How to Manage Multiple Instagram Accounts

Over the last 3.5 years, I’ve started 3 business instagram accounts & have a combined following of over 59K. I’ve gone from managing them solo, to managing them with a team & used several apps to better streamline the process. I understand more then ever how effective instagram marketing can be for your business, and today I want to share with you a a how-to guide for managing multiple instagram accounts!

First let’s ask the Q: Should I have Multiple Instagram Accounts?

A: Ask yourself: who is your audience? I have 3 companies (KS, C@H & DSE). Each has a distinct audience, therefore having 3 separate instagram accounts allows me to speak directly to each audience & not flood them with information they don’t want to receive! My friend Bonnie has a separate account for her business & her retreat, illume. My friend Katelyn has an instagram for her business, for her home decor & for her family (insert: all the baby pics!). You have to understand WHO your audience is before determining whether you should have multiple or not!

Let’s assume for the sake of this post that you do have multiple instagram accounts! How do you organize the information for each account & manage content across the board?

Plan content. Just like blog planning, you should have a clear understanding of what you will be sharing & when you will be sharing it! It’s helpful to have a 6 or 9 square posting strategy, so you’re less likely to say “what should I post today?”. An example of a 6 square posting strategy for a wedding planner could be: (1) bride & groom (2) behind the scenes (3) personal (4) flowers (5) vendor (6) wedding detail. On Monday’s, I plan out my blog posts for DSE and KS for the week. I post once per day on DSE and try to post twice per day on KS. For C@H, we post once per day & actually work to plan our calendar on a monthly basis (Emily is the genius behind our C@H posting schedule!).
Invest in a planning app. I highly suggest you begin using an instagram planning tool like PLANN, Planoly or Latergram. I began using PLANN 3 months ago & have been impressed! It’s a newer app and therefore more cost efficient than Planoly or Latergram. It allows me to schedule posts for up to three accounts, see what my feed looks like / what it will look like, and sends me a notification when it’s time to post. I don’t schedule out insta-story posts (I know you can in Planoly), and prefer to only schedule out my images.
Outsource. I realized early on that I couldn’t handle every single aspect of marketing on my own. Before Emily was my VA, I brought her as our C@H Instagram Manager! She was responsible for curating images, writing captions & using the appropriate hashtags. It was so helpful for me to know that someone was taking charge of posting on that account (with my approval on content used). If you have multiple accounts & they are weighing you down, think about hiring an Instagram Manager to help lessen your load! (TIP: If you aren’t in a place to hire someone for this service, invest in a planning app & schedule all accounts to post at similar times. This will allow you to get all of your posting done in one block of time, vs. having to hop on instagram all day long!!)
You will ultimately use one account more than the other(s). Because Emily handles posting for C@H and I can schedule DSE posts fairly easily, I use the KS account on a more regular basis. This is the account I use day-to-day for insta-stories and “a day in the life” posts. Anyone who has multiple accounts needs to realize that one account will typically take priority over the others. On wedding days/weeks, the DSE account takes priority for those insta-story posts; during C@H weekend, the C@H is my main focus. There will naturally be a shift between my three accounts during those busier seasons because instagram is a marketing tool & I want to use it as such!!
Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a post. Life goes on, doesn’t it? It’s hard to juggle one instagram account, let alone several! There are weeks I am killing it & other weeks that I totally fall off the bandwagon. That’s life!!! Embrace it! Roll with it! While your audience may notice you’re a little quieter, they will likely not notice a HUGE difference. There’s no need to post a “sorry it’s been quiet around here” post (unless you want to). Just jump right back in when you can & give yourself some grace!