Setting Up Your IG Profile For Success
You confuse, you lose.
Have you ever heard the phrase: ’’You confuse, you lose’’? Social media is a game of catching your audience’s attention. If you want them to listen to what you have to say, you have to catch their attention first, and keeping it simple is the easiest way to do this.
Going off of this we need to make it clear who you are, what it is that you do and why your ideal clients should care, within seconds of looking at your Instagram profile. Otherwise, you lose their attention before they could even get a taste of everything you have to offer and we don’t want that. Let’s go over some improvements and tweaks you could make to ensure your profile is set up for success, so you can start attracting your kind of people, starting today!
YOUR PROFILE PIC
First off we have your profile picture, it is up to you what you choose as your profile picture but let’s go over some general suggestions you can keep in mind.
A Picture of Yourself
This is the best choice for you if you’re the face of your brand! Choose a high quality picture of yourself, preferably a professionally shot one but this can be as simple as a picture you took yourself. Just make sure it is high quality and not a screenshot of a group photo you’re in, since this will be representing your business.
Your Logo
You can obviously take your logo as your profile picture, this is especially good if you’re an agency, a product based business or just prefer the look of having your logo as a representative of your business!
All in all, choose a profile picture that you feel represents your business/ brand in all the right ways to keep that cohesive look and feel to your social media account!
YOUR NAME
If you want your account to be found by your ideal clients you need to have what it is that you do in your business, whether it’s a service, a product, a mentorship etc. listed as your NAME. Yes, your name! This is your best bet to be found when someone looks up your industry. So, use this to your benefit and the way you do this is by asking yourself: “What would my ideal client look up, when searching for my service/ product?”
To give you an idea, this is what comes up when I type in the word candles, notice how all of these either have the word in their username or in the name section? Exactly, so go and make sure you optimize this and add as many details as possible. (I.e. instead of just “Candles” → “Soy Wax Candles”)
YOUR BIO
Your bio is the short description beneath your profile picture. I want you to think of this as a little teaser of what your ideal clients/ customers can get out of this experience. Give them a reason to not just click away from your profile but actually stick around for more. Here’s what you can include:
1: A short teaser
Write a short introduction to your business. We want to make it short but juicy. State the following… What you do (your produce/ service). Who you do it for (your ideal client/ customer). Why you do it (your mission). This account is an amazing example for this!
2: Credentials
Adding credentials to your bio really positions you as an authority and builds trust with potential clients. Always include any achievements you had that related to your business, i.e. awards, a degree in your field, your client being featured, how many years of experience etc. Go and show off all the cool things you achieved.
Over here, we love showing off our amazing clients :)
3: A CTA
What this translates to is a “Call To Action” and you need to have one in your bio. Redirect your audience to where you need them to be to make a purchase from your business. Whether it’s an arrow pointing at the link to your website or asking them to DM you for more information. As long as you redirect them somewhere, you’re good to go!
And now some things to avoid IN YOUR BIO
1: Personal things
You can definitely talk about your personal life on your business account but we want to keep this in your stories, not in your bio. Avoid things like:
“Mum of three”
“Coffee Addict”
“Foodie”
“Dog mom”
I think you get the point, your bio should really be kept relevant to your business and your audience.
2: Specialist Terms
What I mean by this are terms that are not understandable by people who are not necessarily in the same industry as you are. For example, if you’re a fitness instructor, most regular people won’t understand a lot of physiology or anatomy terms, so having those in your bio will only confuse your audience. Use regular day to day words that everyone can understand!
YOUR HIGHLIGHTS
Your Highlights are those 5-6 circles beneath your bio. Think of them as an extended introduction to everything your business has to offer. The great thing about highlights is that if you use them correctly, you can clear up a lot of questions new members of your online community might have before they even ask (aka major timesaver).
Head over to this blog post to find out exactly which Highlights to use for your own business. Both service and product based, the full rundown. Just a little bonus tip before you get into all the details, to really experience the benefits of highlights, try keeping it down to 5-6 Highlights. This keeps it clear and cohesive and your audience can easily access the information!
YOUR PINNED POSTS
You may have noticed that you can pin up to three of your posts (and now even three of your Reels) to the top of your profile. The benefits this brings don’t get talked about enough if you ask me. This is such a great way to highlight your most relevant posts and Reels!
Here are some suggestions on what to pin:
Your Story: A post in which you've introduced your business, your mission and why you do what you do. Basically everything you want potential clients and new followers in general to know about your business and your story.
How to buy from you: A rundown of your services, products, your offers or even a current sale you’re running. This way it stays pinned to the top and doesn’t get lost in the feed.
Your best performing content: If you have a piece of content that performed pretty well, resonated with the right audience (aka your ideal client) and represents your brand well, pin it!
HAVE FUN
And that’s about it, have fun with it and remember… you confuse, you lose.