All in the Details
Whether your business is new to the social media world or you’re unsure if your accounts are properly established, sometimes it’s important to go over the basics of social media for a business. Often there are small elements missing that can make a difference for your business. Setting a good foundation for your accounts is all in the details.
The Fundamentals
It’s never good enough to just have social media accounts and it may seem obvious, but the first question you should ask yourself is, “Do I have access to all of my accounts?” It’s not uncommon for businesses to have had a previous employee or twice removed cousin create an account and then leave without providing access to it.
Recommendations:
- Put all social media account logins and passwords in a safe and secure spreadsheet or word document
- Create a social media email for your business.
- Choose Gmail to have it connect to your Google Plus
Avoid Duplicates
It may seem easier to simply start over rather than deal with tracking down these inaccessible accounts, but it is important to try re-gaining access or have them deleted. Don’t give up! Duplicate accounts can cause headaches down the road and continue to pop up in search engines, causing inconveniences for customers seeking the real account. In some cases duplicate accounts or pages may have been created automatically without your knowledge. If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact OCG Creative for help.
How to Properly Set Up Your Social Media Accounts
Woo! Now that you have access to all of your social media accounts it’s time make sure they’re properly set up.
It’s the king of social media, but the jack-of-all-trades as far as influence is concerned. Facebook has made more strides to assist business pages than any other platform, with LinkedIn as a close second. The social network is consistently evolving and optimizing to influence businesses to be more social and people to be more engaged.
Recommendations:
- Make sure you’ve created a business page and NOT a profile page
- Add Branding Assets
- Profile Image: Logo
- Background: Team, Building, Extended Logo Design
- Fill out every answer in the Page Info section
- Add a Facebook Web Address
- Add staff photos and photos of the building (give people a tour)
- Invite coworkers to become Admins or Editors to share the company’s social experience together
- Visit the Insights tab and become familiar with basic analytics
- Add a call to action
Some businesses don’t realize you can and should make a business page separate from your LinkedIn profile. The difference between a personal and business page is that you have to verify with an employee email address to be able to create the business page. Once it’s approved, you can begin filling out all of the information.
Recommendations:
- Add Branding Assets
- Profile Image: Logo
- Background: Team, Building, Extended Logo Design
- Add other employees to manage the page
- They can only be added if they claim they work for the company on their own profile
- Unsure of your main company industry? Try checking the pages of competitors to see their selection
Speaking of Facebook and LinkedIn, be sure to follow OCG Creative to stay updated.
Google Plus Business Page
Google Plus is like the secret juggernaut of the social media world and Google Plus business pages hold a lot more value in a google search compared to other social media networks. This is especially important for all local businesses.
Recommendations:
- Get your Google Plus page verified – this is the most important
- Add Branding Assets
- Profile Image: Logo
- Background: Team, Building, Extended Logo Design
- Connect or create a YouTube account for your business through this page
- Add your business hours
Again, many of these steps may seem like no-brainers, but it’s not uncommon for businesses to be missing these easy, but important, elements. By following this easy checklist, you can make sure your social media accounts are properly created to maximize your business branding presence. OCG Creative is a full service web design and Internet marketing powerhouse; contact us today to find out how we can take your business to the next level.