If you’re like most businesses, you have a presence on social media. Maybe you post a few updates a week, like or share your followers’ posts, or comment on an interesting article or story.
But what would your followers learn from your social media accounts if they dug a little deeper? What if they clicked on your profile pages to learn more about your business and what you have to sell? What would they find?
Your social media profiles are the framework of your accounts, and are another way to market yourself to your potential customers. Many businesses don’t take the time to complete their profiles, or keep them current. But it’s important.
The profiles differ slightly from one social media outlet to another. But there are five important elements that should be a part of all of them:
- Your bio. This is probably the most vital part of your social media profiles, because it’s your chance to explain what you do. Depending on the outlet, you could be writing about your company, yourself, or both. Take the opportunity to write a clear, concise company description. Include the key words your audience uses to find you – the same ones you used in your website content. Pay attention to the fields and bio pages each social media outlet offers. Twitter has fields for a brief description, the city you are located in, and your website; while Facebook’s page profile has an about page, a services page, and a place to add a call to action button. LinkedIn has a place to include your experience, education, awards, skills and recommendations. Fill out all that pertains to your business.
- Images. Images are powerful, and the ones you choose on your social media profiles are often one of the first impressions your followers will have of your business. Include high quality images, such as your logo, a professional headshot, and a header photo that captures your brand. Many businesses like to switch out their header photo to reflect the seasons, holidays, or to promote events that are going on in their business. Changing your header photo periodically is a great way to keep your profile fresh. Just make sure you change it back once the event/holiday is over.
- Your website address. The ultimate goal of your social media efforts is to drive traffic to your website, where your followers will get to know you, like you, and trust you. Through your website, your followers will decide if they want to do business with you. For that reason, it’s imperative that you include your website on every social media profile you have, with an active link.
- Your contact information. Provide your followers with the best way to get in touch with you. You may choose to offer your email address, your phone number or you may prefer to use the outlet’s direct messaging. If you have a brick and mortar store, you’ll want to add your street address. And if you work remotely, it may not matter what city you live in. The choice to include that information is yours.
- Current, complete, accurate. Whichever social media outlets you choose to be on, it’s important that each one is as complete as possible, accurate, and kept current. You may want to check your accounts monthly or quarterly to make sure you have accounted for any changes or additions to your services, employees, and contact information.
Social media offers another way to get in touch with potential customers and develop relationships. Your social media profiles are like both your resume and your marketing brochure. You can show off your experience and what your company is all about, while providing helpful information, and solving a problem your followers have.
If you’d like more information on completing your business’s social media profiles, please contact me. If you’d like to stay in touch by receiving my monthly e-newsletter, Marketing Done Write, please opt in below.