You may have noticed some changes on Media A La Carte’s Instagram profile - especially to our bio. Instagram’s algorithm is ever changing - which means you have to be willing to change up what you’ve been doing to keep getting found through the search feature on Instagram. Let’s talk through the steps you should take to make sure your Instagram bio is doing round the clock work for you when you aren’t logged on to Instagram.
Offer a Solution
Right off the bat, you need to be telling people what you do and why you do it. When people are searching for services or products on Instagram, it's because they have a problem they want fixed. Your bio should be full of solutions to problems. For example, MALC lets you know that KILLER content is the #1 thing it offers. Then it goes on to list the rest of the services it offers, which will help grow your brand. You can also offer a solution through a mission statement - like financial coach Sumaya Mulla-Carrillo. She let’s you know who she is working for and what she’ll do for them in a succinct, single phrase: “Queer, feminist finances to help you save $, pay off debt, and become empowered with money”. Both options make it clear that by using their services, your problems will be solved.
Make Sure Your Name Includes Key Words
The name field on your Instagram profile (highlighted below) is searchable through Instagram’s keyword search. Think about what you offer that people might be searching for and then include it in your name field. Sometimes this means you can’t fit your business’s name in the name field, and while this may seem like a bad idea … it’s actually totally fine for Instagram. It’s almost become normal practice to highlight what you do in your name as opposed to who you are. As long as your name shows up in your handle or in your bio (like us), your brand recognition will still shine through. People likely aren’t searching the words “Media A La Carte” when they are looking for social media managers - they will be searching the words “social media management”, which is why we have those words included in our name field. Also, people are more likely to be searching our founders name (Amandina) than the words "Media A La Carte". By adding her name to Media A La Carte's name field, she's catching people's eyes every time they look up her personal Instagram as well. Make searches do double duty for your brand. As you're deciding what to put in your name field, think "what are people searching for that I have to offer" and then go from there.
Tag Sister Accounts
Similarly to including Amandina's name in the name field of Media A La Carte's Instagram, including handles of other accounts associated with your business in your bio helps up the likelihood of it being found through the search feature. This doesn't mean tag random accounts that create the same products as you. This means that you should tag your personal Instagram account in your businesses bio and vice versa. It will help drive traffic to both accounts. And often, when you first start out with a business account, you have less followers there than on your personal account. Adding your personal handle to the bio of your business account will make your business account pop up in search when people go looking for your personal account - helping your personal followers stumble across your business account.
Pick the Perfect Profile Pic
Your profile picture is the first visual impression people will have of your brand. If you're trying to grow your personal brand, your profile picture should be a high quality photo of you looking your best - not a picture of an object. Big brands (Target, Walmart, Etsy) use their logos as their profile pictures. If you have a business, it's okay to use your logo as the profile picture, but remember that people are more likely to follow a human than they are a business. If you're just starting out with a business, consider making your profile picture a picture of you with a hint of your brand's logo or your brand's colors. Besides, aren't you the heart and soul of your business? People will be more likely to buy your product from you than from a logo. Media A La Carte made this update, and we've already seen our followers number rise. What can we say, people relate to people.
Highlights Come Before the Feed
People will see your Instagram highlights before they get to your feed. Remember this! Before they see any of those beautifully curated pictures, they might be turned off by messy, unbranded highlights. Your highlights should have covers that match your brand colors (most important!) and if you want to add more, make sure whatever text or symbols you add clearly indicate what is contained in the highlight. We love using Canva to create our highlight covers. Your highlights should function as a preview of your brand. When people click through them, they should get a great idea of who you are and what you do (hmmm, that seems to be the theme of this article ...). It's fine to have a personal highlight on your business profile (remember, people want to buy from people - not an anonymous business), but try to make sure you're adding more often to the highlights that feature your services and products.
Use Your Link in Bio - Always
If you aren't utilizing your link in bio, you're missing out on major IG real estate. Unless you have over 10k followers or you're a verified account, the website field in your bio is the only place you can put a link on your Instagram. If you have a website (which you definitely should, but that's a whole other topic), make sure it's showing up on your profile. If you don't have a website yet, but you do have a profile on another platform where you're selling your product, make sure to link that in your bio (and then get to work on building your website).
Include a CTA
We always talk about including a call to action in your captions on Instagram, but it's also important to include them in your bio! Both Media A La Carte and Sumaya encourage people to click on the link in their bio by offering them a solution. Media A La Carte offers brand growth and Sumaya offers a free financial resource. By using their CTAs to drive people to the link in their bio, they're upping their SEO and potentially gaining new customers.
Follow these steps, and we're sure you'll see more casual viewers convert to loyal followers and customers. And remember, before you do any of these things, you need to spend some time really nailing down your branding. Head to this article to get started on figuring out your brand. Need more help? Set up a consultation with Media A La Carte today!
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