How to Maximize Your Instagram Brand Bio
There are many things brands and influencers should consider in creating their picture perfect (but professional) social media profiles. One of the key priorities is the Instagram bio, the top snippet of your profile that tells your audience exactly who you are in under 500 characters. The best of the best bios will showcase your brand’s personality while promoting your business offerings and ultimately convince others to follow you. Our tip? Treat your Instagram bio as if it were an outfit to impress on the first date or an important interview for your dream job.
Your Name
This is the bolded word/words in your profile and also the first field you’re able to edit in the Profile Edit Settings. Unless someone knows your exact handle (in which case they’re already familiar with your brand and the goal is to always get new people), chances are they’re going to stumble upon you via the search bar. When people search on Instagram, the Name field is actually the one being analyzed for matches, not the handle. We suggest in using a keyword that is crucial and relevant to your business in the Name field to rank better in people’s searches.
Your Bio
Your Instagram bio should include the following things:
Tell people what your business is. This includes what services and products you offer as well as reasons why they need these services and products.
Convince people to follow you and participate in a call-to-action (like visiting your website or direct messaging you for more information on a specific service or product).
Be written in your brand voice – stay consistent throughout all your online and social media outlets.
Add branded hashtags to drive post engagement and create a community around your brand.
You must do all of this in 150 characters. Remember, you’re already allotted 30 characters for your Name, so don’t repeat terms that are already there! Before writing your bio, think about the type of company you’re building and what personality should it exude as these elements should be included in your bio. Do you offer services specific to one industry or are you an individual sharing skills and experience? All of these things should be made clear in your bio in order to connect and build trust with your target audience.
Your Website
Your website URL should always be placed in your bio to give people a place to go to if they want to learn more about you and your business. If you don’t have a website, there are other things you can put in this field, as long as it’s a legitimate URL. Some of these things include:
Facebook link or link to any other social media profile.
Survey link to gain insights on your audience
Useful articles that pertain to your core business or a helpful article that your audience may find interesting
Your Profile Picture
Your profile picture should be clear and easy to make out the subjects in the photo. On Instagram, this photo will be cropped into a circle so make sure your size has enough background space to accommodate this. For most businesses, we recommend using your logo as your profile picture.
Your Stories Highlights
Take advantage of the Stories Highlight to showcase your business. Think about how you can create categories of your business and use the highlights to showcase each of these categories. For example, a marketing agency can have highlights for Branding, Website Development, Social Media, etc. in which each of these categories have their own highlight on the agency’s Instagram bio that contain. Relevant information to that category.
In Closing
Your Instagram bio comprises of several elements. It is important to incorporate both personal and professional aspects into your bio to gain the most out of what it can offer you. Remember that it doesn’t need to look like everyone else’s. Try out new things that feel true to your brand until you get a clear understanding of what your target audience best responds to. For more information on our social media services, check out our specialties.