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How to Create a Strong Business Profile on Instagram
Instagram is becoming an increasingly important channel for many companies. More companies than ever are using the platform, and the usage is growing every year. Furthermore, the number of users on Instagram is growing as well.
Whilst the opportunities for reaching your target audience are thus greater than ever, it will also increase the competition. This means that you need to fine-tune your strategy in order to win over your competitors and get the attention of your target audience.
You must use all the tricks you can to catch those who visit your profile. Here we have gathered the most important tips that can help you optimize your Instagram profile so you get the best out of your company account.
Instagram business profile
Does your profile clearly show what your company is, what it offers, or why the visitor should start following you? It may be well worth investing some time in carefully examining and review your profile to make sure it represents your company well. By doing this, you can catch the attention of your target audience, appeal to those who come across it and ultimately get them to stick around.
Your profile can be the first contact a potential follower or customer gets with the brand. So imagine how you can explain what the company has to offer in the shortest possible time. It should only take a few seconds for visitors to understand what you are.
So how do you go about it? Here comes a little guide with little tips along the way.
In order to be able to keep up with all the steps in how to update your profile, you can now open up your app for Instagram. Then follow these steps:
- Step 1. Click on your profile picture in the bottom right corner.
- Step 2. Now you are on your profile page. Check out what your profile looks like today and then click “edit profile”
- Step 3. Now you are in edit mode and can start editing.
Before you start thinking about what to write, we want to explain all the parts that the profile consists of.
Profile picture
When it comes to the profile picture, we recommend that you use your social media logo as a profile picture. The dimensions of the image are 180 × 180 pixels. If the logo does not fit neatly in square form, use a variant of the logo or if you have a different graphic that fits. The profile picture is not only visible in the profile but also in the flow so it is important that it has a high recognition rate for the company.
1. Username
The username is the company’s identity on Instagram, it is the @ name that is included in the profile address. Also part of the URL (www.instagram.com/username). Use a simple and clear name that makes it easy for users to find the company. By having your company name as your username, you make it easier for customers to find you, and also helps with making it clear who you are.
An important tip is to use the same username in all social channels. This makes it easier for customers to find your company across channels.
2. Name
The field name is not the same as the username. Since many have to optimize their usernames, it is a good idea to use the full company name in this field. If you already have your company name as a username, it may be helpful to include a variation of the name or keyword that you think is important and that others use when searching for companies in your industry. The Name and Username fields are the only parts of your Instagram profile that are searchable.
This means it’s very important which name you use here. For example, it could be your company niche or the product/service you sell. When you feel you have found the right keyword, add this as a name in your bio. If your company makes shoes and the company name is “Keyo”, you can have “Keyo Shoes” in the profile.
3. Website
In your Instagram profile, you have a room for a clickable website URL.
Here, you can paste a link and this can be changed as often as you like. Either you use it with a link to the homepage of the website or you adapt it to, for example, your most recent most important content. Maybe you run a campaign or create a landing page tailored for visitors coming from just Instagram.
4. Category
When you have a company profile on Instagram (which we recommend), you can categorize your business. This is presented under your name and allows the visitor to quickly understand in which industry you are in and what you are doing. Categorizing your business gives you more room for something else in your bio since you do not have to mention this information again. And thus save on the number of characters.
5. Contact options
Company profiles may contain contact buttons that allow visitors to call, email, or get directions. When you add your address, phone, and email to your profile, these will appear under your bio.
6. Biography
Here you have 150 characters to explain what it is for businesses and what is on offer. Show off what’s unique about your business and get your visitors interested so they want to follow.
It is said that there are two types of people on Instagram – those who seek inspiration and those who seek information. Which of these belongs to your target audience? Looking for the most inspiration in your industry or more information?
Talk about how you help or inspire your followers. Formulate yourself so that it is more about them than about the company. By writing a biography that speaks directly to your target audience, you will attract more engaged followers. These are more likely to both like and comment on your photos and thus also increase your engagement.
Quotes can be a great way to express an idea or create a sense of connection with like-minded people. You can use an expression, a line from a poem or song, or a phrase that will mean something to your potential followers. However, be sure to give credit if you quote someone straight off.
Visitors looking for information tend not to read your entire profile information, but want to be able to scan content quickly. One tip here is to use line breaks and emojis to easily get your message across.
Tip: The easiest way to create a biography with line breaks on your phone is to use a note-taking app. Write your bio in the app, copy it, and paste it into your bio field.
Businesses talk easily and clearly about what they do with line breaks and emojis. This way the information becomes very easy to consume and understand.
Add clickable links in your text to mention related accounts or your company’s #hashtags.
Before, the profile could only contain a clickable link – the URL at the bottom. But since March 2018, all profile usernames and hashtags will also be clickable links. So when you include a “#” or “@” in your bio, it automatically becomes clickable. This way you can direct the visitor to a hashtag or other profile.
For example, on your private profile, you can link to your company profile or vice versa. If you have a larger profile such as Ford you can also use this as an opportunity to link to your other business accounts like @Fordperformance.
Placing hashtags in your movie doesn’t make your profile more searchable, but it’s a great way to share your company’s hashtag and invite others to use it. However, be careful not to use hashtags that are not directly related to your business, as each link gives the visitor an opportunity to click away from your profile.
Emojis
An emoji can contain a lot of information in just one character, it’s a great way to highlight your brand’s personality and contribute important details with small means. They are also a great way to break up your biography visually. If you feel that most emojis are too small and unprofessional for your brand, try to keep it as simple as possible with a simple checkmark.
Tips on good emojis to use:
- Location Pin: Use in front of your address/location description
- Letter: Use in front of your email address
- Flag: Great way to mark your home base.
- Finger (pointing down): Use in front of the last line of your bio that shows the visitor to your URL / Website
Link in bio
We mentioned that you have a website link at the bottom of the profile that your visitor can click on and thus access your website or other important content. And you can change this as often as you want to customize it to your posts.
Instagram highlights
One of the biggest and most exciting additions to the profile on Instagram is Highlights. Here you can save your very best Instagram stories (the content that is only otherwise on your profile for 24 hours. They will then appear under your bio and play as a compiled story when someone clicks on them. And they lie there until you choose to remove them. You can think of these as a movie trailer for your Instagram feed.
A perfect way to showcase the very best parts of your brand to new profile visitors. Your Highlights allow you to share much more than you can with just a few sentences in your cinema. Therefore, it can be smart to strategically tailor them to categories. For example, you can have different events for marketing products, information about the company, answering common questions, displaying references, or inviting the visitor behind the scenes.
How to create your highlights
There are two ways to add images to your highlights. If you have pictures under Storis right now, add them as follows.
Step 1 Click on your profile picture to bring up your stories
Step 2 Click “Highlight”
Step 3 Choose which event you want to add the image to or create a new one
To add old photos, do the following.
Step 1. Choose which event you want to update by pressing and holding for a short time (alternatively, pressing the plus to create a new event)
Step 2. Select “Edit Highlight”
Step 3. Select “File”
Step 4. Select which images you want to add and press “Done”
You choose covers for the event as follows:
Step 1 Click the event where you want to edit the cover
Step 2 Select “Edit Highlight”
Step 3 Click “Edit Cover”
Step 4 Click the image gallery icon and choose from your camera album which image should be the cover of your event.
Tip: It’s nice if the cover images follow a specific theme.
