Merging Facebook Pages & Multiple Profiles

What's Happening 

Since sharing with you about Facebook's new Professional Mode for personal profiles, I got a slew of questions:

• How can I transition marketing my business on my personal profile most effectively?
• Can I create a new profile?
• Can you merge your Page and profile?
• How do I automatically share your Instagram content to your Facebook profile?

Please allow me to untangle the mighty web of options Meta has created.

Meta Vocabulary Lesson

For reference, Meta owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, Meta Quest (a VR gaming device that used to be called Oculus), and a variety of other gaming companies.

Terms you need to know:

Facebook Account: Your Facebook account is where your main profile is housed and any connected Pages you create. Facebook’s community standards state that no person can have multiple Facebook accounts.

Facebook Profile: Hang on because this is where it gets a little confusing. Your Facebook profile is what we normally think of as our personal profile. However, you are permitted to create up to 4 different Facebook profiles under your Facebook account. Each will have its own name and handle.

Unlike your main profile, your additional profiles are not required to use the name you go by in everyday life. You still have to represent yourself, but will want to create a profile name that adds identifiers such as “Megan Ericson Social.”

Professional Mode: A new feature that can be enabled on Facebook profiles that makes your profile public and gives you additional tools to help grow followers such as analytics and scheduling.

Instagram Account: On Instagram, the terms “profile” and “account” generally refer to the same thing. Though, you’re profile page is where your bio information and posts are seen. You are permitted to be logged into 5 different Instagram accounts at one time.

Your Instagram account can be set as one of three types: 

Instagram Personal Account Type: A personal account is the default setting when you open an Instagram account and can be either public or private.

Instagram Professional Account Type (Business or Creator): A professional account is the umbrella term used for both creator or business accounts. If you switch to either on Instagram, you get access to tools such as analytics and messaging buttons to help you grow your account.

Accounts Center: Place to manage how your Meta accounts connect with one another. You have to enable “connected experiences” to share stories or posts automatically between Facebook and Instagram. Access your account center here.

Meta Account: The account created for Meta Quest or any other Meta VR products. I only mention this because it’s listed in the Accounts Center. It’s really confusing that the parent company and one of the products have the same name, right!?

Use it for Your Business

Now that you’re acquainted with the terms let’s answer your questions:

Merging Facebook Profiles or Pages
Unfortunately, Facebook will only facilitate the merging of two pages. There is no way to merge a page with a personal profile or vice versa.

Thus, if you were hoping to transfer your business page followers to your profile with professional mode, it’s not possible. My recommendation would be to pin a post to the top of your page inviting them to join you on your personal profile.

Creating a new Facebook Profile
If you want to use your personal profile to promote your personal brand but can’t stand the thought of all your friends and family seeing your business posts, creating a new profile is an option.

Warning: You’ll have to start from scratch. You can’t select followers from your main profile to automatically transfer to this new profile you create. They will have to follow on their own.

Also, you cannot enable automatic sharing between Instagram and Facebook on profiles that aren't your main profile. 

Adjusting Automatic Sharing Settings
If you set up your automatic sharing settings from Instagram to your Facebook page, for example, and you want to share to your personal profile now, you’ll have to adjust the settings in your Account Center.

Relevancy Rating

Just because it's new doesn't mean it's worth your time: Is learning your Meta options worth your time?

Yes!: I give it 5 out of 5 thumbs up.

Considering Facebook and Instagram take up the majority of the social media market share. It’s well worth your time to understand how to leverage your business best on these platforms.

Social media is constantly changing. Sign up for This Week in Social Media Marketing to stay informed of the trends and decide whether it’s worth your time to try them.