MajorsJun 08, 2026
Stuller Expands Selection of Lab-Grown Diamonds, Demi-Fine JewelryThe jewelry manufacturer has added Taylor Swift-esque diamond shapes, and more silver, gold vermeil, and gold-plated jewelry.
ColumnistsAug 19, 2020
Creative Connecting: Make Your Social Media Bio Stand Out
Duvall O’Steen and Jen Cullen Williams share pro tips for filling out those profiles on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.
Duvall O’Steen, left, and Jen Cullen Williams, right, are independent communications strategists and senior consultants for Luxury Brand Group. They can be reached at DuvallOsteenNYC@gmail.com or Jen@JenCullenWilliams.com.
According to the 2020 Sprout Social Index, released in May, 90 percent of consumers say they buy from brands they follow on social media.
Consumer loyalty also is enhanced by social media, with 75 percent of the 1,028 consumers surveyed reporting they will increase their spending with a brand they follow on social media.
As consumer buying behavior continues to evolve, more consumers are making stronger and more lasting decisions about brands and professionals based on their social media presence.
The first impression people have when checking out a brand or professional on social media is their bio or profile.
So let’s take a look at some pro tips that can help brands and industry professionals create impactful bios that capture attention and even inspire visitors to act.
Instagram
First, make sure your account is a public profile, not private, to make it easier for people to find you when searching.
According to Relevance.com, it is also wise to use keywords in the name field to help with SEO: “While most people fail to pay attention to the name, it is the name field that makes up the first 30 characters of your Instagram bio and is an excellent source of helping you with SEO.”
Also, Instagram is the most visual of all the social media platforms, so a professional photo in the profile is a must. Brands can use visual graphics, like their logo.
Instagram limits the bio to only 150 characters.
Kristy Hurt, founder of Kristy Hurt Consulting and the Co-lab and formerly of LVMH, advises to “be specific, brief and clear.”
In as few words as possible, explain what differentiates you or your brand from others. For example: “WeWork provides you with the space, community and services you need to make a life, not just a living.”
For jewelry specifically, include keywords that are relevant for your brand such as “by women for women,” “artisan jewelry,” “inspired by architecture and nature,” etc.
Most importantly, include a call to action.
The bio text appears right above the website on Instagram, so the call to action could relate to the link, e.g., “Discover our award-winning designs,” “Explore our collections” or “Shop our feed.”
The call to action can be updated as needed to highlight special promotions, events or product launches.
Including a hashtag in your bio makes it a clickable link so that people can explore and follow the hashtag
Consumer loyalty also is enhanced by social media, with 75 percent of the 1,028 consumers surveyed reporting they will increase their spending with a brand they follow on social media.
As consumer buying behavior continues to evolve, more consumers are making stronger and more lasting decisions about brands and professionals based on their social media presence.
The first impression people have when checking out a brand or professional on social media is their bio or profile.
So let’s take a look at some pro tips that can help brands and industry professionals create impactful bios that capture attention and even inspire visitors to act.
First, make sure your account is a public profile, not private, to make it easier for people to find you when searching.
According to Relevance.com, it is also wise to use keywords in the name field to help with SEO: “While most people fail to pay attention to the name, it is the name field that makes up the first 30 characters of your Instagram bio and is an excellent source of helping you with SEO.”
Also, Instagram is the most visual of all the social media platforms, so a professional photo in the profile is a must. Brands can use visual graphics, like their logo.
Instagram limits the bio to only 150 characters.
Kristy Hurt, founder of Kristy Hurt Consulting and the Co-lab and formerly of LVMH, advises to “be specific, brief and clear.”
In as few words as possible, explain what differentiates you or your brand from others. For example: “WeWork provides you with the space, community and services you need to make a life, not just a living.”
For jewelry specifically, include keywords that are relevant for your brand such as “by women for women,” “artisan jewelry,” “inspired by architecture and nature,” etc.
Most importantly, include a call to action.
