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Perfect Instagram business bio = sorted.
On Instagram, you’re given a small space to explain your business—the Instagram bio. This section should accurately describe your business, personality, and purpose. If it's too vague and unclear, chances are, customers won’t check out your feed and what you have to offer.
That’s why a lot of marketers and social media gurus put so much emphasis on crafting the best bio.
But how do you create an optimized Instagram Business bio? What are some businesses you can follow for inspiration? And how do you do a quick checkup of your existing bio?
In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know.
1. Profile Picture
Most Instagram businesses use their logos as their profile picture.
Take a look at these brands - Gucci, Airbnb, and Rolex:
Using a logo is obviously a great idea. It works best when your logo (or your brand 'glyph', the image part – like Airbnb's above) is highly recognizable to customers and immediately associated with your brand. If people subscribed to your newsletters, browse through your website, or follow your Twitter, and want to check out your Instagram—they can easily find your official account by checking out your logo.
If you include text in your profile picture, make sure it is easy to read (or clear what the profile picture is about) when it is really small, as much of the time users will see your profile picture in the feed in the small circular format you're hopefully familiar with.
It's important that it is easy to recognise mostly because of search – compare the top two results here (ignoring that one is verified!) – both use the logo, but the main Airbnb account is much more recognisable and visually distinct.
2. Instagram Story Highlights
Instagram Stories originally had a 24-hour lifetime format, meaning if you posted a how-to video or giveaways announcements, they would disappear after 24 hours.
This was limiting for most businesses who created quality stories that were central to their latest campaigns. Of course, they’d want them to be available until the event ends.
This issue was resolved back in December 2017 when Instagram released the "Story Highlights" feature which, in short, allows you to place a select group of stories at the bottom of your Instagram Business bio.
For example, businesses like Uber use highlights to provide information about their CEO, product features, events, and promotions.
These highlights stay on your profile until you remove them, and there are no limits to how many you can produce.
Here's an example of how we use Stories Highlights in our Instagram bio @getskedsocial:
We highlight the 4 main categories we post about in our stories: tips, news, inspiration and FAQs.
What are other cool features of Instagram Stories Highlights?
Highlight What Your Account Is About
Instagram Stories Highlights allows you to go beyond the 150 character limit of your Instagram bio.
For example, originally you could only describe your brand through a short tagline or a basic description, but now Instagram Stories provide a better overview of your content:
- Do you post interesting how-to videos?
- Do you have a giveaway or promo?
- Is there an interesting campaign with great rewards?
Potential followers can find out what makes your account unique compared to other similar ones by browsing through your highlights.
Here are some top brands on Instagram with killer Instagram Stories:
Heineken
Heineken sponsors a lot of sports events from across the world such as football, racing and so on. As a result, their Instagram Story Highlights feature events such as the UCL Final and Grand Prix.
Most of them feature the most shared moments in the game, which are in line with the brand’s #ShareTheDrama campaign.
Hubspot
Hubspot is an inbound marketing and sales platform that effectively uses Instagram Highlights to promote its business. It features four sections—marketing, growth, sales, and services—each of these sections contain interesting content for B2B marketers.
The marketing section covers common email phrases that you should stop using, tips for social media marketing, how to inspire yourself to keep writing and tricks to perform better at work.
The “Grow” highlight has interesting content for entrepreneurs, such as inspiring movies and motivational quotes. There are also snippets from the brand’s Weird Work podcast, which discuss surprising professions like cosplayers and garbage pickers.
Meanwhile, the sales section has valuable tips for salespeople like words that sell. And, the services section provides tips on how to give and get customer love and create an exceptional customer service experience.
Now, that's how you sum up your business using Instagram stories.
Need some inspiration about what to post? Check out our 17 ideas for Instagram stories that your followers will find fascinating.
3. See More / Swipe Up Links in Instagram Stories
Before you could only add one link to your bio, but Instagram Highlights lets you ask viewers to "swipe up" to access a URL.
Note: This feature is only available for accounts with more than 10,000 followers.
Image Source: J.Crew Men's
This is a valuable perk as it allows you to add links to an unlimited number of landing pages, product pages and so on that people can swipe up to reach your website, social media sites etc.
