When was the last time you updated (or even looked at) your Instagram bio?
You bio is the first thing people see when they visit your Instagram profile – think of it as your digital handshake. Having a good bio is important when it comes to not only attracting new followers, but letting potential customers know what you do, where you are, and how you can help them. It only takes a visitor three seconds from when they visit your profile to decide whether to give you a follow or not, so it’s vital that all the info is there. Many businesses are missing an opportunity to attract new followers – and new business – simply by not having basic information on their profile like the city and country they are located in, their address, how to get in contact, and what it is they offer. Don’t let that be you!
Follow these four steps to make sure your Instagram bio is up to scratch!
1. You only have 150 characters in your Instagram bio to tell people about your business, so make it count! You really want to use this space for communicating exactly what it is your business is about (what you offer or what problem you are solving), or an ethos that sets you apart. Whatever you choose to do, it should be clear what your business is. You can use a short sentence, or points separated with an emoji or a slash. If your username isn’t your business name, include the name of your business in your bio so you can be easily identified. Adding emojis to your bio is a great way to stand out, but as always, keep your target audience top of mind. If you’re a professional organisation talking to other corporates, keep it professional and to the point. However, if you’re talking to millennials and your business values are all about creativity and style, then reflect that in your copy.
2. We’ll presume you’re on an Instagram business profile, and if you’re not yet, go ahead and switch as there are some great benefits to this such as accessing insights and creating ads. You’ll also be able to add key contact information directly into your Instagram profile including your email address, phone number, and physical address without having to use up any precious character space. Once these are set up, a visitor can easily click on any of these links in your Instagram bio and reach out to you directly via email or a phone call, or be given directions to your location.
3. The only place you can add a clickable link on Instagram is your bio – so make sure your website is there. You’ve probably seen on Instagram posts people talking about ‘link in bio’ – this is what they’re referring to. It’s a great way of directing traffic to your website.
4. Is your business using its own hashtag? If so, your bio is the perfect place to showcase it, especially if you want to encourage people to take photos using your product or service and post it to Instagram (we call this User Generated Content or UGC). Remember, if people upload an image on Instagram and use your hashtag, they are giving you permission to repost it, so if this is something you’d like them to do, a prompter is a good idea, like we’ve done on Cityscape. This won’t be right for every business, but UGC can be a great stream of content for busy business owners!
Spend a few minutes now and look at your bio to see where it might need to be tweaked. Need help? That’s what we’re here for!
At SOMO Creative, social media strategy for small business is something we love doing. We’re experts at taking your brand’s values and goals and transforming your social offering with a custom designed social media strategy that includes all the insider tools, tricks and apps you need to succeed.
We offer consultation and strategy, team training and end-to-end set up, management and bio optimisation, so if you’re ready to leverage your social to bring in more business, talk to us today.
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