Have you wondered why people aren’t choosing to follow your social media profile(s)? Maybe your Facebook Page isn’t getting “likes” as frequently as you’d hoped, or maybe other Twitter users or Instagrammers aren’t following your business account back?
It just might be because you’re an egg.
What do you mean, I’m an egg?
First, some quick background.
It was about this time just last year that Twitter put their virtual foot down and announced that the icon they’d used since 2010 to signify a user account with no uploaded pic would be getting scrambled.
Well, not literally. But thanks to the enormous amounts of fake Twitter accounts created for the sole purpose of abusing other real users of the platform, the Twitter “egg” is now synonymous with Internet trolls and bullies.
But prior to becoming the ‘go-to’ symbol for cyberbullies and the like, the ‘Twitter egg’ was the symbol for someone who just didn’t care – or understand – enough to upload a personal profile pic. Since Twitter launched in 2006, there have been literally millions who have jumped on the platform. They know or have heard that they should be utilizing it so they create a profile. And then promptly forget about it a few days later, leaving behind a generic icon, a few followers, and more congestion on the Twitter-verse.
Including a LOT of business accounts.
And even when those accounts are reclaimed – hopefully by the actual user and not some spambot – they often still neglect to change their avatar. In today’s world that means no one will follow you. They either assume the above thoughts about cyberbullying, or presume you’re just too lazy to fix the icon, which means you don’t really care.
Sorry, it IS All About the LIKES
For personal or business, this is bad news, because like it or not, social cache is valuable these days.
And no one’s got the time to follow a generic icon, when they’re already dealing with too many ‘real’ accounts in the virtual world that don’t interact with their customers either.
Which reminds me – if you’re going to have social media profiles (and yes, that’s a given now) – make sure you’re monitoring them and being responsive to complaints and compliments. Several companies like, say @Starbucks, used to maintain a good relationship, reaching out to people who tagged them in Tweets. But not so anymore. Some companies, like the aforementioned coffee purveyor just ignore customer comments on social media. Others have set up separate accounts that are tagged by Twitter and Facebook as “Offering Support.”
But, I hear you saying, there’s SO much social media. There’s no way I can track it all and respond to it all. After all, I don’t have the resources of @SouthwestAir, and I still have a business to run.
Have We Talked Strategy?
Well, first, I’m going to mention once again, the importance of doing your strategic business work to target your ideal customer. One of the ways to use all of that data you’ve collected is to figure out which social media channels your customers are most likely to be on. Target those first and always. You can always go back and add Google Plus or WhatsApp, for example, later. Your first priority is to established your presence on the top social media platforms your customers prefer.
Just a quick tip – while it seems like everyone is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, they’re not. Facebook’s users are typically older, 25 to 34 year olds making up 30% of the users – and 1.74 Billion of them are checking it from their smart phones. They also have the most senior citizens than any other platform. Twitter tends to skew more middle aged and is still considered the more professional site. And Instagram is tops for visually-stimulated millennials (and Gen X & Y). They’re also more female-centric and more global.
Did I Mention Automation?
Now that you’ve established your business (and yourself) on the platforms, there are several ways you can automate your social media. Platforms like Hootsuite, Buffer & Crowdfire allow you to schedule several posts a week or more for free or a small monthly fee. But if you really want to take control, Infusionsoft has several options to integrate with Twitter and Facebook, including adding new Like and Follow-ers (and Survey Responders) to their own contact lists and tagging your contacts in appropriate relevant posts.
Now let’s look at what that social media profile should look like to start building your audience…
Take Advantage of Every Bit of Space
Every platform has a place for a bio – whether it’s 160 hashtaggable characters on Twitter, or as-long-as-you’d-like-it “About” section on Facebook – make sure you fill it out. Remember your strategic work, and give as much detail with relevant keywords and phrases as you can. You can also link to other social media profiles and answer the questions you know your ideal customers are asking.
Make sure you’ve filled out every field
Business name, phone number, address, website and again, other social media profile links. And make sure all of the links work.
Make sure you’re consistent
Pick a handle that represents your business as best you can, and use it across EVERY platform. If you can’t match it exactly, try to get as close as you can. I’ve worked with some businesses that actually choose their company name AFTER they get their social media handle.
The same goes for your images – along with the name, the photo is your brand on social media. Recognition is key here. So choose something that works – a logo or a piece of one, a face or something that uniquely represents your brand or company. Keep it simple and straightforward – and use it EVERYwhere. The more people see your brand identifier as they scan their various social networks, the more likely you are to be in the top of their minds when they need your product or service.
Don’t forget to Share the Love – or LIKEs
Especially on Facebook, connections are extremely important. So take advantage of that by LIKE-ing other business and influencer pages that are relevant to yours. While it’s primarily meant for individual users, when you make your interests or the Pages you like a public part of any profile, you’re giving Facebook an indicator about the kinds of people you’d like to be united with.
But Remember – Mobile is King
Back in the day, if you wanted to properly fit out your social media profile, you had consistent profile images, header images and even sidebars. And they all needed to be set to the proper dimensions. Nowadays, those are still good to have, but with most people interacting on cell phones and reading newsfeeds and infostreams rather than visiting individual profiles, it’s less critical.
You do want to keep it consistent – and within the platforms ideal image size. Each one has a place where they list it, but it can sometimes take a little searching. As of February 2018, the following sizes are accurate:
- Facebook profile picture: 170 X 170 pixels
- Facebook cover photo: 828 X 465 pixels
- Twitter profile photo: 400 X 400 pixels
- Twitter header image: 1,500 X 500 pixels
- Instagram profile picture: 110 X 110 pixels
- Pinterest profile picture: 150 X 150 pixels
- LinkedIn profile photo: 400 X 400 pixels (minimum)
- LinkedIn custom background: 1584 X 396
- LinkedIn cover photo: 974 X 330 pixels
- LinkedIn banner image: 646 X 220 pixels
- Google+ profile picture: 250 X 250 pixels (minimum)
- Google+ cover photo: 1080 X 608 pixels
- YouTube profile picture: 800 X 800 pixels
- YouTube cover photo: 2,560 X 1,440 pixels on desktop
For a really deep dive into social media image size and optimization, read this.
Social Media is probably one of the largest, most misunderstood and least fully utilized breakthroughs for marketing efforts in the last 50 years. You owe it to your business to do as much as you can with it. And if you’re one of those poor folks who still has one of the generic social media placeholders to represent your brand? Well, I hope this post ‘eggs’ you on to fix that, today!
Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
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