While everyone else focuses on spring cleaning their home and their skincare routines, if you’re a small business owner you need to focus on spring cleaning your Instagram Profile.
Here’s Why: Keeping your profile optimized and updated is a super easy way to continue attracting your ideal follower.
I know you’re busy wearing a million hats, so I’ve compiled a 5 Step Instagram Profile Refresh that you can do in 30 minutes.
Grab a cup of coffee (or a cocktail if you’re reading this on spring break) and let’s dive right in!
5 Steps to Refresh Your Instagram Profile
STEP 1: Remove Inactive Followers
If you’ve been feeling like your reach has been really low lately, you’re likely needing to do some re-engagement with your community. With Instagram’s algorithm focusing on prioritizing content that users engage with, you might be getting lost in the scroll.
Don’t worry, I’m sure there are active users in your community who are wondering why they haven’t seen a post from you lately. To help improve your content deliverability, I’m going to walk you through how you can identify and remove inactive followers. Because if they’re not paying attention, it’s taking away your opportunity to reach the ones who are, okay?
Open your app, go to your profile view, click on your followers at the top and under categories, I’m almost positive you will see a section titled “Deactivated Accounts.” These are accounts that are showing up as followers on your page, however the account itself has been deactivated by the user. So it’s basically a ghost follower. Go through and click the “Remove” button next to everyone on this list.
For an extra deep dive, go through all your followers and manually remove accounts that look like bots or spam. To identify this type of account, look for unusual usernames, missing profile photos, and profiles with no posts on them.
Keep in mind: you will see a decrease in your following, however this is an effective way to get rid of followers who are negatively impacting your reach.
STEP 2: Update Your Bio & Profile Picture
When was the last time you changed your profile picture or updated your bio? My guess is you might have the same bio since you started your account, and chances are it’s outdated.
Let’s start with your profile picture. You want a clear, high-quality properly sized photo to start. Factor in your brand identity, and an eye-catching pop of color to make sure you stand out in search results and notifications. Make sure if you’re using your logo that its easily legible at a small size and from a distance. If you’re using a headshot make sure you’re smiling and have an inviting look!
Moving on to your bio. You want to make sure you’re making those 150 characters count. A well written bio is one that is crystal clear about who you are, what you do and who you help. It should give the user a reason to want to follow you, so don’t skip on personality and a strong call-to-action.
STEP 3: Clean Up & Update Your Story Highlights
Story highlights tend to be yet another overlooked part of your IG account that need to be updated regularly. The best way to clean up your highlights is to view them from the lens of your ideal follower. What would they think about a highlight with content that is 156 weeks old, or a highlight that only has 3 slides in it?
Take out any old content that might not be putting a recent best version of you in that category. And don’t be afraid to remove a highlight all together if it’s not one that you can add to on a regular basis. Next, add any new story content that is relevant to the highlight category. Keep in mind,making changes to your highlights will put the most recently updated one at the front of the list.
Remember, the best highlights are the ones that answer questions, highlight your offerings and showcase your value to prospective connections.
STEP 4: Archive Outdated Posts
Let’s face it, not every post has to live forever on your feed. And if you regularly post about time-sensitive topics, then you’ll definitely want to keep reading. Taking inventory of your content and looking at any post that doesn’t align with your branding or marketing direction, promoting an outdated offer or was a total flop engagement wise is 100% okay.
Sometimes we test out new ideas and they simply don’t get the response we were hoping for. Other times we try a new design direction and it ends up totally throwing off the aesthetics of your grid. You’re in control of your profile and can remove any post that isn’t putting your best foot forward.
The key here is to look at everything through the lens of your ideal follower. If it’s not resonating or if it’s not relevant then choose to archive it. And notice I’m saying archive and not delete. Because there is a difference. Archiving takes the post off your feed without deleting it.
If you’re looking to do an even deeper audit of your content and followers, check out our blog on Social Media Audit Tips & Tricks.
STEP 5: Pin Some New Content to the Top of Your Profile
The pinned post feature on your profile is definitely worth using. The fact that Instagram now allows you to determine which posts get priority is a game changer for making a follow-worthy first impression.
You want to make sure that you have your 3 most relevant posts pinned to the top of your profile. This can be a variety of content including: service offerings, testimonials, an about you post, a recently viral reel or the most recent part of a content series that you are publishing. The main idea here is that your pinned posts should be a continuation of your bio and highlights.
Remember: these are the first things your ideal follower is going to see and first impressions count. So don’t skip on this part of the refresh!
Looking for More of an Instagram Makeover?
If you’re reading through these steps and thinking to yourself, “This sounds great but I literally don’t even post to my feed or my stories enough to have content to do this with…”
At Let’s Bee Social, we have 10 years of experience specializing in social media marketing and content creation strategies that help small business owners grow their brand’s online presence. With more than 100 local businesses helped in nearly every industry imaginable, we can help you too!
Book a complimentary consultation call with our CEO & Founder Audrey today to discuss which service will be the best fit to take you from “I never have time and have no idea what to post for my business” to “I get so many compliments on my social media and have more leads than ever before!”