Everyone knows social media presence is a must for all types of business owners, big and small. Social media is important for business for many reasons. It’s a great way to increase your brand awareness, engage with potential leads, and increase your website traffic, just to name a few. Your social media bios and profiles are the window to your social media accounts. Most importantly, you want to make sure that your social media bios and profiles represent your brand well. Unfortunately, you only get a small amount of space to do that! Here are some tips on how to optimize your social media bios and profiles.
Optimize Your Instagram Bio
It can be confusing which social media platform uses the term “bio” or “profile” to describe the section that tells who you are and what you do. For Instagram, it’s called a bio. In many cases, your Instagram bio is the first point of contact when someone discovers you through a hashtag, paid post, or shared stories. Your bio should make an excellent first impression of your brand, explain who you are and what your service or product is. It should also display your personality and your unique value proposition.
Instagram only allows 150 characters for your bio. Therefore, you will need to cut to the chase and make your message clear, concise, and engaging. Keep in mind that Instagram is a visual platform full of color and images. So feel free to make it fun! Here are some tips on how to optimize your Instagram bio:
- Username vs. Name – Your username is your @handle or Instagram identity. It will also show up in your Instagram URL (instagram.com/myusername). The location of your username is at the very top of your bio section. Consider using a keyword in your username if you want others to find you in their keyword research. Your username is different from the “name” section of your bio. Your “name” is your real name or your brand name. Use this space to your advantage for keywords that are searchable
- Profile Photo – Keep your profile photo relevant to your brand’s visual identity. It can be a professional photo of you, your brand logo, or your brick-and-mortar location. It’s a good idea to use the same profile photo across all of your business social media profiles so that you are easily recognized on all of your platforms.
- Bio Copy – This is where you showcase your brand values, the services you provide, the products you sell, and who you serve. Some people choose to state their brand mission and what they stand for. You can insert an inspirational quote that fits your brand, use different fonts, and add an emoji or two that fits your branding. Above all, don’t forget your keywords!
- Call To Action (CTA) – You can use words or even the finger-pointing (downward) emoji to encourage people to click the link in your bio. Therefore, your link can be to your website, your latest blog, or a special offer.
- Website vs. Linktree – A pet peeve of many users is that you cannot include clickable links in your Instagram posts. To get around this, users create a special link that takes them to specific landing pages such as your website, opt-in forms, etc. Linktree is one option. For many businesses, posting the link to your website is all you need. However, if you have multiple websites that you want your followers to access, a resource such as Linktree is the way to go. Linktree allows you to put all of your websites, links to your other social media accounts, links to your landing page or special offer, blog pages, etc., in one place. Your followers will click on your Linktree link in your bio, and it will take them to a list of your links. When using your CTA in your Instagram posts, be sure to let readers know they can find your blog or your special offer in the link in your bio.
Tips For Your Facebook Profiles
Whether it’s your personal Facebook profile or your Facebook Business profile, this is your place to describe who you and your business are. Some tips for both types of Facebook profiles are:
- Personal Profile – Your personal Facebook account is usually separate from your business account. This is the one you use for family and friends to keep in touch with you. However, your business is a big part of your life. It’s natural to talk about it on your personal page. Facebook understands this, so they allow you to include your place of employment or business name and website in your profile section. You can choose a cover photo and profile picture that displays you, your family, your business brand, or anything you are passionate about. Under the profile photo, include a description of who you are and the many roles you play in life, such as wife, mom to humans and fur babies, and your business role. Below the description is where you can choose to include clickable links to your Facebook Business pages and websites. You will also include your location and contact information if you decide to make that public. You can also include links to your other social media profiles.
- Business Profile – Similar to your personal profile, you can choose a cover photo and profile photo. It’s best to use the same profile photo across all of your social media platforms to make you easily recognizable. For example, a Facebook business profile page usually includes tabs to jump to specific sections, similar to a website. The “about” section is usually what shows prominently. This is where you put your website link, contact info (including links to your other social media sites), and a description of your business.
Twitter Bio Tips
Twitter is different from all other social media profiles. Each tweet you put out is meant to make a statement. Your Twitter bio is the same, in 160 characters or less!
- Use keywords! Especially in the brief statement about your business and what you do.
- Use relevant hashtags! Don’t flood your bio with them since space is limited. Instead, if you have a custom hashtag that you use for your business, use that one.
- Show your sense of humor! Twitter is one of the funniest social media platforms. It drives engagement with your audience, too!
LinkedIn Bio Tips
LinkedIn allows a maximum of 2,000 characters in the bio. This platform is all about professionals and is most often used for networking. However, it’s similar to a resume. It tells about your professional skills and abilities.
- Cover Photo and Profile Photo – This is similar to the Facebook cover photo and profile photo. You can create a professional cover photo in Canva or another graphic design tool and include your logo or a short phrase. Again, it’s best to use the same profile headshot photo across all of your social media accounts.
- Headline – Create an eye-catching headline to describe what you do. Keep it brief with short words.
- Summary – Write a detailed summary and highlight your work experience, what you provide for your clients.
Final Tips
All across your various social media profiles and bios, it’s best to keep them consistent with one another. However, while you don’t want to copy and paste the same bio in each platform, you should still keep the same theme to showcase your branding. Taylor each bio to fit the platform and the type of audience that hangs out there. Take a look at other bios and profiles of your favorite accounts to get inspiration! Try to stand out from others in your field. In other words, be your unique self in all of your social media platforms.