As an advanced Instagram scheduler, we support planning stories (and IGTVs and Reels!) with swipe up links all included. We automatically publish stories for you (yes, really) – IGTV and Reels posts you will be notified to publish manually.
If you want, you can add UTM tracking to help you track web traffic from Instagram to Google Analytics. This will help you measure the ROI from Instagram.
4. Write a Killer Bio
How do you write a great Instagram bio? Here's what you should consider:
Describe Your Business
Your bio should explain in 150 characters less what your brand is about. Think of it as an elevator pitch of your brand. What does your business sell? Why does it matter? What can consumers expect from it? The answers should be found in your bio—and you'll need an impressive one to attract clients and prospects.
One way you can start writing your bio is to think of the main keywords that are associated with your brand. For example, if you sell shoes, your keywords could be "sneakers", "high heels", and so on. Once you've listed down your keywords, try to sum up your business in about two to three sentences.
Here are some great Instagram business bios you can learn from:
SpaceX
SpaceX's bio positions the brand as a "designer" and "manufacturer" of the "world's most advanced rockets and spacecraft." It's no small feat, and the bio highlights the company's prestige, innovation and ambition.
GoPro
This GoPro bio makes you feel good about buying GoPro cameras—after all, it’s implying that you're buying the "World's Most Versatile Cameras". It has a great appeal to photographers who want to get the best value for their money. It's also pretty convincing.
Need more inspiration to get the ideas flowing for your Instagram bio? Here's our roundup of 26 creative Instagram bio ideas that you can borrow from.
5. Tagline
Does your brand have a well-known motto or tagline? Perhaps you can use that as your bio description.
Take a look at Nike’s bio:
“Just Do It” has been their tagline for decades. It summarizes their purpose, history, and identity.
The quote implies that, by just doing it, and hitting the gym, going for a run, participating in sports—customers can achieve their fitness dreams. Bonus points for the inspirational message.
6. Highlight Your Company’s Personality
How do you make people stay on your feed?
A boring brand won't get you anywhere.
To be interesting, you'll need to highlight your personality and what you're passionate about. Be witty and creative. Add a few emojis to seem fun and authentic.
A good tip is to ask, if your brand as an actual person, how would you describe it? For example, you can use casual language to engage with a millennial audience, but if you want to highlight your prestige or exclusivity, use a formal tone.
Check out these Instagram business bios to get some inspiration:
Old Navy
Say "hi, fashion; family; fun; #sayhi” are the words on Old Navy’s bio. This is by followed by emojis: a dress, rainbow, watermelon and a waving hand—which emphasize their fun personality.
With a few simple words and emojis, Old Navy is able to set itself apart from all the clothing brands in the world. They're not just a retail brand, they're fun, diverse, comfortable and family friendly. They welcome any gender, size, and race; and they love family fun. Their clothes are what you wear when you're playing out in a park, or hang out with your friends.
7. Adding @ to link to multiple accounts in the bio
After the March 2018 update, any profile usernames now added in the bio automatically appear as clickable links. That means if you have several Instagram accounts (or if you have a personal Instagram profile), you can promote it in the bio.
For brands with different sub-accounts for different topics or themes, this is a really handy way to cross-promote your audiences.
Here are some examples of how brands link to their other accounts:
ASOS
If you're like ASOS with several Instagram accounts like @asos_looped (for sneakers) and @ASOS_FaceandBody (face and body products), you can use this to link to other branded accounts.
Barkbox
Barkbox is another Instagram Business bio linked to multiple accounts like @bark (for pet dogs), @barkshop (for products) and @superchewer (for chew toys).
8. Mention Your Branded Hashtag
If you have a branded hashtag or a campaign-related hashtag, include it in your bio. This way, when users share content relevant to your brand or join a campaign, you'll be able to find their content. In turn, customers who view the branded hashtag in your Instagram can find more content and promotions.
For example, Coca Cola's bio only mentions the branded hashtag #ShareACoke.
The international campaign successfully branded Coke from a mere bottle, to a drink you can share with your friends. And, with the #ShareACoke hashtag for everyone to see, more customers will be encouraged to share their own experiences and see the experiences of others online.
