How to Add a Profession on Instagram

Displaying your profession directly on your Instagram profile is a small change with a powerful impact, instantly telling visitors who you are and what you offer. It builds authority and makes your purpose clear from the moment someone lands on your page. This guide will walk you through exactly how to add your profession, the difference between Creator and Business accounts, and how to optimize your entire profile for a professional look.

First Things First: Why Display a Professional Category?

Adding that little gray text under your name - like "Artist," "Digital Creator," or "Personal Coach" - is more than just a label. It’s a strategic move that fundamentally shifts how your profile functions and how it’s perceived by both users and the Instagram algorithm.

• Instant Credibility and Clarity: New visitors decide whether to follow you in seconds. A professional category immediately answers the question, "What is this account about?" It removes guesswork and establishes you as a serious creator, business, or public figure in your niche.
• Unlocks Professional Features: You can only add a profession by switching to a free Professional Account. This change unlocks an entire suite of tools that are unavailable on personal profiles, including Instagram Insights (analytics), advanced contact options, and the ability to run paid promotions.
• Improved Discoverability: By telling Instagram precisely what you do, you give its algorithm a clear signal. This can help Instagram recommend your account to users who have shown interest in similar creators or businesses, potentially increasing your organic reach and follower growth.

Think of it as the headline on your digital resume. It’s the first thing people see and it sets the stage for everything else on your profile.

The Foundation: Switching to a Professional Instagram Account

Before you can add a profession, you need to be operating from a Professional Account. If you’re currently using a Personal Account, don’t worry - the switch is quick, free, and you won’t lose any of your existing content or followers. You're just gaining more tools.

Here’s exactly how to do it:

Step-by-Step Guide to Making the Switch

1. Navigate to your own Instagram profile page by tapping your profile picture in the bottom-right corner.
2. Tap the menu icon (the three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner.
3. Select Settings and privacy from the menu.
4. Scroll down to the 'For professionals' section and tap on Account type and tools.
5. Tap Switch to professional account.
6. Instagram will now show you a few screens explaining the benefits of a professional account. Tap Continue through these screens.
7. You'll land on a key screen titled 'What best describes you?' This is where you choose your profession. Start typing in the search bar to find the category that best fits what you do (e.g., "Photographer," "Blogger," "Coach"). Select the most relevant one. We’ll cover how to choose the best one in more detail below.
8. After selecting your category, you'll be asked if you are a 'Creator' or a 'Business.' This is an important choice that affects the features available to you.

Creator vs. Business Account: Which One Is Best for You?

This is a common question, and getting it right helps tailor your Instagram toolset to your specific needs. The good news is you can always switch between them later, so there is no need to overthink it.

The Creator Account: Best for Individuals

The Creator account is designed for individuals who are building a personal brand. Think influencers, artists, public figures, content producers, coaches, and experts who are the "face" of their brand.

• Who it’s for: Social media personalities, artists, photographers, YouTubers, bloggers, models, and personal coaches.
• Key Perks:
  • Flexible Profile Controls: You have the option to hide your professional category label and contact information for a cleaner profile look if you prefer.
  • Full Music Library: Creator accounts get access to the full, unrestricted library of popular music for use in Reels and Stories. This is a huge advantage for creating timely, trending content.
  • Inbox Sorting: Your direct messages are split into 'Primary' and 'General' tabs, helping you organize conversations with friends and family separately from business inquiries or fan DMs.

The Business Account: Best for Organizations and Service Providers

The Business account is built for entities that sell products or services, whether they're online or have a physical location.

• Who it’s for: Retail brands, local businesses (like restaurants or salons), service-based companies (like agencies), SaaS companies, and e-commerce stores.
• Key Perks:
  • Physical Location: You can add a clickable address to your profile, which is great for brick-and-mortar businesses.
  • Expanded Contact Buttons: In addition to email and call buttons, you can add third-party action buttons like 'Book Now,' 'Reserve,' or 'Order Food' through services like Schedulicity or Grubhub.
  • Restricted Music: A notable limitation for Business accounts is access to a more limited, royalty-free 'Business Audio Library' in Reels. This is due to commercial music licensing laws.

