Do you treat your Instagram bio as an afterthought? It’s only 150 character, how important can it be? I’m here to tell you it is VERY important. Why?
You profile is where people decide whether or not to follow you. Getting them to your profile is one thing, but your bio is what has to inspire them to hit that “Follow” button.
If you want to attract the right people to your profile that will actually turn into paying customers, optimize and include these elements:
- Your name. People often make the mistake of putting their username in the “name” section. Here’s why that isn’t ideal—your name is searchable and the rest of your bio isn’t. That means your bio should include keywords about what you do and who you serve. For example, if you are an event planner in New York and your company name is “Magical Experiences”, your Instagram “name” should be “New York Event Planner” rather than “Magical Experiences”. They can already see your company name in your username, so no need to repeat it. Use what you think your ideal client is searching for to find you.
- Keep it simple. Pretend like you are explaining what you do to a 5 year old. If your bio is confusing, you aren’t going to sound important or fancy, you are just going to make it harder to get people to do business with you.
- Who do you serve: Make it abundantly clear who you serve so that the RIGHT people follow you. Vanity metrics don’t matter, you want quality followers over quantity.
- How do you help your ideal customer? Your mission on social media to add value for the people you serve. What do you offer? What problems do you solve for your ideal customer? How is following your going to make their lives better?
- How can they contact you? This is so simple, but so many people ignore this. The easier you make it for people to do business with you, the more likely they are to choose to work with you or buy your product. Don’t assume they know to go to your website or call you or look through your feed. Tell them!
- If you have a lead magnet or opt-in, plug it in your bio. It is so important to serve your audience before you sell to them. What can you offer them in exchange for their contact info? Create that and then promote it in your IG bio. Getting your ideal customer’s email is the holy grail. You can learn more about how important email marketing is here.
- Use your link in bio strategically: You only get one link on Instagram, so to make the most of it, use a service like Linktr.ee. Stop constantly changing your link in bio every time you want to send people to your website. Linktr.ee allows you to add as many links as you want so that you never have to worry about sending people to the wrong page. Keep your list of links short and sweet, though. Somewhere between 5-10 max.
Some examples of good bios
Now go do it! Right now. You have 150 characters to optimize your bio and help your target market find you. Want me to give you feedback on your bio? DM me on Instagram @2lsmarketing_ and I’d be happy to give you feedback.