Instagram is about to start looking a lot more like Facebook, thanks to new business profiles pages that are in the testing phase.
Images of the new profiles have leaked onto the internet and they appear to be similar to Facebook’s brand pages, giving visitors more information on how to locate a business. It seems the days of publicly displaying your email and phone number on Instagram are coming to an end.
The biggest change that will separate business profiles from regular Instagram profiles, is a new Contact button to the left of the follow status. The new profiles are currently being tested by a small number of users and you can only see them if you’re part of the test group, however the folks at Later got their hands a few screenshots of the new feature.
Instead of using Instagram’s own messaging system, pressing the Contact button brings up the option to contact the business via email. There’s also an option to get direction in Apple Maps.
Business profiles are also categorized by name. You can see in the screenshot above that Motivate Me is listed as a Health/Wellness Website. No word on when the Instagram profiles will launch, but the company did confirm them to TechCrunch, saying “we are testing new business tools coming to Instagram in a few months.”
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
One response to “Instagram’s upcoming business profiles look like Facebook pages”
Considering how badly Faceboobs screwed up my business page about a month ago (and it’s still screwed up), comparing IG to Bookface isn’t really selling it to me.