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The most common thing we see as marketers is that when a new business launches, or a rebrand happens, the business jumps on every single social media platform they can think of and creates an account. While back in the day, every listing on the internet that you created that backlinked to your website assisted your SEO, these days, adding a link to your website that you control (i.e. from a Social Media Platform) might drive more traffic, but it really doesn’t pass any residual value from the site on which the link is based.
So, if adding a listing on every single social media site isn’t helping your business from a search engine ranking perspective, how do you determine which social media sites you should list your business on?
Be strategic with the social media platforms you choose for your business
Each social media platform resonates with a different audience (younger/older/male/female) and each social media platform is developed for a different purpose For example: LinkedIn is for professional networking - primarily white collar or business owners and they are more likely to be seeking out business or professional solutions. Instagram on the other hand is highly visual, and users are on there for a combination of keeping in touch with family and friends, following influencers and seeking inspiration, and to be informed on latest trends etc.
You will need to undertake some research with regard to each platform and identify where your ideal customer is spending the most time and what you can do to leverage that social media platform in order to reach and engage them.
Be realistic about which platforms your business can leverage well
After identifying where your ideal customer hangs out and the ways in which you could engage with them on each of the platforms they use, you need to be realistic…
Arguably, you still have a list of 5 platforms that your ideal customer uses, each of which, you have thought of several ways that you could engage with your customer. Now you need to be truthful and honest with yourself as to which of these platforms you have the time, energy and resources to actually leverage in order to generate the engagement you want. Pick the two - three platforms that you are most likely able to execute your strategy on, and where you will reach the largest number of ideal customers.
Now that you have identified the two to three platforms that make the most sense for your business, it’s time to get them set up well.
How to set up your social media presence well for each of the major platforms:
How to set up Facebook
This is the link to Facebook's guide to creating a Business Page.
In this guide they suggest that adding information like contact details, opening hours and location are optional - they are NOT if you are wanting to ensure the very best results from your Facebook page. Instead you need to set these up and ensure that the information with relation to your contact information, business name (and naming conventions) and opening hours are consistent across all social platforms, your website and any other online listings (Google will penalise your ranking if it is unable to determine which information is correct and relevant due to you having conflicting information on the internet).
The guide also suggests that cover photos and profile pictures are optional - again these really need to be populated with good quality imagery in order to ensure that you create a great first impression with your potential clients, one of the most important factors is ensuring that the images you upload are the correct size and aspect - this link will provide you with the up-to-date recommendations for the size of your Facebook profile picture and cover photo.
How to set up Instagram
Here is the link to Instagram’s “Getting Started on Instagram Guide”. If you accidentally select the wrong business industry - you are able to edit it and any of your contact information at any time by following these instructions. Again it’s a great idea to include all of your business contact information and a BIO - your BIO is limited to 150 characters, and it’s a great idea to really clearly articulate what customer problems your business solves in your Bio. Unlike other social accounts, you can’t include URL links within the description on your posts, if you are regularly going to share content that pushes users to a specific page, it is a great idea to set up a service that provides links in bio management such as Linktree or Bitly. Our final tip is to ensure that your Instagram profile picture matches the one on any other Social Media Accounts that you set up - this will help to ensure brand recognition across platforms.
How to set up LinkedIn
Here is the link that you will need in order to set up a Company Page on LinkedIn. LinkedIn provides a good ‘best practices’ guide that you can access here and you are able to view their recommended image dimensions for both your cover image and logo here.
Much like with Facebook & Instagram, it is important to ensure that you are consistent with the business name, contact information and imagery you add to your page - not only will it alleviate confusion for Google and other search engines, it will also allow potential customers to easily identify your brand across multiple platforms.
How to set up YouTube
Here is a link to YouTube’s instructions on how to create a YouTube Channel for your business. Please note that you will likely need to update your Brand Account details to ensure your Business Information reflects on your YouTube Channel consistently with how it reflects on all of your other social media platforms, learn how to update you brand account details here.
How to set up TikTok
Here is the link you will need in order to create your TikTok Business Account and this is a guide to setting up your profile, including recommendations around profile photo sizes.
Once again, it is recommended that you maintain as much consistency between the information and imagery that you use on TikTok and the information and imagery that you have used on your other social platforms.
Now you have set up your social media profiles, it’s time to create beautiful, engaging and educational content that your ideal customer will love. Not sure where to start? The Brand Shop has an in-house creative team and we can point you in the right direction.
