new instagram integration
New Instagram Requirements
As of December 2, 2024, we have a new requirement for connecting your social media accounts to the Hummingbirds platform. The biggest change you will notice in the flow is that you must have a Professional Instagram account to engage and complete campaigns.
Why?
Meta has changed the rules that third-party platforms, like Hummingbirds, use to connect to Instagram. While this paves the way for a better creator experience in the future, it does require you to have a professional account within Instagram.
Take a look at our FAQs to learn more and get your questions answered. Thank you for being part of our community of local creators!
faqs
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An Instagram Professional account is an account that enables third-party platforms, like Hummingbirds, to track their engagement and interactions. This type includes business accounts and creator accounts, each offering advanced tools for audience insights and content performance. A professional account does not cost anything and if at any time you decide to switch back to a personal account, you can.
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Meta no longer pulls data and content (think photos from posts or videos from Reels) from personal accounts that are public or private. They only integrate data and content from professional accounts. This is likely to protect personal users' data and allow professional accounts to have more compelling data to share with brands.
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Go to your Instagram profile and click on the menu icon (three lines). In settings and activity, scroll down to the “For professional” section.
If you already have a professional account it will say “Professional Account”.
If you do not have a professional account it will say “Account type and tools” and provide the option to switch.
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That is absolutely your call and we respect your decision. Starting 12/2/24 you must have a professional Instagram account connected to be able to Express Interest and complete campaigns. It's the only way for us to create meaningful impact with brands that want to work with creators to see the content they create in one dashboard, as well as the metrics associated with the content.
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A majority of our hummingbirds have a creator account, but they're very similar! You can have either a creator or business account to participate in campaigns.
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It’s completely up to you. Most hummingbirds select “Digital creator,” however you can remove it from displaying on your Instagram account.
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Meta is protective of your data which means we only get the essentials we request and get approved for. For our platform, we only request access to your posts and (if you're an enhanced profile), the data associated with the posts. We have no other information or way to access your account.
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We've tested this several times and ways. Honestly, the difference is minimal and your friends & followers would never know. You do get access to more tools and back-end insights on your content that can help you understand where you get the most engagement, reach, etc.
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With the recent changes, we are no longer able to support hummingbirds who only connect Facebook profiles. You must have a professional Instagram account to participate in Hummingbird campaigns.
How to Connect to the Hummingbirds Platform
If you have personal private or public account, you’ll want to follow steps #1-14.
If you already have professional account (creator or business), you’ll want to follow steps #1-4 and then #12-14.
Login to your Hummingbirds account.
Hit “Connect Your Account” via the banner at the top of your dashboard or visit the “My Profile” tab and hit “Social Networks”.
3. Click the ‘x’ next to each platform (Instagram AND Facebook) to disconnect
4. Hit the connect button. You’ll be redirected to Instagram where you’ll either be automatically logged in or you’ll need to input your login credentials.
5. You may see a page like this:
Hit “Not Now” or “Save Info” and you’ll be directed to the next step.
6. If you do not have a Professional account already, you’ll be instructed to change to a professional account. This is the only way Meta allows you to participate in Hummingbird campaigns. Your account will become a public account if it is not already.
7. Hit “Change” and you’ll see an option to either change to a “Creator” or “Business” account. You can select either. Most hummingbirds select “Creator”. Here’s a note from Instagram on the difference if you’re curious.
8. Instagram will likely share information about what a creator account is. Go ahead and hit next.
9. Next, you’ll select a category for your creator account. You can select any category you’d like, but the majority of our hummingbirds select “digital creator”.
10. You can leave the box “show category on profile” unchecked if you do not want the category to appear on your bio like this:
With Box Checked:
Without Box Checked:
11. Hit “Done” and you may see a box appear letting you know your account is changing from a private account to a professional account. If you already have a public account, you likely won’t see this box.
12. Then you’ve completed the switch and you’ll want to hit “Done” so that you are re-directed to the final step. Do not log out before you finish the next step!
13. Once you are finished switching to a professional account, you’ll need to approve the Hummingbirds platform to review your most recent posts. This is necessary to be able to participate in campaigns. Again, by allowing access to the Hummingbirds platform, you are only providing us with the ability to check your most recent posts and see the post analytics. We never access any private information or DMs. Hit allow.
14. After allowing, you’ll be re-directed back to the Hummingbirds platform.
You have now completed the process of connecting your Instagram account to the Hummingbirds platform and are eligible to express interest in campaigns.
OPTIONAL: Upgrade to an Enhanced Profile
If you’d like to update to an Enhanced Profile, you can continue on with additional steps.
What’s an Enhanced Profile?
An Enhanced Profile allows us to pull your campaign posts into our dashboard and get real time metrics to share with the brands! Also, you’ll receive a badge that’s visible to brands, which may increase your chances of being selected for campaigns.
There are 3 things that are needed to get an Enhanced Profile badge:
A personal Facebook Page (not profile) connected to your Professional Instagram account. To confirm you've got this, head to your Instagram profile and click Edit profile on mobile only. You’ll see it in the Instagram Profile section. If not, read the instructions below (Connect a Facebook Page to your Instagram Account).
You'll need to be a Creator account on Instagram
The connected Facebook profile cannot be a professional account: On Facebook, most Facebook Professional accounts you can tell from their About page as it says "Digital Creator" or something similar. If it does not say that, you should be good.
Connect aN EXISTING Facebook Page to your Instagram Account
Connect your Instagram Professional account to your Facebook Page.
To connect your Instagram account to a Facebook Page: Go to your Instagram Profile on mobile.
Tap Edit Profile.
Under Public business information or Profile information, tap Connect or create next to Page.
Tap Continue.
Tap Login to Facebook.
Choose or Create a Page from your Pages that you'd like to connect to or select Create a new Facebook Page.
Tap Connect.
Tap Done once you've selected a Page or created a new Facebook Page.
Create an Enhanced Profile on the Hummingbirds Platform
Hit “Finish Connecting”.
You’ll be redirected to login to the Facebook platform.
Hit continue as yourself.
4. Then you’ll select which account you want associated with your hummingbird account. There may be more than one account if you have permissions to edit multiple Facebook pages. Select the one you want to connect to the Hummingbirds platform.
5. From there, you’ll select the page underneath that account that you want associated with your Hummingbird account.
6. Then you’ll select which of the associated Instagram pages you want connected to your hummingbird account. If no instagram account is connected to the professional page you selected, nothing will appear here and you won’t be able to connect the right account. You’ll need to ensure you have an Instagram account and a Facebook page connected to one another.
7. Then you’ll hit continue and complete and you’ll be connected!
8. A badge will appear next to your hummingbird profile showing that you now have an Enhanced Profile.
