Social Media
It’s time to set up your social media profiles for your business, and your first thought is, “I’ve got this. I’ve been on Facebook for years. How hard can this REALLY be?”
You log-on to Facebook, create your page… and freeze. What do you use for your cover photo? What do you put in the “About” section? Suddenly this seems a lot harder than you thought it would be. You stare at the screen for another ten minutes, trying to figure out what to say. Eventually, you give up, closing out of your internet browser and getting back to responding to emails (since at least you know how to do THAT). Before you know it, six months have gone by, you haven’t given your Facebook page so much as a glance, and frankly, the idea of your brand having a professional social media presence seems far-fetched.
So let us help! Today’s blog post is a handy outline on how to set up each major social media platform. Read through it and find out how you can create a social media presence that looks both professional AND attractive to your ideal clients!
We’ll start with Facebook because it’s usually the first platform most businesses and brands start with when beginning their social media marketing efforts. So let’s dive in:
Cover / Profile Photo
Cover and profile photos should be consistent with your brand. Consider uploading your logo as your profile photo and leaving your cover photo to be a bit more creative. Your cover photo can include your logo/tagline combo, company mascot, team members, latest products or promotions, or other on-brand imagery.
About Section
The about section includes your brand story, which is one of the first impressions for visitors to your page. Rather than the typical “our company was founded in New York City in 2010”, use this space to share your unique founding story or the inspiring mission behind your brand.
Call to Action Buttons
Directly under your cover photo are five buttons: “Like”, “Follow”, “Share”, and two custom buttons. These custom buttons are great opportunities to send customers to your website, to message you directly, or any other call to action you want visitors to do upon landing on your page.
Keep in mind, in addition to the information filled out in your profile, it is just as important to consider the content you are sharing and how you interact with your followers. Make sure that you are posting consistent content on a regular basis and that you respond to comments promptly. This will build trust with your followers and help convert them to loyal customers.
Pro Tip: Consider varying the type of content you post and regularly rotate through the following types of posts: photos, Facebook Lives, video, polls, and GIFs (to name a few).
Like Facebook, Instagram is a great way to connect with your audience in an authentic and engaging way. While Instagram can be challenging for some brands because of its highly visual nature, when properly utilized, Instagram can be a great tool to refer traffic back to your website and win over loyal customers. Here are some best practices for the platform:
Business Profile
The first thing to do when creating an Instagram account for your business is to set it up as a “business” profile. This gives you access to valuable insights (like engagement and reach analytics) not available with “personal” profiles. These insights can help you see which content is performing well and inform your social media strategy going forward.
Name
While it may seem obvious the “name” field is for just that, consider also putting in your industry as well. Names are actually searchable on Instagram, and here’s why that matters: if you were a modern jewelry designer and you put your name as “Jane Smith - Modern Jewelry”, any customer searching for “modern jewelry” will see your profile in the search results! Simply putting “Jane Smith” would have left your profile out of valuable searches being performed by users on the platform.
Bio
Use this space to clearly and concisely explain what you do so people can know what to expect from your feed as soon as they land on your profile. Also, make sure the link used in your bio takes your followers to a place where they can find more information about the product or services you offer or how to connect with you, whether that’s your blog, your shop, or your about page on your website. Finally, make it as easy as possible for your followers and customers to contact you by including the best way to reach you in the contact buttons, whether that’s by phone or by email.
And of course, stay on-brand with your Instagram “aesthetic”. Instagram is designed around imagery, so users value profiles that maintain a consistent, on-brand look. For example, if you are a small business that sells pet supplies, don’t share images of pretty scenery or books in a variety of colors. Instead, share photos of pets and the supplies you sell, keeping the color palette in these photos contained to 2 - 3 main colors.
LinkedIn is very similar to Facebook in the way a business page is set up. Just like with Facebook, best practices with LinkedIn include branded cover & profile photos, and buttons that redirect your customers to your website. Your “About” section should also be filled out clearly with a company overview and the basic company info (such as contact and website details).
Also, like Facebook, posting regularly helps to build trust with your followers and makes your page appear knowledgeable and professional.
Pro tip: if your employees are on LinkedIn, ask them to share your company’s posts. By doing so, engagement rates with your content can increase, as typically employees have more reach than a business page does and can therefore expose your content to more users.
And finally, we have Twitter. Again, like all other social media platforms, include a profile picture and header image that are on brand and provide a concise bio that clearly explains what your company or brand offers. Here are some other areas of your Twitter profile that you should know about:
Pinned Tweet
Users have the ability to “pin” one of their tweets to the top of their feed, meaning any users visiting your profile will see a “pinned” tweet first before any others. Consider having a tweet that is either highly relevant to what your company or brand does, or that is time-sensitive (such as an upcoming event).
Messages
Make sure to also set your inbox to allow receiving messages from anyone. This will go a long way in your customer relations and brand reputation. By encouraging followers to contact you through DM if they have any issues, you can resolve any concerns quickly and privately without making the sometimes messy customer relations issues that pop up from time to time a public affair.
Pro tip: consider posting more than just words with your tweets. Include photos, GIFs, polls, and live-tweet reactions to an event you are attending.
And there you have it! A very quick rundown on how to set up the four major social media platforms in a way that makes your brand or company look professional, relatable, and reliable! If there is anything we missed or more questions you need answered, let us know in the comments below!
