What does this person do? I don’t understand what the point of their profile is? There’s no contact number or website? I’m not gonna following them….is this what your potential followers are saying when they find your profile?
Having a clear and strategic Instagram bio could mean the difference between someone hitting that follow button or forgetting you even existed. It’s the first impression that a person could potentially have with your business, so how do you create a bio that gets your point across and converts a follower into a customer?
Attract your Ideal Client
People who land on your profile are going to need to understand quickly who you are and what you do. If you want to stand out for a particular skill or niche this is the place to put it.
But remember your bio should be about your ideal client, you want to give them a reason to follow you. Are you going to help them solve a problem, inspire them or educate them? What’s in it for them? You only have 150 characters to work with so you might have to think about this one for a while.
Add some Keywords to your Name Field
Your name is different from your username. Many people will put the same name in both fields, but instead, try adding some keywords into the name field because this field is actually searchable by Instagram.
Try to think about keywords that your ideal client would be searching for on Instagram. For example, if you were a Realtor in Edmonton you could add the keyword YEG.REALTOR.
When you include a “#” or a @ sign in your bio, it automatically becomes a clickable link! This means that you could cross-promote different Instagram channels if you have more than one, or you can add your business handle to your personal profile.
By adding hashtags you are able to link directly to all content connected to that hashtag. This is a great opportunity if you have a branded hashtag that you want people to know about.
Just an FYI though – Placing hashtags in your bio does not make them searchable, it’s just a great way to link content.
Add a Call to Action
What do you want people to do when they land on your account? (besides follow of course). Think of your Instagram bio as a mini extension of your website.
You need a call to action to tell people to do something. There are many different options here. You could link it to your website, to a special promotion, to sign up to your email list, etc…
Remember that people want to know what they are going to get from following your profile. You want to make sure that your call to action isn’t too big of an ask without something in return.
This is where a lead magnet (freebie) comes in. By giving them something in return for their email you build a relationship and set expectations for your profile.
Another option is to use a tool like link.tree to have multiple options within one link.
Add Highlights to your Profile
Instagram story highlights are permanent collections of your Instagram stories that live on your profile. Think of them as a movie trailer for your profile. A way to highlight your services, pricing, behind the scenes, workshops. The list could go on and on.
You can also add branded cover photos to these highlights to make them more cohesive to your feed and brand.
Add your Contact Info
You want to make sure you have a way for your new visitor to contact you. If you have a business account they give you contact buttons below your bio, but if you have a personal profile you are going to have to add this to your bio as well.
As you can see there are a lot of opportunities to showcase your company if you set up your Instagram bio properly. To help you out with this process make sure you have downloaded my free resource below.