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Instagram is home to thousands of your shoppers, so make it easy for them to buy from you! Here's how you can tweak your ecomm Insta bio for more sales.
To succeed in ecommerce on Instagram, you need to understand your buyer’s journey. Some buyers are hot and ready to buy by the time they reach your social media, but some need a little wooing. It’s all about meeting your potential customers where you’re at. Your Instagram bio is valuable real estate, as it’s one of the first and most important educational tools you have. It tells the buyer right up front who you are, what you do, and directs them on how they can take action. First impressions on Instagram are everything. That’s why you need to start off strong with a killer bio. It's important to pack your Instagram bio with clear, concise information that invites your audience to visit your ecommerce store and make a purchase.
What is an ecommerce Instagram bio?
When we talk about a bio, we’re not referring to all the different elements that make up your Instagram profile. In this case, we’re referring to the 150-character text inside your profile. See the image below as an example.
We’re here to help you create an ecommerce Instagram bio that converts. Below, we break down our formula for a bio that invites customers to buy and spurs them to act.
What information should you include in your ecommerce Instagram bio?
On the surface, an ecommerce Instagram bio may not look that much different from any other business's Instagram bio. However, there are some key differences. As an e-commerce business, the goal of your Instagram bio is to drive customers to your online store and boost sales. Here’s what we recommend including in your ecommerce bio:
Branded profile image/logo
Your profile picture is one of the first things that people see. Even before they have landed on your page, they might’ve typed a search query and seen your profile picture and username in the results. At this stage, it’s critical to create brand recognition. If your customers are looking for you, you want to be sure they have the right page, not a page with a similar name or a competitor’s page. The best way to do this is to make sure that your profile image contains a recognizable brand logo or brand element. Make sure that your profile image is high quality. Instagram recommends 110 x 110 pixels as the perfect profile picture size. After uploading your image to the platform, check that it's cropped correctly so that none of the important elements are missing.
Clear username
When customers are searching for you on Instagram, your username is likely one of the first things they’ll try in the search bar. Your username also forms part of your profile’s URL (e.g., www.instagram.com/sandys-sandals). Try to ensure that it’s consistent across all social media platforms so that your customers can easily find you. Ideally, your username should be your business name if it’s available. If your business name isn’t available, try adding a dash, hyphen, or the word “official” to the end of your name. You can also turn it into a call-to-action such as “getskedsocial” or “shoptheskinny.” Ideally, you want to get as close to your business’s name as possible.
Profile name
Your profile name is not the same as your username. It’s the part that appears bolded at the top of your Instagram bio. While you may not be able to get your exact business name as your username, there are no limits on how many accounts can have the same profile name. Make sure your profile name clearly contains your business name, as it's one of the first things people will see after your profile picture and username.
Your profile name also provides a great opportunity to let people know what you do. For example, ours is Sked Social – Scheduling Tool. If your business or product isn't immediately clear from your business name alone, adding a small descriptor can help clarify what types of products people can find on your store.
Category label
Have you ever noticed how some Instagram ecommerce bios have the words “E-commerce Website” right underneath their business name? This is a great way to show people that your business has an ecommerce component as soon as they land on your page. Here’s an example of an Instagram bio that contains the E-commerce category:
First things first: make sure that your Instagram is set up as a business account. This gives you the ability to edit your public business information and display that you’re an ecommerce business in your bio. To do this, click “Edit Profile.” Where it says, "Public Business Information", go to “Category” and select “E-commerce Website.” Under Profile Display, make sure the toggle is set to “Display category label” so that people can see your category underneath your profile picture. Voila! You're now easily recognizable as an ecommerce business.
Location
If your location or geographic region is relevant to your brand and target customer base, make sure you include it in your Instagram bio. This is especially important if you own a physical storefront in addition to your ecommerce store, as you can utilize your bio to specify your store hours and help people in your area locate you more easily.
Be mindful that this can take up a lot of space in the body of your Instagram bios. If a physical store isn't your main sales focus, leave it out and focus on driving traffic to your online store.
Body Text
The body of your bio is used to highlight essential information about your ecommerce business. It’s your opportunity to put your value proposition on the table and introduce yourself to your audience. Start by telling your customers about the product or service you provide. For simplicity, you can use your motto or tagline to summarize what types of products your online business sells.
