You might have your strategy for Instagram posts down to a fine science, but there’s a chance you’re neglecting one of the most important elements. Your Instagram profile doesn’t just provide your audience with a first impression of who you are, what you do and why they should follow you – it’s also the only place where you can add a clickable link.
In your bio, you get 150 characters of space to show your audience why they should care about you. As a result, it’s well worth your time to try and get it spot-on.
What Your Instagram Profile Contains
Before jumping headlong into your Instagram bio ideas, it’s well worth taking some time to understand the components that make up your Instagram profile.
Your Name
The text you entered during the sign-up process will appear at the top of your Instagram bio in bold. It goes without saying that you should include your brand name, but don’t leave it at that. This field allows you to create a variant on your name, such as Saturday Night Live – SNL, or a couple of keywords to provide some clarity on what your brand does and to help your users find you.
This name field gets included in Instagram searches, so by placing a keyword here, you can effectively boost the amount of traffic your profile is getting. However, you should be wary of keyword stuffing, as this is a definite way to put people off.
Your Username
This is your Instagram identity, and it merges into the URL of your profile. Once set, this isn’t easy to change, so choose carefully! Make sure that you choose a username that’s consistent with the one you’ve used for your profiles on other social networks.
Your Website
This is the only place on the whole of Instagram where you’re actually able to place a clickable link (not including hashtags, but that’s a different story).
A great use for this is to push your newest (or most important) content. Think about it – if someone visited your site for the first time, what would you want them to see?
This can either be an existing page, but it might also be worth creating a landing page specifically for people who’ve come from Instagram. A URL shortener with a bit of tracking code attached to it will give you an overview of how successful your link is.
Your Bio
Last but not least, your bio is the place where you explain what you do, who you are, and why your audience should stop scrolling and pay attention to what you have to show them.
Bear in mind that you’ve only got 150 characters to get this done, so you’ll need to be creative with your message to get it to stand out from the crowd.
Tackling Your Bio – Tips and Tricks on How to Make it Pop
Now we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into a bit more detail and look at how you can separate yourself from the competition with your Instagram bio:
1) Make the most of emojis
They might be cheesy, and you might not like them, but there’s one thing that’s true about emojis – they work.
Even if you don’t want to make them a prominent part of your brand communications, emojis should definitely find a place in your Instagram bio. Why? Because selecting the right emojis for your real estate agency can promote a sense of brand identity and give you personality in the eyes of your audience.
When you’re scraping around for characters to get what you want to say on the screen, emojis can seriously come in handy. If you’re reluctant to introduce them all at once, you can trial them by using them as custom bullet points.
2) Utilise spacing and line breaks to the max
What would you rather digest – bitesize information broken down line by line, or a huge, stodgy chunk? It’s not a tricky choice, and it’s something you need to bear in mind with your Instagram profile.
By adding line spacing and breaks into your bio, you’ll be able to highlight the most important information about your brand, making it stand out. If you’ve got a special offer running, such as discounted commissions for a limited time, here’s the time to mention it.
3) Collect user-generated content with branded hashtags
What’s easier than constantly generating content yourself? Getting your users to do it, of course!
In fact, user-generated content is a great way to get your audience to interact with you. And, after all, that’s what social media’s all about.
4) Add in a call to action
If your bio is the most important part of your Instagram profile, the most important element of your bio is you call to action. Attention spans are short online, so you need to give your audience direct, and tell them what you want them to do.
Tell them where they should be heading, or what action they should be taking, after visiting your profile. This should be tied into your overall Instagram goal. If you’re showcasing the properties you’ve currently got on for sale, drive people to click a link that takes them to your listings page. If you’re trying to showcase the personal level of your service, drive people to click through to a branded hashtag and create content of their own.
5) Add in your contact information
If people like what they see and are in the market for your services, you need to give them an easy way to get in touch. Add in an email address or office telephone number so people can easily contact you to find out more.
6) Show what makes you different from your competitors
In the Australian real estate market, it’s likely that your audience have already come across other agencies online showcasing their biggest and best properties. So, what makes you different?
A solid Instagram bio will accurately describe what you do, how you do it, and what sets your service apart.
7) Let them know when you’re in the office
It’s no good having someone see your profile and try to contact you, only to find out you don’t work Mondays. You can circumvent this by adding in your hours of operation. They could obviously just Google your business to find the answer, but the aim of the game is to give them the information they need without having to leave the page. If you want to hear from them, let them know when they should be getting in touch.
With these tips in mind, you’ll be ready to go out and create an Instagram bio that captures the attention of your audience – all within the 150-character limit. Try it out now and see the difference it’ll make to your online lead generation.