Every brand\u2019s bio will be formatted differently, but these elements create the foundation of a great Instagram bio and are what users expect to see on your profile.<\/p>\n
The best Instagram bio length<\/h3>\n
According to Instagram, your Instagram bio can include up to 150 characters<\/a>. Savvy social media marketers should have no problem creating punchy social media copy within that character limit. But if you want to get your message across effectively, then you\u2019ll need to choose your words (and symbols) wisely.<\/p>\n Being succinct is key when crafting your Instagram bio. While you can certainly pack a lot into the 150-character limit, there\u2019s no need to fill up the space simply to use the maximum amount of characters.<\/p>\n In fact, if you can get your message across in as little characters as possible, more power to you. Take Oreo<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n Oreo\u2019s Instagram bio<\/a> gets straight to the point. The brand uses a simple tagline to let you know what to expect from its Instagram page and ties it back to their established brand message.<\/p>\n While your brand may not carry the same level of fame as the iconic cookie brand, the lesson here is to be succinct. A short, impactful bio is much more memorable than one that\u2019s filled with too much (immaterial) copy.<\/p>\n Your brand\u2019s tone of voice should be consistent and recognizable across all content types and formats, and that includes your Instagram bio.<\/p>\n If you think of your Instagram page as a website, the bio would be the header at the top of the homepage. It\u2019s the first section users will see and is one of the first opportunities to engage with them in a voice that resonates.<\/p>\n Truly<\/a>, a top alcohol brand on social media<\/a>, uses its Instagram bio to show off its fun personality while staying true to what the brand offers. The first line in its bio provides a playful, welcoming feeling and is followed by a string of fruit emojis that allude to its flavorful hard seltzers.<\/p>\n Your bio sets the tone for the rest of the page. Make sure that it\u2019s reflecting the brand image you want to create.<\/p>\n This is the age-old question on social media. When it comes to emojis in your brand\u2019s Instagram bio, a good rule of thumb is to only include them if they\u2019re relevant and add value. Technically speaking, most emojis count as two characters, so if you\u2019re aiming to make the most out of your 150-character limit, you may want to keep your use of emojis to a minimum. Emojis can also help create line breaks when used in a similar fashion to bullet points.<\/p>\n When it comes to branding, the emojis you choose should align with your brand voice and tone. Emojis can read more casual and\/or playful, which may or may not be what your brand is aiming for on Instagram. If you typically use emojis in your Instagram captions, it\u2019s probably safe to assume they would work perfectly well in your bio, too. But if emojis aren\u2019t something that weave naturally into your brand\u2019s voice and tone, they might not be relevant to include in your bio.<\/p>\n Take blogger and influencer, Courtney Quinn of Color Me Courtney<\/a>, for example. The emojis in her Instagram bio perfectly suit her playful, color-filled brand.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Microsoft\u2019s Instagram bio<\/a> is sans-emojis, which you\u2019d likely expect from a major tech company.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to keep accessibility in mind. Emojis shouldn’t replace words or break up a sentence because screen readers will describe them *exactly* as they are. This can disrupt the flow of the message and cause confusion for the reader. Always be sure that if you opt for emojis in your Instagram bio, use them with purpose.<\/p>\n In a survey conducted by Facebook, 81% of Instagram users said that they used the platform to help research products and services<\/a>. This discovery aspect is what makes using relevant keywords in your bio more important than ever.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, in an effort to make the platform even more searchable, Instagram has made it so that nearly everything is discoverable through Instagram Search<\/a>. When a user searches a keyword or topic, everything from accounts to places to audio will show up in the results. Even with the expansive searchable factors, your brand\u2019s bio and username remain some of the most important elements.<\/p>\n As a marketer, you may not have the leeway to change your brand\u2019s username to include a target keyword \u2014 and it might not make sense to. However, what you can do to make your page more discoverable to your target audience is update your Instagram bio with keywords.