When it comes to your value proposition, make sure you clearly communicate what you're trying to achieve and how you plan to add value to your customers. For instance, Lush Cosmetics' bio states, "We're creating a cosmetics revolution to save the planet 🌍✨" This tells you what their mission and vision is so that customers can decide if their own values align before purchasing their products.To add value to your audience, you can also consider highlighting valuable content they might find on your Instagram page. For example, if you’re a clothing business and you offer free style guides for each season, include that in your bio. It’s likely to catch peoples’ attention and make them want to explore your page further. You could also include things like sales or limited time discount offers that entice people to want to visit your store.Our best advice? Keep it simple. Your bio might feel like you’re trying to jam-pack a lot of information into a small space (because you are), but it’s important to make that it is still readable. You can achieve readability by using clear simple language or by structuring your bio in a list format. You can even incorporate brand-appropriate emojis to break up the text and add personality.
Strategic hashtags
When it comes to hashtags in your Instagram bio, less is more. Where appropriate, use niche-specific or branded hashtags that relate to your value proposition or invite your audience to engage with your brand. When you include a hashtag in your bio, it becomes a live link that leads to that hashtag’s page. Including it in your Instagram profile tells your followers what your ecommerce business is all about right up front. Our advice? Use a branded or industry hashtag in your bio. For example, if your ecommerce store is a women’s clothing store, you can use the hashtag #womensfashion in your bio description. If you’re a vegan food delivery service, try a hashtag like #vegan or #veganeats to give viewers an idea of the types of products you’re selling. Read our full guide to the best ecommerce hashtags for Instagram here.
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Call-to-Action
Your call-to-action (or CTA) is a short line of text that encourages your customers to do something. This is arguably one of the most important parts of your bio, as it helps engage your audience and drives traffic to your ecommerce store. The best place to include your CTA is above your link in bio. If you think about your bio as a mini marketing funnel (awareness à consideration à conversion), this is the step where we want to move your customers from the consideration stage to the conversion stage. This ensures that everything is flowing logically and invites them to act.
Here’s an example from Michael Kors:
There are a few different types of CTAs that you can include in your bio. For instance, you can say “shop now” or “explore our product lines.” You can also include the value proposition in your CTA. For example, “save 20% off when you shop today.” If you’re going this route, specify a finite date or create a sense of urgency that will spur people to click your link if they want to earn those savings.
Link to your website
The final and most important part of any ecommerce Instagram bio is a link to your ecommerce website. If you don’t include your website, your customers won’t know how to find your products and you risk losing out on a possible sale. Luckily, Instagram allows you to include one clickable link in your bio. Make sure you are using this opportunity to drive people to your website. Your link should be short, connected to your brand when possible (e.g., www.macys.com) and avoid too many numbers or letters that make it look spammy.
Need more than one link? Consider setting up a custom landing page, or a similar service that allows you to hyperlink multiple pages in one place. We recommend Sked Social’s link in bio tool, Sked Link. Sked Link allows you to make better use of your Instagram profile link by adding buttons to anywhere on the web. You can create a gallery of your Instagram posts that easily directs users to the right page. Plus, it can be designed so that it’s all on-brand!Check it out:
Examples of killer ecommerce Instagram bios
To show you what a great ecommerce Instagram bio looks, we’ve rounded up some examples to use as inspiration. Before you head off to optimize your own Instagram bio, check out these three examples.
Milkshake Hair
What we like about it:
- Profile image and username are instantly identifiable to the brand
- Clear, concise description of what their product is and the ingredients they use
- Value proposition: by coming to their Instagram page, customers can see that they will find easy, inspirational tutorials on how to use their products
- Bio is organized into an easy-to-read list format with emojis to add personality
- Their call-to-action invites their customers to shop the link below using action words like “dive into”
- Link in bio leads directly to their sales page where customers can view additional sales CTAs and shop popular products
FabFitFun
What we like about it:
- Brand name and logo are instantly clear and recognizable
- They’ve included that their business type is e-commerce, which instantly lets people know that they can shop products online
- They have a value proposition (member-only prices at $49.99/season) and a clear call-to-action
- They utilize a branded hashtag and include their website name in addition to a direct link to their store
Wayfair
What we like about it:
- They used an easily identifiable brand logo in their profile picture and have a clear username
- Their tagline is included in the bio
- Uses branded hashtag
- Uses emojis in brand colours to help add personality
- Clear value proposition (guidelines) and call-to-action
- Link to e-commerce store
Sked’s Fool-Proof Formula for an ecommerce Instagram bio that sells
In a nutshell, here’s the formula you should be following to create an ecommerce Instagram bio that sells: Branded profile picture + business username + clear profile name + ecommerce category label + body text (what you do and value proposition) + strategic hashtags + call to action + link to website = a great ecommerce Instagram bio
Found this article helpful? Check out our blog for more great resources on how to use Instagram to drive sales to your ecommerce store.
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