The bio text appears right above the website on Instagram, so the call to action could relate to the link, e.g., “Discover our award-winning designs,” “Explore our collections” or “Shop our feed.”
The call to action can be updated as needed to highlight special promotions, events or product launches.
Including a hashtag in your bio makes it a clickable link so that people can explore and follow the hashtag
Editors' Picks
Sponsored by
instantly. This gives new customers a chance to see user-generated content where your customers may have posted using your hashtag.
If you are a professional and not a brand, consider creating your own jewelry specific hashtag. Then use it with every relevant post so that people can easily click that hashtag in your bio to see all the posts.
You can also get creative by using fun emojis in your bio on Instagram to help create a mood or vibe.
Pre-pandemic, JetBlue had the airplane emoji in their bio and then the camera emoji for their call to action, “Tag us in your JetBlue moments @jetblue.”
In emergency or unusual circumstances—like COVID-19—social media is an easy way to communicate immediate and current information to your customers.
Include your special operating hours or offerings, like curbside pickup, in your bio. It is quick and easy to change, and it ensures to customers you are available and open for business.
Also, if you have multiple websites or pages within your website where you want to drive traffic (for example, your blog and home page), consider setting up a Linktr.ee account.
Linktr.ee is a free tool that allows you to include multiple links, optimizing your traffic from Instagram. Visitors to your profile can easily access your Linktr.ee and click on any link from there.
Be sure to use the contact buttons on your Instagram profile, as well, but note that these are only shown in the app view, not the web view.
Many brands ignore them, but the contact buttons can make you more accessible to new customers as well as guide customers to your preferred method of contact.
For example, if you are a wholesale brand, you can include an email address and/or a phone number but avoid the physical address since you do not sell directly.
Retailers should always use the physical location so they come up in local searches.
Lastly, if your brand has multiple Instagram handles for various parts of your business, Sprout Social advises including the official accounts in your bio. This helps to avoid confusion with knockoff accounts, and it ensures your followers “know what’s legit and what’s not.”
If anyone else tries to insert a link to your profile in their own bio, you’ll receive a notification and can choose to accept or deny it.
Facebook
Facebook business pages offer a bit more space to fully describe your brand or business.
The biggest pro tip for a Facebook business page is to be complete. Fill out everything and be as detailed as possible.
If you are using part of your marketing budget to advertise on Facebook, it is critical that your “About” page be complete and helpful.
If it’s not, your ad dollars could be generating customer interest fruitlessly. Customers who cannot find information easily get frustrated and/or distracted and move on.
According to Hootsuite.com, “A well-done ‘About’ section can answer many of your page visitors’ questions—saving you a lot of time and energy.
“If your page doesn’t have relevant and helpful information users are seeking, there’s a good chance they’ll simply leave and take their business elsewhere.”
Remember to use keywords in your company description. Choose each word strategically, keeping SEO in mind but without sounding like a robot.
Also, be sure to update your contact info regularly and update your hours when relevant for special promotions, emergencies or extenuating circumstances.
Hootsuite also recommends including legal notices for business pages, such as “Comments will be moderated and deleted if they contain profanity, obscenity or vulgarity, defamation to a person or people, name-calling and/or personal attacks. Repeated violations of our comment policy may cause the author to be blocked from [company name] social media.”
Include this type of information in the “Impressum” section on your Facebook business profile.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn profiles and bios are more personal but similar tips apply to help you (and your personal “brand”) cut through the noise and stand out from the crowd.
The LinkedIn Business Marketing Solutions Blog advises everyone to maximize the profile headline by writing something that is “instantly recognizable.”
Use keywords in your headline to make you easier to find in a search. For example, instead of “Award-Winning Designer,” try “Award-Winning Gold Jewelry Designer with 15+ Years of Custom Design Customer Satisfaction.”
The blog also points out that making incremental updates to your profile can greatly increase your visibility on LinkedIn. So be sure to update your profile every few months with milestones, awards or honors, new skills or work experience.
