As humans we are extremely visual, which is why Instagram does so well! Now I’m not saying that everything has to be gorgeous, however the first impression people get when they head to your feed is what is in your bio and a quick snapshot of the last 6-9 photos that you posted to your feed. In less than 3 seconds they can make up their mind on whether or not they have any interest in joining your community. While the bio seems easy, I think some of these tips might surprise you! So let’s get started with some Instagram bio tips.

Instagram Bio Tips

Let’s first discuss your User Name + Profile Name – they are two different things. When people do searches in the search box your user name {with the @ symbol} has the possibility to showing up and right below it will be your Profile name. Some of you may already have your actual name as your user name – like me – @Shannon.m.shipman – but some might be the name of your business, or whatever you decided on when you signed into IG. I would recommend you add your name/or business name in the profile section followed by a word or emoji that says where you are located or what you are about. It helps people get a quick look at what you are about.

For example:

@shannon.m.shipman

Shannon| 🇺🇸 New England

Which leads to the next section: Your Profile Picture. You want to keep your profile on brand, for instance; I wouldn’t recommend if you were a travel blogger to put a picture of food as your profile picture. On the other hand these photos are REALLY tiny, so I also wouldn’t put a sweeping landscape view because it will just be hard for someone to distinguish.

I would recommend either your logo, a very clean {not busy} picture involving your business….or YOU! There has been so much research with social media and advertising that has proven people like people. We like to see people and believe we can relate to them.

Now for filling in your Instagram Bio. You have a mere 150 characters to make a first impression – so put some thought into it. Make sure you add your location – not a specific home address – but a town, or region you live in. I happen to have “New England” in my Profile Name, but you can also put this in your bio section, or specify it down to a city. When people go to the Instagram “search box” and type in a location they are interested in this gives you one more reason to show up and be discovered! This can be particularly helpful for people whose industry is region specific – like a realtor!

Did you know that emoji’s are also searchable? You can add emoji’s to your Instagram bio that pertain to you and what you do that will also help people not only discover you on Instagram, but its also another quick way to see if you + and your soon to be new follower have similar interests. It can also help when you are writing your captions to include similar emoji’s in the text. If you are a book nerd like me, and you have a stack of books in your Instagram bio, you could have a caption that talks about what you just read and then include the same stack of books emoji.

Hashtags. Yes, people can come across your account just by searching hashtags in the search box. Try to add 1 or 2 hashtags that pertain to you to help even more people discover you. I use #previvor because I have the BRCA mutation and it’s a very small group of people that have it. I want anyone struggling with the fact that they also have the BRCA mutation to be able to see my account and reach out or find community in that scary space.

Ultimately people want to know a couple of things – what will they get out of following you {inspo, helpful info, entertainment?}, who are you {what do you do where are you from}, and what kind of value can you add to their lives? IN OTHER WORDS IT SHOULDN’T BE ALL ABOUT YOU. You’ll hear me say this a lot throughout this series…

Let me give you some examples of Instagram Bios:

A Realtor might have:

I sell homes in Boston with {real estate company} – {and then they add a link to their business page}

What it COULD BE:

🏡 I help you buy your dream home in one of America’s most competitive markets.

#BostonRealEstate

Check out the link below to see why MA ranks #2 as the best state in America to live: {Link}

Not only are you identifying a problem {the highly competitive market in Boston} you are also saying you are there to help AND providing a great read about living in New England!

A Mom IG account might have:

Mother. Wife. Style. Wine. Enduring winters in the north since 1987 📍 New England. {link to blog}

What it COULD BE:

Just trying to keep my kids alive { 👶🏻👶🏻} one day at a time while sharing tips on how to stay organized in this chaotic household. I also create incredible cocktails {🍸} to get you through the witching hour. Click on the link for a FREE PDF on tips for keeping your family activities organized. {provide link}

This account is basically saying – hey my life with kids is chaotic too and we are in it together but let me help you with some laughs, free tips to stay organized and an occasional cocktail to take the edge off.

Hope all these little tips with the Instagram bio help – and if they do leave me a comment OR go tell me about it in IG stories and tag me @shannon.m.shipman.

If you enjoyed First Impressions: Your Instagram Bio then check out these other articles full of {actually useful} information!

Looking to scale your business by using Instagram? Take a peek at my signature course: The Instagram Solution: Crafting Your Own Outcome!

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Do you have any Instagram bio tips? Let me know in a comment below!