Tips for Building a Great Instagram Profile
March 10, 2022
Instagram can be a powerful marketing tool for small businesses, and it all starts with having a great profile.
With 6 out of 10 online adults on Instagram, there’s no denying that Instagram is an incredibly popular social media platform. Its widespread use makes it a fantastic resource for businesses looking to build brand recognition and connect with a wider audience.
Suffice it to say, Instagram marketing is something every social-media-conscious small business should be taking advantage of. And, making the most of social media management on Instagram starts with your Instagram profile.
What it takes to build a great Instagram profile
#1. The right username
The perfect business Instagram profile has to start with the right username. The right username should be both searchable and recognizable. Ideally, your username should simply be the name of your business. If that username is no longer available, you’ll want your business name to be included in your username.
When someone searches for your brand on Instagram, you want them to be able to find it! If you choose a username other than your business — or a name that doesn’t include your business name in it — the simple truth is that the likelihood is low that they will ever actually find your profile. That’s the last thing you want.
Whether or not your business name is available as a username, make sure to include your full business name in the “name” section of your Instagram profile.
#2. The right profile picture
What’s the first thing Instagram users are going to see when they come across your profile? Your profile picture, of course! Your profile picture may be the single-most-important piece of real estate on your Instagram profile; it’s critical that it’s reflective of your business and easy to identify.
For most brands, the right move is to simply use your logo as your profile picture. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. It’s not exactly new or exciting to use your logo as your profile picture. However, relevancy and recognizability are far more important than having a flashy, novel profile picture.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to use the same logo all year round. Your logo can change depending on social and political climates, as well as on seasonal changes and other notable times throughout the year, like Pride Month or Black History Month.
#3. An effective bio
With only 150 characters, you don’t have a lot of room to be too wordy or prolific with your Instagram bio. It needs to be short and to the point, and most importantly, it needs to be effective. And, that means that you need to pick a single focus
In email marketing, it’s often said that a good email only has one job to do. The same can be said for your Instagram bio. If you get lost in the weeds trying to accomplish multiple goals in just 150 words, chances are, you’re not going to be able to accomplish any of them. But, if you focus on just one goal, you have a much higher chance of actually achieving it.
Here are a few ideas for the types of goals you could be aiming for in your Instagram bio:
- Promote a hashtag
- Let your followers know how to contact you
- Send visitors to your website
- Increase traffic to a shopping page
#4. A non-static link in your bio
There’s one major downside for businesses on Instagram when compared to other social media platforms — there aren’t a lot of ways to drive traffic directly from Instagram to your website. In fact, you have just one opportunity to do so, and that’s the link in your Instagram bio.
The link in your bio should ideally point to your website, but where on your website it points shouldn’t be static. In other words, the link in your bio should not always point to your homepage, at least not if you really want to make the most of it.
The link in your bio can point to all kinds of pages that go beyond just your homepage, including specific blog posts, individual products or product pages, landing pages for specific offers and specials, and so much more. By changing up this link regularly, you can drive users to it using your photo captions.
Wherever the link in your bio points to, make sure it’s trackable. This will allow you to measure the success of individual campaigns on Instagram and learn how to optimize your strategy going forward.
#5. A call to action
On your Instagram profile, you don’t have a lot of room to introduce yourself as it is. But true as that may be, you’re going to need to sacrifice at least a few of those 150 characters for a call to action.
It’s not enough to just include a link in your bio. You need to let your visitors know what they’ll get out of clicking the link. Yes, you’ll have to sacrifice some of the characters you could be using to introduce your business, but trust me, it’s well worth the sacrifice.
#6. The right photos
Having a great bio is important on Instagram, but users don’t follow brands because of their bios. They follow them because of the content they post.
The first thing someone does when they find your bio is to look at your first 10 or so photos. They want to make sure that you’re worth following, so make sure that you’re displaying plenty of high-quality photos on your profile.
People are more likely to keep following a Twitter page after a bad tweet or two, but on Instagram, there’s much less grace for poor content. Create content that users want to follow by posting plenty of quality photos that your followers want to see.
From building the right Instagram profile to consistently creating engaging content, the Social Media Managers at Marketing 360® have what it takes to help you get it right on Instagram. Learn more today!
Originally published on 6/17/20
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