Instagram Profile Types

Important: Due to Instagram API changes, Later will no longer support Instagram personal profiles in the near future. An Instagram business or creator profile will be required to get the most out of Later. Learn more

Having influencers connect their Instagram profiles with Later Influence™ (formerly Mavrck) is a key step to ensure Later has access to automatically collect the influencers’ content and performance data through the Instagram API.

There are three different types of Instagram profiles that an influencer may have: Business, Personal, and Creator. The content and performance data that the Instagram API shares varies depending on the Instagram account type of the influencer.

Note: Instagram is owned by Facebook and uses Facebook API technology to connect accounts with other apps such as Later. To connect through the Instagram Graph API, business and creator profiles 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.

Business Profiles

A business profile is a type of professional account that is extremely common for full-time content creators (more than 85% of Later Influence 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.

Business profiles 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)

In order to authenticate with a business Instagram profile, it must be linked to a Facebook page, as outlined in these instructions on the Later Social™ Help Center.

Personal Profiles

Personal profiles are the default Instagram profiles type, and are the only type that can go private on Instagram.

Performance data (content engagements and impressions) is not available through the Instagram Basic API, and posts from personal profile may be missing this data. A Facebook Page connection isn't required for personal profiles.

Creator Profiles

A creator profile is a type of professional profile that can be treated as either a business or personal profile, depending on whether or not it is managed by a Facebook Page.

If a creator profile is connected to a Page, it can be authenticated as a business profile, whereas if it’s not, it will be authenticated as a personal profile.

Note: In order to benefit from the increased data of the Instagram Graph API (outlined above), influencers with creator profiles should manage their Instagram account with a Facebook Page. Instructions on connecting Instagram to a Facebook Page can be found here in the Later Social™ Help Center.

View an Influencer's Profile Type

When an influencer authenticates their profile with Later Influence during the application or sign-up process, we receive an “access token” from Instagram. In Later Influence, 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 Later). Access tokens typically last approximately 30 days. Actions taken by the influencer, such as changing their password or profile type, may cause the token to expire sooner.

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