We all already know that social media has become a very important marketing tool and platform for businesses all over the world. It’s one of the only ways to reach potential customers in their own locality and also across the globe.
While Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok are all extremely important social platforms, there is no denying that Instagram is slowly becoming the most used. Making it the most important. Instagram has seen so many different uses of their platform that they also made the option to choose different kinds of accounts. Previously, you could have a business, personal, or curator’s account. They recently changed this to make it more user-friendly and introduced Personal and Professional. The Professional has 2 subcategories — business, and creator.
Now naming an Instagram account has definitely gotten more and more difficult considering the rise in the usage of Instagram in the first place. You need to make sure that your username is memorable to not only your existing audience but also to potential followers. In this blog article, I’ll give you a few key tips to come up with the perfect username for your account. You can also use these tips in case you’re looking to change the username of an already existing account.
Let’s go!
1. Identify the purpose
This is an extremely important first step, especially if you’re creating a new account. You need to clearly identify the purpose of creating the account in the first place. The name should have some kind of reflection of your business or the theme of your content. If it’s a business or a brand that you’re creating the account for, it stands to reason that the name should include the business name.
But if you’re a creator or your name is also the name of the brand, you can play around with the name and also other keywords relating to the theme of your content.
If your name is not in any way associated with the content you have, you have a better opportunity to showcase your creativity for the username. You will not be bound by a specific name.
2. Brainstorm keywords
This brings us to brainstorming keywords. Once you’ve identified the purpose, the next thing to do is list out a bunch of keywords relating to the business or theme of your content. For example, let’s say you’re a home baker. These are some of the words you can play around with if you don’t already have a name for your business.
Sweet
Dessert
Whisk
Bake
Icing
Sugar
Cocoa
Vanilla
Velvet
Dough
Knead
Flour
Cake
Cream
From these, you can get usernames like @WhiskMeAway or @TheSourDOh. You can also try using different alliterations like @BakersBread or @CoolCocoa. Alliterations are known to be easy-to-remember usernames.
Brainstorming keywords will help you dig deeper into the different possible usernames you can have for your account. You may also find that the name you decide on might be completely different from the keywords you first thought of using for your username.
3. Find easy-to-say options
Sometimes, it’s easy to get carried away in the middle of research. Just because you’ve done some in-depth research and found some killer keywords or hilarious puns to be the username, doesn’t mean it will be the easiest for people to share among their friends. Instagram could well enough use @WorldsNo1_SocialPlatform as their username but tagging @Instagram and even searching for it using @Instagram is clearly better.
One of the best ways to get smart results is to tell a few friends different options and ask them to write them down later. If a username is written down correctly, you can add that to your shortlist. If the name is written wrong, you know you have to rework the keyword into a different username.
4. Be creative
Being creative basically means that the sky is the limit for you. You can play around with almost any word that exists, leaving out any profanity or slurs of course. It is also extremely important to keep in mind accessibility when trying to be creative. The username must be memorable and also easy. You could maybe try rhyming words like @FunkyMonkey or @CatInTheHat. There’s also the possible usage of adverbs like @WhompingWillow. This one also has an alliteration which, as I mentioned, is well-liked by other Instagram users.
One of my favorite usernames that contain a play on words (or just one word) is the account of cosmetic company NARS. The account user name is @narsissist which plays on the word narcissist meaning a person with excessive self-admiration.
5. Don’t overdo it
Overthinking is a serious problem, even when it comes to your Instagram username. You might find something extremely catchy that you want to use. The problem arises when that username is already taken. But since you like the name so much, you’ll find ways to modify it until it’s unique enough on Instagram. But that process may cause your username to turn out less memorable than if you just choose something else.
When a username is taken, most will immediately try to add extra alphabets, numbers, or special characters like underscores or dots. Would you follow an account with the username @WhyyCant_I_FindAUser_Name or @NoName?
Keep it as clean as possible because otherwise, it might just look like a spam account.
6. Try username generators
If you don’t consider yourself too creative or you’ve just hit a block, you can always use username generators available online. All you have to do is enter some keywords that you’ve already noted down from your brainstorming session and hit Search. The generators will give you a whole bunch of possible usernames.
You can use generators like the Instagram Username Generator or Namechk.
There are a lot of these available online so if you don’t find any usernames you like here you can keep searching for more generators.
7. Keep it uniform
After all that research, I’m sure you’ll have a bunch of options shortlisted. When you have this list, always make sure to check other social platforms for their availability. Using the same username or handle makes it incredibly easy for users and followers to find you on other platforms. For example, if someone likes a tweet and they want to search for you on their own preferred platform — Instagram, they’ll first try looking for you using the same handle.
Ensuring uniformity in usernames across social platforms also portrays you as business smart and organized. This will build on the trust and reliability the user, customer, or follower will feel when following you.
These tips are also going to be pretty helpful if you want to change your existing username. But before you attempt that, you must think thoroughly and make sure you will not have any need for the older username. It’s highly possible that you won’t get access to it again. So before you make the change, it would be smart to advertise your new username just before changing it. This way, at least your followers will not think that your account vanished into thin air. You can also announce it on other social platforms to keep your follower updated.
Well, that’s all from me!
What process did you use to create your username? Let me know in the comments below!
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