Optimising Your Instagram Profile – for Health & Wellness Entrepreneurs Online

Are you confused how to optimise your Instagram profile? I know, there are a number of coaches and mentors out there right now, talking about how to optimise your social media profiles. So in the next few weeks I’ll be covering these, one by one.  You see, I’m not just a degree qualified marketing strategist with 25 years under my belt. I’m also a qualified naturopath who ran a successful clinic for a decade, generating multi six-figures every year.  I’m going to share with you what I’ve learned so you can optimise your Instagram profile and start making meaningful connections online.  Follow my step by step framework and make and impact on Instagram today!

Step 1: Bio – Clear, Concise & Impactful 

Your bio is the first impression visitors get of your Instagram profile, so it’s important to make it count. Craft a clear and concise bio that communicates who you are, what you do, and the value you offer. Incorporate relevant keywords and include a call-to-action (CTA) that encourages visitors to take action, such as visiting your website or signing up for your newsletter.  I’ve added a screen shot of my bio as an example.  See how you immediately see who I am, who I help and how I help them – your profile needs to do that too.  Use a linkbio to direct visitors to your content and offers – your goal here has to be to get them on your email list.

Note on link bios – you don’t have to use LinkTree for this. You can create one on your own website simply using a new page and buttons linking to your offers & content.  Canva also has options which look amazing, search for linkbio in Canva to find their templates.

Step 2: Consistent Branding, Colours & Elements

Consistency in branding is key to creating a recognizable and cohesive Instagram presence. Use your brand’s logo, colour palette, and fonts to create a consistent visual identity. Ensure that your profile picture aligns with your brand and represents your professional image.

For best consistency, I recommend keeping your profile image the same across all your social media platforms, so visitors can instantly recognise you, regardless of what platform the are on.

The image below is a screen shot from my feed. You’ll notice how the colours in my bio image (the pink jacket in particular) flows into the colours used in my highlight covers & posts.   

Step 3: Create A Visually Appealing Feed

The profile grid is the visual representation of your brand on Instagram. Your grid or feed needs to be interesting to capture the attention of visitors. Remember when they find you, it will be in THEIR feed, so you’ll need to stand out among the clutter that is their own feed.  Hence why you’ll see me use very bold colours like those above, that really stand out.

A few points of note here:

– I don’t advocate a “puzzle” feed. Although they look good for 9 or 12 posts, after that they can look very messy. They are impossible to maintain long term

– keep things consistent, use the same fonts and colours on your social feed as you do on your website and use consistent fonts across all your posts to ensure a consistent brand shines through

– alternate the types of content, use quotes, inspirational items, educational, mic drop moments, client reviews, lifestyle snippets and more, to keep your feed interesting

– consider how your feed will look once it’s posted, even use a grid layout planner (Canva has a mock up template you can use).  This will help you see how the feed appears and be sure there is light and shade. For example, a basic foundation of my feed is that every second post has a picture of me. That way I stay top of mind.

Step 4: Highlight Your Expertise

Incorporate your expertise and unique selling points into your content and captions. Showcasing your knowledge and providing valuable insights will help you position yourself as an authority in the health and wellness industry. Use captivating captions that resonate with your audience and provide them with actionable tips and information. 

Remember to be clear about your expertise in your bio and use the highlight covers to feature important aspects of what you do and how you help.

Step 5: Leverage Instagrams Features & Benefits

In great news, in 2023 Instagram announced a return to it’s grass roots as an image-first platform! They are keeping video elements in reels and Instagram video (which replaced IGTV), but prioritising image content again – breathe a sign of relief for that!  

The other great thing is right now, the content that is getting the most traction are real and authentic posts, not the polished and professionally photographed types! So again, we can relax and go back to making our own content, thank goodness!

That said, video content is still doing really well so it’s worth spending some of your marketing time creating some.  These features can skyrocket your reach, engagement and followers.  Remember though, follower numbers doesn’t correlate with your income – I’ve had practitioners come to me with huge follower numbers who weren’t making a dollar, and others clients with tiny audiences I’ve supported to make multi six-figures.  

Reels can be a great way to share health related quick tips, like “the top 5 ways to improve sleep”, or “how to overcome IBS naturally”.  These can also be repurposed to other platforms, like Tiktok, Youtube shorts and Facebook reels and stories.

Step 6: Don’t Post & Run, Engage With Your Audience

Don’t be a slave to your socials! Allocate 10mins at the start and end of the day, to check your socials & engage with comments.

Engagement is crucial on Instagram. Respond to comments, answer questions, and interact with your followers regularly. Take the time to explore relevant hashtags and engage with posts from your target audience and industry peers. Building genuine connections and fostering a sense of community will help strengthen your brand and attract loyal followers.

That said, I don’t want you to be a slave to your socials either! Allocated 10mins at the start and end of each day, to jump in and engage. That is really all it takes.

Another key point here is that Instagram doesn’t gauge the quality of your post or the content, just the fact that you’re there.  So posting more consistently and regularly is the key to winning on Instagram! I’ve seen brands explode on Instagram, purely by flooding their feed with content. 

Great Tips Cass, But How Many Times Should I Post?

The short answer is, there isn’t a short answer….

The holy grail of online marketing – how many times do I post on [insert platform of interest!].  The short answer is, there isn’t a short answer.

I believe in holistic marketing, which is marketing crafted to suit you, your business, your life and all your other commitments.  Many practitioners have family commitments and other work responsibilities, so you need to create a marketing plan that will fit in with your life, to avoid overwhelm and burning yourself out.

What if I said that posting 30 times a day was the answer – but that’s not achievable for you? So the key is finding a level of consistency that is achievable for you, and doing that. 

The rule of thumb I will give you, after being on these platforms since their inception and helping hundreds of practitioners over the years with their marketing, I would post here a minimum of three times per week.  Any less than three times a week, isn’t going to gain you any traction and probably isn’t worth it.

If you can make it happen, daily would be great and you’ll see vast improvements in the traction you’ll get, but I know that’s not something everyone can do. I personally like to post on Instagram twice per day, 7 days per week (which is why batching and scheduling in advance is so important).

Thanks for being here and reading this post! If you found it valuable please share it on your socials, or forward it to a practitioner friend who would benefit from the information.  If you’d like to learn how to market your practice the right way, Marketing Mastery is launching again in July.  Jump over here to check it out and register for the waitlist.

Till next time,  Cass 🙂