Real talk episode, guys. We’re going to talk about the three things on your Instagram profile that may very well be broken. I want to make sure that you are getting maximum value, so we’re going to talk about some things that I want you to consider. Now, I’m going to preface this with saying I’m going to try really hard to avoid using the word should because I don’t like you shoulding on yourselves, but there are some things that I want you to make an intentional choice around, whether it’s to do the thing I say or to do the thing somebody else says or to do the thing that nobody has told you to do but it just feels right for you, but I want it to be, again, an intentional decision. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.
I am really excited for this because we are full-fledged into the Rockstar Guide to Instagram inside of Hit the Mic Backstage. If you would like to join us, now is a super good time. We’re doing profile reviews this month. We are doing live Q and A calls. We’re working through the module week by week. I’m stoked. If you listened to this episode the day it went live, our live calls and profile reviews is tomorrow, Wednesday, June, I’m looking at the calendar, 13th. Oh, my lucky number, 13.
Anyhow, so pay attention. If you’re listening to this that day, get your butt in Backstage so we can do your profile review live on the call. If you were listening to this after that, still let me know and jump in and ask for a profile review, and I’ll do it, but that’s the thing I only do for Backstage members, so get in there, guys. Backstage. Hitthemicbackstage.com. Let’s go. That was me clapping if you heard that.
Anyways, it’s going to be one of those episode guys.
Setting up your Instagram Bio
I want to talk about three things currently broken in your profile, and we’re going to start with your bio. It’s really very valuable real estate right at the top of your profile. Guess what? I don’t care that it’s your bio. It’s not really about you. You need to give me right upfront a reason to be paying attention to you. Your bio is not for you, it’s for me. It’s for the person looking at your profile going, “Is this somebody I want to follow? Maybe. It this somebody I want to scroll down to the contents and see if they’re worth following?” Make sure that bio represents who you are and the value you provide to them in the context of what they need.
Remember, I’ve talked about this before, removing everybody from problem to solution. That’s our whole job. We need to identify that we’re the person worth listening to to move them a little further away from problem and a little closer to solution. Make sure that bio is, yes, a bit of your personality, but also really shows the value in following you. I want to make sure that you’re really speaking to again, that ideal client. We talk about this so much, but that’s where you’re making the decision.
If you were to go to my Instagram, and I’ll link it in the show notes, but it’s thestaceyharris. Again, shocking, I know, but my name, I start right up with a name in the bio area. It doesn’t say, Stacey Harris, because my handle is thestaceyharris. You know where you are. It says social media strategist because I want to right away establish who I am in the context of our conversation. Who I am and why it’s valuable for you. Stacey Harris means nothing. I mean I’m delightful but if you don’t know who I am then it’s way more valuable to who could I be for you? And so social media strategist is what it says.
And then my bio says noise for your social media for real results. That has nothing to do with me because it is again what I’m going to offer you. Now to add some personality I’ve got a little emoji with some cocktails, with some champagne glasses clinking. So I’ve added personality but again, I’m speaking to who are you.
The next line is post of Hit the Mic. Now I do use a hashtag here because, yes my loves, hashtags are searchable including in bios now. So it’s worth having that. If you have one you use on the regular. And then I’ve got a little mic because it’s Hit the Mic and this live show with a podcast. We’ve got a little mic. West coast girl with a soft spot for NYC with a black heart. Again, emoji adds some personality. This is again, this is a purely personality driven one. And then cocktails and conversations make me happy with a little martini glass. ‘Cause, well they do. But I talk a lot about conversation over conversion because for me that’s where the money is. That’s where the results are is in me having a real conversation with you. So I want to make that clear right up front. This is not about me spamming you with nonsense. This is about me connecting and having real quality conversations with you.
Then I’ve got my Linktree. And I really like Linktree because it’s going to allow me a clean clear space to provide that link in the bio called action in my posts but not choose just one link or not have to change that particular link all the time. It’s also prettier than a lot of my links. Also inside of Linktree I’m able to manage stats on how often certain things were clicked and what not. So there’s an incredible value there for me. And Linktree by the way has a free level. Great way to get started. There is a premium level as well but it’s not super required unless you want to up level some stats and things like that. Being able to pay full things, whatnot. But absolutely start with the free level.
But what you saw is it wasn’t sort of like, “I’m a speaker and podcast host and super awesome and buy this thing.” No. Now you can use that last line where I have cocktails and conversations make me happy with a call to action. And this is something I sort of I’ll delete that line back and forth and play with it. Sometimes it’ll be a straight call to action. If you’re in a launch mode and you’ve got something you’re seriously promoting right now, then absolutely if you’ve got a free training or a challenge or a masterclass that you’re using to drive sales, say, “Free templates for whatever,” with a little emoji pointing down and your Linktree and then that’s the top link in your Linktree. That makes total sense.
