Instagram is the default method to showcase your portfolio in this industry. Not only that, but it is how you will get many of your clients, too.
In fact, the first interaction a client has with you may happen without you knowing. Say you have a good Instagram where you regularly post before and afters of your clients. Your hashtags are on point, too. Someone who is interested in microblading taps on the hashtag and find you. She will look through all of your profile and then she’ll have some questions:
“Where is this microblader located?” “How much does she charge?”
Your instagram profile should immediately address these questions. Get that client from perusing your profile to making an appointment with you!
If you are using Instagram for Business, that client will very likely convert. If, on the other hand, your content is all over the place and you don’t quickly address these questions, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to get clients.
In this post we’ll go over how to turn your Instagram profile into a money-maker with just a few simple tweaks.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that earn us a small commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. Just helps us run this blog better! =)
Step 1: Creating Your Instagram Business Profile
Start with Facebook
A few weeks ago, we went over how to create a kickass Facebook page in this post. You are going to need to create a Facebook page in order to get the most features for your Instagram business page.
In case you missed it, Facebook owns Instagram. Many of the business features Instagram offers come from the Facebook interface.
Create your business Facebook page, add all your contact information. If you have a brick and mortar studio or boutique, add your address. Once you’ve done that go back to Instagram.
If you don’t already have an account, create one. Make sure your @username reflects what you want to sell. “MicrobladingByCleo” for example. This will also help your visibility. If someone uses the keyword “microblading” and searches for “people,” they might find you.
If you already have an account, but it is not a business profile, you’ll need to turn that on.
Head over to the three dots on your feed. This will take you to your account options.
Make sure your profile is not set to private. This is super important. There is just no way to do business on Instagram with a private profile.
Now head over and tap on “Switch to Business Profile.”
This will bring up the Instagram Business Tools set up page. Here you will connect your Instagram account to that Facebook page you created. This allows you to add buttons with your phone number, email and location to your profile so that customers can reach you with the tap of a button. It will also give you access to Insights. Insights give you more information on your followers and how your posts are performing.
Log in to Facebook to your personal account and select the page you want to link to, then hit the arrow on the top right hand corner. Once you do that, your Instagram page will go from just showing your bio and your pictures, to looking like this:
See those pretty “Call,” “Email,” and “Directions” buttons? That’s your money maker right there.
Alright, now that we’ve turned our profile into a business profile, let’s take a look at the image above of @CelebrityGlamme and analyze what they’re doing right.
Logo
@CelibrityGlamme is using their logo as their profile picture. This is very good because it makes the page look professional. If you don’t have a logo for your business, you should.
Contrary to what you might think, getting a professional-looking logo is not expensive. You can use services like Fiverr that offer any kind of Logo Design for just $5.
We suggest you make a logo regardless of whether you want it to be the profile picture for your Instagram page or not. You will need to use it for your website, business cards, If you don’t mind the spotlight, make yourself the image of your business. People like to know who is behind a brand and it makes it more relatable.
Category
Notice that @CelebrityGlamme is displaying “Beauty, Cosmetic & Personal Care” under their username. This comes directly from the Facebook page linked to that account and is one of the key differences between a business and a personal profile.
Bio
Your bio is the section of your profile that people will immediately read once they tap on your username. Here you have 150 characters to shine. Use these characters to let clients know what you specialize in.
No need to write your address or your website. That information will be automatically added if you have it on your Facebook page and it does not take up characters in your bio.
If you want to add or change your contact information, go to the “Edit Profile” option in the account settings. Click on “Business Information” tab and then edit your “Contact Options.” You might not have to do this if you filled it out in your Facebook page.
Bio Link
You only get one bio link, so make the best out of it. Sure, you can direct users to your regular website, but from experience, that usually doesn’t drive conversions. Many salon owners use Square to direct users to a booking interface. This works extremely well. In a few taps of the screen, you have managed to drive that user to book an appointment with you. That does a lot better when compared to just putting your website and making users navigate through it to get to the booking part. Remember, you want to make everything as easy as possible for your audience. Fewer taps = more conversions.
Step 3: Content
Now that you’ve got your Instagram page all set up you’re going to need to publish something. Pictures are what drives Instagram, after all.
What to post, though? Here are a few ideas:
- Before and Afters of your clients
- Eyebrow prepping/consultation
- Pictures of the products you sell
- You! People like to see who’s behind the brand.
- Inspirational/funny quotes
- Sketches of brows
- Your business card
- You can even get a little personal and post pictures of your family. So long as it doesn’t overrun the business content.
Stories are a newish feature that Instagram recently added. If you know anything about Snapchat, it’s basically that. Stories aren’t mean to be perfect, as they disappear within 24 hours. Get creative with these! The benefit to your business is that it increases your visibility.
When you publish a story, it automatically appears in the top part of your followers feeds. With time, the Instagram algorithm will learn which accounts you engage the most with and place those at the beginning. These are some of the things you can do with stories:
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- Boomerangs. These are a special feature that makes a videos loop. It’s pretty fun!
- Rewind. Lets you play a video backwards.
- Filters. People love these! Why not say hi to followers while wearing bunny ears and a bunny nose?
- Use stickers to show a hashtag or your location.
- Post existing pictures! Just activate your Instagram camera and swipe up where you see the option menu. See the video below to see how.
There are many things you could post. The key is to post often. There is no way to grow your account and get attention if you don’t post. Rule of thumb is you should try to post 2-3 times per day.
We use Canva to create high quality, engaging pictures for our feed. It’s a free tool that allows you to create beautiful graphics for any use in a matter of seconds.
Step 4: Growing your Account
Posting content is just one part of crafting a great Instagram business profile. The second part is getting it to grow. The more people follow you, the greater your exposure.
Scheduling
If you’re not too much into social media and you think you won’t be at your phone 2-3x a day to post content daily, don’t worry. You can use tools like Planoly to schedule your content all at once.
Planoly allows you to drag and drop media into a calendar directly from your desktop. When it’s time to post, Planoly will send you a notification and you’ll just have to hit publish. Instagram doesn’t allow automatic posting, so this is as much as you can go around that.
Hashtags
No Instagram tutorial would ever be complete without the mention of hashtags. Hashtags are HUUGE for Instagram. Basically, if you’re not using hashtags on your posts, no one is going to ever find them.
Each hashtag you post has a specific feed with the top posts with that hashtag and the most recent ones, too. It’s important to diversify your hashtags and not always use the same ones. That way you reach other potential clients.
With this guide we have created for you, growing your Instagram should be a breeze. Just use the hashtags there and remember to post often.
Growing your Instagram is a huge plus for your business. Not only does it give you massive visibility, but it connects you to future clients and other professionals. If grow your account really big, into the thousands, you’ll be considered an influencer. That means you could be paid to feature certain products or companies.
Alright, everybody! Thank you for tuning in. Let us know what you think. And don’t forget…
Until next time!