The takeaway: If you are a personal brand and rely on trending audio for Reels, choose Creator. If you are a company, shop, or local service that needs an address or booking buttons, choose Business.

Choosing Your Professional Category (The “Profession” Part)

Selecting the right category is both an art and a science. It needs to be accurate enough to describe what you do but broad enough for new visitors to understand instantly.

The Search Bar Is Your Best Friend

Instagram offers hundreds of categories, so scrolling through the entire list is not an effective strategy. Instead, use the search bar at the top of the 'Select a category' screen. Start typing keywords related to your field. For example:

• Type "art" to see options like Artist, Visual Artist, Digital Artist.
• Type "health" for Health/Beauty, Health & wellness website, Medical & health.
• Type "consultant" for Marketing Consultant, Business Consultant, Education Consultant.

Popular and Effective Category examples

Sometimes you just need a better idea of what good labels look like. Here are some of the most widely used and effective professional categories creatives and small businesses are using right now:

• Digital Creator
• Entrepreneur
• Artist
• Blogger
• Photographer
• Videographer
• Musician/Band
• Personal Coach
• Public Figure
• Consulting Agency
• Writer
• Chef
• Restaurant
• Clothing (brand)
• Health/Beauty

Display on Profile: Should You Show It or Hide It?

During the setup process, you’ll see a toggle for 'Display on profile.' Most of the time, you should keep this on.

Showing your category on your profile reinforces your brand and provides immediate context. The only reason to turn it off is if you're a well-established personality who prefers a minimalist look, letting your bio and content do all the talking. For 99% of people trying to grow their audience or business, having it displayed is the smart move.

If you've already set up your account and want to change your category or toggle its visibility, just go to your profile, tap Edit Profile, and look for the Category field. You can make adjustments there at any time.

Beyond the Label: Optimizing Your Full Professional Profile

Your professional category is the first step, but a truly optimized profile uses all the tools at its disposal to convert visitors into followers and customers.

• A Strategic Bio: Your bio should expand on what your professional category states. If your category is 'Personal Coach,' your bio should clarify your specialty: "🔥 Helping busy professionals build stronger bodies & healthier habits in just 30 mins/day." Your bio tells them how you do what you do and for whom.
• Action-Oriented Contact Options: Don't make people hunt for your email. In 'Edit Profile,' go to 'Contact Options' and add a public email address. This creates a dedicated 'Email' button on your profile, making it effortless for brands and clients to propose collaborations.
• The Valuable "Link in Bio": This is the only place on your Instagram profile where you get a clickable link. A tool like Linktree or Beacons can help you create a simple landing page that directs followers to your website, blog, portfolio, or shop - all from a single link.
• Aligned Top 3 Pinned Posts: Your top three pinned posts serve as a mini portfolio. Pin a post that introduces you, one that showcases your best work or results, and one that communicates a key value proposition. Someone who is intrigued by the category Artist should see three amazing pieces of art pinned at the top.

Final Thoughts

Updating your Instagram from a personal page to a professional one is a quick process that pays dividends. Choosing the right category - Creator or Business - and selecting a clear, descriptive profession solidifies your brand identity, gives you access to powerful analytics, and helps new audiences discover exactly what you have to offer.

Once your profile is professionally set up, success comes down to sharing valuable content consistently. At Postbase, we built our whole platform to help creators and businesses simplify that process - because managing social media shouldn’t be complicated. Our tool lets you reliably schedule Reels, plan your content in a visual calendar, and manage all of your comments and DMs in one unified inbox. It's the modern, streamlined tool we wish we'd had when building our own social presences, designed to give you back your time so you can focus on creativity, not calendar management.