Do I really need a work Instagram as a creative?

Alongside friends’ holiday photos and keeping up with your favourite celebs, Instagram has become much more than a social platform. For creatives, it’s a place to showcase work and even land commissions. But it can also feel overwhelming, distracting and difficult to separate from your personal life. So, do you really need an Instagram to promote your creative work in 2026?

To find out, I asked members of the Creative Lives in Progress team and community – from freelancers and early-career journalists to a writer with more than 20 years' experience in publishing – how they use the platform, what it's done for their careers and whether they'd recommend having one.

Does Instagram actually help creatives get work?

For most of the creatives we spoke to, the answer was a clear yes.

Graphic designer and art director Anna Gibson, who has spent the last four years freelancing in the music industry, estimates that around 80% of her work comes through Instagram. She describes it as “my number one form of self-marketing” and sees it less as a polished portfolio and more as a digital business card. Rather than only posting finished projects, she often shares works in progress and creative moments she genuinely loves.

Freelance illustrator and CLIP Production Assistant Beth Suzanna has had a similar experience. Her first publishing commission came after an art director discovered her work through the hashtag #illustration. Since then, Instagram has helped her connect with art directors, build a creative community and secure new commissions.

For art and design journalist Ellis Tree, who is at the start of their career and now writes for It's Nice That, Instagram has also led directly to commissions. It's one of their main tools for discovering creatives, researching stories and keeping up with what's happening across the industry.

Even Lotte Jeffs, CLIP's interim Head of Content and a writer and editor with more than 20 years' experience in publishing, says Instagram has led directly to work. Posts about balancing work and parenting have resulted in magazine commissions she may not have received otherwise.

If you're trying to get your work in front of the right people, Instagram can still be one of the easiest ways to do it.

Do you need a separate work Instagram?

This is where opinions started to differ.

Anna never felt the need to create a separate work account. As her career developed, work naturally became the focus of the profile she'd already built through university and her early industry network.

Ellis’ approach is similar; she uses Instagram exclusively for work without a personal account at all, preferring to keep personal updates within close friendship circles rather than on a public platform.

Beth keeps separate personal and professional accounts because commissioners often want to understand who you are and what you create within seconds. Having a dedicated creative profile makes that easier, while still leaving room for a space that's completely separate from work.

Freelance creative director and design consultant Lisa Rahman has “one main Instagram that reflects part of my work but mostly my creative interests”. For her, “the presence I can adopt digitally needs to feel fun, experimental and enjoyable.”

Having started her career before Instagram existed, Lisa built her network through workplaces, events and creative communities rather than social media. Today, she uses Instagram less as a portfolio and more as a place to document creative interests, share opportunities and keep track of cultural shifts.

“Some of the best creative directors I know have minimal online presences,” she says. “They’re often busy managing teams and don’t necessarily need to prioritise promoting projects online. They also have creative presences in other ways offline.”

Rather than treating Instagram as a professional requirement, Lisa sees it as a space that should feel enjoyable to use. “I think the presence I can adopt digitally needs to feel fun, experimental and enjoyable – this is where I feel happiest.”

Personally, when I freelanced more heavily, I posted far more of my work publicly. I've since set my Instagram to private – and have gradually moved away from using it as a professional platform. I now tend to rely more on LinkedIn, my website and the occasional Instagram Story to my existing followers.

Part of that comes down to wanting clearer boundaries. I think there's a danger of your work and your personal identity becoming intrinsically linked if you're presenting your professional self to the world publicly all the time.

The more people I spoke to, the more it felt like this was the real question. Not whether Instagram can help your career, but how much of yourself you want tied to it.

What are the downsides?

While everyone could point to professional benefits, several contributors also spoke about the pressures that come with being visible online.

Lotte had the strongest feelings – after finding herself constantly checking Instagram and comparing herself to peers, she recently “bricked” the app on her phone so she has to deliberately unblock it before using it.

Despite that, she still sees value in the platform. As a journalist, Instagram helps her understand what's resonating culturally and follow conversations as they happen. Her advice isn't necessarily to separate work and personal content entirely, but to remember that a public profile is never entirely personal: “If it's a public profile, it's essentially a work-safe version of you.”

It's a useful reminder that if you're posting holiday photos, opinions or life updates on a public account, people may still be forming professional impressions of you.

Lisa takes a similarly reflective approach. “I’m constantly reassessing my relationship with social media and try to set check-ins with myself every few months,” she says. “I think it’s important to question how technology is benefiting us professionally, but also what feels sustainable for our creative wellbeing.”

So, what's the verdict?

No, you don't need a work Instagram to build a creative career. But every contributor I spoke to agreed on one thing: people need a way to find their work.

For some creatives, Instagram remains the easiest way to do that. For others, a website, LinkedIn or a combination of platforms feels like a better fit.

Lisa compares Instagram to a shopfront. If someone landed on your profile today, would they understand what excites you creatively and what kind of work you want more of? “Existing online isn't the only way to get noticed, but it's one,” she says. “It's more about finding the spaces that work for your personality.”

As Ellis puts it: “If you aren't making yourself visible, people can't find you.” Whether that visibility comes from Instagram or somewhere else is entirely up to you.