<\/p>\n For example, a search for \u201crecipe ideas\u201d pulls up several posts and accounts, including this one from Meal Prep Magazine. As you can see, \u201cdaily recipe ideas\u201d is included in its bio. Even though it doesn\u2019t have \u201crecipe ideas\u201d in its username, this account still shows up for that search term because it\u2019s part of the bio.<\/p>\n Audit your Instagram bio to identify any opportunities to incorporate a target keyword.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget to compare your bio to the competition when auditing for keywords. If all of your competitors are using keywords in their bios, but you aren\u2019t, then it\u2019s time to rethink your strategy. Keep in mind that when you do want to weave keywords into your bio, it shouldn\u2019t sound forced. If it\u2019s not coming across in a natural way, you can always stick to using hashtags<\/a> for your keyword strategy.<\/p>\n As a social media marketer, you\u2019re no stranger to the phrase, \u201clink in bio.\u201d Because you can\u2019t include clickable links in your Instagram posts, the bio is the next best place on your page to send followers when you have a link to promote.<\/p>\n While you could make the bio link your brand\u2019s homepage URL, your link should vary from time to time depending on what you\u2019re currently promoting.<\/p>\n Take a cue from Glossier, one of the top beauty brands on social media<\/a>. Their current link leads to a curated gift guide on their website. It\u2019s safe to assume that after the holiday season, they’ll swap out the link with either their main homepage or another campaign. This is a great way to get the most value out of the website section in your Instagram bio.<\/p>\n If you have multiple things to promote at once, consider using a tool like Linktree<\/a> that acts as a single URL to house multiple links to different pages or pieces of content.<\/p>\n As for link formatting, no one wants to click on a lengthy link with a jumble of characters. Create a more clickable link by streamlining the look of it using a URL shortener like bit.ly<\/a>.<\/p>\n An overlooked element of your bio is the Instagram Stories highlights<\/a>. Though this section isn\u2019t technically part of the bio space, consider the highlights as an extension of your bio.<\/p>\n You can use this section to give current and potential followers more information about your brand and direct them to important topics that offer a deeper dive into what your brand is all about. Not to mention, highlight covers offer the opportunity to extend the look and feel of your branding which helps to create a cohesive image.<\/p>\n NYC-based yoga studio, Sky Ting<\/a>, makes the most of its Instagram Stories highlights section by creating numerous informative highlights to feature at the top of its page. Each highlight is labeled with a straightforward title that lets you know the type of information you can expect to find in each one from the studio\u2019s COVID policy to details for its online and in-person classes.<\/p>\n If you have certain products or services that you want to drive awareness to, highlights can be a great way to present that information right off the bat.<\/p>\n Savvy social media marketers know that if you really want to see how your brand stacks up to the rest, you need to conduct a social media competitive analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can compare Instagram bios manually within the platform, or you could use a social media analytics tool like Rival IQ.<\/p>\n![\"Oreo](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Oreo-IG-bio-700x205.png\")
<\/p>\nUse brand voice<\/h3>\n
![\"Truly](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Truly-IG-bio-700x235.png\")
<\/p>\nTo emoji or not emoji?<\/h3>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Color-me-Courtney-IG-bio-700x257.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Microsoft](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Microsoft-IG-bio-700x206.png\")
<\/p>\nInclude relevant keywords<\/h3>\n
![\"Meal](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Recipes-IG-bio-700x279.png\")
<\/p>\nLink dos and don\u2019ts<\/h3>\n
![\"Glossier](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Glossier-IG-bio-700x190.png\")
<\/p>\nStory highlights<\/h3>\n
![\"Sky](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Sky-Ting-Yoga-IG-bio-700x314.png\")
<\/p>\nHow To Analyze Your Instagram Bio<\/h2>\n
Compare with the competition<\/h3>\n
![\"Rival](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Rival-IQ-Social-Bios-Dashboard-700x380.png\")
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rivaliq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Freelancing-Females-IG-bio-700x203.png\")