Edit and maintain your profileIt’s pretty easy to set up your Instagram bio and profile. You should keep some things in mind if you want to use Instagram to its fullest potential.
Profile Image
Ensure your profile photo is appealing and conveys the brand image and identity. You can choose a unique graphic, logo, band photo, or headshot.
Make sure it is a square with no important details at the corners. Don’t let anything get lost in the cropping of Instagram.
Check out our guide to social media image sizes for more information!
Verify
Verifying your Instagram account will also help increase your Instagram profile’s authenticity and legitimacy.
Request verification, and include information about yourself and your music and links to any notable press coverage you have received so far.
Your Bio
You can edit your bio at any time.
The link is probably the most important element of your bio. Make it count because Instagram does not like links, and your bio is where you can share them with your followers.
Whether you link to your latest album or show tickets doesn’t matter. What matters is that it links to what you think is important. When you share something, include “link in bio.”
Consider using your bio for cross-promotion. Include links to other social media accounts, such as Twitter and TikTok, to help direct traffic to Instagram.
Your bio will help you to attract concert promoters and potential managers.
Linktree, for example, is a free tool that consolidates all your links into one webpage. This URL can be used in your bio to link to all of your important stuff at once. This is a simple way to link to all your important content from your Insta profile. It also bypasses the platform’s “one link” rule.
When you distribute music with Ditto, you will receive a free Ditto SmartLink, which you can include in your Instagram bio. This link contains links to your most recent releases on multiple platforms.
Linktree is a tool that Ditto uses to organize all of its important links into one place. Link to it in our Instagram bio!
Posting great content
It’s obvious, right? What exactly is “great” content?
This depends on both you and your audience.
What makes great content?
You can use backstage photos, videos of your performance, memes, inspirational posts, or even pictures of your heroes.
It’s not important how you respond, but rather what your audience thinks. Use your audience knowledge to produce content that you know will be appreciated. Keep it real, authentic, and engaging.
TIP: Always try to include a teaser video of your music in the first six posts. You can use this to ensure that potential followers checking out your Instagram profile get a sample of your music immediately without them having to scroll too far.
Take inspiration
You can get inspiration by looking at the Instagram accounts of other musicians and artists you admire.
Don’t copy them. This is not cool. Take the stuff that they post and make it yours.
Look the Part
Invest time in improving your graphic design abilities. Ensure all your album art and graphics are professional, eye-catching, and reflect a consistent and slick brand identity.
If you have Photoshop, that’s great! There are other options if you don’t have the money to pay for a Creative Cloud subscription. GIMP, or in-browser design tools like Pixlr.
Photoshop is powerful & popular, but there are free design tools.
Plan and schedule your time
It can be beneficial to plan your Instagram feed and schedule posts ahead of time.
It’s possible to create content on the spur of the moment, but not always. This is especially true when posting content for your stories.
If you have a tour or album launch, scheduling and planning in advance is an excellent idea. You can plan and create your graphics and posts in advance and schedule them for a certain time.
Many of the services and tools for Instagram scheduling are free, including Hootsuite and Buffer. You can try them all out to see which one you like best.
Use hashtags
Using hashtags is a great way to get new Instagram followers.
Don’t be afraid to use hashtags when you are just starting. Many Insta users use hashtags to search for accounts to follow based on their interests, so you should always add as many as possible.
You can use up to 30 hashtags, but you should start with 10-20 as you build your following. If you use too many hashtags, your posts may lose their authenticity.
TIPS: Hashtags work better if posted as comments rather than the actual post.
Selecting your hashtags
What hashtags should I use
You should choose hashtags that align with your persona and music. So, for example, if you’re an indie band – use #IndieMusic #IndieRock #LiveMusic. You can also use hashtags to find nearby locations, similar artists, or anything relevant to your music.
Check out an online generator if you are struggling with hashtags. Type your music genre, click generate, and watch as hashtags appear.
Tell Instagram Stories
Every day, more than 500 million Instagram Stories are viewed and posted. It’s a great tool for musicians to communicate with their fans and share updates.
Stories can be used to promote almost anything. You just released a new music video? What a great story! Have you got a gig this evening? Share your story from backstage! You just bought some new gear? Why not write a short story about it?
These stories are more spontaneous and give your fans a real look into your life and musical journey.