When it comes to a solid Instagram marketing strategy, the first things that come to mind are probably stories, posts and engagement. While all of those are definitely important aspects, let’s not forget about the little things that really tie everything together. Yes, one of those little things is your Instagram bio.

Extremely underestimated, an Instagram bio is actually one of the most important pieces to the Instagram puzzle. If your account has a mediocre bio, you most likely will not convert your traffic into new followers. 

Instagram bio’s are going to help mold a viewer’s first impression of your page, plus, give them some insight into what it is your account is all about. Or perhaps it’ll make your account even more intriguing to the viewer. Regardless of your goal, you really have the power to do anything with an Instagram bio, it just needs to be captivating. 

That being said, do you know what it takes to create a compelling Instagram bio? Let’s take a look!

Account Description

As mentioned previously, it’s really important to give viewers some insight into what your Instagram account is all about. 

Short and sweet, these 150 characters will give the viewer a glimpse into what it is they’re about to look at, while giving you some power in guiding a new visitor through the interpretation process of your account.

For example, I’m sure we’re all familiar with the tennis champion Serena Williams. Instead of mentioning anything tennis related in her bio, she simply writes “I’m Olympia’s mom.” This sets the tone to have you view her not only as an athlete, but also as a mother, which is something we’ll now keep in mind since she’s directly mentioned it to us in her Instagram bio. She also mentions her @serena line to promote her sportswear business which is another strategy we’ll get to shortly. 

If you’re running a brand or business account, it would be beneficial to create a short overview on the story behind your business or what you want viewers to know prior to seeing your content. Again, this will help shape the perception of the viewer before they jump to any conclusions. 

The Museum of Modern Art creates an Instagram bio where without looking at any of the content, you know you’re about to discover new artists and modern art concepts that will ‘surprise, challenge, and inspire you.’ As a viewer, you’ll then have a look at the account with the idea in mind that you’ll most likely be exposed to art that is quite unique to anything you’ve seen before, or be introduced to artists you’ve never heard of. Overall, the MOMA bio really sets the tone for the experience you’re about to have.  

Interests

If your goal is to connect with your viewer from the get-go, it would be a good idea to add the general interests of your account to your Instagram bio. This is a great tactic especially for influencers, as it will sum up the general vibe of your Instagram account. 

For instance, Instagram fashion influencer Julie Sariñana, more famously known as @sincerelyjules, includes ‘California Girl + Globe Trotter’ along with ‘Dream Believe Achieve.’ When a viewer sees this information, they can gather that Julie is a traveler and her account will surely inspire as suggested by the ‘Dream Believe Achieve’ portion of her Instagram bio. As you scroll through her account, the Instagram bio description definitely aligns with her content, creating an optimal experience for the new viewer. 

Include Clickable Links

Instagram has now made link sharing within the app easier than ever by allowing users to include clickable hashtags and accounts within their Instagram bio. If you’re a brand or business and you’re aim is to promote your branded hashtag, you’ll 100% need to include that somewhere in your Instagram bio.

You can make it fun or straightforward depending upon how much you’ve written already. 

Either way, as soon as you include a ‘#’ or ‘@‘ within your bio, it will then be generated into a clickable link to whichever hashtag or Instagram profile you write. 

Free People uses this to promote not only it’s branded hashtag, but also it’s other branded fitness account FP Movement. 

Whereas, Condé Nast Traveler uses it’s Instagram bio to motivate viewers to use their branded hashtag #IamATraveler. As a business strategy, this is a great way to promote your community and inspire others to connect using the hashtag as well. 

Use the Name Field 

This is an important tactic to increase visibility and get your brand noticed in the Instagram search engine. If the user does not already know your exact Instagram username but is instead looking for a service or product that you provide which is included somewhere in your name field, you will still pop up in the search results. Confusing I know but take a look. 

Say you’re searching for vegan recipes on Instagram and type ‘vegan recipes’ into Instagram’s search engine. The account @raepublic has amazing vegan recipes even though the term vegan or recipes is nowhere to be found within her username. Instead, she includes the keywords ‘vegan recipe’ in the name field of her account, so she will pop up when you search vegan recipes on Instagram. 

Think of this as your SEO strategy for instagram. Including keywords into your name field on Instagram is a great way to significantly increase your visibility so more users will be able to find your account. 

Call-To-Action

Direct visitors to exactly where you want them to go with a call-to-action link in your bio. For example, if you have a new product launch that you want viewers to see, include text and emojis to drive attention to the link as shown below.

Appropriate Links

Again, keep things short and simple by reducing the amount of text in your links. If the link is extremely long, utilize the platform Bit.ly to minimize the link length so that your link does not take up too much space and your bio has a more orderly appearance. 

Be Reachable

As a business, brand or even influencer, it is important that people are able to contact you. Of course, you can include your email within your bio or instructions to send a DM, but having an email button underneath your Instagram bio makes things a lot easier and less wordy! 

If possible, switch to a business profile so that you are able to add your contact details to your account. This makes it easier for the viewer to connect with you and opens up doors for communication and opportunities! 

Highlights

The highlights addition to Instagram definitely adds some personality to your account as it appears directly underneath the bio. Highlights are essentially stories you’ve already posted but you have the ability to choose which stories you’d like to promote.

This is a great way to create mini movies for new viewers so that they are able to get a feel for your account and see what you like to post about. 

As a brand or business, this is a way to promote products, inspire your followers, or even do a walkthrough of your latest product launches. 

And for the final touch, don’t forget to sprinkle a few emojis throughout your bio to really add some character to your text! 

Ultimately, the Instagram bio is where you have the chance to explain what it is you want to be known for. Whether you choose to keep it simple or utilize the Instagram bio to stand out amongst the rest, it’s completely up to you. Just make sure to design it so that you open up the door for connection between you and your viewers, especially if you’re running a brand or business account. And perhaps one day you’ll get to the point where there’s no need to write anything at all…

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