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arnold on Nov 30, 2018
How to Best Present your Business on Social Media
Across major social media platforms, there are general best practices to make your brand appear credible and appeal to target audiences. For example, most businesses use their logo as a profile photo across all platforms, so viewers can easily distinguish their accounts; photos should be bright, vivid, and easily recognizable. Further, businesses use consistent descriptions and keywords across all profiles. The following provides recommendations specific to each platform.
Facebook allow users to insert a header photo at the top of the feed, and it is generally a good practice for the header photo to complement the profile photo; this is a good space for promoting product releases or a pleasing image. Your Facebook business profile should include a specific call to action whether that be to contact you, send a message, or sign up for something. Also include links to apps like Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, so users can easily look at your other profiles. Use clear language for titles and use hashtags sparingly.
It is generally best to like other business pages and feature ones on your page if they align with your company goals. Facebook also makes it easier to manage your business page by allowing multiple people to work on it; they have separate jobs like administrator, editor, and advertiser which gives people power over different functions. Facebook also lets you control settings like who can tag your page, contact you, and publish to your page.
With an Instagram business profile, you must include at least one method of contact; this can be a phone number, email, or street address. Instagram limits the biography field to 150 characters, so be brief. Businesses usually insert a clickable link, emojis/symbols, and a branded hashtag. This is a feature for followers and customers to easily find posts related to your business and is usually a hashtag of your company name or something similar.
Instagram further lets users connect accounts in order to publish the same post on multiple social platforms. You can further choose what photos you are tagged in and who you accept replies from. It also important to use relevant hashtags on this platform – seven hashtags generate the most engagement, but more than eight may be considered spam (Raychale 2018).
Twitter’s biography field has a maximum of 160 characters, so include a short message like a branded hashtag. Your profile should also include your business’ physical location in order to show up in local search results or where the majority of customers reside. Twitter also displays a media gallery to show your most recent photos and videos; it requires a minimum of six tweets to fill it. Allow direct messages from everyone, and like other people’s content; when your business likes positive shout-outs, favorite articles, and mentions, it increases validity of your business to consumers.
Additional best practices include responding to the community in a timely and helpful way. Use hashtags and Twitter’s geo-search feature for local opportunities to interact. Search for hashtags relevant to your business and monitor them. Start a chat by answering questions and using hashtag so people can find it. Be engaging with photos, GIFs, emojis.
If using Pinterest, your small business should Pin at least once a day. Post consistently, and do not upload a large number of Pins at once. It is especially important for photos to be clear, well-lit, and focused. Stock photos and graphic templates are ideal if you do not have the tools or skills to create your own. Further, your small business should know that lifestyle images outperform product images. Vertical images are also best to use as it works for mobile screens, which is how most Pinners access the app.
Add a few words to your Pins to provide a clear idea of what the Pin is and what the linked content is about (Newberry 2018). In the description field, tell Pinners exactly what they get by reading the Pin or clicking the link; also include a few important key words to make your Pin searchable.
LinkedIn profiles should have complete profiles and include any job vacancies. You should also display your company name and a brief description of its history and goals. Your small business should also encourage employees to connect with the business’ LinkedIn page because it increases connection and visibility among other users. Because LinkedIn is a platform for professional connections, it is good practice to join Groups relevant to your industry, contribute to open discussions, and seek out opportunities to build relationships.
