Instagram is one of the leading social media platforms for businesses to share content and advertise. Beautiful photos help businesses stand out on the app, but Instagram bios also play a large role in initially gaining followers as well as keeping them engaged.
These few words (and emojis) are your first impression when visitors land on your page, and they have become prime real estate to convince your audience why your company is worth the investment of a follow.
With only 150 characters available, crafting the perfect Instagram bio seems like a Goliath-sized task. Conquer the feat by updating these seven fields to attract the highest-quality followers.
LOGO
It is important for people to recognize your brand anywhere they go. One way to ensure that happens is by using the same colors, design scheme and logo for all of your digital channels and print assets. On Instagram, make the company logo the profile picture so that it is recognizable from the search tab inside the app. If your audience is better acquainted with a spokesperson, use their face and a small logo along the edge of the profile picture.
This consistency should be echoed across your whole brand so that users who are already acquainted with the business will more easily give you a follow.
NAME AND USERNAME
The first step you should take when updating your Instagram bio is to optimize your name. The name is searchable inside the app, so pull keywords from your keyword research to become the most available your business can be. The field also only gives you 30 characters to use, so choose your keywords carefully (but avoid keyword stuffing).
Consistency is also key here. Most users will type in the name of your business into the search bar, so keep your brand name the same (although you are allowed some variation – “Saturday Night Live – SNL”).
A good username is another important factor in creating a good Instagram bio. The username is the most-seen element of your profile: when you post, when you comment, when you’re mentioned by others. While the opportunity could be enticing to make a fun, creative username, it’s best to stay consistent with your brand and make the username recognizable.
WHAT YOU DO
Now to the fun part: letting people get to know the company.
The first line or two of the bio should be succinct and get to the essence of what the business does. Instagram does not offer much room to share your story (only 150 characters), so answer these basic questions in order to make the best introduction:
- What do you do?
- What makes you different?
- Why should the audience care?
With these explained, visitors will see your unique personality and it will also help to narrow your base to your target audience.
Leaving calls to action in your written Instagram bio is also a good idea for businesses. If you have specific store hours, an address, a contact email or any other call to action that you want followers to see, put it in your bio.
Emails are especially great to put in an Instagram bio because it gives your audience an accessible point of contact. Depending on how much engagement the account gets, too, it can be easy to miss a direct message or comment.
You can also use the Instagram bio to show off your skills. Really think about what unique products, services or benefits your company offers and make a big deal out of them. Keep the tone of the bio on-brand too, whether that’s playful and fun or serious and straightforward.
EMBRACE EMOJIS
No matter what kind of story you tell in your Instagram bio, it’s helpful to express the brand’s personality with emojis. The characters – anything from faces, arrows, food, nature and more – will break up the text and add emphasis to particular words. Although you might think your brand is too serious for emojis, they will help tell your audience about what the business does without breaking the limited word count.
While these ideas demonstrated by emojis are powerful, don’t overstuff your Instagram bio with them. Using three to five emojis will be sufficient to tell the story.
WEBSITE
Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram is very strict on where you can place clickable links. Right now, links can only be used in the last field of your bio or, if you have more than 10K followers, you can connect a link to an Instagram story.
While the one-placement limitation isn’t an issue for some users, like bloggers (who really only need to link their blog), it can become a problem for ecommerce companies and small businesses who want to send customers to product pages or webinars.
To get by this restriction, some brands frequently switch out the link to the latest campaign they are referring to in their Instagram captions. However, now that the Instagram algorithm is not in chronological order, the caption a user sees might not correspond any more to the link in the brand’s bio.
Linkin.bio is a great tool to use the one Instagram bio link to your advantage. With the hub link created by Later, you can direct traffic to specific links on pictures you’ve posted through Later. You can even add multiple websites and pages without ever changing the link in your Instagram bio.
CTA BUTTONS
If a user stumbles upon your Instagram profile and they love what they see, give them every opportunity to contact you. Make sure to fill out your address, phone number and email fields so that fans can contact you directly instead of leaving a comment and getting lost in the flood of messages.
HIGHLIGHTS
One of the most recent additions to Instagram, is the Instagram Story Highlight feature. Where Instagram stories are only available for 24 hours, Highlights are a permanent collection of stories pinned right below your Instagram bio. They act as a movie reel that shows the best features of your brand to new customers.
There are a variety of ways to approach Highlights. If you’re a travel agency, for example, you can create separate highlights for destinations that your clients have visited. You can also use each sequence as inspiration for your pages or blogs on your website.
Are you ready to step up your social media presence and drive traffic to your website? Let Starnes Digital partner with you to grow your business with a custom approach! Get started by filling out the contact form below.