The LinkedIn Profile Summary is your elevator pitch and should support your objectives.
According to Articulated Marketing, “the most important part of your summary is the first few words, so please don’t start with, ‘I am a ___ who works at ___.’ Get straight into the talents that make you stand out.”
Articulated Marketing also recommends backing achievements with numbers, as “well-chosen data can go a long way to impressing others on LinkedIn.”
Professional associations and clientele can also help.
Hurt advises, “If you are an unknown or lesser-known person, agency or company, be sure to include a client list or share some key brand partners for credibility.”
Lastly, enrich your profile on LinkedIn with media such as articles you have written, videos you have helped produce, photos of successful promotions or special events.
Yelp/Google Business
According to Chris Mazurk, owner of digital marketing agency Mazloy, the profile recommendations for Yelp and Google Business are fairly interchangeable.
As you set up your business on Yelp or Google Business, Mazurk recommends you “claim every physical address you have since the results will appear in searches based on the searcher’s proximity.”
Also, be sure to include photos and/or videos of your business and its products.
“The increase in perceived legitimacy from pictures is massive,” he said.
To gain customer trust, that legitimacy is crucial. Retailers can use photos of storefronts, interiors and commercial videos, whereas brands may prefer to focus on manufacturing photos, high-res product images and designer studio/atelier imagery.
Yelp offers three sections to describe your business: Specialties, History and Meet the Owner/Manager.
Be sure to fully complete each one. Specialties allows a 1,500 character limit, while History and Meet the Owner/Manager both allow 1,000 characters, giving you lots of opportunity to include keywords and describe what sets your business apart from others.
Avoid using these areas to post promotions/offers or announcements, and always use good etiquette. Never attack competitors or people who have negatively reviewed your business or brand.
Mazurk suggests you create an outreach campaign to request reviews from offline relationships: friends, family, local networking groups, etc.
“Don’t overthink the legitimacy of the review; the raw volume will help push your listing to the top.”
And be sure to respond to every review, even the negative ones.
Mazurk suggests a sincere apology for negative reviews with a commitment to improving, reminding us that “defensiveness is not inviting.”
Google Business accounts should also utilize Google Places.
It is free and easy to claim your business listing with Google Places. Through the dashboard, you can find important data like how many people are searching you on Google, what term they searched to find you, the ZIP codes they are coming from and other metrics.
Other Platforms: Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, etc.
For other social media channels, use some of these same tips to personalize your profile while keeping in mind the audience.
Remember to include keywords, a professional photo, hashtags and emojis where appropriate, contact details, hours of operations, etc.
And be specific for that particular social media channel. As an example, remember that Pinterest does not use hashtags and is a very visual network while Twitter is more verbal, so the profile limits you to one photo and a few words—choose them wisely.
For your YouTube channel, use alt tags or keywords in your profile’s “About” description in the same way you would for the videos you post.
Be consistent so consumers find a similar impression of you or your brand no matter where they find you.
“Make sure your branding is consistent across channels: website, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even TikTok!” advises Hurt.
“Even if you are not a Twitter person or a YouTube person, for example, it’s great to have all social channels engaged, if possible, as any one channel could go viral and lead people to your other channels.”
Lastly, Hurt reminds us to drive traffic to these various channels.
“Always include links to your business website and social channels in your permanent email signature, as well as links on all other social channels where you have a brand presence.”
If you are a professional and not a brand, consider creating your own jewelry specific hashtag. Then use it with every relevant post so that people can easily click that hashtag in your bio to see all the posts.
You can also get creative by using fun emojis in your bio on Instagram to help create a mood or vibe.
Pre-pandemic, JetBlue had the airplane emoji in their bio and then the camera emoji for their call to action, “Tag us in your JetBlue moments @jetblue.”
In emergency or unusual circumstances—like COVID-19—social media is an easy way to communicate immediate and current information to your customers.
