3 steps to a branded Instagram

As you likely know, Instagram remains one of the best platforms for social marketing today. Below we’ve put together our guide for 3 steps to a branded Instagram:

Step One: Optimize your profile.

• Make sure your profile is a business profile. I know you’ve heard that you see better engagement as a personal profile but it’s not true and you’re giving up ALL the insights of a business profile that are IMPERATIVE to a successful IG strategy.

• Keep your username simple. Use your business name whenever possible or add your city name to it if you’re locally focused or what you do on the end. For example, when we created our Instagram @goodonpaper was taken so we’re @goodonpaperagency

• Include your contact info. Business address, business phone and email should all be included. Or 2 of the 3 depending on your biz (Ie a restaurant MUST include their address and phone but maybe doesn’t need an email address but a solopreneur may be able to skip the phone number or the address if they don’t have a physical location).

• The bio. See step two.

Step Two: Work the bio.

• First of all, include your web address.

• Secondly, you want to use strategic key words for discoverability but please don’t keyword load. A prime example of this is the Miami restaurant, Wynwood Kitchen & Bar. They hit the keywords: Miami, Wynwood, Restaurant, Latin but they put them in a sentence to speak to their visitors as humans and not Googlebots.

• If you service locally (ie: you’re a restaurant, a hair salon, a retail store etc.) ALWAYS include your city at minimum and ideally your full address. It needs to be crystal clear when a user finds you where the heck you are.

• Use your URL for your website. There are exceptions to this rule but 9/10 times it should drive to an ownable property.

Step Three: Be true to your brand.

• Your grid should look and feel like your brand. If your brand colors are soft pastels, you’ll want photos the same color palette. Plan, shoot and edit your imagery in line with your brand’s colors.

• The caption should capture the brand’s voice. It should speak to users where they are with a clear personality and tone that matches all other marketing touchpoints (website, flyers, etc). This will give consumers a clear idea of who your brand is as a whole and creates consistency to make the user feel connected to the brand.

• Relevance. Do/post/say nothing that is not directly relevant to your brand no matter how viral it is or if it’s national dog day or anything else. If it’s national dog day and you sell dog clothes, hop on it. If it’s national dog day, you love dogs but your business is a hair stylist – skip it.

Instagram has MAJOR potential to drive business. It’s all in how you use it. If you have any questions on the above or want to talk about something we suggested more in depth, feel free to reach out.