You want to put your salon or spa in the best possible position for attracting new clients and getting more online bookings. The problem is, on Instagram, you have very little space to do this. The Instagram ‘Bio’ section only allows for 150 characters and your username must fit under 30 characters. And with 800 million users on the app, you’ve got to put all your chances of getting discovered on your side. We did some digging and found that all the best performing accounts have more than one thing in common. How does your Instagram business profile compare?
Does Your Instagram Business Profile Tick All These Boxes?
1. Easily Searchable Business Name
Crucial, yet often overlooked. Your business name is what most people will type in Instagram’s search bar. Assuming you’ve kept things simple and set this to your actual business name, the search results should show your profile straight away. The name will appear in gray under the profile’s handle.
However, things are a bit messier when your profile is built for your business, but you’ve set ‘Name’ to your actual name (for instance, Zoe). If a potential customer searches for your salon’s name they might not find you immediately, which increases the chances of them abandoning the search and moving on with their day.
To edit your ‘Name’ on Instagram, go to your profile page and click ‘Edit Profile.’ Type your desired salon or spa name on the line titled ‘Name’ and save.
2. Memorable Handle
Your handle is what people will be using to look you up on Instagram. Make sure it’s memorable and not overly complicated. One good way to test this, is to ask someone (in real life, let’s say a client) who doesn’t follow you to go on Instagram and search for your handle (say it out loud, don’t write or spell it out). If they can find you straight away, you’ve got yourself a memorable handle.
3. Branded Profile Photo
The first thing to know is that Instagram crops your profile photo into a circle. While you don’t have to stress about uploading a circle photo, ideally you’d want to upload a square one featuring your logo right in the center so that the corners can be cut off without cutting off your branding.
4. Website Link
Want people to be able to book online from Instagram? The website link space if the perfect place for your booking link – it’s the only place, apart from Stories for whitelisted accounts, where Instagram allows for a clickable URL. Plus, this way you can refer to it in your posts, using the “Link In Bio” approach, which we’ll discuss at a later stage.
You can sign up for a free Linktree account to help your followers discover all of your recent content. Linktr.ee gives you one bio link to house all of your content. All you have to do is paste in new URLs, then drag and drop the links to reorder.
5. Compelling Biography
Like your profile photo, your Instagram biography is one of the first things that people will see. Think about this space as a pitch. Who are you? What are you about or what’s your vision? Why should someone follow you? Don’t forget, this is where you keep it short: you only have 150 characters to sell yourself.
6. CTA Buttons (Email, Call, Directions)
If you have an Instagram Business Profile, make sure you activate your call-to-action buttons by inputting the necessary information (email address, phone number and address).
To learn how to switch from a regular profile to a business Instagram page, click here.
7. Notifications Are Turned On
What’s the point of having an Instagram account if you don’t interact with what’s going on in the channel? Make sure your notifications are turned on so that you don’t miss a thing and give yourself a chance to be social!
How-to: settings -> push notifications -> select what you want on or off.
8. Public Profile
As a brand, if your profile isn’t public, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. If you keep your profile private, anyone who visits your profile won’t be able to view your photos, which often can deter them from following you. Ensure that your profile is public by going to your settings (gear button on iOS and three dots on Android), and toggling the “Private Account” setting to off. If you’re using an Instagram Business Profile, your profile is automatically public.
9. High-Quality Photos Or Videos
Instagram is probably the most polished social media channel, on which people prefer quality over quantity everytime (opposite of Twitter). Not only should you upload good quality photos and videos, but also, stand out, use borders or complimentary colours when you post content. There are plenty of photo-editing apps to play with, but Pixlr and VSCO Camera are often the most popular. In short, be original, unify your posts and make sure your brand is easily identified.
To generate more engagement on your profile, try these 10 tips.
10. Consistency
Your profile will never be fully optimised if it’s not active. This doesn’t mean you have to post multiple times a day – again, Instagram users choose quality over quantity – but make sure you do post on a regular basis, and at the most opportune times for your account (an Instagram Business Profile will tell you this via the Insights). If you can create a backlog of photos so that you never run out of things to post, even better.
And, to learn why your captions are just as important as the photo you’re about to publish, click here.
It’s Not Too Late: Grow Your Business With The #30Days2Grow Salon Challenge!
Following its smash success in July last year, the #30Days2Grow challenge is back and aims once again at growing your revenue and your client base! Challenge yourself and join thousands of other salons to kick off spring with success!
From April 1st to 30th, 2018. Both registration and participation in the #30Days2Grow Salon Challenge are free. All you need is a little bit of drive, motivation and hunger for success!
Sign up here & catch up on the first 2 days: www.30days2grow.com
Got feedback? What has worked for you? Let us know either in the comments below or tweet us @ThePhorestWord! (Pssst! We’re on Instagram too!)
Thanks for reading! #LetsGrow