Include your special operating hours or offerings, like curbside pickup, in your bio. It is quick and easy to change, and it ensures to customers you are available and open for business.
Also, if you have multiple websites or pages within your website where you want to drive traffic (for example, your blog and home page), consider setting up a Linktr.ee account.
Linktr.ee is a free tool that allows you to include multiple links, optimizing your traffic from Instagram. Visitors to your profile can easily access your Linktr.ee and click on any link from there.
Be sure to use the contact buttons on your Instagram profile, as well, but note that these are only shown in the app view, not the web view.
Many brands ignore them, but the contact buttons can make you more accessible to new customers as well as guide customers to your preferred method of contact.
For example, if you are a wholesale brand, you can include an email address and/or a phone number but avoid the physical address since you do not sell directly.
Retailers should always use the physical location so they come up in local searches.
Lastly, if your brand has multiple Instagram handles for various parts of your business, Sprout Social advises including the official accounts in your bio. This helps to avoid confusion with knockoff accounts, and it ensures your followers “know what’s legit and what’s not.”
If anyone else tries to insert a link to your profile in their own bio, you’ll receive a notification and can choose to accept or deny it.
Facebook business pages offer a bit more space to fully describe your brand or business.
The biggest pro tip for a Facebook business page is to be complete. Fill out everything and be as detailed as possible.
If you are using part of your marketing budget to advertise on Facebook, it is critical that your “About” page be complete and helpful.
If it’s not, your ad dollars could be generating customer interest fruitlessly. Customers who cannot find information easily get frustrated and/or distracted and move on.
According to Hootsuite.com, “A well-done ‘About’ section can answer many of your page visitors’ questions—saving you a lot of time and energy.
“If your page doesn’t have relevant and helpful information users are seeking, there’s a good chance they’ll simply leave and take their business elsewhere.”
Remember to use keywords in your company description. Choose each word strategically, keeping SEO in mind but without sounding like a robot.
Also, be sure to update your contact info regularly and update your hours when relevant for special promotions, emergencies or extenuating circumstances.
Hootsuite also recommends including legal notices for business pages, such as “Comments will be moderated and deleted if they contain profanity, obscenity or vulgarity, defamation to a person or people, name-calling and/or personal attacks. Repeated violations of our comment policy may cause the author to be blocked from [company name] social media.”
Include this type of information in the “Impressum” section on your Facebook business profile.
LinkedIn profiles and bios are more personal but similar tips apply to help you (and your personal “brand”) cut through the noise and stand out from the crowd.
The LinkedIn Business Marketing Solutions Blog advises everyone to maximize the profile headline by writing something that is “instantly recognizable.”
Use keywords in your headline to make you easier to find in a search. For example, instead of “Award-Winning Designer,” try “Award-Winning Gold Jewelry Designer with 15+ Years of Custom Design Customer Satisfaction.”
The blog also points out that making incremental updates to your profile can greatly increase your visibility on LinkedIn. So be sure to update your profile every few months with milestones, awards or honors, new skills or work experience.
The LinkedIn Profile Summary is your elevator pitch and should support your objectives.
According to Articulated Marketing, “the most important part of your summary is the first few words, so please don’t start with, ‘I am a ___ who works at ___.’ Get straight into the talents that make you stand out.”
Articulated Marketing also recommends backing achievements with numbers, as “well-chosen data can go a long way to impressing others on LinkedIn.”
Professional associations and clientele can also help.
Hurt advises, “If you are an unknown or lesser-known person, agency or company, be sure to include a client list or share some key brand partners for credibility.”
Lastly, enrich your profile on LinkedIn with media such as articles you have written, videos you have helped produce, photos of successful promotions or special events.
Yelp/Google Business
According to Chris Mazurk, owner of digital marketing agency Mazloy, the profile recommendations for Yelp and Google Business are fairly interchangeable.
As you set up your business on Yelp or Google Business, Mazurk recommends you “claim every physical address you have since the results will appear in searches based on the searcher’s proximity.”
