Spring has sprung, and if you’re anything like us, you’re opening windows, excavating your closet, and tidying up with an excitement you haven’t felt all winter. With all of this spring energy, now is the perfect time to clean up business social media accounts. Social media is often your customers’ first impression of your business in the online world, so it’s good to clean house every so often.
The first order of business is to check to make sure you’ve got a presence on the big social media sites – a business page on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Google+. This is a lot to juggle, but as you choose your sites, keep in mind which social media sites best fit your business. For example, Pinterest is probably far more useful for a designer, bakery, or clothing boutique than it is for a plumbing business. It’s better not to have a profile on one of those social sites than to have a profile and not update it frequently.
Once you’ve made sure that you’re present on your chosen sites, be sure that your profile picture is recognizable and relevant! For the most part, an image of your logo on a solid-colored background is the perfect choice for your business. While you can use candid photos, it’s best that anyone who visits your profiles can immediately tell that they’re looking at your business’s page. With your profile picture the best that it can be, make sure your header image is sized properly. The image should be in clear focus, have no pixelization, and nothing important in the image should be cut off at the edges. If you’re not sure what sizes to use for each of these images, ConstantContact keeps an up-to-date infographic of social media image sizes for handy reference.
Make sure your personalized URLs are up to date. On most social media sites, you can update the URL of your business page to be easily accessible (for example, facebook.com/welcomematservices is far easier to remember than a jumble of identifying letters and numbers!). Ensuring that your social media profiles have clean URLs will make them easier to find, and will tidy up the look of your overall page.
Check your content. Make sure your information is up to date, including open hours and location, and then check your posts. These are the heartbeat of your social media presence! Social media is a perfect way to keep your customers up to date on everything happening in your business.
Once your media is all cleaned up, it’s time to show it off! Add social icons to your website so that site visitors can go see your hard work. Depending on how your website is hosted, you may also be able to include a widget to display your social media posts on your website as well. An Instagram feed can add a splash of color and character to your website in real time.
Finally, set up a system to stay organized. Several social media profiles can be a lot to juggle, so the key is a to have a plan. Lay out a social media schedule and keep to it. The social world is all about engagement, so keep your customers up to date.
Managing social media for your business can be challenging, but with a little bit of maintenance, it can be fun. Keeping your profiles updated regularly will make the daily upkeep easier, and let you focus on interacting with your customers!
