How To Write an ENGAGING Social Media Bio

How good is your social media bio and is it helping you get clients? If you’re not sure then this article is for you. We’re going to look at five big accounts and how they use their bios to stand out.

Before starting the research for this article, I had two major questions:

1. Do the bios of big accounts share any common traits?
2. Do they follow a specific framework when writing their bio text?

So let’s explore and find out if there is a secret formula behind their bios that you can replicate.

1st Bio: Full of Emotions and Personality Bio

When researching this topic, the first account that I came across was Ian Anderson Gray.

While scrolling on Twitter well as we now call it X and I really liked what he’s done with his profile.

First of all his profile picture is fantastic. Why? Because:

1. It’s full of emotion and personality – not just a standard headshot
2. His emotional expression makes him look friendly and interesting

Now we look at his bio text at X:

“Dad & Huband. Confident Live Marketing & Smart ADHD Podcasts. Helping you level up your impact, authority & profits through the power of Confident Live Video”

So here are my observations:

1. There’s a clear focus on his biotext. His bio clearly sums up what he does. He helps people become better at using live video.
2. It’s simple and easy to understand but he also added his personal touch to it. He mentions that he’s a husband and a dad making him more relatable just like a regular person and not just a business guy.
3. Interestingly, I don’t see a clear call to action in his bio text however he does mention his podcast and he also links to his podcast. In that sense, it is kind of a soft call to action.

Now let’s check if he uses the same bio on his LinkedIn account and guess what he doesn’t.

On LinkedIn, his bio:

1. More straightforward
2. More professional

He removed the Husband and Dad part and focused solely on what he does for other businesses and the link is different too. It doesn’t go to his podcast instead it goes to his website.

Tweaks like this make sense because he’s tailoring his bio based on the platform and the audience that’s following him on the platform.

2nd Bio: Straightforward Bio

Let’s look at example number two.

Next, we have Chris Brogan. Chris Brogan’s bio on X is very straightforward:

“Executive Coach. Author. Photos and Videos. Find me on LinkedIn. Or email: chris at chrisbrogan dot com. (Author, Chief of Staff, Speaker, etc.)”

He throws in the word “ETC” which is interesting because in marketing we’re taught not to use that word. Most marketing advice tells us to avoid the ETC and instead be clear and specific. But in Chris’ case, I guess, it works because he’s already built a big personal brand and his fans know what he’s doing. He must be comfortable with his reputation and doesn’t feel the need to spell out every detail.

On LinkedIn, Chris keeps his bio minimal. Just his role as chief of staff at Appfire and the quick clarification (not Talent OR HR related).

And I think on LinkedIn, what really grabs your attention is His Banner image.

It says we follow teams, not tools. It’s bold simple and clearly communicates his values and I noticed that he has over 3.6 th000 subscribers on his LinkedIn newsletter which is really good.

So I think this is a great example where we can see that once you have a big following, you can break certain rules or you can even do things that other people would say are “wrong” and it still works for them.

That’s why it’s important to look at smaller accounts that are currently growing very fast to see what’s working on a social media platform. However, if we only do that, what happens is that we all copy each other and many small accounts start to look like cookie-cutter accounts.

So I do believe there’s value in looking at unconventional accounts to get new inspiration.

Let’s go to the third example.

3rd Bio: Super Clear Strategy Bio

The next profile I came across is Chris Lema. Chris is a coach and product strategist and he makes that super clear in his bio here on X.

He’s also the founder of Cabo Press but then he throws in something unexpected “Smoker of cigars”.

That’s not something you usually see coaches mention right? Since smoking isn’t something that most people promote. Adding it here makes him seem very authentic and even though I don’t like any kind of smoking personally, I love the fact that he added it here.

But this got me curious, does he mention it also on his LinkedIn account and on his website?

On his website, no. No mention of cigars instead he’s listing many testimonials and it’s also not mentioned in his About Me section on the website.

On LinkedIn, it’s even more straightforward. It just says the CEO of Motivations AI which is the company he founded.

So again we see someone successful who switches things up based on the platform and audience. He’s more personal and quirky on X but keeps it short and professional on LinkedIn.

But there are two more examples that you need to see before I can show you a framework that you can use to craft your own bios.

4th Bio: Boss Mode Bio

Here on X, we have Jakob who already added part of his bio to his name: Jakob: Move or Die and considering that he only created his account in March of last year and he’s already amassed over 20,000 followers he’s definitely doing it right.

Jakob clearly chooses to display his authority to gain interest. The banner image clearly shows that he’s very capable of doing difficult movements and that he’s fit and also that he’s been doing this and teaching others since 2012.

Also, that move-or-die tagline, Jakob seems very intense which might be exactly what his fans like about him but repels all those who don’t like it which is good marketing. He’s also giving away an entire course for free to build his mailing list and he uses a clear call to action on his X profile.

Looking at his LinkedIn profile he keeps the same tone of voice he keeps the move or die tagline but it is much more condensed.

5th Bio: Big Bold Bio

Last but not least the is Steve here on X.

His bio says:

“Money, Confidence and Strength || Mission: Help 10M people achieve financial freedom || Learn how to steal the habits of millionaires in my free newsletter.

Join 38,000 plus people on millionairehabits.us.”

So here’s something new, we haven’t seen in the other bios yet and that is he has a clear mission.

He wants to help 10 million people achieve financial freedom and he’s also displaying his authority by letting us know that he already has over 38,000 people signed up for his newsletter.

So based on these examples, the most important takeaway is that you adjust your bio based on your platform and based on the audience that you want to attract.

Can you be quirky and personal and connect with people?

Do you want to be super intense and authoritative and repel all the people who don’t resonate with that?

Ultimately the best way for you to find out is by testing it and seeing who and which kind of people respond to you.

That is the big advantage that these big accounts have is they’ve already gone through this journey and in this process, they figured out how they present themselves to attract the people that they want to attract.

But for you just starting, here’s what I recommend:

1. Be very clear and concise in your bio text even if you do a lot of things pick one
2. Add something personal about yourself something that others can relate to you on a personal level
3. Don’t be boring in your profile picture and in your banner picture show something visually interesting so people stop and pay attention
4. Add a call to action to build your list

We have seen two examples here where:

1. Jakob he gives away an entire course for free just by signing up
2. Steve who teaches you the habits of millionaires in his newsletter

Create something actually worth downloading and then give that away for free and build your list. As long as you’re doing things on social media that help you build your list, you’re not wasting your time on social media.

If you’re already building an email list but you’re not quite sure what to do with your email marketing, read this article next where I help you exactly what to do with your email list.

My Three Takeaways

1. Successful accounts adjust their bios based on the social media platform and the audience. This approach ensures the content resonates with the target audience of each platform.
2. Encouraging followers to take a specific action, such as subscribing to a newsletter or downloading a free course, helps build your email list.
3. The bios of large accounts reflect a process of trial and error. Testing different styles helps determine what resonates with your audience.

And don’t forget to subscribe on my YouTube channel, @creategrowprofit