Whether you’re a social media manager working for several clients or an enterprising, multi-tasking entrepreneur trying to create and maintain your presence over several accounts on Instagram, there are a few best practices for managing multiple Instagram accounts effectively which we’ll delve into below. 

On the flip side, there are a few things you’ll want to avoid doing when juggling multiple Instagram accounts to reduce your workload and any headaches. 

Before we jump into the tips for managing multiple Instagram accounts, let’s explore the pros and cons of having multiple Instagram accounts to keep updated.

Pros & Cons Of Managing Multiple Instagram Accounts

It’s part and parcel of many social media manager’s jobs to set up and manage multiple Instagram accounts at once, whether on behalf of different clients they work with or for different areas of the business they work within. But what are the benefits and drawbacks of multiple Instagram accounts?

Pros

Keep brands and profiles separate

For social media managers, it’s really important to be able to keep brands distinct and separate from each other, especially when managing brands from many different organisations. Having the ability to manage multiple separate Instagram accounts at once helps with this.

Ability to tailor content to specific audiences

Although they can be tricky to maintain, having multiple Instagram accounts means that brands can interact with their target audiences with more relevancy. For example, for large companies, this might mean having a region-specific Instagram account, e.g. a US version and a Spanish version. This provides a better user experience and usually fosters a more engaged audience.

Cons

Switching between brand accounts can be cumbersome

Switching between Instagram accounts can feel like an obstacle. Posting on Instagram isn’t something that you post to and then walk away from, often there are comments and interactions to engage with. So, anyone managing multiple accounts can feel like they’re constantly going to and for checking for updates.

Finding time for everything

It can be tricky when managing multiple Instagram accounts, often alongside other social media campaigns, to find the time to create content and maintain the account to a high standard. This can leave marketers feeling frazzled as they attempt to keep up with the fast pace of social media.

How to Manage Multiple Instagram Accounts – Top 5 Tips

Below, we go over a few helpful tips to ensure your Instagram accounts are managed like a pro. Not only will these tips help you engage your audiences more effectively, but they’ll help you to stay productive when juggling maintaining multiple accounts.

1. Be Specific

When your business or organisation gains a presence on Instagram, it’s important to study what other larger brands are doing. Many big brand names have audiences in different countries and custom-fit their content to that particular audience for maximum cut through.

You could create one account that aims at a specific target audience (like customers or clients who are more advanced in age) and another that aims to connect with an entirely different demographic (like younger audiences, for instance).

The key is to avoid trying to be everything to everyone via one single Instagram account. Craft a custom-tailored Instagram account and produce content that reaches these specific audiences in more meaningful ways.

Remember that different audiences in different regions and locations might have an entirely different set of demographics, content preferences, as well as goals and pain points.

2. Set Goals for Each Instagram Account

Having an effective strategy for each Instagram account you are responsible for is a great way to ensure your customers and clients feel seen and heard daily. It also helps keep your content focused and relevant on even the most hectic days!

For example, you might manage an Instagram profile that’s more product-driven, which means you’ll be measuring success on your sales and clicks to your website or even your landing page. Other Instagram accounts might be more concerned with cultivating engagement or raising brand awareness and inspiring new brand loyalty.

Assigning a role to each Instagram account you manage will help you make sure that your content and Instagram accounts focus on helping you achieve your business goals – and those of any client’s you work with.

3. Create an Effective Content Strategy

When you have to manage multiple Instagram accounts online, you’ll want to make sure that each account has its own content strategy as well. Use analytics to figure out what kinds of posts get the most engagement from your target audience. You can also explore the best days and times to create your posts to get the most visibility. Testing and learning is important when it comes to understanding what works best for each account you manage.

Understanding your audience more deeply will help you connect with consumers on a more meaningful level. Utilise social listening tools, such as Sprout Social, to help you get to know your audience better and gain additional insights into what your target audience wants.

4. Utilise Social Media Management Tools

As you add more Instagram accounts to your responsibilities, it can get cumbersome and confusing to keep track of all the details. Even managing multiple Instagram accounts from your desktop can quickly overwhelm the most gifted multitasker. So, making use of some of the great social media management tools out there is sensible.

Tools can be used to give you a bird’s eye view of Instagram – showing you multiple business accounts. For example, having a unified inbox to get all of your notifications in one central place will streamline this process, meaning you can respond promptly to any comments or DMs sent your way. 

A proper social media management tool will also give you access to advanced analytics related to each particular account. For example, you can create and schedule posts for later, promote your custom-tailored content across all your accounts and more. These advanced analytics will help you make sure that your efforts advance you toward your larger (and even smaller) business goals.

5. Know When to Add Resources

Suppose you’re a business professional and you’re doing all of your valuable Instagram work by yourself. In that case, you might end up with the high-quality problem of having too much social media work on your hands, in which case you will want to hire a professional social media manager. 

If you’re already a very active daily user, you might stick with keeping your responsibilities. However, if you’re a social media manager whose client list is increasing exponentially, it might be time to take on some additional help so that each one of your client’s objectives is being fulfilled. What is most important is to make sure that all of your accounts on Instagram feel active and fresh. 

As with most projects where you split your attention, it’s very easy to get caught up maintaining one to the point where you leave the others to languish.

6. Use Switch To Switch Easily Between Instagram Accounts

While it is possible to simply switch between multiple Instagram accounts manually, it can cause headaches having to do that all day long. One way to keep all of the Instagram accounts you manage open and active at once is to download Switch. With Switch, users can simply navigate between accounts with the click of a button and be alerted within a handy toolbar of any notifications that come through. It’s a tool that many social media managers won’t be without once they’ve tried it.

How To Set Up & Optimise Multiple Instagram Accounts

In case you’re not already managing multiple Instagram accounts, here are some pointers to get you set up and started.

Create an account

You can start a new Instagram account from scratch or switch an existing personal account into a business account. Begin by downloading the Instagram app to your smartphone so you can access all of Instagram’s features easily and effortlessly. 

Write a compelling bio

Take the time to write a great bio that will get people curious enough to visit you on Instagram to see what you’re all about. You have 150 characters or less to use for your bio, so it’s important to showcase your brand’s voice as clearly and succinctly as possible. 

Remember to cut straight to the point, use line breaks for clear and concise copy, and try to include an emoji or two — which will help you inject a little personality into your efforts. Finally, add a call to action in your bio that can direct the user to whatever you’re offering, whether it’s a product or a service.

Set your profile picture

You can use your logo for your profile picture, but just make sure that your logo can be effectively displayed at 110 x 110 pixels and stored at 320 x 320 pixels. A circle will frame your photo, so it’s important to make sure that your logo fits comfortably.

Repeat the above process

There are no limits on how many Instagram accounts one person can set up. Although, you will need a unique email address per account. Simply repeat the process above with another email account – or that of your client – and you’ll be ready to begin engaging with your audience.

Switch Between Multiple Instagram Accounts Seamlessly with Switch 

Managing multiple Instagram accounts successfully can take a lot of hard work and dedication. To help maximise your output, try out Switch. It’s a simple to use productivity tool that allows users to manage multiple accounts from one central place.

With Switch, you can open and navigate between all of your Instagram accounts easily and effortlessly, not to mention receive real-time notifications in your sidebar. So, there’s no chance you’ll ever miss an important interaction.
Download Switch today to take your social media game to the next level.