After what felt like a never-ending winter, we’re finally turning a corner.
The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer, and everyone is ready for a fresh start!
And what better way to kick off the season than with a bit of spring cleaning? Not just for your house but for your Instagram page, too. (No rubber gloves or feather dusters required!)
So, why should you take the time to clean your Instagram account?
Because things change.
You don’t want potential clients or customers to land on your page and see contact information, package details, or pricing that’s no longer relevant to your business. Your brand voice, your services, your target audience — your social media pages should accurately represent all these things, meaning you have to make adjustments accordingly.
By taking the time to clean up your account, you’ll purge the clutter that doesn’t represent your brand and give followers the clear information they need to learn about you and your business.
And the best part? it doesn’t take a lot of time or elbow grease to keep your social media pages fresh and up to date.
With just a little annual maintenance, you can clean up your Instagram page in no time!
Here’s how in five simple steps.
Step 1: Check your bios.
Your Instagram bio is capped at 150 characters, so make the most of them! Your statement should be clear and direct, and accurately reflect your brand and what you’re all about. If necessary, update your bio to include all the most up-to-date info about your business (website, phone number, email address, etc.) and add a new profile photo or logo if you have one.
Step 2: Delete or archive outdated posts.
Will deleting your old posts hurt your account? No. But leaving up old content that doesn’t represent your current brand, services, or pricing might. Scroll through your feed and delete posts that include information about contests, packages, or services that no longer apply to your business. And remember: If you don’t want to delete your old posts altogether, you can always archive them so they can still be accessed without showing up in your feed.
Step 3: Manage who you follow.
Who you follow reflects your brand almost as much as the content you put out, so it’s worth it to clean up the list of who you follow. Fortunately, Instagram makes this pretty easy by allowing you to sort by “most shown in-feed” and “least interacted with.” Start there and work your way through the accounts, unfollowing those that no longer align with your brand.
Step 4: Double-check tagged photos.
Where your account has been tagged also reflects your business, so do a little behind-the-scenes work and untag yourself from any posts that don’t make sense for your brand. You can do this by clicking the “tag” icon on your account page, tapping the three dots in the top right corner of any image, clicking “photo options” and then “hide from my profile.” Without alerting the account, the image will no longer show up in your tagged photos.
Step 5: Organize your highlights.
Instagram Highlights are a great tool for added engagement, but only if they’re organized properly. By adding Stories to your Highlights, you keep them accessible to your followers long term. (Stories only live on your feed for 24 hours unless you attribute them to one of your Highlights.)
These Highlights make it easy for your customers to find what they’re looking for in regard to your business. (What you’re about, past projects you’ve worked on, customer reviews, etc.) To ensure they’re easy to navigate, go through and clean up your categories, deleting unpopular ones and adding new categories for future Stories. (If you’re feeling extra ambitious, you can also create branded icons or images for your Highlights to align with the look of your business.)
To make this clean-up process easier, set a schedule for routine Instagram maintenance. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time but make some time once a year (or every six months if you can swing it) to review your profile and make any updates as needed.
And remember: If you’re strapped for time (and who isn’t’?!), an Instagram clean up doesn’t have to happen all at once. You can make changes slowly and subtly so as not to disrupt your feed too much. Simply update or delete the most important and/or obviously outdated information and content and your page will feel instantly improved!
So, who’s ready to get started? For even more information on how to set up your social media accounts, check out the resources below!
Social Media Checklist for Small Business Owners
6 Simple Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
3 Easy Ways to Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