The best part?
User-generated content is for free.
Customers love it because they get free publicity. And, Coke love it because they can use and repost it on their feed for free.
You can use a tool like Sked's Library to then collect content shared on your branded hashtag and easily re-post it to your followers (with permission of course). User-generated content often is a great way to promote your customers while also delivering really engaging and personal content to your followers.
9. Adding Web Links With Sked Link
You'll likely agree that Instagram's restrictions on bio links are a pain!
At Sked, we understand your need for multiple links, and so we created the useful Sked Link.
With Sked Link, we do all the heavy “linking” for you. Simply place your unique Sked Link in your bio to share more than 1 link with your followers.
Unlike other link in bio tools, Sked Link is designed to load fast (in fact, up to 4X faster). You have precious few seconds to capture a customer's attention after clicking the link, and you don't want them to close the window because the website takes too long to load.
Sked Link is also easily integrated into our planning and scheduling platform so that you can do everything you need in one place.
Your Sked Link dashboard consists of three main sections – build, design and integrate. All of which come in very handy to create that killer Sked Link for driving more traffic, sales, newsletter sign-ups and opportunities.
One of Sked Link’s best features is the ability to add your Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics ID on your personalized Sked Link. This is fantastic for remarketing purposes and tracking the traffic you’re attracting to your Sked Link directly from Instagram.
The best part – all Sked Social customers can use Sked Link at no extra cost.
Collaborate effortlessly, save time and spend less
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10. Contact Options
In the past, companies usually wrote their contact details and links in the bio itself.
Thanks to an update, when you have an Instagram business account, you can include buttons like "Call," “Directions,” and "Email." Simply select "Edit Profile" and "Contact Options" to find the relevant fields and place the information.
While the buttons can take away a viewer's attention from other elements in your bio, the trade off is that you get the opportunity to answer your customer's questions.
Here's how it looks:
When users click the email button, the default mail app opens, they can then type the message and click Send.
Call
If you own a brick and mortar store, you can add your phone number to your Instagram business bio. Once the button is clicked, a prompt shows up to call the business.
Directions
Do you want customers to find out where your business is located? All you need to do is to specify your directions and it'll open a map on the user's phone.
11. Be an Official Instagram Account
Are you a famous brand that’s likely to have copycats around? Are there fake Instagram accounts trying to pose as your brand?
You can identify in your bio that your account is “official”. Louis Vuitton’s Instagram bio merely puts that into account and alongside the verified badge, it proves their identity compared to the .
If your brand doesn't have a whole lot of copycats or community accounts, it might not be worthwhile to add.
12. Use the Right Category
Categories are available for only those with Instagram Business accounts. It’s found directly below your headline or name, so ensure you have the right category for your brand.
Being able to identify as an “influencer” or a “company” can save you a lot of hassle and bio description space.
If this needs to change, you’ll have to pick another category in your Facebook Page settings.
13. Use Headline Keywords
The keywords in your bio headline (the bold words at the top line) are searchable on Instagram. Most brands just place their name, but it’s better if you spice it up! Include other keywords that describe your business so people could easily find your account via search.
For example, the headline of Juliana’s Pizza has the words “Coal-Fired” and “NY Sired” are adjectives that truly describe their business. It helps them get found by users who want to eat coal-fired pizza in New York.
Creating an Optimized Instagram Business Bio
...is a lot harder than it looks.
Once you’ve created a 150 character description and so on—you’ll need to track your profile’s analytics. Experiment with your Instagram bio links depending on your campaign or objectives. You’ll also need to spice up your bio and post Stories Highlights, which are based on your followers’ engagement and views.
It’s not easy, but you can always come back to this post if you need a bit of guidance.
If you're looking to carve out hours in your social media workflow, sign up for Sked’s 7-day trial. We've got all the features you need, whether you're a brand or agency, big or small.
Our all-in-one Instagram scheduler allows you to automatically post images, carousels, Stories, videos and more. While we're Instagram-first, we aren't Instagram only – you can also plan and publish to LinkedIn (Company Pages and profiles), Google My Business locations, Twitter accounts and Facebook Pages.