How to write the ultimate Instagram bio

Instagram is undoubtedly the greatest social media platform to create a relationship with your audience on a visual level — engagement is the WORD!

Ah, yes. There is nothing more completely nerve-wracking than creating a bio for yourself or your business on social media.

Writing an Instagram bio is not as easy as it seems — it is hard!!

After all, you have to convey your message, interests, personality (your tone of voice in the case of a business profile) and values, in such a way that interests people and attracts followers. And…you have to sum all these up in 150 characters or less.

Plus, you get a link in your profile that you can use to direct people to any webpage you want. But the trouble is, it’s the only clickable link they give you for your entire account … Should you link your website? Your blog? Your lead-capture landing page? how do you make the most out of it?

Below we’ll explore FOUR (4) KEY inclusion to a world-class Instagram Bio!

One (1) Establish a Clear value Proposition

First and foremost, your Instagram Bio needs to tell people exactly who you are.

It’s important to include a clear and succinct description of your company and what product or services you provide.

#Wellness online community Sporteluxe does a great job in their profile.

Sporteluxe utilises their bio to let the audience know exactly what kind of value they can provide. They answer the questions a potential follower might have about their community proactively, and that’s what you should do too. So check your Instagram bio now and make sure that you’re answering these questions:

• What do you or/ does your business do? Sporteluxe offers an online #wellness forum engaging a community around the themes of healthy living .
• Do I have to be interested in everything your brand is about? No, you will get value from Sportluxe’s content around an array of different subjects from fitness and lifestyle to fashion and healthy eating. The coverage of the content is built to work seamlessly and can be consumed on their website through specific tabs.
• How can I be more in touch your brand? Click on the link in this Instagram Bio and you’ll be directed to their home page with additional information on Sportluxe and it’s useful content coverage.

Two (2) Create A Strong Call To Action

You can use your bio to help push potential customers to click the link by explaining what they’ll receive for doing so.

Take this example from HelloFresh.

HelloFresh tells their audience exactly what kind of service they provide, and include a custom hashtag for follower pictures. They also let potential customers know that they’ll receive $30 off their first delivery with HelloFresh through that link.

This kind of coupon offer is a great way to drive customers back to your website. It offers an incentive for anyone who clicks on the link back to your website.

HelloFresh continues that conversation on their dedicated Instagram landing page, which is only for people who have clicked on that link and shown interest in the $30 discount offer.

Three (3) Show Personality with Emojis

By adding emojis to your Instagram Bio, you’re able to add a visual element to what would otherwise be a block of plain text. You can use emojis as a way to add emphasis to your description and show some of your (or your brand’s) personality.

A well-placed emoji can also help reinforce specific information you’re trying to show your audience, but it’s important to know that this may not work for everyone or every brand. Make sure you’re taking your audience and company brand into account, don’t use emojis if they’re not adding value to your bio.

I use a few well-placed emojis to reinforce the sentiment of my work and lifestyle into my Instagram bio.

With millennials and creatives as my main audience, I am the founder of @espl.media, I write often, consults for global household name #FENDI and create content for my girlfriend @pash_. My followers are making a choice to be exposed to different aspects of my social and business persona and read weekly content linked under the ‘Latest Medium’ call to action.

Each emoji in this Instagram bio represents a different core aspect of my brand values and ideals: connectivity, growth, photography and writing.

Four (4) Incorporate the right Hashtags & Niche accounts

Using hashtags and tagging additional accounts can build community and leverage user-generated content. UGC helps your brand connect with your audience and gives them a way to participate in the conversation you’re having (sometimes away from your ‘mother platform’). It’s also a great way to track engagement with your posts.

Call out these custom hashtags in your bio to let followers know how they can be featured on your feed.

Asos does a great job at redirecting its followers to niche accounts and uses different specifications to do so.

ASOS has a variety of Instagram accounts for its various products and campaigns. Opening the first line of the bio are 2 social media profiles: @ASOS_Looped (for its sneakers), @ASOS_FaceandBody (for its beauty and body care products) to engage followers into niche marketplaces and showcase the versatility of the brand. Following the opening line with its user-generated campaign — #AsSeenOnMe — is a great way to motivate customers to post online content and get featured by the brand.

Whenever someone clicks on their custom links they are able to review any post that was ever tagged. Using the #AsSeenOnMe hashtag asos has gathered over 1.3MIL posts across all of Instagram.

Each of ASOS posts acts as additional marketing for their company and builds loyalty, social proof and excitement with their audience!

You can promote your redirection in your Instagram Bio by:

• Letting your followers know how they can use the custom hashtag to be featured on your feed.
• Driving people to a specific account (or landing page) where they can view items to purchase based on those images or become part of a niche community .

Ultimately, your Instagram Bio needs to do several very important things with only 150 characters. You need to:

• Tell your audience what to expect from following your profile.
• Connect with people on a real meaningful level.
• Get followers to act by click back to your website.

A great Instagram Bio does all of these things, helping to drive traffic back to wherever you needed it to.

The ultimate bio for you might be funny, it could be serious, include social emojis, or help build community. See what your audience wants, give it to them and find out what works best for your brand.

All I’m trying to do…

…is write stuff that’s worth your time and can bring you value. If you enjoyed the read please click the💚 below so other people will see it too (you can click up to 50times)!!

Also, it would absolutely make my day if you reached out and said ‘Hey!’ via DM on instagram. Really looking forward to connect! 😊

- SIDNEY -

This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by 336,210+ people.

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