For me, I go back and forth. Sometimes if I’ve got a specific call to action that I’m really trying to drive traffic to I will call to action that in my bio. But other times I’ll just have that sort of personality-driven and I’ll let the call to action in my profile posts and in my stories where I say, “Link in bio.” I’ll really let that be what the call the action is. Either ways works. But notice that I’m utilizing this real estate to show the value I provide someone. The reason it’s worth paying attention to me. That’s what I want you to highlight ’cause that’s may very well be what’s missing from your bio right now.
What images are you using on Instagram?
Number two, your graphics. Now, I have a very templated look. That’s absolutely 100% not required. It’s how I choose to do it. I choose to have a sort of gallery feel and my personality on a whim stuff lives in stories. That’s the balance I have found. That is what has worked for me. That is what gets results for me. It’s not the only way to get results. There are a ton of people who I know including some of our clients who post when they are inspired to post and in between that they share stuff in stories. That 100% works. But I want you to make again, an intentional decision on which is going to work for you.
And it may be that you test and tweak. Maybe you try the formatted thing and it just doesn’t feel right. It just doesn’t work for you. You don’t create in that way. Cool. Then don’t do it. Maybe you, I have a hard time staying consistent when I don’t have that structure built up. So that’s why we have the structure built out. I like having the space to be creative in my stories and the structure to be consistent in my profile. That’s what works for me and that’s what gets results for me. Figure out which it is for you but I want you to make an intentional choice here one way or the other. I want you to decide one way or the other.
‘Cause what doesn’t work, what is broken is when you alternate between the two. Where you’ll go three days where you have this really structured formatted formula and then you post nothing for two weeks and you post random picture and a week later you post another random picture and then you go back to a slightly different formatted for two weeks. Find what works and be consistent in that space. It doesn’t have to mean daily. That doesn’t have to mean three times a day. We talked about this in a previous episode. I think it was the three things we need to know in June episode. That doesn’t mean that we are going to be on a certain timeline. Because with that algorithm there isn’t a decrease of timeline appearance or increase in the algorithm by posting too much or too little. It’s going to be harder to get engagement if you’re posting really, really infrequently but you can still get it and that’s what’s going to matter most, okay?
All right, so number two, making an intentional decision around that profile.
Should I Use Highlights on Instagram?
Number three, highlights. Highlights are great. Highlights are really cool way to share content. But don’t set them and forget them. These are something that need to be kept up. These are need to be cleaned up. These are something that need to be relevant. With that said, don’t get so caught up in your highlights that every other day the entirety of your story is new highlight covers. Now, there may from time to time be where you batch in highlight covers because you want to build something out. Maybe you went on a trip. Maybe you had a live event and you want to break down some highlights of that live event, your speakers, your event pre-party of post-party or whatever. Great. Then batch it.
But half of the stories that come out every other day should not be brand new highlight covers because now your highlights are not highlights. They’re a category of literally everything you’ve ever hosted. So find the rhythm. Again I come back to this terminology, we’re making an intentional choice around what goes into highlights. I have polled my audience a couple of times, most of them not super watching highlights. I don’t regularly watch highlights but I do occasionally watch highlights for somebody I’ve not followed before to get to kind of know them. Some context for who they are. Be aware of that when you’re paying attention to something that you know is going to be a highlight. Make sure that it makes sense even if I’ve not watched all the stories that come before or after it because when you’re highlighting out specific things, I may not have. You may not have highlighted those so I can’t see what came before or after it. So pay attention to that when you’re creating the original one.
I think the big takeaway from today’s episode is I want you to be making intentional choices and this is something across all of your marketing and your business to be honest but especially when it comes to your Instagram profile. It’s really easy to get caught up in the shoulds and then noise of experts and using air quotes right now. People who are telling you, “Do this, do that.” And you get pulled in a 1,000 different ways because you’re having a 1,000 different people tell you what to do on Instagram. What I’m telling you to do is very simple. Listen to whoever you want to listen to. I hope it’s me. Pick a voice, implement what feels right and try that for a little while. Then look at your numbers and if you’re not seeing what you want to see, or you want to see more or less of something, tweak that. Test it out. See how that goes.
But I want you to be making these choices intentionally. I want you to be actually making a choice. I want you to actually be thinking about how does this impact my growth? How does this impact my audience? Who is my ideal client? Who is my ideal Instagram follower? That’s where these decisions come from. Okay?
All right. Be sure to join us inside of Hit the Mic Backstage. Check out the Instagram guide, it’s a great way to up level your Instagram. Get some clear ideas on what you can be doing. Again we’re running it live this month. Our live calls are happening every Wednesday in June. I really hope you check them out. If you’re listening to this after June, the live call recordings are there and the VIP lounge, our private community is there to ask questions. So that you still have a lot of value even if you didn’t join us during the live period.
The big value is being able to jump on those live calls and ask us questions though. So if it is June and it’s still going on, take advantage of that. I’ll see you very soon backstage. Bye.
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