Your Instagram bio is your opening statement. You get a few seconds to make your case before someone keeps scrolling.
People are swiping SO fast on social media. When someone sees a piece of your content, hears you speak somewhere, or gets your name from a friend, they go to your Instagram profile. Your bio is the first thing they see, and it has a few seconds to tell them what you do, who you help, and how you stand out.
That’s why we see the Instagram bio as one of the best places to start practicing your positioning online. You can get something up quickly, without building a whole website, and start communicating to the public who you are and what you do.
This is the first post in our Instagram Tips for Social Impact Leaders series. And no, this is not an Instagram influencer training. It’s for people who know they have a mission and a bigger purpose calling them, and who see the opportunity to build it online.
Why experts and changemakers need to be on Instagram
Most experts – lawyers, doctors, consultants, health professionals – are hanging out on LinkedIn or in their own networks and communities. It’s comfortable there. There are other people like them. But it’s not getting their expertise and vision out to the greater public.
Compare the numbers: LinkedIn has about 310 million monthly active users. Instagram has about 3 billion. Facebook and YouTube have similarly large audiences.
LinkedIn can become a silo. If we want people leading business for good, innovation, and social change to influence more people, we need to get our ideas out on these larger platforms – where we can reach people throughout the world for free and share our thought leadership and expertise.
Your Instagram bio is your mini-positioning strategy
Your positioning strategy is much more than your Instagram bio. But your bio is a great place to test it. Here are three things to think about as you write yours.
1. Highlight the one credential or experience that makes you stand out
Your bio shouldn’t read like a resume. Instead, ask yourself: is there one piece of your multidimensional professional and personal experience that is highly relevant to what you do and makes you different from others in your space?
For example, Adina’s Instagram page is about business strategy for social impact leaders. Being an attorney makes her different from other business coaches online, so it’s featured in her bio – even though she isn’t selling legal services there. It’s part of her positioning, not the whole story.
Think about what that is for you. It might come from your professional background, your personal background, or your lived experience.
2. Call in your ideal client with the words they use
Give people a taste of who you’re talking to and who you help. Think about the words you’d use to describe your ideal client – how they identify themselves, or how they’d like to see themselves as they grow in the area you help with.
When those words are in your bio, the right people know you’re there for them.
3. Show what you help with: health, wealth, or relationships
There’s an old-school marketing saying that every human desire falls into one of three core areas: health, wealth, and relationships.
Which category do your offers, services, and expertise fit in most? For us, both Immigrant Finance (financial education) and our business strategy work fall into wealth – we help clients make more money and more impact so they can change the world.
Choose your lens and let your bio reflect it.
Get personalized feedback on your positioning
Nailing positioning is one of our favorite things to help clients with, because it’s what makes you stand out when people are scrolling so quickly.
The easiest way to get started is a Brand Positioning Audit. Within 20 minutes of audio messages, you’ll get insights, shifts, and strategies on how to communicate and convey your expertise online.
Book your Brand Positioning Audit
Join the conversation
What are you thinking of highlighting in your Instagram positioning? Head over to the video on YouTube and tell us in the comments. Share your Instagram link too, so you can connect with other people who want to make an impact online.
More Instagram tips are coming in this series – subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss the next one.
