, it’s pretty easy to switch to a business account. Here are the steps to follow:

• Go to Settings
• Go to Account
• Tap Switch to a business account

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Before you decide to switch, make sure your profile is public, since private personal accounts can’t be switched to business profiles. Also, don’t forget to link your business’ Facebook page to your profile, as this will also allow you to easily reshare content between the two platforms.

Instagram business account vs. creator account

In 2019, Instagram introduced another type of account: creator account. The idea was to help separate influences, bloggers and other public figures from traditional small businesses (and incentivize more of them to use Instagram marketing of course).

As a business profile, you can still pick categories like public figure or content creator, however, you may want to consider switching to the creator account for more tailored features.

Adding an Instagram business category

Adding your website and contact information to your Instagram business profile is pretty straightforward: you just hit the “Edit profile” action button and take it from there. For your business category, you can add a new category under the “Public Business Information” section.

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Just like hashtags, an Instagram business category helps you connect with the right people. It immediately tells people what you do and encourages prospective followers to check out your Instagram posts.

However, choosing the best category can be confusing. For example, you might be a blogger that also sells crafts online. Or you could be running an eclectic local business that is an event venue, social club and vegan restaurant all at the same time.

So how do you pick the best business category? We propose two simple rules:

1. Ask clients how they would describe you; go back to your mission statement and see what it is that makes your local business different.

2. Search for all the categories that apply; the list of Instagram business categories contains over 1,500 different options, so you should try to find the one that best describes your business. Don’t settle for something that’s only kind of fitting: the perfect category for your local business might be out there!

Some categories to consider for your Instagram business account

Not sure where to start? Here are just some of the popular categories which you can use to improve your Instagram marketing and business profile.

• Government organization: yup, even the FBI has got its Instagram page, so if you’re in government service take initiative and suggest creating an Instagram business account that will give people a taste of what you do.
• Religious organization: whether you run a church, religious center, or youth organization, Instagram can be a great place to connect with your congregation. If you’ve got a cool logo, like one of these 47 church logo examples make sure to use it for your profile picture.
• Clothing store: this is definitely one of the most popular Instagram business categories; however if you don’t sell clothes exclusively, but these are the most important products you can also opt for a category like Clothing (Brand).
• Goods company: this category is super broad, so it’s not ideal for small local businesses. If you sell office supplies or commercial equipment, pick a category that says so. On the other hand, if you truly have a wide selection of products the goods company category can help you avoid excluding potential customers.
• Medical center: this is another area where you definitely want to be as specific as possible. If you’re looking for an obstetrician-gynecologist (or alternatively OBGYN as a business category), a mental health service might not be all that helpful.
• Media website: if you have a more traditional media outlet, the category news company might be a better business category fit. However, if your stuff is closer to the fun, eclectic style of Buzzfeed and Vice, media website is a great business category to use. If you’re an online entrepreneur, there are several options that might fit your business perfectly: for example social media and marketing tips or podcast.
• Nonprofit organization: you can always use this umbrella business category, however since nonprofits strive to rally people around a mission or set of values, it can also be great to find a category that better matches what you do; for example youth organization or environmental conservation organization.
• Public figure: many politicians and celebrities use this category, however, if you’re an influencer or blogger, make sure you choose the creator account over a business profile.
• Restaurants: this is definitely the area where a specific Instagram business category is super important. If you run a chicken joint, Korean restaurant, juice bar or vegan restaurant remember that all of these are distinct business categories. There are also categories like Asian fusion restaurant, so make sure to search thoroughly through restaurant subcategories as there’s a big chance you’ll find one that’s perfect for you.
• Arts & Entertainment: whether you’re in the visual arts or music makes a big difference so make sure to pick the appropriate category. You can go with something super specific like a modern art museum, or if your business model is more eclectic stick to the umbrella term visual arts.
• Social club: we’ve already mentioned examples related to religious centers or nonprofits, but there’s a long list of Instagram business categories to fit almost any type of social club including sorority, private members club, comedy club, etc.
• Real estate company: since real estate agents within a company have huge personal importance, it’s a good idea to have separate Instagram profiles for the real estate agency and the agents themselves. Some other business categories from similar fields include condo building, contractor, or real estate developer.
• Sports: this is another hugely rich field of Instagram business categories, including fun specifics like kayak rental, go-kart track, or rock-climbing gym.

Further Instagram tips

We hope this list has given you a taste of the many possibilities for the perfect Instagram business categories. As we said, there are plenty of options to choose from so if you have some time to spare, feel free to check out this complete list of Instagram business categories.

If you are interested in more articles that can help you boost your social media presence, I recommend you check out our articles on how to create quality content for Instagram and our tips on social media design.

Finally, should you need any help creating your Instagram graphics, be sure to learn more about our social media design service. Get all your visuals for a flat monthly rate!