As with a private one, the commercial Instagram account of a company or a sole proprietor also needs an attractive Instagram bio. This is not just a small text, but an interplay of different elements.
Why an Instagram bio?
The Instagram bio guides visitors who are randomly or specifically looking for your business profile. With the bio, you get the chance to address new or potential followers and to inform them about your company, your product, or your service.
This is important, even if the user’s eyes may immediately wander to the photos. Once they have combed through your pictures and stories and find them interesting, they will then return to the business-relevant information of your Instagram bio at the latest.
To provide convincing reasons why a longer stay on your profile or a click on the “Follow” button is worthwhile. Show how your company or product can help.
The difficulty and art are in communicating all of this in a relatively limited space. Therefore, you should not neglect any of the following elements. They complete your bio and ultimately give it meaning:
- Profile pic
- Category (in which industry do you work/does your company operate?)
- Characteristics
- External link to the website
- Contact details
That sounds very standard for a commercial account on a social media platform. Nevertheless, invest a little more time, work, and creativity in the creation and subsequent maintenance of your bio. This gives your bio an individual touch that is appropriate for Instagram and your company.
Define the target group and appeal directly with the Instagram bio
Defining an audience helps when designing a targeted Instagram bio. If you haven’t already done so for your other marketing efforts, now is the time to do so. You should always keep this target group in mind when designing your Instagram bio.
In this context, an audience or buyer persona is an effective tool for imagining a more specific contact person. This is not a real person, but a fictional image of your ideal customer. Some of the parameters you should stake out for this include:
- name
- age
- gender
- training
- profession
- hobbies
- interests
- consumer behavior
You can of course use several options or general terms for the categories. You can always add new data to this data. It is also advisable to develop several such profiles with different characteristics.
Also, expand this guide to include goals and aspirations that might drive these fictional characters. But don’t forget the so-called pain points, i.e. the problems of your potential customers that demand a solution.
Address these imaginary customers with your Instagram bio as if they were real. Develop a marketing message tailored to them. This way you focus more on future customers and prospects when creating your Instagram bio. So your primary goal is not just to make yourself look good.
Profile picture – put a human face on your business
Since Instagram is primarily a visual medium, you should choose your profile photo wisely. Both a picture of the company manager or founder and a group photo of the workforce is possible, e.g. B. in front of the shop or office.
Such images add personality, friendliness, and humanity to their account. This is an advantage, especially on Instagram, because it is primarily about personal contacts. The platform has always had a slightly informal and personal touch.
Note: Note that smartphone users in particular visit your account. Even on a relatively small display, everything on the profile picture should be easy to see.
Alternatively, you can also use your company logo to represent your company appropriately. The advantage is that it has a recognition value, especially if you are also active on other social media platforms under this logo.
A disadvantage is that a certain personal charm is lost. In the worst case, your account can also be perceived as a spam account. Remember that you want to create a personal connection with your audience and not distance yourself from them.
No matter which option you choose, it is important to consider how you want to represent your company. What type of company is it? What level of professionalism and seriousness should the profile picture radiate?
Or can it be a little looser? Try to consider these questions when choosing an appropriate profile picture.
Profile name and username – Uniqueness and recognition value
The username must always be unique. Instagram does not allow special characters or spaces here. If you have other company accounts on other social media platforms, it makes sense to use the same name. Provided it meets the required criteria. In this way, your followers from other portals will find you more easily.
Your profile name can’t be longer than 30 characters. In contrast to the username, you can also integrate special characters and spaces. So you have more flexibility so that you can even include an important keyword or a frequently searched keyword. The keyword can summarize your service, your goal or your task.
However, don’t choose a random word just because users search for it frequently. Instead, use one that is related to your company, service, or product.
Bio profile – more than just relevant company information
One of the most important and creatively demanding elements remains the text of your Instagram bio. The wording should get to the heart of your company, your philosophy, your goals, or your offer shortly.
Appropriate tonality for your business
It is best to ask yourself before you conceive the text which tonality you prefer and which seems appropriate: Should it be an emotional speech? A humorous one? Or an objective and sober one?
