How to connect Facebook and Instagram
Connecting your social accounts is optional, but it's the fastest way for us to understand your business: we read the name, the description and your latest posts, and we save your profile photo as your logo (if you don't have one yet) along with a few photos from your posts. With that we build your brand profile, and everything we bring in stays in plain view so you can edit or delete it. Here's what Meta requires to make that possible.
Why a link to your profile doesn't work
Facebook and Instagram show a login screen to any app that isn't signed in. If you paste your profile link, all that comes through is that screen — not your content. It's not a limitation on our side: Meta applies it to all apps equally.
That's why there's a Connect Facebook and Instagram button: you authorize the connection once from Facebook, we read what we need at that moment, and that's it. We don't post anything, we don't store your password and we don't keep permanent access to your account.
What you need for this to work
- A business Page on Facebook, not a personal profile — and you have to be an admin of that Page.
- A Business or Creator Instagram account, not a personal one. Instagram doesn't let any app read a personal account.
- That Instagram account linked to that Facebook Page. We reach Instagram through the Page, so without the link we can't see it.
If you manage several Pages, we ask which one is for this brand and read only that one. If you have more than one business, each one is connected from its own brand in RedesIA.
Don't accept "all Pages": choose yours
When connecting, Facebook asks what you're giving access to and offers two options: all your current and future Pages, or only the ones you select. Giving access to all seems the most convenient, but it's exactly what doesn't work.
If you choose "all", Facebook hides from us the Pages that belong to a business portfolio — which is most business Pages — and doesn't even tell us they exist. If you select your Page by hand, that same Page reads without a problem. It's a Facebook limitation, not something you set up wrong.
Select just one Facebook Page and just one Instagram account: the ones for the business you're setting up in RedesIA. Afterward we show you what we found so you can confirm they're the right ones.
What if I run my business from my personal profile?
It's the most common setup in Latin America, and it's not your mistake: for years it was the natural way to sell on Facebook. But a personal profile isn't a Page, and Meta doesn't let any app read it — not RedesIA and not any other.
The tool that converted a profile into a Page no longer exists. Meta retired it. Today it offers "professional mode" for profiles, which adds tools to your profile but is still a profile, so it doesn't work for connecting here either. The only real route is to create a Page and move over to it.
It sounds worse than it is: the Page is free, your personal profile isn't lost or closed, and you don't have to start from scratch with your contacts — you can invite them to follow the Page from Facebook itself.
Create a business Page on Facebook
- A personal profile (your name and your friends) won't work: Meta doesn't let apps read it, and it isn't where a business posts either.
- From your Facebook account, go to Pages and click Create new Page.
- Enter your business name and its category; you can fill in the rest later.
- Make sure you end up as an admin of the Page.
If you sell from your personal profile today
- Create the business Page using the steps above. Your personal profile stays exactly as it is: the Page is separate, it doesn't replace it.
- Invite your friends and followers to follow the Page — Facebook has an "Invite friends" button on the Page itself.
- Re-post the photos and posts you want to keep on the Page. There's no way to move your history automatically; whatever you rescue, you upload yourself.
- Start posting only on the Page and let people know on your profile that this is where you are now. It's the slowest part of the process and also the only thing you really have to do.
- If you have Instagram, link it to the new Page (below) and you're set.
Switch your Instagram to a business account
- Open Instagram on your phone and go to your profile.
- Tap the menu (☰), then Settings and privacy.
- Scroll down to Account type and tools and tap Switch to professional account.
- Choose Business (or Creator, if you're a personal brand) and follow the steps.
- When prompted, link the account to your Facebook Page.
Link your Instagram to your Facebook Page
- Open your Facebook Page from a computer.
- Go to the Page's settings and look for Instagram (or Linked accounts).
- Click Connect account and log in with your Instagram.
- Check that the account shows as linked before going back to RedesIA.
When connecting, choose your Page on Facebook's screen
- Facebook shows you a screen with your Pages and accounts before sending you back to RedesIA.
- Select your business's Page and its Instagram account there. If you select nothing, the connection ends "successfully" but we receive nothing.
- Accept the permissions it asks for on the next screen. They're read-only: we don't post anything.
- If it sent you back to RedesIA and we told you we didn't receive any Pages, it's almost always this — try again and select the Page.
Meta changes these screens from time to time. If something doesn't match, its own help is always up to date: create a business Page and switch your Instagram account to professional.
Switching Instagram to a business account costs nothing
It's the worry that holds people back the most, so it's worth saying plainly: a professional Instagram account is free, just like a personal one. You don't start getting charged, there's no subscription, and you're not required to run paid ads or spend a cent. The only thing that changes is that business tools get turned on — insights, contact info, the ability to link it to your Page — that a personal account doesn't have.
It's not a permanent decision either: you can switch back to a personal account whenever you want, from the same settings. What does change is that a professional account is public, so if your profile is private today, it won't be anymore.
What if I don't want to connect my social accounts?
You don't have to. You can tell us about your business in your own words, upload photos of your products or of posts you've already made, and paste the link to your website or your catalog. We build the brand profile just the same.