This three-part series is a great introduction for small business owners looking to either start an Instagram account for their business or to fine-tune their existing Instagram strategy so that it successfully drives sales. The series focuses on practical and actionable guidance that can be immediately applied. By the end of the series, readers will be able to:
- Implement and optimize Instagram Business account
- Define your target audience
- Set meaningful goals and objectives
- Track the right performance metrics
- Share high-quality content
- Grow and engage your audience
Part 1 of this series, Instagram Business Account Basics, can be found by clicking here.
Part 2: Optimizing your Instagram Business Account
Once you catch a new user’s attention with a high-quality post, their next step is often to check out your profile for more information. This is a great opportunity to continue moving them closer to making a purchase with your business (further down the “sales funnel”) so make sure that your bio, profile picture, and Action buttons are optimized and ready to go!
Write a succinct and compelling bio
You only have 150 characters to convey your brand’s personality and promise–the unique value or experience that customers can expect to receive from your business.
- This statement should also encourage users to take the next step towards making a purchase by encouraging them to take a specific action (i.e. clicking an Action button to book a reservation). This is often called a “call to action” or “CTA” and should carefully be crafted with the customer’s motivations in mind.
- If appropriate for your brand, you can use emojis and special characters to save space, highlight your brand’s personality and draw attention to important information.
- People put the most effort into reading the beginning of a text block and then taper off so make sure to front load the most important information
- Finally, experiment with line breaks as a way to organize the content in your bio. A solid block of text is less approachable than one with “scannable” structure.
Tell a story with the perfect profile picture
Even though your profile picture is relatively small, the image you choose to feature can say a lot about your brand’s personality and promise.
- If your logo is easily recognizable at this scale and is consistently used throughout your marketing, this can be a good option that further reinforces brand awareness and leverages established customer sentiments (try a symbol-only or other simplified version of your logo).
- Using a picture of a highly recognizable product or service can be another good option–especially for businesses without a particularly distinct logo
- Profile pictures can be modified to broadcast support for a particular cause or celebrate an occasion to further reinforce brand characteristics but should maintain fundamental elements for consistency (i.e. changing a logo color to a rainbow gradient in June to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community).
- Regardless of the profile picture that your business ultimately decides is a good fit, make sure that it is high quality (not blurry or pixelated), the correct size (110×110 pixels, 10mb file size), and consistent across all your social media platforms.
Make next steps easy with strategic buttons
Contact and action buttons not only free up space in your bio but also make it easier for potential customers to take action–a fundamental element of a great sales funnel strategy.
- Use the buttons in your profile to create different pathways for users depending on where they are in the sales funnel. Action Buttons (Book Now, Reserve, and Order Food) are great for those who have decided to take the next step and are ready to make a purchase. Contact Buttons (Call, Text, Email or Get Directions) are helpful for those who still need to learn more before deciding.
- While not a button, Instagram provides space for a link of your choice. Most businesses opt to put their website there but you can also insert a link from Linktree which allows you to create a customizable page that houses multiple links. This can be a great tool for offering a curated collection of promotions as well as quick links to your entire web and social media presence.
- Instagram’s Account Insights allow you to track profile views, content interaction as well as link and Contact Button clicks. Use these metrics to fine tune your call to action.
I love it because it allows me to highlight whatever it is I’m promoting that day/week. It’s easy to change and reorganize and it offers insights to clicks. I feel like it gives more tailored info on what people are looking for, and even bring curiosity when they see something they didn’t know about!
Next Steps
Using Linktree to get creative
- Check out Part 3: Creating High-Quality Content and an Engaged Audience that Drives Sales for your Business coming in June.
- Make your plan, test it, adapt and repeat! Stay connected with your community of fellow entrepreneurs to find support and share your journey! See future events at Entrepreneurship.ASU.edu/Peoria-Forward and reach out to us at [email protected].