An explicitly humorous text seems rather inappropriate for a conservative company that wants to radiate seriousness. An out-of-context joke won’t necessarily help your business much unless you’re a writer and/or performer in the comedy industry.
Too much seriousness could also come across as alien to your followers. The text should still be accessible on a human level. A text that only rattles off dry facts only marginally addresses Instagram users.
Ultimately, only you can make the decision. Of course, a mixture of several directions is possible. It’s all about finding the right balance for you.
What message do you want to communicate?
When designing, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is your brand message or corporate philosophy?
- What is your unique selling proposition?
- What are you producing?
- Do you make your product in an eco-friendly way?
- What service do you offer?
- If you are a sole trader or entrepreneur, what is your special skill?
Try to summarize the essence of your brand or company. If you can answer these questions, you create an effective text.
Write a reader-friendly text
Also, put yourself in the shoes of the reader of your text. It’s not about bombarding him or her with marketing jargon or technical terms. This might help you appear smart, but it can quickly become confusing for the reader. Formulate an understandable and attractive message that even a layman can understand.
Always keep the text up to date
There’s nothing wrong with updating and adjusting your bio over and over again. parts e.g. share your latest recipe idea, praise your current camera, and beat the drum for the next online courses and webinars. You can also offer sweepstakes or provide information about current tour dates if you work as a musician, artist, or speaker.
Quotes – let poets and thinkers help you
Sometimes the right words just don’t come up. Perhaps a famous poet or thinker has already expressed your idea or philosophy better. Quotations from famous personalities are permitted and can complement your bio text in a meaningful way. However, they should reflect the essence of your business. Please do not forget to mark the quote as such and assign it to the appropriate person.
How, when, and where can you be reached?
If you have limited hours of service or business hours, let your profile visitors and potential customers know in your Instagram bio. End your text with a call-to-action that points to a link, encourages further scrolling, or encourages a click on the “Follow” button.
Make the text Internet-friendly
Since people often scan text on the web than read it thoroughly, line breaks can help. This makes it easier for readers to absorb the most important information than with a large block of text. This formatting is not possible on Instagram itself. Use a note-taking app and copy the formatted text to your Instagram bio.
Try several options
Since it’s one of the key elements of your Instagram bio, don’t overdo it. Take your time, and try out several ideas and formulations until the result works and you are satisfied with the result.
Emojis – Break up text when appropriate
To add a youthful and fun touch to your text, you can make use of emojis. But make sure that your bio continues to match the nature and tonality of your company.
The same applies here: A serious company that deals with serious issues is unlikely to score points with the potential target group with colorful emojis.
On the other hand, if you are portraying a younger company, emojis break up the text. They represent a veritable means of communication within a social network that is used frequently.
However, don’t overdo it. You want to entertain the users, but also provide concrete information about you and your company. Visitors to your profile shouldn’t have to first decipher various symbols to understand your company message and its meaning. The motto should be economical but targeted use.
Also, keep in mind that not all people interpret every emoji in the same way. What may seem like amusing irony to one reader may be perceived as offensive to another. So choose your emojis carefully. An arrow or index finger to draw attention to a link is often enough.
Linking – show your profile visitors the next step
Speaking of links: Of course, you can integrate a link into your Instagram bio. As an entrepreneur, that makes a lot of sense. A single link without a text environment or call-to-action seems a bit lonely.
Show your visitors why the next step and click on the link is worthwhile. Make sure that the link is always up to date and leads to the desired page. A dead link in the Instagram bio is not only frustrating but in the worst case it looks unprofessional. Interest in your company can be lost as a result.
Ask yourself these questions to specify the target of your link:
- Do you want to increase the number of clicks, e.g. B. for an article?
- Would you like to attract new subscribers to your newsletter?
- Do you want visitors to your website to get an overview of what you currently have to offer?
- Should they buy a specific product or use a specific service?
- Do you want customers to be able to find your store or restaurant?
Like your bio text, your link shouldn’t consist of a lot of confusing words and special characters. At best, the link itself contains a reference to the target page.
Shorten and customize links
Often, confusingly long links have to be shortened. However, Internet users may be suspicious of a generically shortened link or misinterpret it as spam.
