Instagram launched business profiles in 2016. It announced the new profiles and related business tools in May 2016, with the rollout beginning in selected markets before expanding more broadly.
Business profiles were designed to give companies capabilities that ordinary personal accounts lacked. They could display business information, provide a Contact button for calls, texts, or emails, show directions, access Insights analytics, and promote posts as advertisements directly from the app.
The launch reflected Instagram’s growing importance to small businesses and brands. Before business profiles, companies could maintain ordinary Instagram accounts and buy ads, but they lacked a dedicated account type and integrated analytics. A common mix-up is treating 2015 experiments or later global availability as the launch date; the feature’s introduction and initial rollout belong to 2016.