Considering a majority of visitors to your Instagram profile page are new and not following you, one quick glance at your account can make or break your follower growth. It is important to be objective and ask yourself if someone can tell what your business is about. Then ask yourself are my services and what I uniquely have to offer communicated properly? You want to leave your visitor thinking “Wow, where is this restaurant?” Not “Why does everyone always post pictures of food?”
Ok, so how exactly do you do that? Take a look at these social media tips for optimizing your Instagram Bio Section of your profile to find out!
“Two-thirds of profile visits to businesses come from people who aren’t following that business.”
Instagram Data, Nov 2017
Activate a Business Account
The main reason you need to activate a business account is it provides you with analytics or the tools you need to grow. Without data to analyze and measure it is impossible to direct your growth.
Business accounts also get a category option that tells Instagram [Facebook and Google] who you are and who you are targeting. This allows your reach to go further and more importantly to reach the correct audience. See more on optimizing your Category option below.
Make sure you have an optimized Profile picture.
Having a profile picture that properly communicates your business name and image is key to getting noticed in the Instagram world. Unlike Facebook, Instagram pictures are small, round and cannot be enlarged. You will need an image powerful enough to stand out among a sea of other tiny images. On top of that, a majority of consumers view social media through a mobile device instead of a desktop making your image even smaller and amplifying the issue. It is important to consider all of these factors when selecting an Instagram profile picture for your business.
You can find my complete blog post on optimizing your profile picture here.
Category
If you activated your business account then you will have a category option. The category you pick serves two purposes: to categorize yourself within Instagram and as an additional description potential followers will read. This has the potential to save you characters when you get to the next step, your “Brief Description”.
When you go to choose a category it will generate a list depending on the letters you have typed and it will change as you type each letter. So take a minute to try a variety of words and see what your options are before picking the first option that works. I have included a video below that shows how your options generate.
I have also included a great example of an optimized category in the example portion of this blog post below.
Brief Description
You are limited to the number of characters you are allowed to use so get as creative as you can. Explain what your business offers better than anyone else but make sure you do this in as few words, or emojis, as possible. With the limited amount of characters that you are allowed to use, 150 characters to be exact, you need to include a description and a call to action [see more details on your call to action in the next section]
If your profile picture and feed visually show what your page is about, then use these words to communicate what they cannot. This doesn’t mean you cannot be literal in your description but use your characters wisely.
Call to Action
This is the call that directs the customer to act towards achieving your goal on the platform. For example do you want them to go to a website to view amazing merchandise or to subscribe to your blog? Maybe you want them to contact you directly with an email or phone call to schedule an appointment. Whatever it is you are hoping to achieve customize your call to action to reflect that.
You can also use words like “Click Here” or “Contact Us Here” to specifically tell your customer what to do.
Action Button:
When you have a business account activated on Instagram you also get the option to add an action button, making it even easier to get where you are directing them. Making the action to make an appointment or send an email user-friendly and convenient ensures you do not miss an opportunity!
Link
This is the only place on Instagram where you can post a clickable link. Unlike Facebook you cannot add clickable links to comments or content. Instead, you must always direct viewers to the link in your bio to access them.
I do not recommend them, but there are third-party apps like Linktree and Leadpages that allow you to post multiple links on one landing page. I personally do not like to use these apps because they can be seen as spammy and can be unreliable. Instead, I would suggest making the home page of your website your landing page for additional links so you can get the analytics and increase traffic to YOUR site.
The story your posts create on your feed.
When a potential follower is on your profile page and they look at your feed does it communicate anything?
If you take the time to plan out your campaign and organize it properly then it will tell the story of what your business is and has to offer. This is not a billboard but a snapshot. Other information is better communicated in stories where day to day activities are posted. Think of daily posts as magazine covers for your story feeds.
Please leave any questions you have on this topic below. I would love to put together a blog post on this to further explain how this is achieved.
Examples of optimized Instagram bio sections
A perfect example of an optimized Instagram bio is the account run by the @spacecoastfoodies. It is instantly obvious that they are the people to follow if you want to know where all the good local restaurants are on the Space Coast. The page also visually tells a story about a couple who are proud to call the Space Coast home with their fashion line that screams hometown pride.
- Profile Picture: They have a clear picture where they pop off the white backdrop.
- Category: “Local & Travel Website” This lets viewers and Instagram know that vacationers and people who are local to the Space Coast will benefit from the content on this page.
- Brief Description: “Space Coast, FL” and “Showing you the BEST local eats” lets you know that they are a food blog focused on the “best” local restaurants on the Space Coast. They also list it out so it is quick and easy to read.
- Call to Action: SHOP stands out because all letters are capitalized and this immediately lets you know they have merchandise.
- Link: Conveniently located below the call to action is the link that makes the action accessible.
AB Testing
Now you understand what to include but you might be asking yourself how to know if you are including the best content in your bio. Just like everything else on social media you have to AB test it. This can take time and can be an ongoing process, depending on your business, but necessary.
Please leave any questions you have on this topic below. I am planning a blog post on this to further explain how AB testing is used in managing your social media accounts.
I hope you found this post helpful. Please subscribe below to be notified about future blog posts and do not be afraid to reach out if you are looking for a social media manager for your business.