Also, be sure to include photos and/or videos of your business and its products.
“The increase in perceived legitimacy from pictures is massive,” he said.
To gain customer trust, that legitimacy is crucial. Retailers can use photos of storefronts, interiors and commercial videos, whereas brands may prefer to focus on manufacturing photos, high-res product images and designer studio/atelier imagery.
Yelp offers three sections to describe your business: Specialties, History and Meet the Owner/Manager.
Be sure to fully complete each one. Specialties allows a 1,500 character limit, while History and Meet the Owner/Manager both allow 1,000 characters, giving you lots of opportunity to include keywords and describe what sets your business apart from others.
Avoid using these areas to post promotions/offers or announcements, and always use good etiquette. Never attack competitors or people who have negatively reviewed your business or brand.
Mazurk suggests you create an outreach campaign to request reviews from offline relationships: friends, family, local networking groups, etc.
“Don’t overthink the legitimacy of the review; the raw volume will help push your listing to the top.”
And be sure to respond to every review, even the negative ones.
Mazurk suggests a sincere apology for negative reviews with a commitment to improving, reminding us that “defensiveness is not inviting.”
Google Business accounts should also utilize Google Places.
It is free and easy to claim your business listing with Google Places. Through the dashboard, you can find important data like how many people are searching you on Google, what term they searched to find you, the ZIP codes they are coming from and other metrics.
Other Platforms: Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, etc.
For other social media channels, use some of these same tips to personalize your profile while keeping in mind the audience.
Remember to include keywords, a professional photo, hashtags and emojis where appropriate, contact details, hours of operations, etc.
And be specific for that particular social media channel. As an example, remember that Pinterest does not use hashtags and is a very visual network while Twitter is more verbal, so the profile limits you to one photo and a few words—choose them wisely.
For your YouTube channel, use alt tags or keywords in your profile’s “About” description in the same way you would for the videos you post.
Be consistent so consumers find a similar impression of you or your brand no matter where they find you.
“Make sure your branding is consistent across channels: website, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even TikTok!” advises Hurt.
“Even if you are not a Twitter person or a YouTube person, for example, it’s great to have all social channels engaged, if possible, as any one channel could go viral and lead people to your other channels.”
Lastly, Hurt reminds us to drive traffic to these various channels.
“Always include links to your business website and social channels in your permanent email signature, as well as links on all other social channels where you have a brand presence.”
More on Columnists
The Latest
SourcingJun 08, 2026
Sally Morrison to Depart De Beers This Summer Morrison has been marketing diamonds on and off since the early 2000s and said she is leaving to “pursue new projects.”
TrendsJun 08, 2026
Amanda’s Style File: June’s Birthstone TrioThose born in June can celebrate with pearl, alexandrite, and moonstone jewelry.
Brought to you by
All Eyes on Gold Prices. Alternatives to Look For. And What to BEWARE of in VegasAs gold prices rise, today’s retailers are looking for alternatives at prices that will appeal to wider audiences.
TechnologyJun 08, 2026
Overnight Mountings Launches Ring Builder PlatformThe platform allows retailers to guide clients through a customizable engagement ring buying experience in a branded interface.
Weekly QuizJun 05, 2026
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
IndependentsJun 05, 2026
Pennsylvania Jewelry Store To Close After 79 YearsJim Springer, owner of Dunkelberger’s Fine Jewelry, is heading into retirement.
SurveysJun 05, 2026
Consumers to Cut Back on Spending Amid Rising Prices, Survey Shows When conducting its May consumer confidence survey, The Conference Board asked extra questions about consumers’ budgeting strategies.
Brought to you by
How Modern Training Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage for Jewelry RetailersWith the trade and customer trust in mind, GIA® developed NextGem™ – on-demand training designed specifically for retail.
CollectionsJun 05, 2026
Rebel Jewelry’s Charm Symbolizes Perseverance for Pride MonthThe “Tunnel” charm, our Piece of the Week, celebrates Pride Month with its design inspired by hope and the light at the end of the tunnel.
