7 ways to get the most out of your social media profiles
Social media. You know you need it, but how are you supposed to get it done right? Well it should start with setting up your social media profiles. You want to make sure that you are setting yourself up for success right for the start, which means optimizing your profiles to make them user-friendly and memorable.
Here are seven ways you can make the most of your social media profiles on each platform.
KEEP YOUR HANDLES CONSISTENT
You want people to be able to easily find you. Instinctively, users will type in @[company name] to tag brands or to find specific profiles. If your handle (AKA user name) is either something obscure or so common that you have to put numbers at the end (ie. @JohnSmith123), it’s going to be tough to find you.
When possible, keep it simple and use your brand name. If it is already taken, get a little creative. Avoid just adding on a random underscore to differentiate yourself. It should make sense. Once you settle on a handle, use it across all of your profiles (where possible).
KEEP YOUR IMAGES CONSISTENT
Your profile image should represent your brand. If you are a company, use your logo, your product, or your mascot. If you are an individual expert, use your head shot. In either case, your profile image sits next to your handle and you want people to recognize it as soon as they see it. This will help with brand recall and recognition across platforms.
Your cover photo can be different, but you want to make sure that it is in keeping with your brand style.
The last thing you want to ensure is that you are using the right image sizes for each platform. While it would be amazing if they all used the same dimensions, they don’t. Here is a great resource from Sprout Social to help you stay on track with dimensions for each platform.
KEYWORDS/PHRASES
In the same way that you need to identify your keywords to include them on your website, you should be doing it on your social media profiles. Use your keywords when filling out your about and description fields.
It’s not necessary to use hashtags unless it’s related to a specific campaign you are running and that you want to add extra visibility to.
FILL OUT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES COMPLETELY
Don’t leave any fields blank unless you have nothing to put in there. Of course, you don’t want to fill your social media profiles with fluff content, but you do want to get as much detail in there as possible.
With Instagram, you don’t get a lot of space to put in details in your profile. Try switching up the link in your profile as you post new blogs or start new promotions. It will allow you to keep your Instagram profile fresh.
LINK YOUR SOCIAL PROFILES TOGETHER
A great way to gain heightened visibility for all of your social profiles is to cross promote on each platform. In some cases, you can actually add your other social platforms to the profile content itself (ie. On Facebook), but in other cases, posting a simple link to your other profiles will get you more traffic – as long as you are posting different and valuable content.
BE REACHABLE
Make sure all of your links and your emails work. Put in your website, email, phone number, etc. The easier it is to get a hold of you, the more likely your customers are to call.
INTERACT WITH OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES
After all, social media should be social, right?! Find influencers, complementary brands, and interesting industry organizations to interact with on social media. You will find that if you are willing to promote their message and engage with them, they will reciprocate. It is all about relationships.
While social media can be time consuming, it can also be very rewarding, but you need to make sure you are set up for success. And it begins with your social media profiles.
If you are having trouble getting started, perhaps our social media starter kit is just right for you!