Wonder how social media works for your company? If you don’t set up a decent profile, it won’t work for you at all.
The first thing to setting up your profiles is to make sure what you add really benefits your brand. We can talk all day about how to manage the Twitterverse, but when it comes down to it, people join these communities to stay involved with people. They go to profiles first for many reasons.
1. To make sure you’re a real person, to make sure you’re not some ‘bot’ that wastes their time,
2. To make sure you have something they want to hear more about.
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are three areas where most businesses should have a profile. Each of these areas allows you a small amount of space to share who you are, what you offer, who you work for, and how to get in touch with you to learn more. I suggest you take that one step farther – make sure anyone who is deciding whether or not to follow you knows how you could help them with your products or services.
Your photo is important.
A logo can be helpful as an additional profile (with Twitter you can have more than one), but the reality is that people connect with people, not logos. Upload a professional picture of you that’s friendly, and avoid things that are inconsistent with your brand perception.
If you make money off of humor, then a funny image here might do you good. If you make money being controversial, than an out-of-the-ordinary image might work for you. If you’re the best of the best at what you do, and professional attire is how you dress, then use a professional shot. Let your image do some ‘talking.’
Don’t forget your website address.
A website address is primary. Don’t forget it or your efforts here are futile. All associates and employees of a company should have the company website on their profiles for two reasons.
- Those links are vital for search relevance. Multiple employees with social media profiles linking to the company website are great for SEO.
- People legitimately looking for your company should be easily able to do it ,so everything you do to make it easier is a good choice.
Don’t spend a lot of time here pondering whether or not it’s safe to have those links out there because you can’t control how they’re being respected. You can always demand a link be taken down if it doesn’t benefit your company. Another way to handle those links is to stress company pride in your weekly team and management meetings. Make sure employees are aware of how you expect them to behave on social media networks.
Depending on what you do, your domain website link ending in .com or .net may not be the best link. If you want people to go to your newsletter sign-up page or another specific landing page, or even your company profile page, use that extended link where it will let you. (The direct url of that particular page.)
Describe yourself and what you bring to the table.
Your description should be inviting and warm. Let others know your position with the company, and how you enjoy working with people. Tag lines are good here, and so are human-interest keywords (not necessarily the same as search engine keywords). If someone wants to follow a search term, think about the terms you would be found under and use them.
Keep all your contact data available, including your email if you get that option. Some of this information may only be available in extended bios, but people actually read extended bios, so don’t neglect to fill them out.
Add your other social locations.
When you’re working on your branding online, it’s best to put the pieces together for people. Make it easy to see as many of your social media ‘handles’ as they allow. (Daddy had a C.B. radio, Mom and Dad were Powder Puff and the Pipe Machine … I digress …)
You’ll learn the rest as you go, but take your profile seriously. Convey a positive attitude and genuine interests so people want to connect with you. Then, engage in a little conversation whenever you get the chance.
One last note
You can block pornographic and spamming followers. Rule of thumb: if they haven’t gone to the same trouble you have to make sure they have a decent profile, it’s probably best to avoid them. I don’t click on any website links in profiles that don’t have a picture or make reasonable sense.
What’s your ‘handle?’ Share in the comments below! You can reach me @skhamilton, and our team @ZTSM. We’re on Facebook, too. Hop on over there and ‘Like’ our page! (Right now, we’re offering our free report: 5 Keys to Higher Sales in 2012 when you sign up for the Inside Line on Getting More Business.)
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