TinyURL allows you to shorten a link and add an alias to the shortened link using the custom alias feature. However, popular words and titles can often already be taken. You do not have to register and log in for this. However, this is necessary with Bitly. The tool offers two advantages: the stem of the shortened link is shorter and you can see how often visitors clicked the link via your account.
Instagram only allows you to have one link in your bio. So think carefully about what you use it for. You can bypass this limitation with the Linktree tool. You can use this to quickly and easily create a page that contains several links that lead to other pages and sources that are relevant to you. This can be another social media profile, a YouTube channel, your imprint, or your podcast.
Unfortunately, what sounds very practical at first has disadvantages. First of all, you expect users who have clicked on your link to decide on one of several further links afterward. Chances are, you’ll lose more visitors to your website and potential customers during this intermediate step.
From a data protection point of view, Linktree is also not recommended. The provider does not comply with the GDPR and tracks links and clicks. Corresponding tools from the USA should always be part of the EU Privacy Shield Agreement so that you and the personal data of interested parties are safe. This is not the case with Linktree.
Alternatively, your Instagram link can lead to a subpage of your homepage. On this page, you place your links in the desired number. The advantages:
- You don’t have to worry about privacy issues
- You redirect visitors directly to your website
- You can design the subpage according to your wishes
Customize fonts
You have the option to change the appearance of your fonts or letters in the Instagram bio. Corresponding generators such as Lingojam, Instagram Fonts, or Meta Tags Font Generator adjust the font according to your wishes. If you’re willing to put in some time and effort, you can even create your design.
Simply write your Instagram text in the corresponding window and copy the text with the changed letters back into your bio. In terms of the accessibility of your Instagram profile, however, you should be aware that not all screen readers can read all changed fonts. Instagram also does not accept every font.
What industry are you in?
Add what industry or category your business, company or you work in. This way you can save space in the description.
Unfortunately, the category does not appear in the mobile version. This is very important on Instagram because smartphone users in particular use the app a lot.
If your industry is not evident in your Instagram bio, you may need to be more specific about it in your text.
Don’t forget the imprint of your bio
There is also an imprint obligation for a commercial Instagram profile. Of course, the bio text does not offer enough space to fulfill this obligation. Since Instagram does not provide you with any corresponding means, it is best to link to the imprint.
That’s why it’s also worth linking to an additional subpage of your website. In addition to many other links, you can place a link to your imprint here. Mark these links with the word “Imprint” or insert a personalized speaking link directly.
Make contact easier
Company profiles can contain contact buttons. This is how Instagram users can reach you by phone or email. However, these only appear to be visible and usable on a mobile device.
Tracking – test your success
As with all other marketing and social media marketing activities, it pays to track user engagement on Instagram. There are numerous tools you can use to verify your account:
| Instagram Insights | The app’s analysis tool provides a not necessarily precise, but helpful general overview of current engagements and impressions of your Instagram profile. |
| Quintly | Besides your Instagram profile, you can also use the tool to monitor your other social media accounts. You find out when new users follow you and how the number of followers develops over a longer period. Quintly also shows which of your content and hashtags are having the most impact. |
| Squarelovin | The free tool analyzes your latest releases, as well as engagement and achievements over time. It also indicates when your posts are having the most success. |
| Iconosquare | With Iconosquare you can not only check the success of your images and hashtags but also get more information and data about your followers. The tool also helps you find influencers with different follower counts in specific areas. |
| Bitly | As mentioned with linking, a Bitly account is a useful tool to track the success of your bio-linking. |
A lot of these analytics tools focus primarily on your Instagram posts. Nonetheless, they can help you make adjustments to your Instagram bio and see how effective they are.
Conclusion for creating an engaging Instagram bio
Of course, not everything depends on your engaging Instagram bio. The photos and stories you fill your account with primarily contribute to the success of your profile. Nevertheless, your bio can invite visitors to linger and provide orientation. You give your company’s account a more concise profile and, ideally, use a link to direct interested Instagram users to your website.
For this, you need an appealing user and profile name, attractive and informative text, and an inviting profile picture or logo. With all of these elements, you need to find a tonality that appropriately represents your business, meets the informal demands of the Instagram platform, and reaches out to potential new customers on a personal level.