First impressions matter, right?
The first thing that people see when they come across your Instagram profile are your profile picture and your bio. You should see them as a way to resonate with your audience and to establish brand recognition. You want your followers to recognise your brand and to be excited about your content.
Your Profile Picture
What you put on your profile picture depends on what kind of business you’re running, but bottom-line, you want your followers to recognise your brand when they see it in their feed.
If you’re a freelancer or you run a service-based or coaching business, use a smiling, colourful headshot of you. Make sure that you stand out from your background. One way of ensuring this is by using one of your brand colours as your background (this can be easily done in Canva or Photoshop).
If you are running a product-based business, you can use an attractive lifestyle photo as your profile picture. Again, make sure that it stands out and represents your products in the best possible light. Take some time to learn how to take and edit great product photos, or hire a professional to help you out.
If your business has a logo, you can use the logo as your profile picture, just make sure that it is professionally designed and attractive.
The Perfect Bio
You only have 150 characters for your Instagram bio, so use them wisely. We’ll split your bio into four main parts that you need to consider.
1. What’s your name?
How are your followers going to find you? – By looking up specific words and phrases.
Therefore, your name needs to be search engine optimised. You can include your own or your company name, but also include the phrase that would lead any searches back to you.
Bonus tip: Try not to include hashtags into your name or bio (even if it’s your own hashtag), simply because they will take your visitors away from your profile and distract them from more important links in your bio (like your website). Save the hashtags for your captions!
Examples:
- Ian Levy |Interior Designer
- Sam J. Wedding Photographer
2. WHO are your clients and HOW do you help them?
Who is your target customer? Why should they follow you? How can you make their lives easier? Think about your buyer persona, the representation of your ideal customer that can help guide you to understanding the goals and challenges of your followers.
Examples:
- Helping freelance interior designers use YouTube to get more clients.
- Eco-friendly laundry service for busy people on the go.
3. WHY should your clients CHOOSE YOU in the sea of other similar service providers?
Think about what is it that makes you, your business, product, or service special and unique. It can be your education, experience, awards and favourable statistics. You might have a niche in your city or country or you might possess certain traits or interests that will make you stand out. You can even connect this part of your bio to your other social media handles that would make you different form your competition.
Examples:
- MBA + MA in English, and 10 years working in education
- Next-day delivery if you order now!
4. Call to Action!
Why should your followers trust you enough to click the link in the bio or DM you? What value are they going to get by communicating with you?
You need to have a very specific call to action that translates the value that you are offering.
Examples:
- Check out the link below to access my FREE list of must-have photo equipment for product photography!
- DM me to get my FREEBIE with 20 themed party decorations!
Leverage your Instagram Bio strategically in order to attract the right kind of followers that will turn into paying customers.
Key takeaways for a perfect Instagram Bio:
- Your profile picture needs to be clear, attractive, and in line with your business.
- Search optimise your name!
- Tell your ideal clients how you can help them.
- Tell us what makes you and your business stand out.
- Have a clear and effective CTA!
Still not sure how to go around editing your Instagram bio? Check out our Instagram Profile Makeover and let us help you reach your ideal clients!
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