Having a social media presence for your business is essential these days. But with approximately 3.5 billion internet users worldwide, it can be tough to stand out (to say the least!). It’s vital that you optimize your business social media profile to help your business look professional, be discoverable for your target market, and drive potential customers toward purchasing your product or service.
Here are eight quick and easy ways to improve your business social media profile. By following these simple strategies, you can optimize your online presence and ensure the effort you’re spending on social media is paying off.
Strategy 1: Choose a handle that's obvious and easy to remember
First and foremost, choose a username for your social platforms that aligns with your business name. This will make it easy for your customers to find your pages, and it will help other social media users recognize who you are and what you do at a glance.
If your business name is something simple or common that’s already taken, try customizing your username with underscores, periods, or abbreviations. For example, if your business is called The Soap Company, you could try @the.soap.co, @soapcompany, @the_soap_co, or similar variations.
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Avoid tacking on random numbers to the end of your username. It can make your page or profile look generic and untrustworthy. |
Try to keep your username uniform across all platforms whenever possible.
Strategy 3: Use a high-quality photo for your profile image
Your username and profile pic are the first things people will notice on your social media pages, so make sure your business is appropriately represented. Here’s how:
- If you’re a solo business of one, using a high-quality headshot is a good idea. No blurry snapshots or old red-eye photos, please!
- If you sell products, a nice clear photo of a popular product can make a great user image. Consider a coffee mug surrounded by beans if you sell coffee or a stack of cookies if you own a bakery.
- Otherwise, consider using your company’s logo and make sure it’s properly sized and cropped to fit the required profile pic size (typically round on most social platforms).
Strategy 3: Customize your cover image or background
Numerous social platforms, including Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, offer a place to upload a cover image, background, or header image that will display on your profile along with your profile pic. This is a great opportunity to reinforce your brand with relevant imagery, so whatever you do, don’t leave it empty or use the default photo!
Make sure your image is high quality, properly sized, and relevant to your business. For example, a restaurant might use a gorgeous photo of a delicious-looking dish. A clothing store might use a photo of models wearing their designs. A service provider might use a graphic with their logo and a tagline for their business.
Strategy 4: Write a great bio or “about me”
Your business social media profile bio or “about” section is where you’ll want to write a concise, attention-grabbing sentence or two about your business. If you’re having trouble deciding what to write, consider what you would say if someone asked you, “So what does your business do?”
It can help to think about what your target demographic is looking for. For instance, if your business is an accounting firm for solo entrepreneurs, your bio could read, “We help solo entrepreneurs navigate their finances so they can focus on what matters.” Consider using emojis on a platform like Instagram or Twitter; when space is limited, emojis can say a lot in just a single character.
On platforms like LinkedIn, your summary can be much longer (up to 2,000 characters). This is a great opportunity to really explain what your business is all about and tell a story to appeal to potential customers or clients.
Strategy 5: Utilize keywords
When deciding on your username, display name, and text for your bio or about section, be sure to include relevant keywords to help people find your business. When people are doing a Google search or searching within the social platform, you want your business to show up as high in their search results as possible. Keywords make that possible.
It’s imperative that you determine which keywords people search for most often when looking for businesses like yours. You might consider using a keyword tool like Semrush or Google Keyword Planner. With some configuration, these tools can help you determine the most effective keywords to include in your social profiles to maximize traffic to your page.
Strategy 6: Promote your blog, website, etc.
Getting people to visit your business's social media profile is great. But where do you want them to go from there? Think about the links you could add to drive them to your website, blog, or relevant landing page.
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If you have different landing pages or external links you want to promote, consider using Linktree or a similar service to organize your links. |
This kind of promotion will help followers get to know your business better and move them closer to doing business with you.
Strategy 7: Give a clear CTA
Speaking of links, don’t just throw a random link in your bio and expect people to click it. People need to be told where to go, what to do, and why it matters to them. Give them a clear call to action (CTA). Offer a concise explanation of where your link is pointing and the benefit your audience will receive from visiting it.
For instance, in your Instagram bio, you could include something like:
SHOP 30% OFF SALE NOW
http://yourwebsite.com/summersale
Be sure to update your CTA and corresponding link as often as possible. Use it to promote a sale, draw attention to an event, or send traffic to a blog post you want people to read.
Strategy 8: Improve your credibility with social proof
Establishing credibility on social media is vital, and social proof is an amazing way to do that. You can tell people how great your product or service is until the cows come home, but having your customers do it for you is way more effective.
Often, your best customers will leave you a good review or post about you following a great experience. But you can also ask your customers to review their experiences with your business. This will help you gain the positive social proof you need to sway potential customers. To do this, you must make sure your reviews are visible to your audience. On Twitter, you can pin positive customer tweets to the top of your profile. And on Instagram, you can create a Stories highlight capturing your customer raves. Facebook makes this process easy for business owners. Customers can simply post a review on your Facebook page that will be visible to every visitor.
With these strategies in place, your social media pages will attract and appeal to your target audience. Experiment with them, and find the options that best reflect your brand, your market, and your audience’s interests.
Interested in having an expert eye review your social media pages? Check out these marketing and branding firms that can help you take on this task:
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