By Desiree Johnson, content writer at Bitly, with expertise in social management and branding.
Posting on social media can feel like you’re working through an anthill’s level of content whether that is ads, videos, stories or posts. Whether you’re an influencer, small business, or enterprise , it can be challenging to decide which links to promote on your Instagram. Do you go with your latest product release? What if you have a new blog to promote? Instagram leaves little room to get creative with the types of links you can put in your bio which is why you need a solution that is going to give you options. As one of the leading social media platforms that boasts over 2 billion active users and 50% of users visiting a website after seeing it in their stories, the limitations of your bio can be changed in an instant. Cue, link-in-bio.
Link-in-bio, three words that have helped revolutionize the way influencers, small businesses and enterprises have changed how they drive engagement towards dedicated pages. This handy link transforms your bio into a gateway of clickable links that can direct people to any series of pages with just a single click. You’ve probably heard “link-in-bio” being mentioned in online ads or posts from your favorite companies and influencers because they are looking to drive traffic towards their bio in order to direct you to a certain place. Every other social platform allows you to share any number of links from your posts to your bio but Instagram requires you to be selective and strategic. Most businesses don’t have the luxury to continuously change out the link every day and frankly it would mean that on any given day your audience is missing out on the opportunity to learn more about your brand, products, plans, etc. Still not ready to commit to a link-in-bio?
Read more below to discover all the innovative ways you can use link-in-bio to enhance your Instagram.
1. Send People To a Dedicated Landing Page
It’s very important for any business, brand or influencer to have a website where people can view their products and services. When you use link-in-bio you can create an option for people to head to a dedicated landing page. This can be extremely useful when you are looking to drive engagement towards collaborations, partnerships, limited sales or new content that needs visibility. For example, if Bitly was looking to promote awareness of their social media campaign guide with Sprout Social, they would create a segment on their link-in-bio to directly send customers to this page from their Instagram.
2. Share Your Brand Story By Showcasing Your “About Page”
An “About” page is one of the most important pages you can have on your website because it tells people who you are, what you represent and how you can help them. If you’re looking to connect with potential customers and create a bridge between your business and their wants, start promoting your “About” page. Link-in-bio can be customized to reflect whatever text you need so you can get clever and use phrases like “Learn About Us” or “Get to Know Us” as a fun way to encourage new and existing customers to learn more about you!
3. Highlight Your Best Accolades With a Portfolio
From LinkedIn to social media, there is never a shortage of places to promote your best work but creating a central portfolio can be challenging. Portfolios are an excellent way to highlight your skills, profession and thought leadership across your work history. If you haven’t got a chance to create a portfolio on an external site, you can use your link-in-bio to build out your portfolio. Instead of being limited by the character limitations to select a single piece of content to promote, you can use the link-in-bio to create a portfolio that you can customize and arrange based on your latest accolades. You can use your Instagram feed and stories to promote each new addition to your portfolio that you add to your link-in-bio.
4. Display Your Best-Selling Products
Every business or brand has a highlight reel of best-selling services and products that are the cornerstone of their sales line. If you are an enterprise company with tons of products to promote, it can be helpful to new and existing customers to understand what products stand out from the rest. Best-selling products can get a good chunk of space on a website but if you’re looking to feature them more prominently in your social media then link-in-bio is a great way to promote them. Most Instagram Business accounts allow users to also shop directly within the feed but using link-in-bio also provides an avenue to drive traffic to your website.
5. Offer a Free Sample or Demo of Your Product
The tried and true method for most new customers is getting a demo or free version of a product before committing to the whole package. When a visitor heads to your website they can often be overwhelmed with the vast amount of information that exists and may not be able easily access information about your product. Provide better access to your demo or free sample by adding a link in your bio so potential customers have direct access to your demo and get connected with your business quickly. As more people head to your demo you can use their contact information to generate leads and create targeted marketing campaigns to expand your audience.
6. Bring Awareness to Your Partnerships and Sponsorships
Influencers are the royal orators of partnerships and sponsorships which is why they love to use link-in-bio. On any given day we can see anywhere from 3-5 sponsored posts or partnerships and they can evaporate from our memory with the next quick swipe. If you want to show brand loyalty and provide an easy way for followers to access any of your partnerships, use link-in-bio to provide access to each individual link. You can customize your link-in-bio to reflect discounts and key details of your partnership in order to connect with the right audience.
7. Drive More Traffic To Your Latest Blog Posts
Who couldn’t use more visibility towards their company blogs? Blogs have evolved to include different media components to help enhance the content and finding ways to promote them is crucial to their success. If you’re creating regular blog content than email marketing alone isn’t the only method you should be using to gain readership, you can leverage your instagram. Amplify your link-in-bio by highlighting new blogs that can range from marketing content to product updates or featured guest posts.
8. Promote a Competition or Giveaway
Using social media is a great way to drive traffic and awareness to any current competitions or giveaways your hosting. Instead of reposting the same image in your feed weekly, you can encourage followers to sign up by heading over to your link-in-bio. This will prevent your feed getting cluttered up with temporary promotions and allow you to measure the amount of followers that are using your link-in-bio. This also allows you to keep your captions clever and short on your Instagram feed instead of creating a mile long caption that includes the mandatory rules and state regulations.
9. Send People to Your Other Social Media Accounts like TikTok or YouTube
In the world of social media, increasing your followers is a goldmine for standing out from the competition. Between TikTok, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc. people can get misdirected about what accounts your company has. Most websites feature iconography of their social accounts in the footer but it can easily be skimmed over or missed. Use link-in-bio to bring visibility to each official business account you use to help maximize your engagement and followers. You can interchange the order depending on what accounts need a little bit more attention.
10. Build Your Podcast Following By Displaying Your Latest Episodes
Podcasting is one of the most popular ways brands are connecting and building relationships with their followers. With the various platforms and streaming options available, you want to make it easy for your followers to tune in and listen. Add your podcast website or platform to your link-in-bio to generate traffic from your Instagram to the page. Instead of creating a brand new Instagram or continuously promoting new episodes via your posts, you can encourage users to check out your page with a simple click from your bio.
Don’t run the risk of losing your audience by only sending them to your website or hoping they’ll find your content or products elsewhere online. Start leveraging the power of link in bio today and start building brand awareness, driving traffic to your best content and attracting new followers.