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Instagram bio’s in 2022 are essentially a cover letter, website and portfolio for you and your brand.

Within seconds you will have introduced who you are and what you bring to the table.

So, how do you decide what details to include in your bio?

We’ve put together a list of tips to help you create an Instagram bio that’ll help catapult your account to new heights.

What is an instagram bio?

The Instagram bio is the space that sits beneath your profile picture and is used to describe the contents of your account.

The space includes:

  • Display name.
  • Page category.
  • Pronouns.
  • Description.
  • External link.
  • Contact information.

Your bio is the first point of contact for visitors to your account, that’s why its important to clearly communicate who you are and what you offer.

What makes a good Instagram bio?

Having a quality Instagram bio can be the difference between gaining a follower, or them continuing onto the next account.

Since your description has a limit of 150 characters, you’ll want to keep it short, sweet, and informative. The biggest accounts on the platform all have a carefully curated bio that hits all three of these pillars.

Your bio can be a place to insert call to actions (CTA), it can be through a link to your website, or a branded hashtag that you can use to collect content created by your community.

Let’s dive in and check out some great ideas for your Instagram bio!

Share your story.

You need to think of your Instagram bio as an elevator pitch, you only have a limited amount of time (in this case, characters) to speak to your audience and convince them to follow your page.

You can use a bullet list, or write a few short lines about who you are and what you do.

Angelina jolie instagram screenshot
Angelina Jolie shares her story in her bio.

New visitors should be able to understand who you are from your bio alone.

Targeted keywords in your name.

Most people don’t know this, but the field for your account name is completely seperate from your bio.

This is a valuable tip to know, since it’s an SEO tactic you can use to reach more followers when they search outside of the app.

Brendan wood instagram screenshot
Brendan Wood uses keywords in his name.

Spend some time brainstorming keywords that the ideal customer for your brand would be searching for on Instagram. Choose your niche, your product, or even the city your business operates from.

Always keep in mind what your audience might be searching for and use your name field to take advantage of that.

Link in bio.

Your instagram bio only allows you to share a link to your audience, but since you can only share one you may need to get creative.

link tree instagram screenshot
Linktree use their own platform to share multiple links in bio.

You can make use of external link tools which allow you to share multiple links through one, or you can choose to link your landing page to direct potential customers straight to your website.

How much you want to be able to share to your audience will be up to you, but you should always be making use of the link in bio feature.

Call-to-action.

Your bio is the perfect place to drive more engagement from your audience, and the best thing is all you have to do is ask them.

If you’re offering up a new promotion, a user resource, or just requesting users to follow you, you need to make visitors aware of this.

Adidas instagram screenshot
Adidas have a CTA hashtag in their bio.

Be clear with what you’re asking of your audience, and be specific. You’ll drive more traffic and engagement by doing so.

Instagram also allows for ‘action buttons’ in your bio, choose one that applies to your brand and get it up into your bio. You’ll create an easy access point for your audience to reach you and your products.

Contact details.

Your Instagram page should act as a one-stop-shop for new and recurring visitors, so you’ll want to make it as easy as possible for them to contact you.

herald sun instagram screenshot
The Herald Sun make use of the contact CTA.

A simple way to do this is switch from a regular account to a business account.

This allows you to include your email address, phone number, and even your WhatsApp number without having to sacrifice any character space.

You can include a business or brand category that will appear underneath your name field.

Profile picture.

Your profile picture is your brand, it is what the majority of your audience will equate with you.

If you’re a brand or a product, you’ll want to be ensuring that everyone who lands on your page can quickly identify who you are simply by looking at the profile picture.

Use your company logo, or a shot of a product that is synonymous with your brand.

nike instagram screenshot
Nike have their famous logo as their profile pic.

If you’re an influencer, a creator, or you offer a personal service, you’ll want to be using a headshot or something similar.

You are the brand in this instance, and you should introduce yourself to visitors.

It’s a simple thing to do and it makes your account instantly recognisable.

Account tags and hashtags.

This one is a genuine Instagram ‘hack’: profile usernames and hashtags included in your Instagram bio are clickable links.

You’ve now got the ability to promote brands, highlight your founder’s Instagram account, or drive traffic to a branded hashtag.

Having a hashtag in your Instagram bio doesn’t make your profile discoverable via hashtag search, but having a clear branded hashtag can help you to collect content generated by your audience when they use your hashtag on their content.

Stories highlights.

Highlights appear directly under your Instagram bio and play as a stand-alone story when someone taps on them.

You can use them to share valuable information about your brand, spotlight your community, and to show off your personality.

You’re providing extra information to your audience, so it’s a good idea to be strategic in how you set them up.

ichpig instagram screenshot
Ichpig make use of the stories highlights.

Having a consistent collection of story highlights will make your profile more appealing and worthy of a follow.

If you haven’t updated your Instagram bio in a while, this is the perfect opportunity to put our tips to good use!