Having influencers connect their Instagram accounts with the Platform is a key step to ensure the Platform has access to automatically collect the influencers’ content and performance data through the Instagram API.
There are three different types of Instagram account that an influencer may use: Business, Personal, and Creator. The content and performance data that the Instagram API shares varies depending on the Instagram account type of the influencer.
1. Business Accounts
A business account is a type of professional account that is extremely common for full-time content creators (more than 85% of Later Influence™ (formerly Mavrck) content creators). Anyone that would like to experience the benefits of a business account is able to create one as there is no minimum follower requirement or obligation to be a business owner; however, you do have to have a public account.
Differentiators: Business accounts are connected through the Instagram Graph API, which returns information not available through Instagram's other APIs, including:
- Audience insights data (including age, gender, and location)
- Automatic Instagram Story reporting
- Preview posts (shown directly within the Platform influencer light-box view)
Step-by-step instructions for an influencer to authenticate with a business account can be found here. In order to authenticate with a business account, an influencer’s business account must be linked to a Facebook page, as outlined in the instructions*.
2. Personal Accounts
Personal accounts are the default Instagram account type, and can be private or public accounts.
Limitations: Performance data (content engagements and impressions) is not available through the Instagram Basic API and posts from personal accounts may be missing this data.
Step-by-step instructions for an influencer to authenticate with a personal account can be found here. A Facebook page connection is NOT required.
3. Creator Accounts
A Creator account is a type of professional account that can be treated as either a business or personal account, depending on whether or not it is managed by a Facebook page. If a Creator account is connected to a page, it can be authenticated as a business account, whereas if it’s not connected to a page, it will be authenticated as a personal account.
Please note: In order to benefit from the increased data of the Instagram Graph API (outlined above) influencers with Creator accounts should manage their Instagram account with a Facebook page. Instructions to connect a Facebook page* can be found here.
An influencer guide to authenticating a creator account can be found here.
How to view an influencer's account type in the Platform
When an influencer authenticates their account with the Platform during the application or sign-up process, we receive an “access token” from Instagram. In the Platform, you can see the type of access token (personal or business) that an influencer has by hovering over their Instagram handle in their account details. There is no creator access token type.
The access tokens we receive from Instagram have an expiration date that is set by Instagram (and not shared with our Platform). Access tokens typically last approximately 30 days. Actions taken by the influencer such as changing their password or account type may cause the token to expire sooner.
* Instagram is owned by Facebook and uses Facebook API technology to connect accounts with other apps such as the Platform. To connect through the Instagram Graph API, Business and Creator accounts must be connected to a page on Facebook, which allows the accounts to be managed in Facebook Ads Manager. This requirement is held by Facebook, not by our Platform.