SourcingJun 05, 2026
State of Diamonds: The Way Forward for Natural DiamondsThe jewelry industry is reassessing its positioning as Gen Z reshapes the retail landscape and lab grown continues to gain market share.
AuctionsJun 04, 2026
Treasures from Maurice Tempelsman’s ‘Marvelous’ Life Head to AuctionUp for auction at Sotheby’s, the collection of Tempelsman’s personal effects includes a Cartier Tank watch Jackie O. gifted him.
CollectionsJun 04, 2026
Buddha Mama to Spend the Summer in AspenThe Miami-based fine jewelry brand will host its first summer residency in the Colorado mountain town from June 5 to Aug. 23.
MajorsJun 04, 2026
AGS Honors Late Peter Yantzer, Holds Time Capsule CeremonyThe organization also announced its international board of directors for the 2026-2027 term.
MajorsJun 04, 2026
Neiman Marcus’ Downtown Dallas Store to Close in SeptemberSaks Global confirmed the closure this week, spelling the end for a store that’s been part of downtown Dallas for more than 100 years.
GradingJun 03, 2026
GIA’s Tracr Investment Is First Step Toward Industry-Owned PlatformThe Gemological Institute of America is now a 30 percent stakeholder in Tracr, the De Beers-backed blockchain for diamonds.
WatchesJun 03, 2026
The 1916 Company Taking Pre-Owned Rolexes on the Road, AgainThe retailer is bringing Rolex Certified Pre-Owned watches to five U.S. cities in 2026 for collectors to see, try on, and purchase.
IndependentsJun 03, 2026
Jessica Alba Is the New Face of Gabriel & Co.The actress and entrepreneur stars in the jeweler’s new campaign that celebrates life’s quiet moments.
TrendsJun 03, 2026
State of Design: Only the Innovative Will SurviveThe price of gold has risen, affecting the number of pieces designers make, the materials they use, and how they position themselves.
FinancialsJun 02, 2026
Signet Jewelers’ Q1 Sales Up 2% As It Focuses on ‘Core Four’ The jewelry retailer is zeroing in on Zales, Jared, Kay Jewelers, and Blue Nile as it looks to create unique brand identities for each.
SourcingJun 02, 2026
Leader Appointed for Botswana’s Diamonds for Development Fund Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, a development economist, will head the fund created to help Botswana diversify its economy.
WatchesJun 02, 2026
Watch Industry Veteran James Marks Joins Sotheby’sSotheby’s has appointed the former Phillips executive as its global head of private sales and retail in its watches division.
AuctionsJun 02, 2026
Sotheby’s to Auction 10-Carat Blue Diamond, 1960s Harry Winston Necklace A private collection of five Paraíba tourmalines also will be up for sale at Sotheby’s High Jewelry auction in New York, scheduled for June 16.
IndependentsJun 02, 2026
State of Retail: 6 Things Retailers Should Know About Consumers TodayFrom Gen Z’s view of luxury to “doom spending,” these are the six consumer trends to note this year.
Events & AwardsJun 01, 2026
Design Atelier Brands Have a Big Night at Emotional Couture Design AwardsThe show started by honoring Mildred Marcano, ended with a tearful Beth Anne Bonanno, and recognized a dozen-plus designers in between.
SourcingJun 01, 2026
RapNet Rebranding as Rapaport TradeThe revamped online diamond marketplace will feature pricing intelligence and data-driven tools for more efficient buying and selling.
SourcingJun 01, 2026
Gemfields’ Higher-Quality Emerald Auction Achieves $26.8MThe miner said demand for higher-quality emeralds is stable, but there is notable caution in the market.
CollectionsMay 29, 2026
Cultus Artem’s Necklace Is the Oasis in Las Vegas’ DesertThe “River of Heaven” necklace, our Piece of the Week debuting at Couture, combines 26 salt and pepper diamonds spaced by Tahitian pearls.
