How rock your social media bio

In order to establish authority and trust on social media it’s very important to write a professional sounding social media bio for your profiles. When someone finds your account and is deciding whether or not to start following you, they’re going to read your bio to see what you’re all about. It will take them less than two-tenths of a second to form an impression of your account. They will then make up their mind to follow or not based almost entirely on your bio. So you’d better make sure it sounds compelling.

 

How do you ensure that your social media bio rocks?

Profile picture

O.k. so before we dig into the dos and don’ts of the words part, let chat about profile pictures. This picture needs to be of YOU, your face, not your kid, your dog, you and your 3 best mates or your business logo. People connect with real people and they can only connect with you if they see your beautiful face. There have been loads of studies on the most effective profile pictures, one found that people can make an aesthetic judgment in just 17 milliseconds…. 17 milliseconds..

 

Here’s an overview of the best practices for choosing the best profile picture:

1. Smile which shows your teeth.
2. Dark suits, light coloured button down shirt (obviously this would depend on your industry!).
3. Jawline with a shadow (?!).
4. Head-and-shoulders/head-to-waist photo.
5. Smiling eyes (smizing as Tyra Banks would say!).
6. Asymmetrical composition – think rule of thirds and you’ll be fine.
7. Eyes fully visible .

 

And things to avoid:

• Hats
• Sunglasses
• Laughing smile
• Sexiness

If you want to test out some profile picture options you can always upload your image to photofeeler.com and the audience will vote and grade your image on the % you’re seen as Influential, Likeable, Competent etc.

 

Be concise

Brevity is key on social media. For example, on Twitter you only have 160 characters for your bio. Your bio is just an introduction, a snippet that reflects the most important information you want people to know about you.

 

Professional vs Personal

If this is a business account and you’re trying to attract customers, network or otherwise build yourself a reputation then you should make sure to use a professional tone. That means avoiding flippant remarks, using professional terms and checking your spelling and grammar. Just a little personal thrown in for good measure won’t hurt though – remember that social media is personal in nature.

Clarity

Make sure you avoid using lots of jargon and buzz words. Your objective is not to sound clever here – you want to be clear and precise about what it is that you do and not dress it up with buzzwords like ‘synergy’, ‘integration’, ’emerging markets’. Less is more, so be frugal with your use of words and use short sentences – especially if there’s a word limit.

Think about your audience

If you’re still having a hard time finding your ‘tone’ then imagine your ideal customer avatar and keep them in mind when you’re writing. Maybe you even know someone in real life who fits into the right demographic. Then imagine you’re writing directly to them.

 

Be original

This can sometimes be tricky, but if possible try to avoid following the crowd and make your bios stand out. You can sometimes add in some humour to make your bios engaging.

 

Don’t repeat yourself

On LinkedIn you’ll have a chance to show your accomplishments later on. On Facebook, you can include details about your business in other sections. This should be an overview that is efficient in telling people who you are – and that efficiency means avoiding covering ground that will be addressed later.

Outsource

Still struggling? Don’t worry, not everyone is a born writer and that’s fine. Just make sure that if you don’t have that natural ‘voice’ that you don’t just ‘make do’ with what you’ve got. Hiring a professional to write your bio shouldn’t be expensive and it will result in a much more professional sounding and engaging experience for your visitors. You might be able to find someone who can do this for you on Fiverr.

 

Be targeted

You can use targeted hashtags in your bio to both show what you do and make your bio appear in search results. Make sure to use words specific to your particular niche (“blogger,” “strategist,” “web designer”) that will attract others too.

 

Emoticons

Depending on your industry/niche it might be appropriate to include some emoticons. These can add fun and emphasis to your bios and also they can be used instead of works and take up less characters than words do, which can be useful.

 

Use Social Proof

You can use your accomplishments to add that valuable social proof. Mention significant awards and recognition to stand out from the masses.

 

Be authentic 

Write in the first person and just be genuine, it will make you seem like a real person and not just a social media profile.

 

Give a clear benefit

Answer the potential followers question of ‘What’s in it for me?’ Why should they follow you? How will it benefit them.

 

Be strategic 

Use the link in your bio to get people to opt in to your mailing list by offering them a free product or download.

 

Do you think your bio reflects you accurately? Would you follow you based on the strength of your social media bio?