arlier this year, Instagram announced that it was developing special business profiles equivalent of Facebook's Brand Pages. Now, after months of development, Instagram has started to test its profiles for businesses with a small number of users.
The screenshots of the Instagram business profiles were posted first by the blog Later.com. According to TechCrunch, aside from some very notable differences, the new type of business profile looks almost the same as regular profiles. Beside the Follow/Following button, on the upper right side of the profile, the new Instagram profile for business includes a Contact button.
An option menu will pop up, when the Contact button is pressed. Users can choose between e-mailing the account directly and getting directions to the business. As many businesses today prefer e-mail, choosing to allow send businesses traditional e-mails instead of relying on Instagram's messaging system makes sense.
As pointed out by The Next Web, the new Contact button also prevents spam by avoiding businesses from writing down their email information on the profile descriptions. It is also especially useful in the case of local retailers the feature that allows users to get directions to the business from the same menu.
Besides the Contact button, the Instagram business profiles also offer a variety of useful features for those who run a business account on the social media platform, including the ability to categorize the business by type and access to maps and directions.
According to Design & Trend, it is not likely that most users will see the business profiles in their Instagram feeds at this time, since they have not yet launched broadly. An Instagram spokesperson declared that the social media network is still testing the new business tools that are scheduled to be launched in the following months.
It is expected that Instagram will also provide the businesses with the ability to buy ads from a mobile device and to launch some new features that would allow brands to track how their posts are doing. These are considered as critical features for companies, helping them make their accounts to stand out to consumers and to maintain a real presence on Instagram's site.
