What To Put in an Instagram Bio for Your Brand

Building an Instagram profile for your business or your brand? One of the keys to a successful account is a strong Instagram bio.

Cool Instagram bios can increase brand awareness, win followers, and multiply sales.

If you already have a hundred thousand followers on Instagram, this article is not for you. You can click away to our posts on how to manage your audience, learn something new about the fine points of Instagram ads, find something new on how to schedule social media posts, or market on social media.

But if you are struggling to build your audience on Instagram and don't know how to start, or you have always wanted to be an influencer and don't know how, this article will get you started on the track to Instagram success. You don't need to be an athlete, actor, artist, or singer to be successful on Instagram. You just need to be authentically you. Every influencer on Instagram started with zero followers. They grew their following by being spontaneous and real, starting with their Instagram bio. So, let's start with some Instagram bio ideas.

Basic principles for representing yourself on Instagram

If your goal is to become an influencer on Instagram, keep these 3 principles in mind even before you put your first post on Instagram.

• Uniqueness is the key to successful Instagram marketing. Personal experiences are what capture people's attention and make it possible for you to manage your audience. Whatever you spend most of your time doing can become an asset for creating your brand as an influencer.
• Think of every experience as reinforcement of the unique brand that is you. Think in terms of why your experiences make other Instagram influencers want to partner with you, not how your experiences justify your partnering with other influencers.
• Be ready to spend some time getting more Instagram followers. Instagram's algorithms don't always work overnight. You will need to invest some time and effort into building your brand.

These are very basic principles that must inform everything you do on Instagram. They are so important that we will restate them in a different way.

Pick a niche and stick with it

One of the main things in the process of building your brand is determining the topic about which you wish to be considered an influencer. That needs to be very clear to your audience. Of course, before you can define your niche to your audience, it must be clear to you.

Building your personal brand on Instagram requires self-awareness. Your knowledge, your capabilities, what makes you happy, and what you are willing to share with your public go into choosing your niche.

Don't choose a niche that is a burden to you. You need to enjoy what you are doing for your followers to enjoy following you. You need to feel comfortable sharing about yourself, and you need to be able to post authentic content.

Building your personal brand on Instagram also requires knowing your audience. You will need to consider:

• People they follow
• Posts they like
• Posts they comment
• Whether comments are positive or negative
• Content they post on their own accounts

That is a lot of work, so enjoy the process of being clear about yourself and getting to know your followers.

Pick a theme and stick with it

Your theme is the look and feel of your Instagram feed. It is all your photos laid together, inviting followers to your account.

You need to keep colors and style consistent and as attractive as you can. You don't necessarily have to use bright colors and predictable shapes. Dark colors and twisted shapes may work for some themes. But you need to keep your theme consistent so people will come to recognize your brand.

There are many apps that can help you with the overall theme of your Instagram account.

Stand out from the crowd

There is enough room on Instagram for everyone to be heard.

The biggest mistake micro-influencers make (you will be a micro-influencer, and that is not a bad thing) is to compare themselves to the biggest names on the platform and try to compete with them. Your best chance of success on Instagram is to find out what makes you unique and embrace it.

Do things differently. The more unique you are, the easier it will be for people to remember you. And one of the most important places people will meet you is your Instagram bio. Try writing funny Instagram bios as an exercise to help you find your voice.

Got all of this firmly in mind? Great! Now you are ready to write your Instagram bio.

9 ways to write your Instagram bio

Your Instagram bio is a description of your account that sits at the very top of your profile page, next to your profile picture.

Visitors to your account will treat it as a snapshot of your account. It is a quick way to introduce people to who you are and what your Instagram profile is about.

Since you only have 150 characters, you need to make your Instagram bio concise and easy to read. But that doesn't mean you can't have fun with it. Try writing clever Instagram bios that grab a visitor's attention. You might not write a good Instagram bio the first time, but you can keep changing it until you have a cool bio you are happy with.

Be creative

For example, Crocs uses an alligator emoji and a "rockin'" emoji for "If you ain't Croccin', you ain't rockin'." It's OK that it takes a moment to get the joke because it is a creative way to engage with visitors, but isn't likely to go over everyone's heads.

Be cool

Don't be obvious. For instance, tennis star Serena Williams introduces herself as "I'm Olympia's mom."

Keep it short

Don't use all 150 characters if you don't need them. Bobthedragqueen just says "Black. Non-binary." This captures what is important to this account.

Be clever

Tiffany Haddish hypes herself in a humble way, "People tell me I'm beautiful, but I am just happy to be me."

Be funny

Nothing is less funny than obviously trying to be funny. But sometimes you can be quippy and vague, like comedian Bowen Yang's caption next to a photo of him with swollen eyes, "I think it's allergies?"

Or you can play to your audience, like Bugles corn chips "America's #1 finger hat."

Use emojis

Describe yourself with emojis, or you can also use emojis as bullet points. This is a fun way to break up the text.

Get down to business

Business brands can introduce themselves by their ethical statements. Eco-Swim, for example, is "A lifestyle collective for our most limitless selves, to care for each other + our planet."

Use a quote

Borrow a great line from a celebrity who isn't on Instagram, like Albert Einstein, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." Or choose someone more up-to-date.

Be informative

Sometimes the most important information you can convey on your Instagram business account is your location and the hours you are open.

If you are doing multichannel marketing, don't forget to carry your brand across your channels. Use consistent colors and photography so when your followers become your customers, they will immediately know who you are.

10 tips for an impactful Instagram bio

Once you have decided on what kind of Instagram bio you are adding to your Instagram profile, you can use these 10 ways to make it more impactful.

Use line breaks

Your Instagram bio doesn't do you a lot of good if people can't read it. You can add line breaks in a notes app and copy and paste them to Instagram.

Add a contact button

Your contact button gives people a way to call you or send you an email directly from Instagram. This feature only shows up on mobile.

Add a call-to-action (CTA) button

Encourage people to take an action directly from your Instagram bio with a CTA button. They might buy tickets to your event, or order food from your restaurant, for example. The CTA feature also only appears on mobile.

Add a link

You can't add links to your Instagram posts, but you can add one clickable link to your Instagram bio. This makes that link very valuable real estate. You can change your link as often as you like, using it for promotions.

Use Instagram tools like Linktree to link to your mobile landing page with as many links as you like. That way, the link in your Instagram bio is always current.

Add a hashtag

Share hashtags that are directly related to your business. Instagram hashtags aren't searchable, but they can give visitors a chance to click directly to your content if you follow the next suggestion.

Add a branded hashtag

A branded hashtag is a hashtag that is unique to you. Because of the 150-character limitation, you can't use every branded hashtag in your bio, but you can use them to reinforce interest in your link.

Add a location

Instagram doesn't count your address against the 150-character limit in your Instagram bio. Adding an address frees up room for other information.

Share your pronouns

Let your followers know how to address you. Since May 2021, Instagram has had an option to display your pronouns immediately after your name.

Direct traffic elsewhere

Use Instagram to direct traffic to another social media platform or another website.

Don't view Instagram as a great way to build your brand, just a necessary addition to your online presence? That's OK. Use your Instagram bio to direct traffic to your page on other platforms or to your website.

Link to other accounts

If you have a personal account and a business account, or if you are involved in a project with its own handle, you can link them from your Instagram bio to market on social media.

Manage your Instagram profile for success with Mailchimp

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Whether you are new to Instagram or looking to expand your reach, making sure your bio reflects your company accurately—and in a creative way—can go a long way with Instagram users.